Student Blog
Being Waitlisted ⟩
January 8, 2020, by Marilyn
The feelings one has when learning that they are waitlisted from a top-choice school can vary among each student. However, the reality is that there is still a possibility of gaining admittance to the institution. In this video, three MA-II 2nd year students (Nicole Yoon, Daniel Padilla, and I) discuss our experience with being waitlisted for the USC OT program. I am definitely not tech-savvy, so bear with me. Grab a cup of coffee or tea and hear about how we navigated this experience.
Fight on!
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Becoming part of the 4.2% ⟩
December 12, 2019, by Marilyn
According to the 2018 U.S. Department of Labor — Labor Force Statistics there are 116,000 employed Occupational therapist (OT) in the nation. Of those employed in the U.S. the demographic percentage breakdown by ethnicity is 91.1% White, 6.4% Asian, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, and 2.5% Black or African American. As a Latinx occupational therapy master’s student who was recently admitted into the Doctorate of Occupational Therapy at USC, I am looking forward to becoming part of the 4.2% in the near future.
As a student ambassador for the division, I have been able to work with the admissions and ambassador team on diversity related events, in hopes of increasing awareness about this healthcare profession. Throughout the semester, I tabled at conferences, presented at middle schools, and met with leaders in the division who are passionate about diversifying the profession. These opportunities coupled with my zeal for changing the current statistics on sociocultural diversity in the profession, make me excited to highlight a couple of those events.
Latino College Expo @ Pomona
Annual event where Latinx students, parents, guardians, and admissions representatives from public or private colleges, universities, and community based organizations are able to forge partnerships. This year Daniel Padilla (2nd year Master’s student), Kat Hylton (2nd Year Master’s student and Student Ambassador), and I were able to table at the event.
Washington STEAM Multilingual Academy @ USC (OT Visit on Campus)
Dr. Arameh Anvarizadeh (Director of Admissions for the Chan Division) and the ambassador team were able to provide 50 middle school students from Washington STEAM the opportunity to learn about OT right in our classroom!
Press Friends Newspaper @ John W. Mack Elementary School
I was introduced to USC Press Friends by the previous student ambassador Jessica Pederson. I presented to the school newspaper journalist about what led me to choose OT as a career path and supported them with writing an article about OT.
These specific events remind me of the questions I find myself pondering on:
- What can I do as a student in the division to make a shift in the demographic percentages of students applying to the Master’s program?
- How can students in the program support one another with forging relationships that are long lasting?
- Who do I need to collaborate with to really be able to understand how to make a shift in the current statistics on sociocultural diversity in the profession?
Accepting my Doctoral program admissions offer is my first step in answering these questions. Being a future healthcare provider with an OT lens makes me excited, especially when there are limited professionals who represent a broad range of experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives. I am certain that with continued mentorship, I will be able to further understand barriers impacting students of diverse backgrounds from applying and ultimately choosing OT. Concurrently, I will be better equipped to deliver culturally sensitive OT services by learning about my client’s sociocultural backgrounds and supporting them with achieving their goals.
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Totally Worth It ⟩
December 5, 2019, by Catherine
Having a family with two school aged children to take care of, and leaving the comfort of a steady income from having a job, was not an easy decision that I had to make before coming to USC. Yes, the financial burden of paying the cost of attendance was one part, but another part of me felt guilty about not being home for my nephews, who I co-parent. I was worried if I could be successful in my academic pursuits, while also maintaining a household. However, I knew that I had found a profession that I was passionate about, and would somehow make it work. As I reflect on my first semester in the OTD, I can confidently say, it has.
If you are like me and decide to pursue the standard progression of courses in the OTD, the OT-620 core course is the only one you are required to take this first semester. Because most of your week is dedicated to your residency, and your hours are negotiable with your site, this provided me a certain amount of flexibility. I have been able to continue to maintain my morning school drop off routines, and come home to have dinner, do homework and be present for my nephews consistently.
Taking advantage of the benefits of technology has also made my life a lot easier. Subscribing to their school calendars, and knowing in advance important school events has allowed me to not be thrown off-guard if my fourth grader forgot to tell me “Pastries with Parents” is tomorrow. And even though I may not be able to volunteer for every class event for my Kindergartner, the share sites teachers and parents utilize have kept me in the know. Not to mention the grocery delivery apps that have often saved me when I forgot to stock up on a lunchbox essential.
I am not saying that this process has been easy. It was not easy to study for my boards exams while negotiating with a five year old to take his bath. I have been lucky to have had wonderful support from other adult members of my family, the school (mine and theirs), and to be able to access the comforts of modern technology. However, looking back at my experience in the OTD so far, it has not only been manageable, but totally worth it. If you are like me when I was considering applying to graduate school; worried about how you are going go through graduate school and be a caregiver, I am here to say you can do it! If you have any questions about my experience, or want to know more about the OTD program, I am here for you, and would love to hear from you.
