Student Blog

Taking That Leap of Faith ⟩
February 11, 2022, by Marvyn

Admissions International Life Hacks Living in LA

This time last year, I took a leap of faith. I was contemplating for such a long time if I were to apply for the Post-Professional Master’s program or not. It took me a couple of factors before I could hit the submit button. Allow me to elaborate.

A Master’s program is so daunting! Can I even do it??
If you have read my previous blog about my undergrad experience, I am not a perfect student. If anything, I’m faaaar from being perfect. Not that imperfection is unacceptable, but taking a program that is a Master’s level is A BIG DEAL. It’s a huge step further than a bachelor’s degree. My mind, when I was thinking about applying, was spinning in circles. I was asking over and over “Do you think you can handle the challenges?” “Are you capable to take on this huge step in your life??” AND A BUNCH MORE.

What helped me go through it is to reflect on my “WHY”. I knew that I wanted to learn more about occupational therapy, most specifically at the best university for the program. So, instead of thinking of the intimidation of a big dream like this coming to a reality, I focused on the goal. Eyes on the prize. I wanted to become more than what I am now, and that I am willing to go through all hoops and hurdles to get there. So ultimately, learning how “to let go and to believe in myself” is the best way to go. Trust me, you CAN do it.

What would my family and peers think of me just abandoning them for so long??
It varies from person to person, right? It’s true, I am privileged to say that my family is my best support system ever. Even though I knew that this is a very big dream for me to achieve, I am lucky enough to have a family that supports me in any of my dreams. The same can be said about my friends too! As much as I thought they would be disappointed in me, they all ended up being my biggest cheerleaders.

Believing in yourself is one thing but having someone else believe in you too helps a lot. Trust me when I say that support system doesn’t have to be high maintenance. You can have relationships in life that can propel you to do great things without holding you back. Stick with them and you’ll feel confident in taking such a huge endeavor such as this.

I’ve never lived outside my home country for this long, HOW CAN I SURVIVE?!
Living in a foreign country for a long period of time really is a game of survival. There’s really no way to sugarcoat it. But, I will let you in on a not-so-secret secret: It’s definitely do-able. I have had many anxiety-driven nights back at home thinking about things to prepare, anticipate, and worry about living in LA for so long. But once you find out where you will be staying and mapping out notable places to do essential stuff, you are pretty much set! If there’s any advice I can give you on this problem, it’s that: Once you set your feet on the ground, find as many people as possible, especially in the Chan community. You’ll find quickly that there are a bunch of people who can help you survive the LA grind. I mean, look at the last blog I wrote about things to do in LA! I wouldn’t have been able to do all that had I not have the friends I newly found throughout this journey!

Circling back, I definitely think these factors have been major themes that worry me before I hit the SUBMIT button in my application. But like I said, I took that leap of faith. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, whispered a little prayer, and let my finger go heavy on my laptop’s trackpad. I feel the vibration on my finger signifying a click and the rest is history!

At the end of all this, I’m so glad I took that leap. I cannot express how thankful I am to myself for grasping the courage and going for it. It really takes some nerve to be able to trust the process and let Destiny do their work. It’s only a matter of time.

If you’re still contemplating or having any questions with your application process, you can always contact me (and my other co-ambassadors) at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

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A Day In My Life ⟩
February 8, 2022, by Kayla

School/Life Balance What are OS/OT?

My day starts bright and early. I wake up at 6:30AM, throw on my scrubs, take out my dog, Buffy, throw on my winter coat, scarf, and gloves (it’s the middle of Chicago winter) and head out the door around 6:50AM! I am not a morning person, so I have this process down to a science!

After my commute, parking, and making my way into the hospital I sit down to chart review my patients at about 7:40AM. I decide which patients I want to see for the day, look for new consults, and get well-versed on what brought everyone into the hospital! (This part is one of my favorites as an acute care therapist, learning about all of the different diagnoses and procedures is so interesting!)

At 8AM I meet with my residency site preceptor to finalize my caseload, ask questions, and set up times to complete mentorship sessions throughout the day. At 8:15 we have our OT department huddle (via Zoom as to be covid friendly) and then get started with our day!

Between 8:20 and 9:00AM I create a general schedule to follow based on priority and reach out to my PT partners to schedule any co-treats for the day.

