Introducing… new students and voices on the blog— Emily and Peter
Greetings!
This week has been a week of settling into a new rhythm and routines at To a life well occupied. You’ll learn more about that soon.
On a personal note, those shifts in rhythms and routines include the time of year where we take out all our winter gear to make sure it still fits everyone and come up with a game plan if we need changes for the upcoming season. In Minnesota, snow can begin flying in October or it may wait until December or later so it is best to be prepared.
Truth be told, I tend to play a little game with myself that if I am thoroughly prepared for the snow to fall, we may just get more fall days. (Realistically, we all know I’m not that powerful-- it does help get those tasks done sooner and eases the transition from summer to autumn)
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One of my commitments at To a life well occupied is to work with OT students two to three times a year to immerse future OT practitioners in engaging with the community, as we recognize engage in conversations about the role of occupation in collective and individual wellness, and create content and offerings that increase student and community understanding of the roles we can be part of as occupational therapy practitioners and citizens. You may recognize my voice as the founder of the blog and in time, the vision is for you to get to know a whole choir of voices all focused on navigating the journey of living lives well occupied.
You met the first three students of Team Solidago this summer and now we’d like you to meet the newest additions to the team-- Emily and Peter.
You’ll be seeing and hearing from them more over the next 8-12 weeks and so we’d like to take the time to formally introduce you.
Meet Emily Otremba
Image description: Photo collage in the shape of a heart of Emily, her interests and passions. Themes include travel, Disney, books, music, creativity, playing games, baking, nature, health, writing, and enjoying the little things in life.
A note from Emily
Hello everyone!
When Kary asked me to write a post introducing myself, I am not going to lie, I was uncertain. Not because I didn’t want to tell you, but because I didn’t quite know what to say. Which yes, I understand, does not make sense. I should be an expert on myself, right? The hesitation didn’t come from not knowing how to create a list of my roles in life or the activities I love. It came from not wanting to tell you, but rather, show you who I am and how those things have shaped me.
When I look at and reflect upon the image I created to introduce myself, I sense an overarching theme. Connection!
A connection to others. Their stories. Their experiences. The places they live. The knowledge they possess.
A connection to myself. My childhood spirit and innocence. My creativity and self-expression. My strengths. My challenges. My desire to continually grow into who I want and am supposed to be.
A connection to nature. The beauty it holds. The lessons it wishes we would understand. The sense of calm it provides.
Each image in this collage represents me and the connection I have made with or toward others. Artists who created the songs that made me feel like I wasn’t alone. Movies and books whose words helped me escape my own reality and be a part of theirs, if only for a short time. People whose cultures are different than my own yet are willing to teach me their ways and beliefs. People who I give my time, considering they cleanse my soul with their words, laughter, and joy.
I feel as though when I look upon this image in the future, I will sense a connection to you as well. For we may have a desire to continually learn and grow for ourselves and others, have similar experiences, enjoy the same things, or be comfortable in our differences.
I am looking forward to learning with you, growing with you, and most importantly, connecting with you!
-Emily Otremba
Meet Peter Simon
Image Description: Peter Simon enjoying the unexpected surprise of finding a nature reserve in a big city
A Note from Peter
Hi there, my name is Peter.
My goal is to give just a brief overview about three things to know about me, but also knowing me, it will likely not be brief and instead a long winded overview. First and foremost, I love reading—getting lost in a story is something that has always been an escape for me and a chance to dive into my imagination. So, if you ever have any book recommendations, please feel free to send some my way. I welcome any genre of book besides horror because I get scared easily. I dream of someday opening my own bookstore and café that is cozy and filled with plants and cats. Secondly, I really value connection and seeing what I can learn from people once I get over my initial shyness. It ties in with books, but I have always loved learning about things that I have any sort of interest in. I will say though, I lost that curiosity for a while when growing up and trying to blend in with others. Thankfully, I am slowly letting myself be curious about the world and others again. Lastly, I am currently in my third and final year of occupational therapy school, which is weird to think about. I feel so lucky though that I get to spend my last Level II Fieldwork rotation at Solidago. Its values and mission really match up with both how I see myself and who I want to be as a person. I have already found my time to be so valuable and help me begin to look at my life differently.
As for after school is finished, I am not sure where I would like to end up. I have never really known and I am working on being comfortable with that to help open myself up to what comes my way. I feel like I have many interests and values which influence me and create an everchanging flux of desires. To give an idea of where my mind is at currently, I love the idea of working with kids because the way in which they view the world and are so unabashedly themselves inspires me. I feel like I would have so much to learn from them and have thoroughly enjoyed working with them in the past. I also enjoy learning about and educating myself on social justice issues. As I have come to understand who I am and my identity, I have realized just how much who we are, how we view and identify ourselves, and the way the world reacts to those things greatly affect how we interact back into the world. To be honest, I am still not sure where I could or want to land within the intersection of occupational therapy and social justice. I just know that social justice is an area that is underrepresented and underutilized within healthcare, and I would love to really take time to help people who don’t know where they fit in in a society that may not take the time to understand them. I am looking forward to my time here and growing in this safe and nurturing place as I learn as much as I can from this experience because I think it has so much to offer me along my journey.
Join me in welcoming Peter and Emily! We are looking forward to co-creating content together for you all and would love to hear what you’d like to hear more about as you consider ways to recalibrate your daily rhythms and routines. Feel free to comment below or reach out by social media.
