Erica Lopez: Non-Traditional Student to Clinical Employment
Erica Lopez Susque-View Home Nursing and Rehabilitation Center Non-Traditional Student to Clinical to Employment The decision to go back to college in my mid 30’s was not taken lightly. My husband and I bantered back and forth for months about it. His argument usually consisting of “why not?” and “you owe it to yourself”, while mine sounded more like “how can I do this with 3 young children”? I decided I could and am so grateful that I had such loving support along the way. I knew I wanted to study Occupational Therapy. Our oldest child had received OT for fine motor skills and it intrigued me. My return to school started out very part-time. Entering the classroom as a non-traditional student was not as intimidating as I expected due to PA College of Technology being known for its high non-traditional student population. I managed to get through all the prerequisite classes, while juggling family life, and was granted admission into the OTA program. My journey