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First, I love the idea that every OT has told me that they love their job. Following that, I love that OT salaries are high and unemployment is virtually nonexistent.

Here’s an article talking about OT salaries in 2012. Here’s the summary:

* Average salary for therapists in the first 5 years is $64k
* Average salary in the US is $71k
* Average salary in California is $88k (just about the highest, Alaska is $113k but hey, that’s Alaska)
* Men make on average $8k more (it’s unfair but hey)
* unemployment is extremely low
* Most common employment
25% primary and secondary schools $63k/year
17% Skilled Nursing Facilities $78k/year
8% clients’ homes, $80k/year

I just completed the last prerequisite class before entering my Occupational Therapy Master’s Program at San Jose State. I’m just a tiny bit proud that I got an “A” in this graduate-level class. The class had two sections; the other section was full of med school students.

Classes at San Jose State start August 25th and the program runs for about 24 months straight.

I was conditionally accepted into San Jose State’s Master of Occupational Therapy program a few months ago. I just have to take a Neuroanatomy prerequisite class. San Jose State offers the class in the spring and summer semester but the former is a long commute for just one class and the latter would overlap with my wedding plans this summer. So  I went looking for other classes that would fill the prerequisite. I called the SJSU OT Department and received a list of Acceptable Neuroanatomy courses from other colleges that was updated in 2008

Update January 2014: Even better, I received this list of Acceptable Neuroanatomy courses from other colleges, Updated January 28, 2014 (Dec 2014 update: I heard secondhand that the National Academy of Neuropsychology course on this list is NOT acceptable any more. You should definitely check with the SJSU OT department before taking any of these classes. But I’ll leave it online so you can get an idea for what to expect)

This note was attached to the document as well:

Here are as many details as I have about neuroanatomy this summer offered through SJSU. You will have two options:

OCTH 190, Foundations of Neuroscience, 3 units, starts first week of June and ends in mid August. (Dates and Instructor TBD)
BIO 109, Human Neuroanatomy & Physiology, 3 units, June 16, 2014 – August 2, 2014 (Starts and ends later than previous years)

Dr. Sneary (who taught BIO 109 when I took it) will no longer be teaching. The online horror stories and bad Rate my Professor reviews won’t apply to you guys. Both of these courses will be offered through Open University for SJSU summer sessions. Here’s a link with more information on that: http://www.sjsu.edu/openuniversity/. Make sure you are sitting down when you look at the cost. Tuition for classes once you have matriculated into the program is much more reasonable. You will not be able to register for either of these courses until later in the spring. I will email out the exact date when I know it.

I got a phone call from San Jose State today. I was accepted into their Master’s of Occupational Therapy program!!!The program begins fall 2014. I am over the moon!

Some folks have asked what OT is… You might start with the idea of a Physical Therapist. A PT gets your body working, an OT focuses on helping you do whatever it is you do in your life, your “occupation”. Some quick examples: kids need to grow, amputees need to relearn shoe tying, elderly want to keep living independently. It’s a rather broad field!

I just mailed off the applications for 2 of the 3 schools I’m applying to. This is the culmination of 2 full years of work. If I’m accepted, I’ll have another 2 1/2 years of school before receiving a Master’s Degree in Occupational Therapy.

This is the second time I’ve sent applications. This time my application is much stronger:
* I have completed all of the prerequisite courses
* I raised my “last 60 units” GPA from 3.67 to 3.87
* I raised my GRE score to include a 4.5 on the writing: 160 Verbal, 150 Math, 4.5 Writing. (previous attempt was 161, 156, 4.0)
* Starting at having 100 hours at a private pediatric clinic, I added another 78 in a (hardcore) non-public school for non-verbal autistic kids
* My Personal Essay kicks ass! Thank you Megan, Alexis, Bean, and Tami for writing help!

Done:
San Jose State University, San Jose, CA
Samuel Merritt University, Oakland, CA

Almost Done: (not due for 4 months)
Dominican University, San Rafael, CA

I went to take the GRE today. Long story short, the computer at the testing center broke. I have to reschedule the test. Ugh. Maybe I’ll get to take it next week.

I’m trying to get into a Master’s program for Occupational Therapy. To this end, I’ve been preparing to take the GRE for the last couple months. This is actually my second attempt. I took it in January and did “ok”, and that wasn’t enough to get me accepted into grad school. It was time I did “great”.

