Today is a very special day, the feast of St. John Bosco [Happy Feast Everyone!!] and it feels like the perfect moment to pause and reflect on two deeply connected parts of my life: my Salesian upbringing and my vocation as an occupational therapist. The more I reflect, the more I realise… it’s really no wonder I ended up where I am.

Growing up shaped by the Salesians of Don Bosco, I was constantly reminded that education is about forming the whole person, body, mind, and spirit. Don Bosco’s Preventive System, grounded in reason, faith, and loving kindness, taught us that people thrive when they feel understood, valued, and genuinely cared for. This takes me back to all the modules we studied in first year (CMOP-E, MOHO etc…)

When I look at occupational therapy through that lens, the parallels are impossible to miss. OT doesn’t see people as problems to be fixed, but as individuals full of potential, shaped by their environments, relationships, and life experiences. It’s about understanding the person within their world, not apart from it.

Don Bosco filled his oratory with work, play, music, learning, and community life because he believed that meaningful occupation gives dignity, purpose, and direction. That belief sits right at the heart of occupational therapy. Every day, OT focuses on daily activities, productivity, rest, and self-care, not just as tasks to be completed, but as powerful tools for healing and growth. What we do shapes who we are.

One of Don Bosco’s most beautiful reminders was that it’s not enough to love young people, they must know they are loved. Real change happens in relationship. Whether as educators or therapists, our role is not to walk ahead of people, but to walk with them.

That’s why, as a therapists, we place such importance on building safe, positive, and trusting therapeutic relationships. Because healing, learning, and growth don’t happen in isolation, they happen when people feel seen, supported, and truly accompanied.

I can’t help but encourage anyone reading, especially young people who are still discerning their path, to take a closer look at both the Salesians of Don Bosco in Malta and the vocation of occupational therapy.

The Salesians in Malta continue to offer spaces where young people are welcomed, accompanied, challenged, and deeply cared for, places where talents are nurtured, faith is lived joyfully, and community truly matters. Whether or not religious life is your calling, the Salesian spirit has a way of shaping hearts that care deeply for others and for the world around them, i know that was it for me!

And if you’re drawn to a profession that values people for who they are, believes in potential over limitations, and uses everyday life as a tool for healing and growth, occupational therapy might just be worth exploring. It’s a career rooted in compassion, creativity, and relationship, one that allows you to walk alongside others as they discover what gives their lives meaning.

Sometimes, the path we choose is already being gently formed by the values we’ve grown up with. If you feel called to serve, to accompany, and to help others flourish, trust that pull. You never know where it might lead and how beautifully it might all connect in the end.