Student Blog
Renewing an Occupation ⟩
February 14, 2012, by Chris
Community Living in LA School/Life Balance
Before beginning the Occupational Therapy program at USC I started playing beach flag football. Well, once I moved to the west coast I didn’t have a league to play in anymore. I’ve played football for almost as long as I can remember and not having a league to play in was bothering me. Last week I began searching for leagues throughout Los Angeles and I found one that meets in Santa Monica. I quickly informed a few classmates of this league and built a solid group to start going weekly. The first weekend only three of us went, but more people have expressed interest in playing. Once we got there the games were great. The teams were pretty much even and the organizers try to keep groups of friends together. Finally after playing for about 3 hours we finally called it quits, with me leaving with a pretty sweet sunburn. Next week should be even better as more people should make it out.
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Biking in Hollywood ⟩
February 6, 2012, by Chris
Living in LA School/Life Balance
The weather in Southern California lends itself very well to the practice of outdoor occupations. This past Saturday me and a couple of my friends decided that a biking blitz through Hollywood was a great idea. We started off at the Occupational Therapy House (Centennial Apartments) and headed north. We took the scenic route through neighborhoods I didn’t know existed. We finally made it to Hollywood Blvd where traffic was almost at a standstill (perfect for the cyclist), we split the traffic down to the Kodak Theater where we decided to walk around for a bit. After getting our fill of all the characters out in Hollywood we decided to head west toward enemy territory, UCLA. The hills throughout Westwood provided us with excellent cycling routes, with very little traffic. After we made our way through UCLA, we decided to ride through Beverly Hills. The streets throughout Beverly Hills are incredibly smooth (cyclist’s dream). Finally, about 2 hours later we decided to head back to USC. We made it home around 11:30 pm and rode approximately 30 miles.
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Don’t Look Down! ⟩
February 3, 2012, by Chelsea
In occupational therapy we learn that different people have different sensory thresholds. Some have low sensory thresholds and get all the sensory stimulation they crave just by trying a new type of food. Others have high sensory thresholds and crave activities that will boost their adrenaline such as rollercoasters, snowboarding, dirt-biking, and rock-climbing. Well my boyfriend happens to be someone with a high sensory threshold and enjoys all of the adrenaline boosting activities I just mentioned and more. Last weekend we took a group of friends on a treacherous hike to a hidden waterfall. We didn’t really specify that the hike would involve rock-climbing and so all ten of our friends agreed to go. The hike was just north of Pasadena in a place called Eaton Canyon, which runs along the San Gabriel Fault. The beginning of the hike is easy until the rock-climbing begins. It involves cliffs, ropes, rocks, creeks, and at the end a beautiful 35-40 foot waterfall. Once we reached the waterfall there was an awesome area in the rocks that had been carved out and smoothed by the water so that it formed a fun waterslide that we could slide down and it would shoot us out about 30 feet above the water into the pool at the foot of the waterfall. I went on the waterslide the last time I hiked there during summer, but this time the water was much too cold for my liking and I’m pretty sure my sensory threshold had already been met without having to drop 30 feet into a pool of freezing cold water!
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New Year, New Teachers ⟩
February 2, 2012, by Alix
Since moving to LA a couple years ago, I’ve been faithfully going to Exhale Center for Sacred Movement, a great yoga studio in Santa Monica. Some of my favorite teachers — Shiva Rea, Saul David Raye, and Erich Schiffmann, to name a few — teach there, and it’s really close to my house. But for 2012, I wanted to branch out and try something new. So I’ve started going to a new studio, Santa Monica Yoga, and I’m remembering now just how much a new teacher helps to revitalize my practice. The classes are smaller and more intimate, so I’m getting lots of great adjustments. And I’m learning even more about teaching techniques, which helps me to be a better instructor for my students. (Also, the teachers at SMY have really good playlists, which helps.) With the help of one of my new teachers, I’ve even able to achieve one of my 2012 goals: freestanding pincha mayurasana!
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Clipper Nation ⟩
January 31, 2012, by Kimberly
Living in LA School/Life Balance
One perk of living in downtown LA (if you are a sports fan) is access to Staples Center. The arena is literally 7 blocks from my apartment and still it has taken me 2 years to make it down there. Last night I was able to attend the Clippers / Oklahoma City Thunder game and it was awesome! I love sports; learning them, watching them, playing them, but I don’t really have a team that I am 100% loyal to. Thus it is fun when I go with others who are really into their team . . . and you could definitely say this about Clipper Nation. The energy of the fans at Staples Center was contagious! Plus the game itself last night helped a bit too as the Clippers held a continuous tight lead on OKC Thunder, Blake Griffin made an amazing dunk, literally jaw dropping to watch, and the clippers left at the half with a 12-0 run solely on 3-pointers. It was phenomenal! Even If I am not a life-long Clippers fan, I became one for the night. The other highlight for me was seeing the devotion of one particular fan, “Clipper Darrell.” From starting arena-wide chants to dancing in the aisle along with Clipper Spirit Dance Team to wearing a fully decked out blue and red 3-piece suit, he epitomized the intensity of these fans’ loyalty. The whole experience was a great break from school and a refreshing interaction with an entirely different crowd. If you live in LA and haven’t rooted for our local teams, I would highly recommend it!
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