Think before you judge

This semester alone has been suuuuch an eye opener when it comes to judging or making assumptions about people or judging their behaviour. You simply canot because you have absolutely no idea what that person is going through, what burden they are carryig, what they have been through in their life, what secrets they have bee keeping. I learnt the hard way when I was so quick to judge a friend on her mood ad behaviour only to find out a secret and burden she had been carryig for so many years. This actually happened with two friends with completely different stories ad hardships they have faced. What if I had not give them the time of day because I was too upset to see passed their behaviour? I woder if when people hear my story, they have the same reaction... Like, wow, that really explains a lot about who you are and the way that you behave. I have so may opiions on difficulties in life and how you deal with them. I have been through a lot yet i will never let it define me. It is a part of who I am but I try my best to not blame my childhood or the things i've been through for my actions. We all get to make a decision when tough things happen in life. Do i let it define me in a negative way where I take it out on the world, or do I let it make me stronger and chanel everything you have learnt to help someone else one day. I know i have made some very poor decisions especially in the last 3 years when i was trying to "discover" myself, find myself, create myself. I got pulled into situations i promised myself i would never be in... Now do I blame what i've been through or do i just blame myself for the fact that i knew better. I don't know. These posts of mine will never be deep and intellectual... they'll be deep but more from intellectual because i am still trying to figure everything out. I'll think i believe something then while im writing i find myself questioning that belief. Its frustrating but at the same time, its teaching me so much. Teaching me to critically think. I am loving this idea of getting my feelings down. Back to studying for 3rd year final exams! Eeeeeeeeek.

deep thinking

Now that my blog is no longer for marks, i though id use it as an escape for my crazy life. i have always been useless as journal writing, i am fired up and ready to write in my diary for one night and wont touch it again for 3 months. so this is how i am going to do it. Typing has always been so much easier thaan writing. i can get my thoughts down so much quiscker than writing... so this is me.in 3 years i have discovered so much about myself, who i want to be, where im going etc but i am still not where i wasnt to be with the person that i am. i want to be so assertive that people respect me for standing up for what i believe in, i dont want to hang out with people who bring me down, or those people who care more about shopping, clothes, money and all those trivial issues. i want to be around people who inspire me, who dont look at me for the kind of household ive grown up in or the fact that i cant afford epesive clothing, holidays, i dont even have a car... and that is SO ok! because one day when i do get a cra i know i wil treasure it and be so icredibly grateful for that car. i know that i would have worked for it and that it would be all mine. the only part i find difficult with being so ok with my circumstances is my sister. It is the strangest feeling but i wish i could give her everything. i wish i could give her a car, i wish i could take her shopping or not have to do a quick budget recall in my head when she poits out somethig she likes. i hate this feeling and i wonder if that how y mom feels- wantting to give TJ and the world but she cant because of circumstances. My eyes well up with tears when i think that i cant give my sister that, imagine what my mom feels. she has been a single parent for 11 years... the entire burden of money beig on her shoulders alone. I hate to wish my life away but i absolutely canot wait to get this degree for the pure reason of helpig out my mom financially and giving my sister more. What is so icredible is thta my mom has always given us what we need/want and MORE! We have been on every school trip since grade 1, every sports tour, we have gone on holidays with friends, gone on trips and been given beautiful gifts all at my moms expense and stress. She is so icredible, putting her happiess before ours. Yes, at times, it does become more difficult where hte stress becomes too much but my mom has always given so much love and support to my sister and i. Thank you mom. This post is just me tryig to rationalise feelings. Trying to put things into perspective. I have come a long way in 3 years since OT when it comes to standing up to friends, doing what i want to do, and not carig when poeple judge. If there is one thing that i have learnt this semester- it is NEVER to judge. So may examples have come up and almost slapped me in the face because we have NO idea what burdens people are carryig. No idea!

