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Personal Statement
Since becoming best friends at the age of six with a young girl who had developmental
delays after undergoing brain surgery, I knew as I grew up that I wanted to be in a field where I
was able to help others. It took me volunteer experiences in different healthcare professions to
truly figure out where I wanted to be. From volunteering in nursing to observing at a physicians
office, I was able to discover traits from each profession that matched my life goals. Helping
individuals was always first and foremost my desire but finding a profession where physiology
meets therapeutic rapport and changings lives was the most difficult obstacle in my educational
journey. While volunteering at an assisted living in the activities center facility, I observed an
occupational therapist helping an individual re-learn movements of the upper arm using creative
techniques. I researched more on occupational therapy and every description matched what I had
been searching for. Taking classes in occupational science and lifestyle redesign at USC
solidified my choice in occupational therapy as a profession, enabling me to live out my desire to
help, embrace science, and work hands on in changing peoples lives. My journey through
developing skills as a future occupational therapy practitioner is a journey that will guide the rest
of my life and will enable me to live life to the fullest.
Vision Statement
Throughout my journey as a future occupational therapist, I will live out the values I
developed as a daughter, fiance, and student. My belief in staying committed, honest,
innovative, and motivated to the journey will be lived out in life and in practice. I will be
committed to growing as a leader and figure to my family and the community, to be honest in
practice when providing services to clients in need, and staying true to being innovative and
using science to back interventions utilized in practice. I envision myself providing services to
pediatric populations with neurological disorders, leading the way in my community by
advocating for my profession and stepping outside my comfort zone to enable others in emerging
areas of practice. My vision is being a prominent educational figure in Neurodevelopmental
training in pediatric settings. I envision myself volunteering my time to organizations that will
enable me to develop as a person and practitioner, such as the American Occupational Therapy
Association (AOTA) and state organizations that fuel growth of my profession and indirectly,
myself.
Strengths & Areas for Growth
Using the Taoist model of Yin and Yang, with Yin representing the passive or negative
personality traits complimented by Yang, the active and positive traits within personality. Yin
and Yang are opposite by nature, but their nature is also a reliance on each other as one cannot
exist without the other. This holistic view of personality traits encompasses my strengths while
balancing areas needed for growth. I will always have room for growth and improve myself to be
a better individual and practitioner, a balance that will take place for years to come as I grow and
develop as a leader in the profession. Strengths that I have identified in my professional journey
include my adaptability, ability to relate, self-empowerment, innovation, and leadership; qualities
I feel will benefit my clients and my work ethics in practice. Utilizing these strengths to the best
of my ability is a goal I have in the present and future. With the Yang of personality strengths is
the Yin. Areas for growth compliment strengths because they provide opportunities to become a
better individual and change the balance of Yin and Yang. Areas of growth provide opportunities
for the individual to gain new strengths and personality traits. To achieve growth in the future, I
feel I need to work on my assertiveness, passive nature, and organization within my personal life
to improve my work skills in practice. To advocate for patients, I feel assertiveness is vital to
achieve patient advocacy. Addressing assertiveness will provide me opportunities to work on my
passive nature as well, improving my ability to achieve hard but necessary goals for myself and
my clients. Improving my organizational skills will come with experience through trial and error.
Learning the consequences of being disorganized in my personal life will enable me to improve
my organization skills and carry-over these skills in practice. All of these areas of growth, or
should I say opportunities for growth, are necessary in my professional journey. These
opportunities for growth are needed to become an exceptional leader, a goal I hope to attain in
the near future.
Leadership Style
The leadership style I feel most closely associated with is the authentic leadership style.
This approach to leadership emphasizes building the leaders legitimacy through honest
relationships, leading others by valuing their input and building relationships on an ethical
foundation. I feel my positive attitude in practice enables me to build rapport and trust with my
clients and colleagues, a trait present in authentic leaders. I feel many of my values are in line
with values often seen in authentic leaders, such as honesty and positivity. Knowing my
leadership style has opened my eyes to a new perspective on types of leaderships and how each
and every leadership style has its benefits depending on the target audience. I feel an authentic
leadership style works best with other healthcare professionals who uphold the same values and
ethics as I do; values and ethics seen in many healthcare professions, especially in rehabilitation
services.
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