Your Pen Pal Al

      Each year, a member of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) is chosen to receive the "Eleanor Clark-Slagle" award for their unique contributions to occupational therapy through research, education, and practice. I chose to review the findings of the 2018 award recipient— Gordon Muir Giles.      2018 was a year centered around the highs and lows of leadership around the globe. Donald Trump completed his second year of presidency, and controversy over immigration spiked. Leaders of North and South Korea declared peace after decades of hostility, and Meghan Markle became part of the royal family. In addition to these noteworthy events, psychological research was booming. As we learn more and more about our brain, we learn how to use our mental process toward our advantage. Gordon Muir Giles did just that as he applied research on cognitive processes to those with mental impairments.      Gordon Muir Giles is a professor at ...

Hello!     My name is Allison Hyatt, but on this blog, I'll be known as your pen pal Al. I am a first-year student at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and a member of the occupational therapy program. I recently finished my Bachelor of Science at Harding University where I studied Exercise Science and Psychology. I was born and raised a Memphian, and I look forward to completing my master's in my hometown.      As cliche as it may sound, I've dreamed of going to OT school for quite some time. During my senior year of high school, a couple of occupational therapy students from UTHSC came and spoke to my anatomy class. They described the joys of the profession and the steps they took to get to graduate school. Their presentation must've been quite convincing because from that moment on, I knew exactly what I wanted my future to look like. I began preparing right away, and I couldn't understand why some of my friends were majoring in "undecided....