Interested in OTA? Try SOTA!
Are you interested in pursuing a career within the occupational therapy field? If so, Huntington University is the place for you. With high accreditations and a crew of experienced professors, the OTA program at HU is prepared to equip you for success in improving the daily lives of others through occupational therapy. One of the opportunities OTA students have at HU is to be a part of the Student Occupational Therapy Association (SOTA).
SOTA is a student-led club that is for all OTA students. The chapter at HU focuses on forming relationships amongst OTA students and serving the Huntington area through volunteering. Volunteering is crucial for HU’s OTA program, as students are able to employ their communication skills and work with people of different abilities and situations, which allows them to envision what their future career might look like. SOTA also acts as an education and professionalism tool.
“SOTA helps prepare students to enter the OT workforce by expanding their knowledge of occupational therapy through guest speakers and informed presentations and discussions between OTA students. The knowledge and experiences gained in SOTA may help OTA students decide on a more specific area of occupational therapy they may want to pursue in their career,” said Amanda Kramer, SOTA advisor and OTA lab manager
HU’s current SOTA president, senior Anna Kamphausen, provided even more insight into the group’s activities, which are the source of the OTA knowledge and experience Kramer mentioned. From bake sales, carnivals centered on educating others about common disabilities and adaptive equipment, and fundraisers, Kamphausen firmly believes that advocating for others is central to the mission of SOTA.
“OT is a rapidly growing profession and is commonly misunderstood. It is through events like the carnival and fundraisers for the community that we hope to educate people and bring awareness of how to be better neighbors to those of all abilities.”
SOTA perfectly embodies HU’s mission of serving others and succeeding academically to honor Christ. For more information about how you can be involved in SOTA as a current or future HU student, check out the Department of Occupational Therapy for registration information and student testimonials. Better yet, hear from Kamphausen herself!
“I would love for incoming freshman to be open to pushing themselves outside of their comfort zone. Learning to say yes when it’s not comfortable is a lifelong recipe for growth. I never pictured being SOTA President or being the 2023 IOTA OTA Student of the Year, but it was through saying yes to opportunities that intimidated me that made that helped me to grow into who I am today. Learning to say yes to things that were scary at first transformed how I understand my own potential and the potential in others.”
