Adventure Awaits!

My name is Katie, and I am a second-year occupational therapy student at the University of Toronto. I am really excited to be working with Alanna and the rest of the team with the nature OT programs in the city for my third fieldwork placement!

Growing up in a small town, I was surrounded by tons of greenspace, farms, and animals. I spent my summers at my cottage in Quebec. We didn’t have any cell service or internet access at my cottage, so our days were spent outdoors swimming, boating, exploring trails, and fishing. My favourite trail took us to some waterfalls where I was able to explore and build my confidence in nature.

My brother and I exploring the waterfalls by my cottage.

One of my favourite hikes!

These early experiences inspired a love of the outdoors and a drive to find new adventures. This passion has led me to seize opportunities to explore new environments from an expedition in the Amazon rainforest to the hiking in the Rocky Mountains to chasing the Northern Lights in the Northwest Territories. All these experiences made me feel a sense of peace and connectedness to the environments around me.

Since the start of the pandemic, I felt like I had to put these adventures on hold. I moved from Banff to Toronto, and I felt like I had lost my all-access pass to nature. So, when I learned about this placement opportunity, I knew I had to jump at it as it combined my passion for occupational therapy with my passion for the outdoors. I am so excited to see where this new adventure leads, and I hope that I can inspire the children in this program to love the outdoors as much as I do!