“Through perseverance many people win success out of what seemed destined to be certain failure.”
As a Christian and as I gradually fulfill all my commitments with God, I would like to share my NBCOT Journey to OT Community. The above quote as my starter hopefully helps the fire in somebody’s heart to strive again, to pick up the sword, be in the battle again and fight until it is finished!
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My Background
I graduated internationally way back year in the year 2000 (OT) and since my career as an Occupational Therapist was unclear, I took a different road. I attained my Master’s Degree in Special Education. In April 2011, I received the news about OTED Certification Process for International Graduates. I accomplished and fulfilled all OTED Requirements. After 3 years of a long and intensive process I became eligible to take the OT Certification Exam (March 2014). I was given a Time Frame (4 months only; until July 2014) to pass the exam but I did not make it. During this time frame, I crammed and failed the exams. My OT Road ended in 2014 since the need for studying again seemed impossible. I couldn’t find any University that knew my case. I just prayed and submitted everything to God.
In April 2015, I got a surprised news. The NBCOT issued a policy of extending my time table/extending my eligibility to apply for OT Exam to December 2018. This gave me hope to continue my suspended journey towards OT Certification. The Battle continued… For years, I studied hard and took the qualifying exams but each time I tried, I failed. My efforts at reading materials cover to cover were all in vain. It was an arduous uphill battle for me. Like a toddler learning how to ride a bike, I had numerous falls but each time I fell, I picked myself up, pedaled on and kept my sights on the finish line. It was a very memorable arduous journey.
And finish I did! Giving up was never an option for me. This year (November 2018), I finally received my OT Certification Number. I am now an OTR! It is not just a hard-earned title but a blessing from God too wonderful for words. I will forever cherish the title and the moment I received it. I have been transformed by this journey with God Who never left my side. He gave me the reason to continue on which I did in faith. At first, I was hesitant to share this journey of mine but as my commitment to God, I wrote this testimony to encourage others not to give up the fight in the pursuit of the OT Dream.
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The Process
One of the important points I would like to share is The Process I went through because it built my character. It helped me to trust God more, value little events as blessings (even the negative ones), and develop a walk-by-faith attitude. I developed perseverance, gratefulness, determination and deeper faith. As I went through the years preparing for the certification, the road towards the finish line seemed very rough and impossible to navigate. But I learned to enjoy the view.
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How Did I Survive the Process?
I put in 2-3 hours of reading and review on weekdays and 4-5 hours during weekends since I work as a full-time Special Educator. I took a lot of practice tests and rationales, did a lot of visuals and note-taking from website sources, read TherapyEd, AOTA pdfs, and read/watched OT Miri’s Strategies and Videos. I also reflected on my test taking strategies and realized that I got easily distracted by little things. Once distracted, I found it difficult to refocus and lost precious testing time. This increased my anxiety level which in turn negatively affected my testing performance. Realizing this, I made sure I remained focus on the test.
Latter part of my Review Journey, it is just mainly AOTA pdfs and all OT Miri’s Resources that I used.
On my last exam, I just focused on dealing with my thoughts. I blocked all negative thoughts about my past failures and remained confident that despite difficulties and struggles, I can make it with God’s help. I never lost sight of my goal, of the finish line. Lastly, I learned to trust God more and fully submitted to His will. I just rested on God’s peace and comfort, trusting that whatever the outcome is His will for me.
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Supplements:
I would like to share a short video clip about a Chinese Bamboo Tree which helped me fight a good fight.
I also watched all OT Miri’s Encouraging Videos (one of them that really encouraged me is):
Held on to this Promise.
Thank you SO MUCH, Miri! You just don’t know how you mOTivated me.