A Great Mentor Stays With You
By: Maisie O'Brien
Every spring, Tufts OTD students spend a day learning to traverse the world in a wheelchair. They take turns navigating accessible and inaccessible terrain, gliding down curb ramps, and popping wheelies.
Hosted in partnership with Empower SCI, a nonprofit enabling individuals with spinal cord injuries to lead more meaningful and independent lives, the day provides Tufts students with insight into the lived experience of wheelchair users. This year’s Empower SCI Training was the second for Chloe Witt who first attended as a student and returned as a teaching assistant to help organize the event with Former Lecturer and Disability Rights Advocate Sarah Skeels.
“Days like these are so much fun,” Witt says. “They’re a space to learn, connect with other people, and further your understanding of how an environment can impact someone’s participation in different activities.”
Witt served as a teaching assistant for three of Skeels’ courses focused on client-centered care, health policy, and disability rights. Witt also worked with Skeels to complete her required doctoral experience capstone (DEC), a 14-week project that links occupational therapy scholarship and practice.
“Sarah is my mentor, but she’s so much more than that,” says Witt. “She encouraged us to be the best version of ourselves. She taught us what it means to support someone; how to assess if someone is ready to change; and how to understand someone’s learning style. I loved being in her classroom. She gave me so many opportunities to lead and grow, and really set me up for success.”
After graduating from Tufts, Witt began working at South Shore Hospital in an inpatient acute care setting. She floats between floors supporting clients in cardiac, orthopedic, surgical, and oncology units, and helps them prepare to leave the hospital safely.
“I love working with people,” she says. “I love helping them get their confidence and smile back. My stubborn clients are often the most rewarding to work with. I can usually get them to warm up by cracking a joke. OT is all about empowerment and showing a person that they can do the things they want to do.”
Witt was introduced to OT while studying biology and applied psychology and human development with a special education concentration at Boston College. During her time volunteering at BC’s Campus School—which serves children with physical and cognitive disabilities—she had the opportunity to shadow a pediatric occupational therapist, sparking her interest in the profession.
“I fell in love with OT,” she says. “It perfectly melded my interests in biology, the body, and education.” After graduating from Boston College, she enrolled at Tufts, which she chose because of its focus on community-based practice.
At Tufts, Witt particularly loved her courses taught by Associate Teaching Professor and Academic Fieldwork Coordinator Ryan Whitney and Assistant Teaching Professor Brynn Speroni. She served as a co-president of the Tufts Occupational Therapy Student Association, organizing community building and inclusion-focused events for students.
Witt completed fieldwork placements at a school for children with disabilities and South Shore Hospital, part of South Shore Health located in South Weymouth, MA, where she now works. “My fieldwork placements were so formative,” she says. “They were very different from each other, and I was able to see that no matter where I end up, I will love it because there’s so many branches of OT that I want to explore.”
Inspired by her Tufts professors and her experiences as a teaching assistant, Witt hopes to become a professor one day. “I love being in the classroom and working with students,” she says. “I’ve had so many supportive, inspiring, and knowledgeable professors. They’ve shaped the kind of educator I hope to become.”
A lifelong athlete, she also volunteers at New England Disabled Sports. “I like to stay connected to my community-based adaptive sports world,” she says. “I’m using my OT brain when I’m there, but it doesn’t feel like work. It’s a place of community, physical activity, and fun.”
Between working, teaching, and volunteering, Witt is in constant motion. She credits her parents and grandparents (Poppa Bob and Gama Raine) with modeling and encouraging her tenacity and empathy. “They showed me the importance of service and that if you have the means to support other people, then you should.”
Top Image: Chloe Witt and Sarah Skeels
Bottom Image: Empower SCI Wheelchair Training (Witt far left)
