Everything is Full Circle
I truly believe that everything happens in full circle most
of the time. People who influence you
when you are young, eventually pop back up in your life. For most of us we think of situations like
this happening in our personal lives.
You always hear of people falling in love with a great friend from their
childhood or running into old friends at reunions. The 6 degrees of separation from Kevin Bacon
truly does exist (even though I haven't figured out how I am connected to
Kevin). It seems that Facebook and other
forms of social media and technology has magnified this.
When I look at my journey, honestly the oddest realizations
of this concept has occurred in my professional life and because of that I feel
blessed. For me, it seems to personalize
my career and make sense of why I work so hard every day. I think the fancy new millennium term for
this is networking however, I'd like to think there's more to it than that!
When I was young I had the same OT for 8 years. Most people who know me have an understanding
that Linda became a great friend to my family along with a few other educators
from my elementary school days. We
mainly kept in touch with her through lunches and dinners at the Olive
Garden. We've attempted other
restaurants but Olive Garden is our favorite (okay, maybe it's my
favorite)! When I started middle school
my family had moved to Holt and my therapeutic relationship with Linda ended. She received one call from Holt Jr. High when
I was in 8th grade so she could give her opinion about my assistive technology
needs. At age 15 my mom and I were
discussing my future and my career options/goals. My mom had mentioned Occupational Therapy and
from that point on I was determined to become a great school based
therapist. At age 17 I contacted Linda
to mentor and shadow her within the school setting for a School To Work class
my senior year of high school. One week
while shadowing Linda there was a Baker College student shadowing her at the
same time. Out of context, I barely
recognized Bonnie a lady I once knew.
Between the ages of 6-9 years I was in therapeutic riding and 4-H for
showing horses. Bonnie was my instructor
and 4-H leader. Together, Linda, Bonnie
and myself brainstormed and realized that the Baker College Occupational
Therapy Program would be a great program for me to pursue my career goals. I worked hard and stuck to that plan.
In 2001 I went to visit Baker College and the OT
program. Like Linda and Bonnie had
informed me it was a small program which allowed the instructors to be more
personable. While going through the
program I remember each instructor taking the time to get to know me and my
strengths and weaknesses personally and professionally. Because of these interactions I feel I made
it through a very tough clinical program.
A year and a half ago I started feeling like I have much more to offer
with the education I've earned and the career I've started. I received an email from the Dean of the OT
program at Baker asking if I wanted to teach a course for the program. Thoughts crossed my mind: "I can teach
future professionals. It's one area of
OT that wouldn't be hindered by my physical limitations. " So, I emailed back and basically
applied. Ever since then each quarter I
was receiving a call from Baker to teach a course. I took the opportunity when I had the summer
off from my school position. So 10 years
after I graduated from the Occupational Therapy Program I went back to teach at
the college level. Something I never
imagined in my wildest dreams.
When I drove up to the really tiny commuter school in Flint
it was twice the size it used to be. A
lot had changed in 10 years. But on my
commutes there twice a week I remembered the same thoughts and feelings and
fears I had on my drives there 10-13 years ago.
Once in awhile one of my favorite songs from that era came on the radio while
I was driving and the hallways of Baker still smelled the same. All I could think was how bizarre it was to
basically go back in time. I also realized
how much I had changed since I was a student there. One of the coolest things for me was talking
with former instructors from the program and their reactions to how much I had
changed professionally. It gave me a
chance to self examine and realize that professionally I am on a positive
track.
So the day I accepted the summer job I texted Linda and told
her we needed to celebrate and I explained why.
She said yes, we do!! In June we
met at Olive Garden and she made sure my lunch with the tiramisu was on
her. She explained to the waitress
"our story." A student she
worked with 30 years ago was now about to start teaching at a college. And that my friends, felt really good!
