Niketha D’Souza is majoring in English with a concentration in poetry. She
wants to go to grad school for occupational therapy. She says, “I
worked in a rehab healthcare facility for seven years starting when I was a
sophomore in high school. I grew fond of being around the disabled
residents and after spending time with some OTs.” She got the job there thanks to the help of her mom’s friend. Later, she worked with residents in the activity department and assisted in exercise and one-on-one for those residents who were bed ridden.
Niketha enjoyed working at the rehab health care facility because she liked getting to know the residents and hearing their stories. She explains that her interactions with the residents improved their happiness living within the facility. Niketha told one of the Residents named Dolores that she was like her American Grandmother. This made Dolores so happy hearing Niketha say that to her.
She plans to attend grad school in Chicago. She is thinking of going to the
University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago State, or Midwestern. She
hopes to go to grad school in fall of 2013. Niketha likes to write creatively
but says it’s only a hobby and she wants to write on the side. She says being an OT comes first but she is working on a novel on the side.
She also has another project she wants to work on in the summer. This
project was inspired by the residents who went through many hardships.
She would like to take certain residents whom she has known for an extensive amount of time and write a semi-fictionalized story about their life. For example if one of them always wanted to go to Sweden she would write the ending that they went to Sweden. She says she plans to get their permission before writing about them. She wants this to be a present to the residents.
Sounds like an exciting project that would bring smiles to the resident’s faces. Niketha has a lot to offer and she has a bright future ahead of her!