“My name is Rebecca Mitchell, and I had Paula Carey as a TherapyEd tutor from June 26, 2023 to October 2nd, 2023. At that point in time, I had failed the exam twice and felt like I exhausted all options from: receiving Pass the OT tutoring to studying AOTA, NBCOT StudyPack, TherapyEd, 450 Formula Videos, and OT Miri Videos. My tutor through Pass the OT would show up late, and end the sessions on time often making me feel like I was just a paycheck. Then I met Paula. She showed up on time, improved my critical reasoning, listened when I needed it, helped me develop a time management plan, catered each session to strengthen my problem areas, helped me develop confidence, pushed me to work on my mental health, and believed in me even when I didn’t. She never made me feel like my questions were stupid, and would always answer them even if it was close to the end of our session. She was tutoring so many people, but always made me feel like I was a priority. Before meeting Paula, I was studying 8-10 hours a day, overthinking questions, reading too much into details, spiraling when I couldn’t find answers, and constantly stuck on questions that haunted me from past exams. My third attempt I increased 20 points, but didn’t pass by 9 points. I was absolutely devastated because I was so adamant in my mind that I past. After this, I had hit one of the lowest points of my life, and began questioning if I still wanted to become an OT. I broke down to Paula during a tutoring session. I explained to her how I was grieving a family member, navigating planning a wedding and helping close friends plan their weddings, and going through big life changes. I told her my reservations about becoming an OT, lack of motivation, and how the fear of failure was consuming my life. Paula didn’t charge me for that session, but listened to me and showed me grace. That session became a pivotal point in changing my mindset, and the trajectory for the weeks to come. She helped me realize it wasn’t the content, but essentially my mental health. Every test I took I missed it by a couple points, but never walked away thinking I didn’t know enough content. When people would quiz me I knew it, and when I did questions I had the right critical thinking. I would pass every time I took practice tests, because I didn’t have anxiety or the fear of failure while taking them. My anxiety would get so bad the weeks leading up to the exam that I wouldn’t sleep for days. By my 4th attempt the only thing I had done differently was work on my mental health. I attended therapy once a week, strengthened my relationship with God, met with Paula once a week, but only studied/reviewed the content for 2 weeks for a couple hours a day leading up to the exam. I didn’t study the two days prior to the exam for the first time ever, and engaged in occupations I enjoyed and relaxed. The 4th time I passed with flying colors. This showed me that even if you have all of the right study tools and know all of the content if you aren’t in the right headspace you won’t pass. I’ve grown more over this year than I have my whole life, and Paula was a crucial component in that. She made a huge impact on my life both professionally and personally, and I will be forever grateful that we met. If you need a tutor, please don’t hesitate choosing Paula Carey!!!”
- Rebecca Mitchell