Madeline Northrop

Career/Major Project Paper

This semester I found it very helpful that we took different
assessments to help us see what careers are best suited for our personalities
and interests. My results for Type Focus were ENFP, E for extraversion, N for
intuition, F for feeling, and P for perceiving. Some of the statements in the
General Description that stuck out to me were things such as being friendly
and creative. I also find that I start a new project before finishing an older
one, and that I often feel drawn to taking a leadership role and enjoy
communicating my vision to a crowd. Careers recommended to people with
an ENFP personality type are often things that include working along with
people and helping others in creative ways. These include jobs similar to:
counselling, teaching, psychology, and public relations. My Strong Interest
Inventory assessment resulted in SCI. S for Social, C for conventional, and I
for investigative. SCI interest types can mean you like to work as part of a
team, you enjoy having things organized, and that you are drawn to science
subjects. I felt like these tests were very accurate with my interests and the
way I see my personality. They have overlapping qualities with working with
others and helping other people.
After visiting a rehabilitation hospital and speaking with different
therapists including: a physical, speech, and occupational therapist there, I
have decided to look more into Occupational Therapy. An occupational

therapist works with patients who have been injured, are ill, or are disabled
by helping them develop, recover, and improve skills they use in everyday
life, such as eating or brushing their hair. An occupational therapist makes a
treatment plan for their patients, demonstrates exercise for them, and
assesses patients activities and progress. Most occupational therapists have
pursued a masters degree in occupational therapy which can take between
2 to 3 years to complete. Before admission into a graduate program for
occupational therapy it is usually recommended to have a bachelors degree
in a general major such as biology or physiology. It is also recommended to
have volunteer work with an occupational therapist. Jobs similar to
occupational therapy that I found interesting are physical therapy,
recreational therapy, and athletic training. All of which are very social jobs in
which people are allowed to work closely with their patients helping them
recover from injuries, illnesses, or disabilities. In the US occupational therapy
is expected to grow 29% from the years 2012-2022, and in Florida it is
expected to grow 30% from 6,210 jobs to 8,080 jobs with approximately 310
job openings every year. An occupational therapists will typically work in a
hospital, but can also find a job working for a school or nursing care facility.
During my job shadow trip I visited a therapist who works in a physical,
speech, and occupational therapy office.
By visiting a rehabilitation hospital and asking what majors they
pursued to become physical and occupational therapists, I quickly learned
that majoring in a very Physical Therapy major such as exercise science or

pre-physical therapy is often warned against doing. Physical Therapy

graduate schools are very competitive to get into because of the small class
size that is accepted, and if someone majors in something very specific for
those jobs and doesnt get into a graduate school, not many jobs are offered
without the masters degree. I looked into different majors such as biology or
physiology which were recommended by the therapists. I also did research
myself and am now considering majoring in sociology, as this can be a major
with plenty of jobs straight out of college and is flexible enough to take
classes needed for graduate school. Majoring in Sociology requires a total of
120 hours: 41 university core requirements, 8 college core requirements, 18
supporting coursework, 15 major concentration, 16 required courses, and 2931 electives. It is part of the college of liberal arts and has many advisors
such as Janice Clifford and Greg Weaver who specialize in Sociology. This
program doesnt involve a specific GPA or application process for admission.
The curriculum for sociology majors dont include much science, so I may
need to consider a way to take more science courses to fulfil the
requirements for graduate schools, such as tagging on a minor more rooted
in science in addition to the sociology degree. One thing I am excited for with
this major is the amount of sociology courses, even though I havent taken
one yet, I have looked into the subject of sociology and find it is similar to
another subject I am interested in, psychology. Things that concern me about
this major are the foreign language courses required, that I will need to find a
way to take enough science classes required for graduate school, and if that

will be enough for me to be a competitive candidate for being accepted into

a graduate school.
In the spring I am taking some courses that can help me decide better
if sociology will be a major I can be successful in while I continue to research
other potential majors I could pursue. While on my job shadow, I discussed
different ways that can better the chances of getting into a graduate school
for occupational therapy, and one thing the therapist strongly recommended
to us was gaining experience by doing a lot of volunteer work. In the spring, I
hope to find a local occupational therapist, either at a hospital or an
occupational therapy office that I can volunteer for. By volunteering I can
gain some experience that graduate schools will be looking for, and I can get
the chance to make sure that occupational therapy is a career I want to
pursue.
This class has given me the opportunity to look into a potential career I
am considering pursuing and think about other options I may want to
consider based on the results of my different personality and interest tests. I
found the most help not just in the tests that tell us potential careers that fit
our personality and interest types, but I liked being able to go to a
rehabilitation hospital and sit down with a physical therapist. By talking to
the physical therapist I was able to ask questions and was grateful to have
him give very straight forward answers and also give very real advice about
how he got into graduate school and his recommendations that will best help
me.