South Suburban Native Uses Creativity And Music to Overcome Obstacles In Higher Education

Arthur Riley (pictured), Marian Catholic High School graduate, found a creative way to overcome the barriers he faced as he pursued his goal of becoming an occupational therapist. Photo Caption: Provided by Arthur Riley
Arthur Riley (pictured), Marian Catholic High School graduate, found a creative way to overcome the barriers he faced as he pursued his goal of becoming an occupational therapist. Photo Caption: Provided by Arthur Riley

South Suburban Native Uses Creativity And Music to Overcome Obstacles In Higher Education

Growing up between the south side of Chicago and the south suburbs, Arthur Riley graduated from Marian Catholic High School in Chicago Heights and went on to attend Southern Illinois University where he received a bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology and hoped to go on to become an occupational therapist.

Once Riley found his passion for Kinesiology, which is the study of the mechanics of body movements, he knew he was on the right path towards becoming an occupational therapist.

“I knew then that this is where I needed to be and I really needed to focus on trying to get more involved and more in-depth in this field,” said Riley.

Before realizing what career path he wanted to pursue, Riley lacked the motivation to work as hard as he could have in his general education courses. Riley excelled in his Kinesiology classes but unfortunately, because of the grades he received in his non-major classes, his grade point average alone wasn’t enough to grant him admission to a master’s degree program where he wanted to continue on his path towards becoming an occupational therapist.

“At the time, this was the beginning of my junior year and I had a 2.0 grade point average. I started calling out to occupational therapy schools and finding that I wouldn’t be able to get into this field with that GPA,” said Riley.

Riley had the idea to return to school and get a master’s degree in business as a way to somewhat bury his low undergraduate grade point average. Still, even with a new master’s degree and a higher GPA, Riley was not able to find an occupational therapy program that would accept him.

“At this point, I was trying to be humble but I already had a Kinesiology degree and I had a master’s in business and I couldn’t figure out how they couldn’t see how badly I wanted to be in this program,” said Riley. “At this point, I knew I had to do something to show that I knew the material and that I was creative which is important in occupational therapy because every patient is different.”

Riley began studying the fundamentals of rap music and enlisted the help of a friend who made beats and produced music to create Kinesiology and occupational therapy themed raps. Riley made a music video to go along with his rap and submitted it to occupational therapy programs across the country to show his comprehension of the material and dedication to the field.

By using his creativity, Riley got the attention of admissions advisors and he was accepted into an occupational therapy program where he could continue on with his education.

“I’m happy that I went this route because a few positive things came from it. I was able to get a master’s in business which I am able to use every day,” said Riley. “I know I made some mistakes but I don’t have any regrets and there wasn’t anything that I couldn’t rectify.”

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