Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jimmy Dang. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Jimmy, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear stories from your time in school/training/etc.

We had this saying in our DYC MOT (D’Youville College Master’s of Occupational Therapy) class of 2018. It was 83s gets degrees. The program itself brought many challenges and as much as we said that saying amongst ourselves we all tried our best. 83s was the minimum final grade in a class we could get, so if we were to get an 82 in one course at the end of the semester, we would be placed on academic probation. That 83s get degrees quickly turned to Academic Probation sends us off to Fieldwork/Clinicals/Rotations. Which happened to me the semester before I spent the next 6 months in a vestibular clinic and school district. Now look at me, in year 4 of my career as an Occupational Therapist

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I am 31 years old, born and raised Houstonian, who resides in Sugar Land TX.

I got into sports back in high school, because a girl told me she wouldn’t date me cause I was too short and too fat … #SHORTKING. That led me down a path of exercising and dieting which probably did not help with my battle with confidence, self-esteem, and body dysmorphia. We will save that for another time, but I am better mentally as an individual. That drive eventually led me into my athletic career starting with cross-country and track. I also have competed in rec league basketball, marathons and half marathons, local CrossFit competitions, and Olympic Lifting competitions. I currently have since retired from competitive sports, but still exercise regularly.

Before I became an occupational therapist, I earned my Bachelor’s in Kinesiology as I was highly invested in competitive sports, fitness, and athletics. I earned my degree at Houston Baptist University in 2013, but could only get odd jobs such as tutoring, UPS warehouse worker, Gym trainer, and private personal trainer. I couldn’t get with the sales mentality of pushing products, so I finally was lucky to obtain a rehab tech job at a skilled nursing facility. After talking to my high school crush (of course I was too oblivious to know if she ever liked me back) about careers. She told me she was an Occupational Therapist and the rest is history.

My other passion that has become trendy and popular is cosplay. the idea of going to a comic book convention as my favorite superhero has always been a dream since 2009. I finally made that dream come true after a breakup in my senior year of college in 2013 (Women really do rule the world). I spent that final year discovering myself with the help of a friend I met through my art courses. Her name is Paige, if you end up seeing this, I just want to give you a shout-out for being a real one! Though my first cosplay wasn’t Tobey Maquire’s Spider-Man… please enjoy this oh-so-embarrassing Robin Cosplay I made!

Now I am a home health occupational therapist since I graduated in the spring of 2018, where I work with patients in their homes to regain their functional independence. Easily confused with physical therapy, but I am always available to explain further.

Some of my favorite moments in my career as an Occupational Therapist have to be seeing people achieve these “small”, “simple”, or “basic” milestones back in their lives. In the rehab world, tasks such as being able to get out of bed, a chair, into a shower/tub, and into the car are giant milestones. I have had a patient I was able to assist going from hospice to walking and going back to church. Another patient who was bedbound for 6 months before I met them, is currently back to walking, dressing, toileting, and driving herself. I recently met a gentleman who I hope can rehabilitate to go back to traveling as it is the holiday season as I am typing this and his kids live in NYC.

Regarding my achievements in my other life of fitness and cosplay. I think being able to inspire people even when I think no one sees that from me. Helping inspire people to get into the gym or work on their health, even if it is 1 person is very heartwarming for me. Being Spider-Man and seeing kids and people in general excited just brings joy. I think in today’s society it’s hard to figure out who is “Real” or “Acting” like your friend, I guess the word I’m looking for is genuine. I have this belief that people who have met me at conventions or on social media see me as an extrovert and socialite. But I’m just a guy who wants you to know, I genuinely care what you have to say. So if you consider me a close friend, that does mean something <3. Also I’m an introvert and homebody. #Emoboy #EMOSNOTDEAD

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

A story that unfortunately sticks with me is from the Fall of 2017. I had just completed the best 3 months of my early career as an Occupational Therapy Student. where I trained under the best Clinical Instructor I could have asked for. I still utilize many skills I’ve learned at the vestibular clinic to treat patients with BPPV (a fancy name for Vertigo).

You already know what comes next. Hurricane Harvey occurred in HTX and that was just the start of the storm for the rest of my year. My then GF was living with us and she just left to finish her 2nd Fieldwork in Buffalo, NY and I was about to start mine at a school district. I remember the first few words my 2nd Clinical Instructor said to me before going out to my first school. She told the SLP “I am going to throw him in and he is either going to swim or drown” … Talk about a bad omen.

From there, things only got worst. My now ex-GF called me to tell me our relationship is over (it’s crazy because that final semester she just moved in with me and my roommate.) My CI left me when my battery died at a school in the rain. She told me she had already left and wouldn’t turn back. She told me at the middle point, she didn’t think she could pass me as she said it would be a disservice to the profession. I soon found out my ex-GF had cheated on me. You would think life got better at this point. No, it only got worst, She publicly yelled at me while at one of the school’s mailrooms, because I had accepted to observe an Early Intervention admission process when I had completed all my work. I had the opportunity to work with another occupational therapist when my CI was out sick, and it was lightyears better, so it confused me why she was so mean to me. I only have two more incidents that I will state here. I had bought two concert tickets to see in the Winter and when I told her I was going to them when she asked if I had any plans. She told me “On a school night really? Do you think you should be going to a concert right now?” Eventually, I finally completed my final interview with her, where her last words to me were, “I hope I didn’t make a mistake and end up seeing you on the news one day.”

Going through that 3 month period I already struggled with body dysmorphia, a broken heart, and for the first time in my life, I could say I was depressed. I had some help along the way to help me survive. I tossed myself into my love/hate relationship with food and fitness. Daniel a photographer I met helped me with my body dysmorphia. My 3 best friends Son, Momo, and James were there to just listen and share a meal. Depression, Defeat, and Anger. I carried those emotions and the world felt so heavy. I found my love for games, fitness, music, and myself digging me out of that darkness. Now I’m in year 4 of my career, living, breathing, and taking it one day at a time.

If you could go back in time, do you think you would have chosen a different profession or specialty?

Realistically I don’t think I would. I love what I do to a certain degree. It took me 4 years of undergrad and 3 years of graduate school, so that was like $150,000. But the growth and upward movement in my career is limited by things outside of my control. I am a part of healthcare, one that is overlooked by its more well-known profession physical therapy. I do love helping people regain their functional independence. But I think I would have found another way to help people if given the opportunity.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hwmjimmy/

Image Credits
Richard Garza Minh Do Stacy Abisai Elizondo Davis Tran