Elise with friends in the Spanish soup kitchen that paired with elementary schools to pick up and re-cook leftover food and serve it to those in need.During a drive in the fall of 2020 to visit her grandfather in Tupelo, MS, Elise Pittman had a moment of clarity about her future. Her mother, a speech therapist, had told her for years that she’d be a great occupational therapist (OT), but Pittman had always passed on the idea. At that moment, however, she knew it was the fit she’d been looking since earning her undergraduate degree in 2017.

She hadn’t been entirely happy with her plan for her first year after graduation. She was headed to an internship at a church in Vilanova i la Geltrú, a small Spanish fishing town 40 km southwest of Barcelona.

“I just felt like everybody had their thing to go to [after graduation], and all my friends said, ‘Oh, you’re going to Spain, that’s so cool.’ But internally, I felt I was not progressing like I wanted to,” she says. “I had this part of me that wanted to achieve a high goal, and I felt like I didn’t know what I was doing.”

But her experience abroad would make her more comfortable with herself—and with taking time to discover the career she wanted. She taught English at the small church and cleaned it once a week, worked two nights a week at a local soup kitchen, and became fluent in Spanish.

After a year she returned home to Birmingham, AL, where she worked as a student minister and mission coordinator and started a graduate program in education at a local university.

“I thought I would be a Spanish teacher, but I withdrew after one semester,” she says. “I had been putting so much into it and trying so hard, but I didn’t feel a spark. I wasn’t excited about it—I think I just wanted so badly for something to fit.”

Soon after, she began a job as a special education aide in a Birmingham suburb, where one of her coworkers was an OT who provided therapy for some of Pittman’s students.

“I would drop the kids off to see her,” she says. “One day she asked if I wanted to shadow her and see what she does. I was interested, so every time one of my kids went for therapy, I would go with them and sit in a corner and watch.”

Shadowing her coworker ignited the spark she’d been looking for and she began to think seriously about a career in OT.

Here, Pittman, 27, talks about how she learned to take the time she needed to let her future unfold, why she chose UAB to pursue her OTD degree, and her love of teatime and outdoor adventures.

Elise and her dad about to take off on a bike ride.

How you were able to slow down and discover what you wanted to do with your life?

I feel like our culture really pushes you to either find your forever job right away or go to grad school. And I didn’t know what I was supposed to be doing. Then, one of my ministers told me about an opportunity to serve for a year at a church in Spain.

I lived alone there, and I was more by myself than with other people. I became more of a listener than an in-your-face talker. I’m still extroverted, but I enjoy my alone time a lot more after that experience.

Living there also gave me a larger worldview and [the knowledge] that different people have different experiences and don’t always know [what the future holds]. I learned I didn’t need to push so hard to figure everything out. In Spain, I learned more about the world and how things don’t have to be just one way.

What was your next move when you decided occupational therapy was the career for you?

My boyfriend lives in Bozeman, Montana, and at first my plan was to move there and do an online program. I started looking at prerequisites and online programs in late 2020. I was going to be super ambitious and apply for the coming year.

I found a program at [a Texas university]. It was 70% online and 30% on campus—you’d go for a week each semester. It seemed like a good option.

You were close to accepting an admission offer from the Texas program. Why did you choose UAB instead?

I didn’t have any of the prereqs [when I started the application process]. I talked to different OT administrators, and they all just told me, “You have to have the prereqs.” There was such a difference when I called Kerry [Kerry McAlpine, administrator of graduate and professional admissions for UAB’s Department of Occupational Therapy].

I think we stayed on the phone for two hours that first day. Kerry took the time to go through all my questions and talk me through everything. He said, “You can get in, you can do it.” It really felt like he was Team Elise.

I thought, “Okay, I’m going to get this done.” Kerry worked with me for the next year to help make it happen. During the application process I interviewed with [the Texas program] at the same time I interviewed at UAB. I interviewed for the Texas program in front of a computer that asked recorded questions—there was no person involved.

Being outdoors with friends is one of Elise's most-loved activities.It wasn't until Kerry called me to tell me I’d gotten in that I [made my final decision]. The other program sent me an acceptance through email. UAB’s process just felt much more personal.

What do you think your biggest challenge will be in the next few years?

Sometimes, I feel overwhelmed by how much we have to learn in two and a half years. It’s also a challenge to get back into the routine of studying after being out of school for so long.

I wonder, how are we going to learn everything we need to know, how am I going to ask all my questions, how am I going to get to know all these people? But it will happen, and I’m excited about the different perspectives everyone brings and being in an environment that encourages conversations between students and professors. I know this is exactly where I need to be.

What else would you like your classmates and professors to know about you?

I want to make friends with everybody! I love tea, so I’m here for anyone who wants to do teatime. I love camping, hiking, biking, and running—I’m signed up for the next New York Marathon.

I really enjoy being outdoors and love it when friends come with me. I also love food and, while I’ve been living here for 27 years, I still have restaurants on my list. Let me know if you want to go explore with me!