I wasn't even going to apply to grad school until winter but I started emailing the head of the gerontology grad department at my dream school (Pacific University in Portland, OR, where I live) and she took a big interest in me and told me I should apply to the gerontology certificate program before applying for the Occupational Therapy program (which is what I want to be doing starting in a little over a year) and so I applied and got in! The gerontology program is a branch of the Occupational Therapy program so if I do well I feel like I will have a leg up in getting into the Occupational Therapy doctorate program the fall after this coming fall. It's a 15 month program and it's all online but having financial aid will allow me to move out of my bad living situation and move closer to the University and to quit my stressful job. I'm so excited! Things are finally falling into place.

I've been working at nursing homes and assisted living houses for the past 3 years since I finished my undergrad degree, so I think that helped me get in. I really like working with the elderly population. Eventually I want to combine my interests and do something in Occupational Therapy that combines mental health and gerontology. It's a widely undercovered field.