My inspiration

I wrote this post a while ago as a word document, but wanted to wait for the perfect time to post it. This is a little something about a very inspirational woman, my supervisor. I never want to “brown nose” or anything like that, but I feel like it needs to be said... I applied to have my psychosocial prac venue at NPC well aware of whom my supervisor would be. I thought I was taking a major risk as she is notorious for really making her students work hard, and literally having no tea or lunch breaks as we would work while we eat. I was scared, to say the least. But I wanted to challenge myself. And challenge myself I did but not in the way I had ever imagined. My supervisor made me think in a new way, a way I never thought I could think. I found myself questioning the stereotypes I had in my head, had me questioning ANY comment that was made and challenging the opinions that formulated in my head. This new way of thinking led me to some really profound perspective changes that have helped me in my journey of OT. I have never worked so hard in my life and its not because we were pushed, it was because we were encouraged to be the best that we can be. This psych block has had the greatest impact on my life... and I have my supervisor to thank for that. She always knew how to keep us going. In many ways, I feel that she used so many therapeutic techniques on us as a group and as individuals. Techniques of motivation, and self reflection, mastery, autonomy and stepping up to being leaders. To stop being average, and start truly making a difference... I am inspired by this woman. Our group joked and said we have an “academic crush” on our supervisor because we are so in awe of all her knowledge and views on life. She has made me a better therapist and a better person... To believe what I believe in, it doesn’t matter what others think of you as long as you have it in your heart to accept others for who they are. So this post is dedicated to my supervisor. For changing my way of thinking, for inspiring me and encouraging me to be the best that I can be, for making this semester the semester where I fell in love with OT and what we stand for. Thank you.

My blog :)

Often the service users, come into the facility, with a poor quality of life, they have no job, have lost their job or don’t gain anything in their line of work which is not fulfilling. They often land up, getting in a cycle of substance abuse, as they have no purpose in life, no skills and little to look forward to. When they come to the rehabilitation, yes they are clean for 3 months, but they then return without skill, and can easily return to relapse, by providing them with a skill or developing an interest in that section, the service user can now go out and apply for jobs, that are in the line of work that they are interested in. So besides leaving being clean, they can also leave with a sense of hope, exposure to a new skill

The new work station room at NPC

The barrier we picked up at Newlands Park Centre was a lack of vocational rehabilitation training. Many of the service users experience occupational deprivation due to them not having a job or being in a job that does not satisfy their needs or intellectual level due to them not having the opportunities to study or gain skills in life. We decided to do a vocational rehabilitation centre.... Often the service users, come into the facility, with a poor quality of life, they have no job, have lost their job or don’t gain anything in their line of work which is not fulfilling. They often land up, getting in a cycle of substance abuse, as they have no purpose in life, no skills and little to look forward to. When they come to the rehabilitation, yes they are clean for 3 months, but they then return without skill, and can easily return to relapse, by providing them with a skill or developing an interest in that section, the service user can now go out and apply for jobs, that are in the line of work that they are interested in. So besides leaving being clean, they can also leave with a sense of hope, exposure to a new skill. In our vocational rehabilitation centre, we have 4 main sttaions- welding, electrical, mechanical and a bicycle repair station. These stations all have a set of skills that the service user can take into the world outside of the rehab. When we were practising each station with the service users to see if it would work, one of the service users said he knows nothing about engines as that was the station we asked him to do one of the activities. afterwards, he said- "Wow, i actually learnt something today." So that was a great feeling for all the students. It has been a very stressful and long semester putting this project together but it has been so rewarding! To see all our stations up and running and to see the service users getting so involved with the stations was so great. We look so forward to this project benefitting so many service users in the future. This project has added a whole new element to their quality of life.

SINK OR SWIM

The theme for this semester at our practical venue has been “SINK OR SWIM”. NPC is not for the faint hearted  We, as a group, decided to SWIM-literally. As part of team building, motivation and team morale, our supervisor encouraged us to go swimming at the beach on the last day of term. We were all keen and excited, only to have the weather forecast be rain and....... more rain! But this didn’t stop us. We had no choice really  So we all went swimming, all 5 in my group and our supervisor. It is quite ironic that we are in our psych block of OT and we go swimming at the beach in the rain.... onlookers must have thought WE were psychotic! But what an incredible day it was. We swam in the freezing cold and in the rain. Something happened in our group that day- we became closer. “Through adversity grows the strongest characters.” We tackled adversity that day of rain and cold, and we swam. It was symbolic in my eyes of our whole prac at NPC. It has been tough, and we have faced many adversities as individuals and as a group but we still decided to SWIM. Our first day at the drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre was a shock to the system. We had tea and lunch, but these were working breaks. And we completed almost all our assessments in just one day. We were told to run a group on the spot. It was challenging but we are all the better for it. That day we came up with our saying- SINK OR SWIM. It was been a resounding motto throughout prac and I am so proud to say, we have been swimming... and whenever anyone in the group was beginning to sink, we would lift each other up again when either of us forgot how to swim. It helps so much to be motivated, believed in and encouraged by our supervisor. This degree is not easy, but a wise friend once told me.... “If it were easy, everyone would be doing it.” You truly have to have the heart to be an OT. It is emotional, it is difficult and so incredibly challenging but it was days like our swim at the beach in the rain, the smile on a service user’s face and hearing of success stories that make it so worthwhile. My heart hurts for those who are struggling to find the light in this degree, I feel very fortunate to have seen OT is such a beautiful light. And I hope for the same for everyone else doing this course

