Owens Outstanding Graduate Ziegenfelder Finds Her Calling Far from Home
Few, if any, fellow Owens Community College graduates in the spring of 2025 will have traveled as far as Amy Ziegenfelder to find what she was looking for in school.
A native of Gainesville, Florida, she took a gap year and moved in with a family friend in northwest Ohio when she was 18 years old. Ziegenfelder was supposed to go back to Florida eventually, but she never did.
“I guess I like the snow or something,” Ziegenfelder said with a laugh.
Now as the outstanding graduate in the Occupational Therapy Assistant program for spring 2025, Ziegenfelder has no plans on leaving the area. She’s already accepted a position in the acute rehab department at Mercy Health St. Charles Hospital in Oregon.
It’s a far cry from when Ziegenfelder arrived at Owens the year after she moved to Ohio. She admits she didn’t have a plan and originally started in the social work program.
However, something was calling her to look into the Occupational Therapy Assistant program. The more she learned about it, the more she fell in love with it.
“I wanted a career where I’m actively helping people,” Ziegenfelder said. “It was a lot more than I want to help people; I want to serve people. Occupational therapy helps me do that. I’m able to help people when they’re most vulnerable and need help. A lot of times they’re anxious and scared, and I’m able to not only assist them with their everyday activities but also be an emotional support.”
The Occupational Therapy Assistant Outstanding Graduate Award recognizes a graduate for exemplary professionalism, clinical competence, effective communication and a commitment to ongoing learning and growth in the field of occupational therapy.
Ziegenfelder was homeschooled until she was 16 years old, so her experience at Owens has been one of her first times in a traditional classroom setting. However, she is one of 11 siblings, so she wasn’t alone during her homeschooling years.
She’s valued her experience with her classmates and instructors at Owens. She said her experience at Owens has been amazing.
“It was great to be in a cohort, a program with other people and build relationships with them that will last a lifetime,” Ziegenfelder said. “All of the faculty here have a passion for what they do, a passion for teaching, a passion in the field they’re teaching. It has instilled in me not only that passion but a drive to learn and know more.”
Published May 2025