Sayge is on Her Way to Becoming a Pediatric Occupational Therapist

Sayge Bohannon is confident that this will be a great school year. Having done well in college-level classes last year, now she's feeling far less nervous about taking four classes online at the Community College of Vermont (CCV) through Vermont's Early College program, while enrolled in Richford High School.

Sayge is also president of her school’s National Honor Society chapter and stays active in soccer and track. Between the coursework and her other activities, Sayge feels ready for senior year, with just the right amount of challenge to prepare her for college.

“Of all places,” TikTok inspired Sayge’s research into her career focus.

Sayge will be applying to colleges this fall as well. The oldest of six siblings (including two sets of twins), she’s been around kids her whole life and loves working with them. She knows she doesn’t want to be a teacher or in a classroom setting, although a career where she can help people appeals to her.

She’s put those passions together and will be applying to programs to prepare her to be a pediatric occupational therapist. “Of all places, I actually found out about the career on TikTok, believe it or not,” she laughed. “At the time, I thought I wanted to be a nurse but have also always loved working with kids. I saw a ‘day in the life’ on TikTok and I was so interested in the opportunity to be able to work with kids living with disabilities.” As she researched it more, she became even more invested in the option for her future.

To make sure it was what she wanted, Sayge shadowed an occupational therapist at the University of Vermont Medical Center. While the experience was mostly focused on older patients, she says she got a lot out of her time there, and it affirmed her interest in working with kids.

Putting the puzzle together: preparing for college

As she’s started to put the pieces together to apply to college this year, Sayge is relying more and more on Matt Mitchell, a VSAC outreach counselor in VSAC’s GEAR UP college and career readiness program. She describes her school as a place where she feels like she always has access to the resources she needs to get help with college-related questions. Sayge started working with Matt a few years ago.

“I meet with him every other week to work through my questions. I’ve had so many, and I want to make sure I’m on the right track,” she says.

Her school counselor helps as well, and together, they’ve helped Sayge navigate her college-level curriculum, and now college applications. “I worked with Matt on my Common Application, and he’s always there helping to guide me and making sure that the colleges I’m looking at are aligned with my goals,” she shares.

Matt also helped Sayge find a scholarship that will cover the cost of some of her textbooks and course materials for the CCV classes she is currently taking. She needed some financial help to make it work out, and he was able to guide her to the scholarship that would eventually cover it.

They’re now working on the list of where Sayge will apply to college. She’s winnowing her list down to exactly what she wants, but it’s tough. She toured two colleges this summer and may be doing some more tours this fall. She had to do the FAFSA financial aid forms for her CCV program, and feels good that it’s already familiar to her, now that she’s completing it again for this fall’s college applications.

Sayge dreams big, but trusts her instincts

“I always knew I wanted to go to college,” Sayge notes. “I’ve always enjoyed school and learning and college is something my mom always wanted for me and supported as she didn’t have that opportunity.” Sayge shares that the big goals she has for herself also make her mom proud.

As she gets everything organized for fall applications, her essay, FAFSA, other scholarship applications, and everything else on her big list, Sayge is learning to trust her instincts, working through her questions to clarify that she’s heading in the right direction. “When I’ve done the work, I’ll know it’s the right fit,” she says.  

It’s something she learned through her CCV application process, and she’s applying that same work ethic this fall to her next steps. With hard work and a little guidance, Sayge is ready to trust the process—confident that wherever she lands, it'll be exactly where she's meant to be.