Emma Kingston discusses several occupational identities that are important to her, including being a daughter, sister, friend, granddaughter, girlfriend, athlete (netball and tennis player), babysitter, school prefect, and student studying to become an occupational therapist. Many of these roles involve regular interaction with family members, caring for others, leadership activities, competitive sports, teaching skills to others, and dedicating time to studying. Overall, these various occupations provide her with a sense of purpose and enjoyment in her life.

1. OCCUPATIONAL
IDENTITY
By Emma Kingston

2. B E I N G A D A U G H T E R
Being a daughter is an occupational
identity of mine that is very
important to me. Being a daughter
is an occupation I love being and
doing. It comes with many
positives, love, smiles and
happiness. This relationship is
achieved by regular interaction with
my parents and involves frequent
phone calls, skype calls and text
messages when I am away from
home.

3. B E I N G A S I S T E R
Being an older sister is a pleasure. I appreciate the fact that I have a brother
because as children growing up we would have so much fun doing activities
together and as we have grown older, we have become better friends.

4. B E I N G A F R I E N D
Being a good friend is an
occupational identity that
I love to have. Having
friends that I care about is
a big part of my life.
Within this role, I am a
good listener, am
someone to have fun and
a laugh with and am there
to provide support if any
friends need it.

5. B E I N G A G R A N D D A U G H T E R
To me, identifying as a good
granddaughter involves keeping in
regular contact with my grandma as well
as loving and caring for her. Regular
texts, phone calls and visits are
completed within my involvement in this
occupation.

6. B E I N G A G I R L F R I E N D
Being a girlfriend is an occupational
identity that I also have strong
involvement in. Being a girlfriend
involves caring for my boyfriend and
sharing fun experiences with one
another.

7. N E T B A L L
Netball is a strong occupational identity
that I have been involved in ever since I
was six years old. It is a huge passion of
mine that enables me to be active,
competitive and to have fun. My
involvement in this occupation involves
playing in a team, representing my top
school teams, my region and being a
coach and umpire.

8. T E N N I S
Tennis is an occupation that provides me
with an identity. I have been involved in
this sport for many years which has
involved me representing my school in
tournaments, and being payed by
professional coaches to teach other
tennis players with the same passion.

9. B A B Y - S I T T I N G
Babysitting is an occupational role that I
am currently and have been involved in
for many years now. I enjoy looking after
children and working for my own money.

10. B E I N G A S C H O O L P R E F E C T
Being a house prefect at my school is an occupational identity that I was involved in. This
occupation allowed me to develop leadership skills which I will be able to put to use in the
future.

11. B E C O M I N G T O B E A N O C C U P A T I O N A L T H E R A P I S T
Studying to become an occupational therapist is an occupational identity that I am
strongly involved in throughout this stage in my life. It provides me with purpose and a
goal to work towards achieving so that I can work towards having a successful life. Much
of my time is allocated towards studying although in the end – I believe it is all worth it.