Path to Helping Leads To, Through, St. Ambrose University

Occupational Therapist Finds Purpose and Calling

Maggie (Verdun) Bohnert '15, '16 MOT, OTR/L worried about the little boy who sat alone on the steps at school. He was always in Time-Out, watching his kindergarten classmates laugh and play nearby. Maggie's heart broke. He needed help more than punishment, the 8th-grader thought. She looked forward to being able to help kids like him when she grew up and became a teacher like her mom.

Like her mother, Maggie is indeed following her dream to help children. But not in the classroom. Instead, she became a pediatric occupational therapist who, at just 30 years old, also manages a newly opened Davenport pediatric therapy clinic. She credits both her mother and her alma mater, St. Ambrose University.

"Mom knew I loved science," Maggie says. "So she suggested I look into occupational therapy."

Maggie shadowed occupational therapists in high school, learning that they were creative, compassionate, can-do people who developed trusting relationships with their patients. By the time she was ready to apply to colleges, Maggie was hooked on the idea. Occupational Therapy was how she would help children.

The next question was where she would go to college.

Choosing St. Ambrose University

Maggie considered several universities, including St. Ambrose. Its occupational therapy program looked good, promising quality learning, outstanding faculty, high board certification rates, and outstanding professional placements.

Then, she visited.

"I fell in love with the campus during my tour," the self-described farm girl says today. "I grew up near the tiny community of Odell, IL, about 45 minutes south of Joliet. St. Ambrose was the right amount of big, but small enough to be a home, a community I could be a part of."

Maggie says it became apparent that the tightknit St. Ambrose community was dedicated to her success as a person and a student in a way that a large university might not be able to show. But that goal was only part of the picture. St. Ambrose was also dedicated to helping her become a contributing member of the greater community.

"Community service is so important at St. Ambrose," she says. "From the start, I was helping box lunches at King's Harvest and clean windows at St Anthony's Church. At first I thought, What does this have to do with my education? But I soon realized that we were not only washing windows, we were building community together. I think St. Ambrose really walks its talk."

Committed to Academic Excellence, Social Justice

Founded in 1882, St. Ambrose has not strayed from its diocesan commitment to help students develop intellectually, spiritually, ethically, socially, artistically, and physically to enrich their own lives and the lives of others. Social justice remains core to its mission.

Maggie was both surprised and gratified by what she found.

"The Catholic culture at St. Ambrose felt very welcoming of all people, no matter what their religion, background, or ethnicity," she says. "I had grown up going to Mass on Sundays, but didn't feel like it was relevant until I saw how it was lived on campus. I loved how they didn't care what your religion was. They cared about social justice issues and living gospel values. They welcomed the big questions."

Faculty, campus ministers, and fellow students looked for ways to help one another and the greater community in everyday interactions, whether on- or off-campus.

"At St. Ambrose, 'No' was never an answer to a need," she says. "The answer was always 'Yes.' My professors were amazing. They would drop everything to help me any time I needed it. They would meet just to check in with how I was feeling about my classes. My clinical rotations were fantastic. I can't say enough good things about my experience. It helped me see how to be in the world."

Called to Make a Difference

Today, Maggie collaborates with a community of occupational, physical, and speech therapists at Rock Valley Kids' Therapy to help area kids "find the strength they already have to overcome the barriers they experience every day."

Those words come from a place of personal experience, one that grew out of her early experience as a therapist. It happened when she met a young patient who struggled with the same autoimmune disease Maggie herself had.

"I've had to work to overcome it myself," she says. "I could relate to her issues, so she grew to trust me. We worked together to empower her success. She's in college now and doing great.

"I learned as much from her as she did from me. It's the whole reason I'm here, doing occupational therapy. It's a calling. I want to make a difference in the world. I'm so grateful to have found my purpose."