This page is designed to be a reflection on my honors experiences at IU Indianapolis. I will go into detail about my experiences and skill development over my 4 years in the honors college.
During my time in the honors college at IU Indy, I have used my resources and opportunities to better explore my future career. All of my effort has been to further develop skills needed to be an occupational therapist. I have used all of my honors experiences to research and further explore the world of rehabilitation and occupational therapy. It is my dream to become a pediatric occupational therapist, so it makes sense that so many of my experiences revolve around the therapy world
To complete honors credit, I had the opportunity to complete an honors contract almost every single semester. For every class I explored new modalities to share and present the information that I found. I have reflected on my honors experiences at the end of every semester, and I can safely say that every one of my projects have been helpful to me in multiple ways. I like that I can look back at every project I have completed over my undergraduate years and see the growth in my writing, creativity, and modes of communication. I liked to relate the things we were learning in class to my interests and skills that I have improved upon. I found that by relating the class topics to rehabilitation, I learned more about the class and more about my future career. Some of my favorite honors contracts were when I explored a topic that I was interested in, it made the extra project seem less like added work and more into a fun project.
I have written a couple papers, shared presentations, created websites, and gotten real world experiences for my honors credit. My favorite paper I wrote for an honors contract was my paper on Moral Development in Children. I wrote this paper for Developmental Psychology, and I found many interesting studies that I otherwise would not have researched. I enjoyed writing this paper because I was able to include some real-life scenarios that I had been in to further explain my topic. I have worked in pediatrics for many years and feel like I am an expert in child interactions. These are important skills for me to have developed over the years for my future as a pediatric occupational therapist.
You can view all my completed honors contracts and further reflection on this dedicated page.
My favorite presentation that I did for an honors contract was for Exercise Physiology when I presented on rehabilitation for stroke survivors. I recorded myself sharing my presentation. By creating and sharing the presentation I improved my communication skills and public speaking skills. I had to focus on the way I was speaking to make sure that it was clear and that the video recording was good to be shared. I have not always been the biggest fan of public speaking or presenting in general so working on strengthening these skills is important for me. The more chances I have gotten to speak in front of a group of people the better my communication skills have gotten. I have always enjoyed the ability to present and share what I feel is interesting and important with honors contracts. There is freedom in picking a topic that I enjoy, but it takes the extra effort to relate it to the class material. I have enjoyed relating all my honors contracts to therapy in some way. This has helped me become a better critical thinker and stronger communicator. I have always felt that it is easier to talk about a subject that you truly care about and want to share with others.
"Don't be afraid to share what you know, because you know it better than anybody else"
~ Bob Buckman
I found this quote when searching for quotes about the benefits of communication. I like how it encourages others to share what they know. I hope I will continue sharing what I know as I go through life.
"I prefer a little bit of chaos otherwise the day gets boring"
I was helping in the SPOT classroom and talking to the staff about working with children. She said this and I completely agree, it is the reason why I want to work with children. You can learn so much from the unexpected things in life.
The internship that I am completing in my final semester has been the most worthwhile honors experience. I decided to count my internship at K1ds Count Therapy for honors credit, and I have been having the best time learning about the careers and getting work experience. I have been improving upon my professional skills and problem-solving skills at my internship. I have learned how to be a better innovator over my time at K1ds Count. A lot of the time they will give me a task or an idea of something that they want to be done, and I will have to come up with a way to do what they want. I have used the skills I already had to help me be a better help K1ds Count and complete the tasks that they give me. I have had more chances to be creative and come up with projects at this internship. I like coming up with projects for myself that I feel would benefit the office. I repurposed old game pieces to make new matching game. I didn't like the idea of simply throwing games away when they still had the potential to still be used. I have also made a couple sensory bins and bottles on my own and the staff are really appreciative and have told me that they like that I think ahead and come up with fun projects on my own for them to use. A lot of the time the therapists don't have much extra time to prep and create filler activities for their clients, so I have liked being able to put together activities that they can use.
Now that I am at the end of my undergraduate journey I can look back and appreciate the effort that I have put into being an honors student. I look back at all of my work and accomplishments, and I am proud of the growth that I can see in myself and in my work. I like that I kept adding to my ePortfolio every semester because I am able to see my growth in not only the work that I have completed but also in my reflections on those projects. I can see my communication skills and confidence to try new things through my past projects. I have worked hard to build skills that are useful to me and will help me in the future. I am so happy to have had professional expereinces through classes and through honors experiences. I know what my goals have always been and I continue to work towards them in my academics and otherwise. I will continue to work on building and strengthening my skills as I continue with my journey in academics and life.