Good day yesterday.

Yesterday was my day to go to my Professional Development Evaluation. aka PDEs.
Its this long process where you have to make up a notebook filled with evidence that you portray altruism and caring in your every day life. You also have to have 50 pages of evidence (like emails from professors, notes from fieldwork supervisors, thank you notes) showing that you have leadership, are a postive learner...etc. Basically everything you need to be an Occupational Therapist. After you compile all this evidence you have to sit in between two professors explaining every single piece for an hour.

I spent about 20 hours getting everything together. I was terrified of the professors evaluating me, well one in particular. I thought he had it out for me because some things happened in the past where he embarrassed me or made me feel very small. I was very nervous.

At 10:30am I went to my meeting and sat between the two professors explaining everything. They gave me positive feedback throughout the entire meeting. At the end of every meeting you are told feedback from all the other 8 professors. It is both positive and negative, things they believe you need to improve upon. I was waiting to hear something negative about myself throughout the entire process, especially at the end, but it never happened. They told me I was everything that encompassed occupational therapy. They talked about how much I have grown in a year and how proud they are of me. They said that this is where I belong and know I am going to be wonderful in this field. I was shocked.

It was a very uplifting experience. I won't forget it. I know where I stand now. I can and will be an occupational therapist. It has changed my life so much. SO MUCH. I really do not know where I would be without OT.

That was my day yesterday. A good one.