I went to bed early, had a normal breakfast (the golden rule I follow is “don’t do anything out of the ordinary”), a good lunch and then was off to the test location. I got there an hour early just in case. 20 minutes before the test was to start, they told me and the others in the waiting room, “there’s a technical problem, there might be a delay.” Ugh, so much for starting my test early.

12:30, my test time, came and went. 12:45… 1pm… 1:10 rolls around and I’m thinking that I will have to reschedule. It’s a long test, last time I was in the test center for 5 hours. After 6+ hours in there, I know I’d be thinking “what’s the square of the hypotenuse of LUNCH?!? What is the definition of LUNCH?!” Just as I was about to bag, they called my name.

I sign in at 1:12pm. I sit down at the computer and begin. Will my energy hold out? Did I take enough caffeine, or maybe too much? All that starts to fade as I sink into the first question. It’s asking me how I feel about politicians with a dark side. I dig in! My mind is in gear, making connections, developing a convincing argument and BAM! “JAVA EXCEPTION” the computer vomits onto the screen. WTF? I turn around in my chair, as if yanked out of The Matrix. A woman sitting opposite me turns away from her desk a moment later looking bewildered. She whispers something that I can’t understand to me and all I can spit out is a grumbling “I don’t know.”

I think back to when I was checking in. The attendant had said something about, “If the screen goes blank, come back here.” Or maybe it had been “When…”. Grrr. I go back to the attendant, I explain how I can’t go on. With a bit of sympathy in her voice she says how the test is run over the internet and there’s no way to fix things at this end. She’s a nice enough lady. She gives me a piece of paper with some numbers scribbled on it and describes how I can reschedule the appointment.

I wandered around downtown San Francisco for an hour, trying to purge my huge buildup of energy.

Just got back from 12 days on vacaion in Minnesota with Megan. Pictures and stories forthcoming.

Trying to get into an Occupational Therapy Master’s program. I’m applying to: San Jose State, Dominican University in San Rafael, Samuel Merritt in Oakland. I’ve been volunteering at a pediatric OT clinic in Sausalito and a non-public school for kids with autism. I’m studying for the GRE; I got an “Ok” score last time, but I’m shooting for “Great”.

Megan and I are planning to be married! There’s rings to make and a life to be planned!

I’m still teaching at the Crucible. In a few weeks I’m teaching Arduino, Electromagnetics, Flame Effects, and a new taster class “Atari Punk Console”!

After the school applications are done, I’ll try to organize teaching a Flame Effects class in Los Angeles with Michael Kearney. There’s also a flame effects book to write.

I’ve been hanging out with Sean Cusack, his gal Lara, Michael Kearney and some friends and building some fiery things. Crazily enough, more than 5 years ago, Lara had built one of the first really notable flame effects I saw, The High Striker! And now she wants to retool it!

At Ben and Lil’s wedding in August

Megan and me at Ben and Lil’s wedding photobooth!

I went to Richmond to volunteer for Occupational Therapy in early August. Due to a mix-up, my 2 hr (each way) commute which included a mile walk on a highway was for naught. :-(

Richmond is a dreary dreary place. I could not find a single structure that did not have endemic peeling paint, there was no ornamentation of any kind on any structure or person. At the Richmond BART station, a description on a prominent monument, the gleaming gateway to the city, touted Richmond’s heyday some 70 years ago and actively renounced all claims of current livability. I do not feel compelled to return.

I’ve been doing a bit more volunteering in Occupational Therapy. I’m volunteering at the Spectrum School in Hayward, a non-public school for kids with autism. It’s been a really good, albeit intense experience.

Can you help me find adult or geriatric OT where I can visit and volunteer at?  I’m still looking for a bit more volunteering.

Just finished taking a Library Research class at College of San Mateo. This “A” (hurray!) will push out some older grades on my “last 60 units” list, bringing my GPA from a 3.67 to a 3.87

I’ve got to start studying for the GRE again soon! I’m hoping to take the GRE in September.

I’ve got got rewrite my application to let it shine brightly.

I’m hoping to apply to  San Jose State on October 1st when admissions open.

In light of recent news, maybe it’s best that I didn’t accept the offer to go to CCSF’s Diagnostic Medical Imaging program. I would have been at the start of my second and final year of the program. Right now, there’s no telling if the program would be accredited. It’s still all up in the air though!