Hey there! My name is Adam McMahon! Throughout my life, I have dealt with challenge after challenge. I grew up in Folsom, CA (I’m sure y’all know Johnny Cash lol). I was raised by two amazing parents that taught me hard work to overcome the challenges in life. Challenges including school, sports, developing social skills, being fit, or working a job, I had to create ways to achieve goals for challenges faced in life.
I wasn’t the smartest kid in high school. In fact, people called me stupid all the time, and this is no joke. It bothered me, and maybe I was a stupid kid. I barely was achieving a 3.0 GPA, so was this true that I am a stupid kid? I realized that I had to work 2x harder to achieve the GPA I wanted to gain a quality education at a high level university institution. It wasn’t until my senior year of high school until I realized this. My extra hard work paid off, I was able to achieve the GPA I wanted to get accepted at the University of Nevada, Reno. So when I look back, it was my thoughts of being a “stupid kid,” holding me back to achieve my goals. I wasn’t a stupid kid, I was very smart and I was scratching the surface to become the person I wanted to be. People don’t make who you are, YOU make who you are!
Me and my family moved to Reno, NV before my first semester of college. My first semester of college I worked my tail off. I achieved a 3.68 GPA, which I was damn proud off. It was better than any GPA I got in high school!
It wasn’t until the summer of 2018 when I wanted to become an occupational therapist. I thought to myself, these are the occupations that make me who I am. The gym, running, school, eating, hanging out with family and friends, valuing hard work in a job, or even buying the clothes that I thought would make me look cool, these were the occupations that made the freak I am today. And I am okay with that.
I failed tests and quizzes through college. I faced self-doubt. Am I good enough to get into OT school? Was I really that stupid kid after all? These were fears that I had that gave me tons of test anxiety. However, I created numerous of ways to study for these exams and quizzes. Rewriting down my notes in spiral notebooks, making flashcards, spending HOURS and HOURS in the library. Yeah I had to work my tail off. I honestly though I was overstudying sometimes. But that’s okay, because I was able to pass those classes! I was resilient to overcome these external barriers that I had. And through hard work gaining OT volunteer hours and saving enough money, I was able to get in OT school!
I graduated from from the University of Nevada, Reno with a Bachelors of Science, Kinesiology degree in the spring of 2021. A month later, I was accepted to the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences for OT school. Yeah, I was excited. But in my mind, more challenges would come, and I had to develop NEW ways to overcome the MANY challenges OT school brought upon me. And sure not, there were a TON of challenges.
If you are a pre or current OT, PT, or even a graduate student of any kind, I hope this platform finds good use to you. I will share my stories and experiences to overcome challenges for you to become the professional you want to be!
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