Tina's Introduction

Hi! My name is Tina, I’m from a small town just north of Rochester, MN. Not to worry though, I’m a big ‘ol Packers fan. To sum it up I’m a country girl at heart, but I’m thrilled to be moving to the big city.

And yes, that is me scuba diving :) One of my favorite things in the world to do. If you ever get the opportunity to learn take it!

This is my first year at UWM, my sophomore year of college, and I’ll be living in Sandburg North. I transferred from UW-Eau Claire to UW-Milwaukee to pursue occupational therapy. Since declaring OT as my major I’ve found there are two general responses - 1) “You’re going to make a great occupational therapist!“ And 2) “Wait, so will you be helping people find jobs?”

Occupational therapy is similar to physical therapy but instead of movement rehabilitation (as in physical therapy) occupational therapy is more of a skill-building career. Ideally I would like to work as a pediatric occupational therapist, helping young children who have a variety of challenges in their lives to learn, grow, and become more self-sufficient.

Since high school I’ve bounced through an impressive number of majors- biology, religious studies, English, communication disorders, nursing... Occupational therapy feels like a perfect fit though; I’ll get to do hands-on studies in anatomy & physiology (my favorite subjects), I’ll get to help children one on one, and I will be trained in a skill that I can use as a health care volunteer abroad someday.

During high school I took Mandarin Chinese at the local community college. My professor was amazing; it is thanks to her that I discovered my passion for foreign languages and cultures. I’ve never been outside of the country, not even to Canada. I was planning on studying Arabic at UWM and then going to Egypt, but after seeing Eat Pray Love (Great move. Go watch it, now!) I’m completely inspired to spend a year absorbing the language, culture, and art of Italy instead… Or I guess it’s “Italia” to me now that I’m learning “Italiano” ;-) And let me just say, it is awesome to be enrolled in a university where I can switch my class schedule from Arabic to Italian overnight, such diversity!

As of right now I’m consumed with packing, shopping, and tying up loose ends here in Rochester before shipping myself, and my belongings, 5 hours East. Oh fewf, that’s going to be such a long day! I’m so excited for my first Brewer’s game tho, and for the UWM campus kickoff events. Seriously, I’m finding it hard to sit still. This year is going to be fantastic!