My mom, my class’s inspiration

In OT, we cover a variety of topics and one of them included EATING DISORDERS. This topic is very close to my heart as my mom has been suffering with an eating disorder since she was 12 years old. It has been a constant battle for her, and inevitably, for our family. When this topic came up in lectures, it was tough to hear some of what was said but it gave me a greater understanding into the disorder and how it really is a disorder and not something that is easily controlled. I told my mom about what we had covered in class and she offered to discuss her experience with my class. I was blown away, my mom wanted to give back  What was great is that my mom has been for Occupational Therapy for her eating disorder so she knew a bit about what we do and how to approach the topic. The thing about my mom, when she does something, she does it PROPERLY. so she asked for all my eating disorder notes and consulted all the notes she had received in therapy. As the day approached of my mom’s talk, nerves were mounting for the both of us. Firstly, because this is a very personal and sensitive topic and we didn’t know how it would plan out. And secondly, my mom had never done this before and thirdly, I wasn’t sure how I was going to be able to handle the emotions behind what we have been through as a family with this disorder. But the day came, and I have never been so proud of my mom. She was so honest, so open and so real with my class. She wasn’t ashamed, and I think this played a major part in the class learning that this is a disorder, it is so difficult to control and it is not an attention seeking thing. This disorder is real, and it is scary. My mom got told when she was young that she was fat, and not having the emotional support of her father and always trying to be a perfectionist to impress him, this all contributed to the beginning of this disorder. Something happens in the mind, where you feel like you have no control over the things in your life, and your weight becomes something so easy to control. It becomes a vicious cycle when one tries to control their weight, and eventually, that person loses control of controlling their weight as their life spirals out of control. From an OT perspective, we focus on the control aspect and how to “control the controllables”. We focus on stress management, insight into the disorder, how to prevent episodes of the eating disorder etc. Something so interesting with my mom is that whenever she ate, she would have the urge to purge. The OT taught her different methods of distraction after eating a meal. My mom started a vegetable garden and whenever she finishes eating, she will go straight to the garden, or make a phonecall or read a book so that she is distracted from these thoughts. My mom took a giant step the day she spoke to my class. It was so incredibly therapeutic for her recovery as she had recently started recovering from an episode of weight loss. I have never been so proud of my mom as I was that day. My mom touched the lives of OT students in my class as she made the effort to read our notes and make the talk as beneficial as possible. She shared her heart and her emotions, and it was therapeutic for me as I too got to share the effects that it has on the family. It was a great day. If this post has inspired you, and you would like my mom to speak to a group of people or at a school in the Durban area, she will be more than happy to. E-mail me at nikitasweet26@gmail.com

Shongweni Kids Camp

During the July holidays, a group of us volunteered to attend a Christian Kids Camp in Shongweni. This camp was run by two American Missionaries. What an experience it was! The camp was held in a church in Ntshongweni, which is a very rural poor area. The children in the area were all on holiday from school or were not old enough to attend school yet. We worked with children from the ages of 3 to 18. We were all allocated an age group and the activities included- a bible story, a music session, arts and crafts and sport activities. It was a challenging week having to travel for many kilometres and only having very few of us looking after about 80-100 children. This experience, however, opened up my mind and heart to community. Although the camp was not done for OT, there were so many aspects that could filter into Occupational Therapy such as constructive use of leisure time, gaining social skills and interacting and supporting one another, learning work habits at the arts and crafts station and learning to help one another in their community. I look so forward to starting community next year in our fourth year. It is something that I have always been interested in, and this camp ignited the spark in my heart once again. This camp was heart warming as we got to know all the children and be doing God’s work at the same time