“I’m getting my masters in occupational therapy. It’s similar to physical therapy but there’s a mental aspect to it too. It’s more holistic.”
“How’d you get interested in that?”
“My sister has a brain injury. Growing up she went into a coma and received a bunch of different therapies, so that’s how I got interested in finding out how to help people. Physical therapy alone was a little too concretefor me, occupational allows me to be a bit more creative.”
“So you work with people so that they can regain their equilibrium so they can do whatever it is they do?”
“Right. We focus on functional tasks.”
“Can you tell me about one of the people you’ve worked with?”
“Well, I just spent 6 months in Mexico doing free clinic stuff. The hospital there was terrible. They don’t have physical therapists there. People would just stay in acute care for months and end up dying because they aren’t getting the care they need. There was one guy who had a spinal cord injury because a tree had fallen on him. Cognitively he was fine, it was just physically that he was impaired. He knew what was going on around him but he could barely move. He couldn’t feed himself. A lot of things like that were affecting his dignity. So we taped a pencil to a spoon to make it longer, and wrapped it in bandage to make it wider because he couldn’t close his hand all the way…and then he could feed himself. He was so happy that he could do that one thing for himself.”

“Very cool. What about you…what do you like to do in your free time?”
“I like to wake board. I’m from South Carolina, I grew up on the lake. I love to travel.”
“Favorite destinations?”
“Tulum, Mexico. That’s my new favorite. Barcelona is also one of my favorite places. If I could afford to travel all the time I would.”

“How long have you been in Atlanta?”
“I moved here for a year right after college and worked at a marketing agency and hated it. Doing the cubicle thing you know?”
“Yeah.”
“So then I went back to school in Gainesville, which is about 45 min from here, and I’m finishing up now. My thesis is due next Friday.”
“Good luck! What’s your dream for your life when you’re done with school?”
“I think when you do good things you meet good people and experience good things. That’s what I try to live by.”