Student Blog

My Career Treasure Hunt ⟩
September 9, 2015, by Rashelle

What are OS/OT?

When I first came to USC I double majored in undecided and undeclared. I scrolled through the USC list of majors, highlighting anything remotely interesting: psychology, human biology, linguistics, cognitive science, environmental studies, philosophy, health and humanities, health promotion and disease prevention. While I found some interest in how human bodies functioned, what captivated me most was how humans reached a state of happiness and fulfillment. Immediately, once viewing the USC occupational therapy website, I fell in love. The holistic yet individualistic nature of OT is what drew me to this profession. Occupational therapy somehow managed to combine all of the majors I had previously considered, while introducing a key element to recovery that I had never thought of before — occupation. The idea of helping people achieve their greatest potential and life satisfaction, simply by creating the opportunity for them to do something they love, fascinated me. Ever since this moment of realization, I have been happier than ever before. I ultimately found the hidden gem that is occupational therapy, which embodies everything I could have ever wanted in a career. I’ve discovered the way, in which I can make a positive difference in lives daily, by encouraging people to live fully, with or without a disability.

Finding occupational therapy amidst the sea of other career paths, was the hard part. However, remaining just as in love with the profession as I was from the start was easy. Every day in this master’s program somehow increases my excitement, strengthens my passions and expands my curiosity to learn more. Now, here are a few pictures that document my never-ending pursuit of happiness, which ultimately helps others to pursue happiness as well!

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Hello Friends! ⟩
September 9, 2015, by Heather

Getting Involved What are OS/OT?

For my first blog post, I wanted to stick to the student ambassador tradition of telling my “how I found occupational therapy” story.

A long, long time ago, I graduated from UC San Diego with a degree in History, Art History, and a minor in Photography. I had ambitions to become a food photographer and to travel the world to photograph for publications like Bon Appetit. While I endeavored to fulfill this dream, my grandmother suffered from a stroke at home in Santa Barbara.

At the time, I had always liked being in the position of helping others, but this became especially apparent while caring for my Grandma throughout her recovery. In my case it took a crisis to realize an untapped skill that I had. When I first began helping my Grandma, she was receiving inpatient therapy at a rehabilitation hospital. I observed her treatments with several health care professionals, but was most impressed by the work of the occupational therapist. This was my first introduction to occupational therapy. My Grandma’s occupational therapist spent multiple sessions with her every day, helping her regain independence in activities of daily living and remediating her motor control deficits. As I watched the occupational therapist work with her, I learned that the basic tenet of her rehabilitation stemmed from the idea that all activity should be purposeful in her recovery.

I wanted to get involved.

Then, one morning, the occupational therapist asked, “Would you like to do an exercise with your Grandma?” I had been waiting for that question since the moment I arrived. She showed me activities that were tailored to my Grandma’s current cognitive level, which were modified weekly to reflect her improvement. I was overjoyed to be an active participant in my Grandma’s recovery. I was amazed at how her occupational therapist was affecting her recovery in incremental ways, and doing something monumentally important.

Occupational therapy slowly but surely transformed my Grandma. Her sense of self-worth improved and she was able to appreciate a quality of life that seemed lost after the stroke. Active participation in my Grandma’s recovery inspired me to discover more about occupational therapy. I volunteered at a pediatric clinic, Ready Set GO Therapy, and at Laguna Honda Hospital and Rehabilitation Center in San Francisco. I enjoyed my experiences in both clinics tremendously because they offered different insights into the array of care-styles that occupational therapists provide. But most importantly, they both gave me the ability to be a component in the rehabilitation of a patient.

At the pediatric clinic, I gained a better understanding of pediatric occupational therapy, with its focus on sensory integration, motor skills, and rehabilitation that facilitates confidence and healthy development. Whereas, at Laguna Honda Hospital, I was exposed to occupational therapists that treated patients with the effects of stroke, spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, and other major traumas. Here, I assisted the occupational therapists with patients with an extraordinary variety of social needs, including homeless people. I learned the importance of comprehensive care and the focus on full community integration. It was unlike any other opportunity I’ve had before because I was able to connect with a forgotten sector of society. Most importantly, my experience taught me, like my experience with helping my Grandma, that empathy, compassion, and sensitivity are necessary characteristics for an occupational therapist to possess.

I have truly united my vocation with my avocation, and I am so thrilled to be on the road to becoming an OT! ☺

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New Beginnings ⟩
September 7, 2015, by Samar

Hello everyone!

