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Janice Seol MA ’23

What brought you to occupational therapy?
As a naturally compassionate and inquisitive person, I have always wanted a career in healthcare that served people through a holistic and creative lens. Once I discovered occupational therapy during my second year of undergrad at USC, I could not believe that such a wonderful profession existed and have been pursuing occupational therapy ever since. Now I am going into my first-year of USC’s program and I am so grateful to be here!

Describe your background before coming to occupational therapy.
I used to be a history major in undergrad before I switched to psychology/pre-occupational therapy! Although history and occupational therapy are two completely different fields of study, I use a lot of the analytical skills gained from studying history in my new course of study and I think the two are more interconnected than they seem. I believe that my background in history also allows me to have a deeper understanding of how one’s environment or life experiences may affect their physical and mental wellbeing, as well as the importance of occupations in one’s recovery.

What are some of the occupations you engage in?
Cooking, thrift shopping, going on picnics, playing drums in a very amateur rock band!

If you could travel anywhere, where would it be?
South Korea! The public transportation and food is absolutely amazing there.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
In order to love yourself, you cannot hate the experiences that have shaped you.

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USC Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy
1540 Alcazar Street, CHP 133, Los Angeles, CA 90089-9003

ACOTE accreditation | NBCOT certification

The USC entry-level master’s degree program (cost of attendance) is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education® (ACOTE®) of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA). The USC entry-level doctorate in occupational therapy (OTD) degree program (cost of attendance) is accredited by ACOTE®. View our program’s ACOTE® standards public data. ACOTE® c/o the American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc.®, 7501 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 510E, Bethesda, MD 20814, (301) 652-AOTA, www.acoteonline.org.

Professional program graduates are eligible to apply for the national certification examination administered by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy, Inc.® (NBCOT®), nbcot.org. All states require licensure to practice; a felony conviction may affect a graduate’s ability to sit for the NBCOT® OTR certification examination or attain state licensure. Program results from the NBCOT® can be found online at www.nbcot.org/Educators-Folder/SchoolPerformance.