At 9AM . . . My absolute favorite part begins, seeing my patients! I typically see patients from 9-12PM and then sit down for lunch and to complete some notes from my morning sessions until 1-1:30 PM! (Sometimes the other therapists/fieldwork students host in-services during lunch, so it’s an opportunity to learn while I eat!)

From 1:30-3PM I see my afternoon patients (admittedly, it is hard to get back into the swing of the fast-paced nature of acute care with a full tummy after lunch). At 3 o’clock I meet with my preceptor to go over my patients from the day and plan for the next day, ask any questions that came up during my treatment, and complete my documentation.

I typically get home between 5-6PM (after work traffic is a monster). When I get home I take a second to breathe and reflect on the day before jumping into my tasks for the evenings. Each evening looks a little different based on the day. Some days I have 2-3 hours of class, a couple of meetings, or 1-2 hours of homework to stay current and on track with OTD course curriculum. I typically complete work until about 9PM and then wind down for the day! And of course, an hour or so of tiktok is ~usually~ in the cards before turning in around 11PM.

On days that I don’t have work, class, or meetings, I love to Facetime with my friends and family back home, go on a good therapeutic trip to Target, or try new restaurants in my neighborhood! While my days are long and sometimes very tiring, they are filled with everything I expected from an acute care residency.

Pro tip: Find a current resident working in a similar site/practice context as you and pick their brain about their daily schedule/workflow. It’s so SO helpful in beginning to conceptualize what your upcoming year will look like and help you plan and prepare accordingly!

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Moving to Los Angeles — Part 1 ⟩
February 4, 2022, by Guy

Housing and Transportation

Very soon there will be many of you who will make the decision to come to USC to study occupational therapy or occupational science. Congratulations! For some of you this will not only be the start of a new career but will also be a major move to a new city. You may be like me and be moving from all the way across the country, or you might be coming from another part of California. Either way you will be dealing with the stress of moving to a place where you have never lived before. I don’t know about you, but I never spent any time in Los Angeles (LA). I had been to the airport a few times, and downtown once. I had gone to Disneyland, and I went to the Rose Bowl for a football game. Other than that, I had no clue about LA. I also had many preconceived ideas of Los Angeles. I knew that the public transportation system was nothing compared to NYC so I would probably need a car. I knew there was a lot of traffic and LA was quite large so getting around in the car could be rough. I heard living in LA was much cheaper than NYC. I heard that living on the beach or the Westside was the only way to go. Finally, everyone told me that as a city, LA offered just as many cool things to do as New York. Some of my ideas have turned out to be true and some have turned out to be very wrong. Before I came to LA there were a few questions I wish I had the answers to. Over the next few blogs, I will be answering those questions and talking about what the transition to living in LA has been like for me. Here are some of the questions I had:

Do I need a car?
It depends on where you live and what you like to do. If you end up living on or near the Health Science Campus or the Main Campus, and plan on studying most of the time and not needing or wanting to go outside of the LA metro area including the beach, where there is a will there is a way. You might be able to get away without your own car by using UBER or Lyft, university sponsored outings, the metro or bus, and the kindness of your fellow students who have cars.  I know students who live on the Health Campus and near the main campus who don’t have cars and have been able to have a great time exploring LA even during the pandemic. Not having a car is possible, especially if you live on campus but it depends on how much you need or want to get away from school. However, make no mistake about it, if you are coming from a city where the public transportation enabled you to go without a car (I’m looking at you Chicago, Boston, NYC, DC, any major international city) and you are used to being able to just jump on a train or bus quickly to get anywhere you want to go in minutes, then you might want to consider figuring out how to get yourself a car or at least watch one of the many amusing videos out there by people who live in LA without a car. Just google “how to live in LA without a car”.

If you live off campus it is also possible to live without a car but much more difficult. I live in a neighborhood that is not very far from the main campus or the Health Science campus. Even under the best conditions when I have used public transportation to get to school it takes me a minimum of 60 minutes for what usually takes me 15 – 30-minutes to drive myself. When we decided to buy a car we ended up getting a car with excellent gas milage (close to 38 miles/gallon) and are even now contemplating getting an electric car. LA gas prices are not cheap. If you are coming from the South or the Midwest you will be shocked by California gas prices. Don’t be surprised if you see gas that costs $4.50/gallon or more!