Since my last post, I graduated from the post professional master’s program and I’ve become a licensed and registered therapist in the US! Now, I am enrolled in the Occupational Therapy Doctorate (OTD) program and I’m doing my clinical residency at Therapy West to learn more about Sensory Integration and working with children in both clinic-based and school-based settings.  Words can’t describe how excited and happy I am! I have been planning to come to USC since 2012 when I took the Sensory Integration Perspective Course offered by the USC Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy and Western Psychological Services. As I was located in Saudi Arabia at the time, moving to Los Angeles and getting accepted at USC required some logistical and financial planning on my part. However, I feel that it was totally worth it! I’m doing what I love, learning something new every day and I’m one step closer to achieving my goal of being certified in sensory integration.  More than that, I feel like am at the right place to do so at USC. Stay tuned for more updates!

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Greetings everyone! ⟩
August 31, 2015, by Jodie

School/Life Balance

Hello readers!

I am very excited to be writing my first blog as a student ambassador. Occupational therapy has been my dream job for as long as I can remember. I am very lucky to have two aunts who are both OTs and introduced me to such an amazing profession very early on in my life (6th grade to be exact!). All throughout high school and college, I had one main goal in mind: to attend USC’s #1 ranked occupational therapy graduate program. This was the fuel to my academic endeavors and every day that I spend in this program further solidifies my decision to pursue such a meaningful career.

Here is a glimpse at my first year in the program!

This was just a small snapshot of my amazing first year in the program, I hope you enjoyed the pictures! Stay tuned for more about my adventures during my second year in the program and thank you for reading my first blog! Fight on.

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Hello Lovely Readers! ⟩
August 27, 2015, by Ariel

What are OS/OT?

Hello Lovely Readers!

For my first post, I’ve decided to mirror the student ambassadors of years past by telling you the tale of how I first fell in love with occupational therapy . . . .

Once upon a time . . .

I was a sophomore in college majoring in Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity (an interdisciplinary mix of psychology, sociology, anthropology, and history), and minoring in Drama. Despite this eclectic mix, somehow I wasn’t too concerned about what profession I would ultimately pursue; I figured if I took classes I was passionate about, they would lead to a major I was passionate about, which would eventually lead to a job I was passionate about. Then, in junior year, all my peers started siphoning off into various career tracks — tech, business, law, medicine, education . . . I knew I needed to do some major self-reflection and research to figure out which path I would take.

First, I thought about what I wanted out of my work: I knew I wanted to be in a helping role, create meaningful relationships, and that I wanted to wake up every morning (even 30+ years down the line) and still be energized by the path I had chosen. Second, I knew I wanted to have a flexible career — one that was dynamic in nature and broad enough that I could continuously be learning and expanding upon my knowledge. And third, I wanted to work in a profession that relied on kinesthetic experience (read: no cubicles!), and that would allow me to flex my creativity.

For a long time, I was unsure of how to proceed; even after hours of research (thanks Google!), it seemed that no profession existed that fulfilled all of my ideals in the way I had hoped. Then, during the last week of my senior year, I had a chance encounter with an acquaintance from my freshman dorm. She told me that she was going to graduate school for this profession called “occupational therapy,” and that if I wanted to help people I “should really check it out.” I had no idea at the time, but her offhanded comment would prove to be quite serendipitous. I headed back to Google, and searched for anything and everything related to occupational therapy. That’s when I fell down the rabbit hole . . . and I’ve just kept falling ever since.

Initially, it was the theory behind occupational therapy that was compelling: I was inspired by OT’s consideration of the multidimensional nature of the human experience. But it was in the clinic setting where I truly fell in love with the field.

My first hands-on experience with OT was at a pediatric occupational therapy clinic in San Francisco that helps children gain the strength and functional ability to overcome developmental challenges. Early on, I assisted a therapist in treating a boy with severe sensory processing disorder. At first, he was terrified to navigate the obstacle course, ride the zip-line, or even play with the toys. Over the course of several months, the OT and I graded his activities to address his sensory disorganization (a few terms you’ll learn in OT school!). His progress was astonishing. In time, the same boy whose frantic screams had once echoed down the hallways was beaming with confidence, showing off his fearless zip-lining skills. I could barely believe this was the petrified boy I had once met. I was thrilled to have taken part in his extraordinary transformation, and it was then that I knew for certain I would pursue occupational therapy.

Occupational therapy gives its recipients a new opportunity to really live. It was in my hands-on experiences where I concluded that the most serious adversities afford the most potent opportunities for growth. Furthermore, these experiences revealed to me that it is in grappling with our greatest physical and emotional challenges that we discover not only our limitations but — more importantly — our innate resilience.

Here at USC’s number one ranked program in Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, I’ve been offered so many different opportunities: I’ve been given the opportunity to teach children new skills, mentor adults and adolescents in attaining life goals, help brain injured patients maintain independence, explore research that advances evidence-based practice, and learn the ins and outs of creating community programs. Above all, USC’s occupational therapy program is preparing me to reach my overarching goal: emboldening patients to discover within themselves the perennial strength of the human spirit.

Welcome to my blog, and FIGHT ON!!!

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