Blogger Bio: Mary Glasgow-Brown: A Second Generation Occupational Therapist

I am a pretty passionate person as are many occupational therapists, which is part of what drew me to this career. It was not a direct career path however.

I started out with an undergrad degree in Communications. Having joined the college newspaper at the University [College] of the Fraser Valley, the Cascade, I realized I really enjoyed working with people, being creative and working toward a common goal. Public relations or event planning for a non-profit would be great for me I thought. However, several contracts in after graduation I realized that while I really loved the people I was surrounded by, and the end goal we were working towards, sitting at a desk was just not for me.

Meanwhile, I also worked as a server at restaurant, and loved it! The people, the pace, the practicality of meeting people for something so basic as food... it worked for me. But, how could I combine the purpose I saw in communications with the personal connection of serving?

Having grown up with an occupational therapist for a mum it might be surprising I didn't consider Occupational Therapy earlier. However, after realizing going back to school might be a worthwhile option I stopped ignoring my mum's suggestions to look a little more closely at what she actually did! I started asking her more questions and meeting with her friends and colleagues to learn more about what an occupational therapist actually does, and what it is that people like about their job.

Not surprisingly I met quite a diverse group of people. Therapists in schools, in hospitals, in art studios and in their own homes told me about a variety of activities they were involved with. People were the centre of this work I learned, and involved creative opportunities to help with the very basics of life in many different circumstances. Repeatedly I heard
"I love being an Occupational Therapist"
"This is such a great job"
"I can never imagine being bored with this career"
And while I didn't quite get the whole "what" of Occupational Therapy in this inquiry I certainly saw the creativity, the love for people, the diverse opportunities it offered.

Trying on my hat for size

And more deeply, I heard the passion in my mum's voice as she told me about defending the value of her education while making the choice to not work when she started having children (for a few short years--- she has continued to raise six children with my dad while practicing occupational therapy and leading the OT department at the Fraser Valley Child Development Centre).  Occupational therapy is not just a career, it is training for life and it is a passion!

I now work in orthopaedics, plastics and surgery at BC Children's Hospital's. I love the practical hands-on aspect of making splints,  fixing wheelchairs and scar management while getting to know children and families from all over British Columbia.