Can I live on the beach or the Westside? What is the Westside?
Well to give you a sense of Los Angeles, and my apology to native Angelenos reading this, the Westside of LA pretty much encompasses the beach areas of LA from Playa del Rey in the south and near the airport to Malibu in the north. It also includes areas like Brentwood (where VP Kamala Harris used to live), West Hollywood or WeHo, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Venice, Century City, and Westwood (where UCLA is located). It’s generally anything close to the highway/freeway called the 405. Before I got to LA, every Angeleno I met had very strong opinions about the Westside. They either thought it was the only place to live in LA or was too difficult to get to from other parts of the city.  I didn’t have a clue what all this controversy was about. Living where I live now, I get it and I don’t really go there much. Sometimes on the weekend I will go to the beach or to meet a friend, but rarely do I go there during the week because of traffic. It can take me an hour or more in traffic especially in the morning or night! However, I do know some great people there and it is a nice part of LA. If you have a strong desire to live on the beach or the Westside, when you start to look for a place just be prepared for two things: it can be much more expensive than other parts of the city, and you will need to consider the distance to school. It’s quite far from the Health Science Campus. Look it up on a map.

If I can’t live at the beach, where else would be nice?
If you are looking for something not too far away from the beach but kind of in the middle, there are students who live in Inglewood, Mid-City, Culver City, and Fairfax/Melrose. I also know some students that are big fans of living in Long Beach. All these neighborhoods for the exception of Long Beach are equal distance from the beach and the Health Science campus and are much more affordable than living at the beach. There are some great neighborhoods in the eastern and northern part of LA too. I know students who live in Echo Park, Silver Lake, Burbank, South Pasadena, Glendale, and even parts of the Valley. While I don’t know much about any of those other neighborhoods, I do know students who live in these neighborhoods, like it, and the seem to make the commute work. These areas are also relatively affordable. Check out this article in Thrillist if you want to know more: Where should I move in Los Angeles?

When I was searching for a place, I primarily used the website Zillow and RentCafe. Zillow is great because there is a walker score for every neighborhood, which basically tells you if you can get places around the neighborhood by walking and without needing a car. It also gives you a sense of how much greenI was also fortunate enough to make a trip out to LA and spend a couple of nights in an Airbnb in one of the neighborhoods that looked interesting to me (Los Feliz). Funny thing is now I live right down the street from where the Airbnb was!

I wish you the best of luck as you begin to think about and plan your move to Los Angeles because LA rent is not cheap. One bedrooms in LA on the low end are about $1800-$2,000/month! Renting a room is of course less expensive if you don’t mind roommates, and there is always on-campus housing. For more information about living on or near campus, check out this great blog from a Joyce, a former ambassador: Help! Where do I live?!. Also please feel free to reach out to me or any of the other ambassadors if you have any questions about where to live.

Next up: What’s it like after you move to LA?

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Taking a leap of faith: transitioning from SOTI participant to a full-time OTD student ⟩
February 1, 2022, by Global Initiatives Team

Diversity Getting Involved International

By Serg Lam, Doctoral Candidate, SOTI alumni (2019)

Editors Michelle Plevack and Abraham Ramirez
Entry-Level Professional Master’s students

I always feel privileged to participate in my patients’ recovery journey. Having the opportunity to empower and restore patients back to their daily routine is definitely a joyful experience. Since I am an integral part of my patients’ recovery journey, I strive to learn different intervention strategies, and this is how my SOTI (USC’s Summer Occupational Therapy Immersion) story began.

During the SOTI program, my classmates and I visited many advanced occupational therapy practices. Out of these, ocean therapy was definitely a highlight for me. Ocean therapy utilizes surfing as a meaningful occupation to help individuals with PTSD and/or depression to overcome barriers and enhance their confidence. For example, maintaining good posture in big waves and swimming in the current provides an adverse scenario for individuals to safely “fight for their lives,” and enables them to develop healthy coping skills in adverse situations. The life skills they developed in therapy sessions could eventually transfer into their daily lives and allow them to manage challenges and stressors in real life. Upon reflection, Ocean therapy gave me the insight to develop my career goals. Besides being an occupational therapist in a psychiatric setting, I am also a Muay Thai coach/fighter. It has always been my dream to promote health and wellness for younger adults utilizing the sport I am fond of. Through training and coaching, I have seen positive transformations in many athletes. Overcoming barriers in training not only improves physical conditions in athletes, but it also empowers them to promote psychological resilience and to adapt to difficult situations in adulthood.

