Alumni Stories
“Living my potential” - How an unexpected career U-turn led Katie to her calling
Katie Van Soest didn’t follow a linear career pathway to find her true calling, which brought her to the University of Canberra.
Katie grew up in Narooma, on the New South Wales South Coast. After finishing high school, she moved to Victoria to complete a Bachelor of Science at Monash University, majoring in genetics and psychology. Despite her interest in these fields, she found herself uncertain about the career path she wanted to pursue.
“I didn’t really know what I wanted to do when I finished my degree and ended up falling back on my part-time job as an early childhood educator,” Katie says.
She spent nearly a decade in early learning, where she was exposed to the work of paediatric occupational therapists.
“I loved the work that they did and thought it was really fascinating,” Katie says.
“But I knew that I didn’t get enough marks in my undergraduate degree to get into a Master of Occupational Therapy program.”
Determined to pursue this newfound passion, Katie began searching for alternative pathways. She discovered that completing a graduate diploma in a health-related field could provide the leverage she needed and went on to complete a postgraduate diploma in mental health and neuroscience at the University of Sunshine Coast.
“It was a one-year, full time course which covered areas like ADHD and autism, but what I really found interesting was healthy brain ageing,” Katie says.
With her postgraduate diploma completed, Katie was finally able to enrol in the Master of Occupational Therapy at UC. She relocated from Sydney to Canberra for the course.
“Doing face-to-face learning and making really good friends in my cohort really helped with the transition of moving to another city,” Katie says.
“It was full on, as I was studying full-time and still working quite a lot.”
Katie found the teaching staff to be passionate and approachable, which further enriched her learning experience. Outside of the classroom she experienced how broad the field of OT can be. At the start of her studies, she envisioned herself working in paediatric occupational therapy, given her background in early learning. However, her placements and other opportunities gradually shifted her focus.
“My first placement was in Canberra Hospital’s adult mental health unit, which I thought would be quite confronting, but it ended up being a really wonderful and rewarding experience,” Katie says.
She also had the opportunity to complete a placement with the SPICE (Sustainable Personalised Interventions for Cognitive, Care, and Engagement) program, delivered through the University of Canberra Hospital, with researchers from UC’s Centre for Ageing Research and Translation (CARAT).
“The philosophies of SPICE were so aligned with my growing interest in healthy brain ageing and working with older people,” she says.
One of Katie’s most memorable experiences was a rural placement project in her hometown of Narooma. It involved working at an Indigenous preschool, creating learning resources for the children and collaborating with the educators.
“It was daunting not having a supervisor on hand every day, but I learned a lot and I loved contributing to the local community,” she says.
Currently, Katie works three days a week as a community occupational therapist while continuing her studies as a full-time PhD student at UC.
“I’m still in the swing of being a crazy uni student trying to fit everything in,” she laughs.
Katie’s PhD focuses on an evaluation of the SPICE for Life project, an extension of the original SPICE program. The project is funded by Carers ACT and provides graduate SPICE participants with the opportunity to engage in allied health interventions to maintain the quality of life of people living with dementia and their care partners. The pilot program provides placement opportunities for UC’s allied health students, who are overseen by clinicians, including occupational therapist, psychologist, and exercise physiologist.
“My role in SPICE for Life looks at the program’s effectiveness and identifying areas for improvement,” Katie says.
“So far, the pilot is being shaped by the participants. We’re learning about what they find interesting and beneficial, which is wonderful to be involved in.”
Although she is the early stages of her PhD, she is drawn to the idea of contributing to systemic changes in healthcare, applying research to clinical practice.
“I love the idea of contributing to the bigger picture,” she says.
“Looking back on those years of doing my undergrad and working in early childhood education, I felt like I wasn’t reaching my full potential, because I felt like there were so many barriers to getting where I wanted to go.
“Now that I’m doing my PhD, I feel I’m living up to my potential and going beyond what I thought I was capable of.”
Receiving her Master of Occupational Therapy in UC’s September graduation ceremonies was a significant milestone, with Katie’s parents watching on with pride.
“Neither of my parents went to university and now both of their daughters have master's degrees and I'm pursuing my PhD,” she says.
“They’re extremely proud and they don't shy away from telling us that.”
Word by Emma Larouche, photos by Liam Budge.