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Wrapping Up with Thanks ⟩
December 3, 2019, by Kaho
I hope everyone had a relaxing and long Thanksgiving weekend surrounded by friends and family! Students of the Chan Division are back for their final week of classes and are sprinting to the finish line as they prepare for presentations, final papers, and exams. It’s a time of high stress, but I want to try to soak in the warm soothing vibes from Thanksgiving for a little while longer.
I spent my Thanksgiving this year with my boyfriend’s family here in SoCal. My family is far, far away in Japan and the holidays can be a lonely time for international students like me, so I’m really grateful to have been able to get that home-with-family feeling with lots of home cooked food. My cohort, Cohort A, also had a Friendsgiving potluck that week. I found out that everyone is a master chef and we had like . . . a century’s worth of food. It was amazing. Our professors, Dr. Diaz and Dr. Gunter, prepared turkey and ham for us too, so I’m not exaggerating when I say we had a FEAST.
Dr. Diaz and my classmate, Daniel, cutting the turkey
My favorite cohort 😉
*Sorry for the blurry photos, my phone has terrible quality*
As this semester comes to an end, I’m reflecting on all that’s happened (classes, fieldwork in pediatrics, elective courses selection, OTD application, externship planning, student ambassador events, etc. oh my) and how quickly these past 4 months or so have flown by. To be honest, this whole year and a half since I started the program has flown by. I can’t believe that I’ll be done with my final immersion by the end of next week and I only have one semester left until I graduate. I know that next semester will feel even faster because it’s filled with exciting elective courses and I’ll be working lots of events. Although I have an indefinite list of things that I’m thankful for, this year, I’m especially thankful for the friends that I’ve made and become closer to through the program, the opportunity to pursue my passion and study OT at USC, my teachers and mentors, my family that never fails to support and encourage me no matter how far they are, my support system back in San Diego from undergrad, and my good health/able body. I’m heading home to Japan over winter break and my annual family reunion is waiting for me on the other side of finals. It’s been a whole year since I’ve seen them, so I’m beyond excited and motivated to get through these last two weeks. I hope everyone has a great holiday season and good luck on finals! Finish strong!
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I am thankful for . . . ⟩
November 25, 2019, by Japeth
November is thanksgiving season in American culture, and what better way to celebrate it than by having dinner with friends at the USC Chan division? Last Friday (November 22), the Global Initiatives team was thoughtful enough to organize an early thanksgiving dinner with the students and some faculty and staff of USC Chan. It was a wonderful way for us to de-stress and be with everyone. Everybody found something to do to help as we prepared the food!
Before doing the meal prep, its always best to start it by taking a group photo while doing the Fight On pose! In this group photo, Dr. Emily Ochi, the MA1 Program Director and Bianca Ojeda, USC Chan’s social event program coordinator, showed the inner Trojan in them by also doing the fight on pose!!
Katie Miller, MA2 student and also a member of USC Chan’s Global Initiatives together with MA1 students, Raffy Wagas, Lin Hung-Yi, Pan Yen-Wen, Hasmin Palo, and Yvonne Lin (from L-R).
MA1 students designing their own cookies! That’s me right there!!
Here’s my photo showing the cookies that I designed . . . well I am not artistic to begin with and that’s the best that I could do! LOL
MA1 ladies showing their “girls just wanna have fun” look! Indeed, they look like they’re having sooo much fun!
Of course, this is everyone’s favorite — turkey!!
I asked my friends who grew up here about thanksgiving and their answer in a nutshell is . . . it’s a time for us all to think of what has been great and why you’re thankful about it; some may also consider what did not work out or what failed if they see it as a blessing in disguise.
Honestly, when you’re facing a lot of stress and tons of schoolwork to do and on top of that, life gets in the way — what is there to be thankful about, right? But again, how we perceive things greatly affects how we feel and how we react to them. Last week too, while I was hearing the mass, the priest was preaching on how to live not on the ‘what if’, but live on the ‘even if’. Is this the universe trying to intervene? Hmmm.
With that being said, I took some time to do a thanksgiving reflection, and what I realized is something that I cannot discredit myself: one thing that happened to me this year that I am most thankful for is being able to take my MA and being able to thrive in a totally new environment. It’s difficult but it’s doable, especially if you are with the right people!
Life may be difficult at times, but being with the right people helps a lot. To me, these are the right people and I am so blessed to have them!
If I may ask you, what are you thankful for?
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