Besides enriching therapists with advanced clinical knowledge in various settings, SOTI also promotes friendship and brings people with different nationalities together. Though we are therapists from other countries, with diverse backgrounds and age ranges, there was never a dull moment in class. My roommates Naoya and Andy have always supported me in the program. Trust and intimacy were formed as classmates had given me the nickname “Uncle Serg”, as I had been assigned a senior leader in class. The bond of friendship grew as we studied and explored beautiful California together.

“Uncle Serg” had a wonderful time in the SOTI program, and I realized it was never too late to start chasing my dreams. Before starting my OTD program, I worked in both in-patient and community psychiatric settings in Hong Kong. OT input is crucial in a psychiatric patient’s journey. Yet, I feel like there are limitations in my practice, and patients’ needs are not always met in the psychiatric unit, especially individuals with behavioral issues and sensory issues. So, I have decided to take a leap of faith and pursue further education for the above reasons. I have just started my OTD in Spring 2022 and am doing my residency in the Insp!re (Innovations in Neurodevelopmental Sensory Processing Research) lab for Dr. Baranek. Time to fight on!

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To All the Waitlisted Applicants Ambassadors Have Loved Before: P.S. We Still Love You ⟩
January 27, 2022, by Teresa

Admissions

If you’re reading this, it’s likely you were waitlisted. If you were waitlisted, you’ve probably been binge-reading some blog posts from ambassadors of years past. You know the ones I’m talking about — those from Calvin, from Liz, from Marilyn, from Daniel, from Kat. Maybe you’ve read them twice. Who are we kidding? You eat, sleep, and breathe their words. You hang onto their stories because they give you hope. They provide comfort when you feel most uncertain, guidance when you can’t find it in those around you, and you exit the tab feeling reassured that everything is going to be okay.

Not too long after, your family asks, “Hey, have you heard back from USC? I know you’ve been waiting.” Maybe you open social media or scour online forums and see all the other students who got in. Or you just interviewed for a part-time job in the meantime and they ask, “Where do you see yourself in 5 years?” Suddenly, things once again do not feel like they’re going to be okay. So you read another blog, go through the same motions, and continue a vicious cycle that doesn’t seem like it’s ever going to end until you finally get the “Congratulations!” email. Even though you know it’s a vicious cycle, you can’t help but feel this way because your life feels like it’s at a standstill, your future lies in the hands of someone else, and you have no control over any of it.

I know the feeling. Replace all the “you”s above with “I” and they were my same thoughts two years ago when I was waitlisted. Although so much time has passed, I still remember it vividly. If you’re looking for another comforting blog, I’m sorry to inform you this is not it. Generations of ambassadors before me have discussed being waitlisted and I highly recommend them all. Here, I want to share with you some things on my mind during this time, never admitted to anyone else, instead internalized, and took with me into the program which manifested as “imposter syndrome.” (But we’ll talk about that another time.) Looking back, I wish I could go back in time, give myself a hug, reframe the negative self-talk, and instead tell myself what I really needed to hear.

“I wasn’t accepted because I am not good enough.”
Maybe you don’t feel you accurately conveyed who you are through your essay (as if anyone could in “X” amount of characte–). Maybe you’re doubting if it was because of the typo you caught after submitting or your improper grammar, even though English isn’t even your first language. Maybe your GPA wasn’t as high because you went to a competitive school, or you worked multiple jobs during college to pay bills and tuition, or you have other living, breathing human beings relying on you for their survival. Do not write any of these off as “excuses” — all of these are very valid. I’m here to tell you all of that is okay, you don’t need to explain yourself to anyone, and this absolutely does not define your worth as a future OT and more importantly, as a human.

