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Home ⟩Education at USC Chan ⟩Post-Professional Master’s ⟩Meet the Students

Laurena Chen MA ’18

What brought you to occupational therapy?
It has been a very interesting journey but I would say it was my grandfather’s. My maternal grandfather always instilled in us the importance of being a good person and that we should always do our best to help others. My paternal grandfather was very sick with diabetes and kidney failure when I applied for the program in 2011 and inspired me to look into Occupational therapy at the time.

What area of practice are you interested in or have practiced in?
I currently am a school based therapist in working in an international school in Hong Kong and my areas of interest are sensory integration and lifestyle redesign.

What are some of the occupations you engage in?
I love to do Zumba, pilates and to spend time with my daughter, Avery. If I have extra time, I also love to binge watch TV shows and read — anything related to OT, parenting, child development and parenting.

Tell us about your favorite memory from the program so far.
I have so many, but by far the fondest memory I have was playing Kho Kho with my classmates on the grass next to Tommy Trojan. It was such a great workout and gave me the nostalgic flashback of being a kid again.

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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 fully accredited by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education® (ACOTE). The USC entry-level OTD degree program (cost of attendance) has been granted Candidacy Status by ACOTE. View our program’s ACOTE standards public data. ACOTE c/o Accreditation Department, American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc.®, 6116 Executive Boulevard, Suite 200, North Bethesda, MD 20852-4929, (301) 652-6611 x2914, acoteonline.org

Professional program graduates are eligible to apply for certification by National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy, Inc.® (NBCOT), nbcot.org. Program results from the NBCOT can be found online at www.nbcot.org/Educators-Folder/SchoolPerformance.