During Christmas break an uncle said he would be interested to know if I was more tired after a day of "working" than I had been after a day of studying. During this first week of fieldwork, I'd definitely say I'm more tired now than I was after a day sitting at my desk. Most evenings I felt like I could have go to bed at 6. That is a bit early so I've managed to stay awake until about 8:30. It's not that the work is hard and I haven't been tired during the day. Rather, everything is new and I'm learning to think in new ways. It all requires plenty of mental energy.
Over the first few days I would observe an OT work with a patient and think I knew what was going on -- until the OT asked a question about what I'd seen. Oops, I hadn't been paying attention to that. I was a bit overwhelmed by all I was to be observing while also figuring out what to do with patients that would actually help them improve. As the week went on, I became more comfortable in my role. I think there are two main reasons for that. One is the encouragement of the OTs I'm working with and their gentle corrections. The other is the significant improvement a couple of the patients made over the course of the week. There is still a long way to go before I'm ready to be on my own, but I'm headed in the right direction.
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