Student Blog
Appreciating Los Angeles ⟩
November 3, 2011, by Alix
I’m heading home soon to CT. I can’t wait to see my family and friends, but I’m also worried about the fact that it is freezing cold and there is still no power after last weekend’s snowstorm. This means that I will be sleeping in below-freezing temperatures with no heat. I’ll probably bring an additional sleeping bag to put underneath the covers in my bed.
In Santa Monica, on the other hand, it’s 75 degrees and sunny. I’m starting to wonder how I ever lived back east. In fact I’ve been appreciating LA a lot this week, especially after Halloween. I remember all too well how in CT and NYC, Halloween costumes always had to be constructed with inclement weather in mind. It was useless trying to wear a cute outfit, because you always ended up putting a parka over it. High heels were unrealistic in the mud and slush and piles of leaves. For this reason, my costumes usually depended on a single key piece worn as a hat (bee antennae, angel halo, etc.).
So my costume this year turned out great (we dressed up as Yoshimi and the Pink Robot from the Flaming Lips album), but I do feel upstaged by my fellow ambassador Chris and our friend John, who both completed a surprise mid-party costume change into Dr. Seuss’s Thing #1 and Thing #2. Those costumes, being based on long-sleeved flannel pajamas with built-in slippers, would also have done well back east.
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Halloween Weekend ⟩
November 2, 2011, by Chris
Living in LA School/Life Balance
Halloween weekend was quite eventful. It started off with me catching a 9:30am flight to San Francisco for a fair at USF. Immediately after the fair I made my way to the airport to catch the first half of the USC v. Stanford game. I barely made it through security in time to catch the opening kickoff. I was able to watch most of the first half before having to board my plane back to Los Angeles. My plane landed in time for me to listen to the end of regulation and I made it home to watch the three overtimes that followed. After the game, my roommate and I decided to get our costumes ready for the greatest Halloween party ever. We actually planned a costume change during the party. We showed up to the party as Forrest Gump and Chinese take-out, but changed to Things 1&2 during the party. Now, it’s back to the reality of class and work.
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Halloween Preparations ⟩
October 28, 2011, by Alix
I’m spending a lot of time setting up decorations for Halloween. We’ve been amassing 99 cent store Halloween knickknacks for the past several years, so we have boxes upon boxes of dangling/blinking/shreiking/glow-in-the-dark things to put up. (We also carved SEVEN pumpkins last night.) This week I had to prepare a lesson plan for a group in one of my classes, and we were learning about the history of activity analysis (a core OT concept), so I decided to lead an activitiy analysis using the construction of Halloween decorations. We made ghosts, pumkins, and black cats with all the usual accoutrements out of construction paper and markers, and then we talked about the components of the activity and possibile adaptations for various ability levels. It was a useful OT exercise, but also accomplished my secret goal of bolstering my Halloween arsenal for the season. 😜 Happy Halloween!
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OTAC and Mermaids ⟩
October 27, 2011, by Floyd
Last weekend I went to the 35th annual OTAC (Occupational Therapy Association of California) conference in Sacramento and had an incredible time meeting other occupational therapists, while attending sessions. It was great getting an opportunity to be part of the conference because they offer so many resources that help further the profession. Not only did I get to meet many potential employers from different areas of OT from pediatrics to geriatrics, I got to meet other students that have the same aspirations that I have.
One of the best times I had was being part of the student scavenger hunt where we got tour the city of Sacramento and find the historical values that the city has to offer. My team ended up winning the activity and got OTAC shirts and gift cards as prizes! My team consisted of 1st year students at USC so it was a great opportunity to meet them running around the city.
Not did we get to learn the newest ideas in OT from the best and brightest, we took the opportunity to tour the city. We found this really cool place called the Dive Bar and had drinks while gazing at the mermaids swimming in an aquarium above the bar. It was so awesome! Thank you OTAC and Sacramento for a great time!
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Role as a Turtle? ⟩
October 25, 2011, by Kimberly
Halloween is fast approaching and some of us have decided that dressing up is still a good idea. Four of my friends and I are going to be the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I think this will be one of the coolest costumes I have gotten to wear yet! The costume will consist of various articles of green clothing, colored cloth masks and wrist and knee ties (appropriate colors for each turtle), a shell made out of spray painting a snow disc sled, and then of course the weapons appropriate to each character. In preparing our costumes, we have also begun doing some research on each of the turtles to make sure we are not just turtles by costume, but by attitude also.
The other day when I was explaining to a friend all I had learned about Donatello and what the costume would look like, she said, “you are totally approaching this Halloween thing like you would researching for a role that a client might have!” At first I countered her claim but as we talked I realized that it was true. We were doing research for becoming the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles like we would any other role we might come across in OT. Even in this very remote activity from school, we couldn’t keep the stuff we’re learning out. So there you have it, OT is everywhere . . . unavoidable in even costume making. Happy Halloween everyone!
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