Am I an OT yet?

This is a grey area. Our final results were out today and I’ve passed! Hurray- but wait... I’m not an OT yet. In September I’ll graduate, picking up what I hear is an empty scroll. (The real one comes later in the mail). In the meantime I’ll be working on my CPD file and probably posting about it. I think that I can call myself an occupational therapist when I register with the HPC, but it won’t quite feel right ‘til I’m working.

I’m not a student any more (although do still have 2 months left to get a student discount at the cinema) but I’m not an OT yet. Actually I’m a part-time shop lady in a little gallery by the sea, and part-time unemployed. I am looking at jobs and I’m cutting and pasting them into a list, trying to imagine applying. There seems to be a lot of stages left to go,

Family and friends are starting conversations with the question... and no I don’t have a job yet. I haven’t even taken my library books back yet. (How will I go on without the library??!! I have spent far too many years as a student- all for the joy of the library!! Where else but a university library can you find books on EVERYTHING? Some students steer clear of the library all year, but my misdemeanour’s been the opposite. I’d say it’s a generous 40:60 split between essayish texts and totally unrelated material. It’s a grieving process, I’ll get over it. Probably just get a smartphone.)

Part of me is feeling eager and optimistic, and part is slightly freaking out- “It’s tooo soooon! You need more experience first!” When I shared this with a fellow student, who’s wiser than I am, she smiled and asked how I got on on placements, could I do the job by the end? Well I got on alright and I could do the job by the end... and she smiled and said not to worry. I’m really going to miss the OT crowd; it’s been an honour to study with such a bunch of caring, inspiring and down-to-earth people. But now it’s time to take a deep breath, just prepare and just APPLY! I’ll keep you posted.