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Lily Ito MA ’16

What brought you to occupational therapy?
In high school, I had the chance to work with a child with autism at my church. Since I enjoyed working with him so much, I started looking into careers that would allow me to work with kids with special needs. I knew about occupational therapy (since my older sister was in OT school at the time), and I liked it when I had the chance to observe at some pediatric clinics. My interests have shifted a bit since then, but one of the awesome things about OT — among many others — is that you can choose to work almost wherever you like because it’s so broad!

What are some of the occupations you engage in?
I love, LOVE going to Disneyland, and adore everything Disney. I also enjoy photography, solving riddles, guessing everyone’s Myers Briggs personality type, reading books in bed, and trying different flavors of ice cream.

Tell us about your favorite memory from the program so far.
One of my favorite memories was coordinating outfits with my group on Wednesday theme days while we were in the mental health immersion. We had an autumn theme, a denim theme, a mint theme (we even had mint Oreos!), a rainbow theme, and a “On Wednesdays we wear pink” theme.

If we opened your fridge, what would we see?
Boxes and boxes of leftovers and all different types of juice from Trader Joe’s.

What do you think is the greatest invention of mankind?
Whoever invented screws was a genius!

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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.