Stories

Alaa Abou-Arab, OT, a UNAC/UHCP member, and his co-author Erica Herrera, OT, share their journey together in writing Occupational Identity: Journeys of Minoritized Occupational Therapists Across Race, Religion, and Culture.

Both of my parents were born in Mexico. When they came here to the United States, my mom was pregnant with me. They came here for a better life and that's exactly what they accomplished for their lives and the lives of their children. There are five of us. My parents worked hard; they sent us to private schools. They made sure my siblings and I got a great education and reinforced the importance of getting a college education and not just stopping at high school.

Nursing is my second career. I was born and grew up in Bangladesh. When I came here to the United States, I was in a different field, working in the hospitality industry. But I had family members in the medical field, and I saw the respect and satisfaction they got from doing such rewarding work. Unlike other fields, in nursing you feel rewarded inside when you can help someone else. READ MORE

I fell in love with the patient population in the pediatric unit after I floated there. I’m kind of animated. I like making my pediatric patients smile even when they’re sick—because they will. Little things will make them smile and giggle even if they don’t want to. They can’t help being little kids. They bounce back. On our unit now, we see a lot of oncology families. I have a special place for those kids. I get to know their families and everything about them, tolerate their grumpy little attitudes. They’re so tough, those little guys.