“If I don’t get in this year, I should work even harder to get in next year.”
I remember repeating this to myself and to others so often that as I reflect back on it, I want to cry because of how much my heart aches for this person I used to be. In retrospect, I was working so hard that I can’t imagine how I could have worked any harder for the next application cycle. I took on more shifts as a rehab aide and became one of the first people in my circles with COVID. Listen — nothing is worth risking your health. As future OTs, we need to deemphasize “hustle culture,” especially when it infringes upon our health and happiness.

“Even if I do get in now, it’ll only be a pity acceptance. I didn’t deserve it or earn it.”
So yes, if you get accepted now, it’s because someone who was offered a spot turned it down and chose another path for themselves. My advice? I’m a firm believer in putting out the type of energy into the world that I want in return, so for whoever’s spot you’re “taking,” wish them well as they continue on their OT journey. And once you’re in? Focus on yourself and not how others are doing in comparison to you. You’ve been given a clean slate to start over and move forward.

“Everyone else who got in before me will have more time to prepare.”
Even while you’re waitlisted, begin to think about how you’ll handle housing, transportation, and finances. Beyond that, there is little to no preparation required of you. I know people who were accepted the week before, the day before, and even a day after the program had already started. It all works out and here at Chan, they do everything in their power to make sure it does–you need only ask for help. If you were accepted, if you were waitlisted, if you were none of the above and just a random person reading my blog by happenstance, go and LIVE YOUR LIFE!!! Go climb a tree, take a spin class, jump off a plane whilst strapped to another person and relying only on fabric to catch you, learn to sew, hug your dog, kiss your cat, touch some grass, LIVE LIFEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!! I believe there is no better preparation for starting a graduate program than living your life to the fullest. It is so powerful and restorative to just do something for YOU with no underlying objective other than it would make you happy. It doesn’t advance your career, it doesn’t serve others, it might not even make sense to the world. Take this time to really focus on what makes you happy and think about how you might embed it into your life once you get into school. Engage in your favorite occupations. But safely. I think I’m legally obligated to clarify that I am not liable if you climb a tree. Just kidding (kind of). Live your life. Y’all be safe, though.

“Everyone is going to be so close already and I’m going to feel like an outsider.”
At the start, interactions are so face-value. It’s a lot of small talk, niceties, and formalities. Lots of reading and re-reading your carefully curated introductory profile before posting it. Honestly, it wasn’t until I started the program and got to hear people’s thoughts in class that I thought, “I could really get along with this person on so many levels.” Like yes, it’s so lovely to learn that someone is from the same area as you or that you share the same favorite ice cream flavor, but I came to USC Chan to make meaningful connections with like-minded people whose vulnerability encourages me to grow as a future OT and as a person. Two years later, I’m still having moments like that and making new friends. Don’t worry, there’s time.

“Everyone’s going to know.”
Nobody’s gonna know. How would they know? In fact, most of my classmates who are reading this are probably finding out this information about me for the first time. If you don’t want people to know, you don’t have to tell them. However, if you choose to and people view you differently as a result, it says nothing about who you are.

And most importantly, “I am not going to get any swag.”
“I do not have enough swag,” Teresa writes while sitting atop her mountain of USC Chan pens and foam fingers. “I definitely have more room on my backpack,” she convinces herself while being crushed under the weight of the many buttons she has accumulated over the years. Obviously, I’m kidding. But also . . . get your Chan swag! There will be so many future opportunities and I encourage you to take advantage of them all.

I was actually waitlisted at all three schools I had applied to and told myself I’d commit to wherever I heard from first. I was accepted to all three, with USC being the first and it happened to be my top choice — a big reason for that being the holistic admissions process implemented here and the way Dr. Anvarizadeh spoke about it so passionately. Even though I believe this process to be the most equitable and forward-thinking for the advancement of the OT profession, as with most systems, it is not fail-safe and I knew that going into the application process. I trusted the process anyways, everything worked out how it was supposed to, and I have no regrets, including being waitlisted. It reminded me that who you are on paper and were in the past does not define who you are today and more importantly, who you are on your way to becoming. I feel immensely honored to join the incredible group of ambassadors who were waitlisted and are now some of the most influential mentors I’ve ever had. So whatever the outcome, just know that I’m right here waiting alongside you to join us, too.

Don’t hesitate to reach out to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) if you’d like to connect!

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