Student Blog

Application Season ⟩
October 13, 2014, by Leila

Admissions Community Housing and Transportation Life Hacks Videos

It’s been a while since I’ve placed my blogging lens on, but here I am! Our fall semester has made it to the midpoint and I’m sure most of you know application deadlines are fast approaching (at least for early decision). This past week I attended my first information session here at our division, but this time as a student ambassador! It’s crazy to think that nearly 2 years ago, I too, was a prospective student, nervous and excited to hear about occupational therapy at USC. I remember meeting Ricky, a student ambassador at the time, talking about his student experiences. For me, it was also refreshing to hear that he also had an undergraduate degree in business. At the time, I thought having a degree outside of the health sciences realm would hinder my application. Little did I know that the program welcomed (and continues to welcome) individuals with varying undergraduate degrees!

It was a great first time experience being on the other side at the information session, helping prospective students by answering questions and sharing my student experiences. I remember one individual asking me about my living situation and commute. For those of you that don’t know, I live in Chino, CA. It’s about 33 miles from the health science campus in Los Angeles, CA. I typically drive now due to my work hours, but some days I continue to take the metro. In fact, my first year in the program I primarily took the metro. For those of you considering our program but live or want to live in the surrounding LA area, there’s hope! I would recommend looking into public transportation. It definitely beats LA traffic!

I thought it would be fun to make a mini video of my commute to LA Union Station.

For those of you thinking of OT school, in the application process of OT school or anywhere in between, I wanted to let you know to not give up! I know the process can be grueling at times, but you will get there. When I decided that I wanted to pursue OT, I didn’t even know where to begin! One note of advice I do have is to seek out support. Whether it’s through a family member, a friend, a professor, an OT student, an OT, a mentor, etc. Find someone that will support you through the process.

I remember meeting Bill Wong, a former OT student at USC and asking him to be my mentor! I literally found him through an OT blog post and emailed him asking if he could share his experiences at USC. It sounds a bit creepy, but he was more than willing to and luckily, he became my mentor in the process. (Make sure to do your due diligence on the person before connecting with him or her.) Bill and I still continue to meet on a routine basis, and it’s always great to share what is going on in both our lives.

Here’s an impromptu video Bill and I made this past Sunday. Enjoy!

Last but not least, I have been suffering some migraines and neck pain, most likely due to computer work strain. I went OT on myself and ergonomically optimized my workspace! :cheese:

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Be Involved in Professional Organizations! ⟩
October 10, 2014, by Kristy

Getting Involved

Why you might ask? Being a member of both your national and state level professional associations is just one way to advocate for the field of occupational therapy. As students in the USC Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, we are encouraged to be members of both the American Occupational Therapy Association and the Occupational Therapy Association of California. As members, we have many opportunities to connect and network with other occupational therapists in the field, as well as collaborate on our ideas. Read on to learn a bit more about each organization, and check out their websites as they have useful information regarding the field of occupational therapy for you to explore as prospective students and future occupational therapists!

The American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) is the professional association for the field of occupational therapy. The mission statement for The American Occupational Therapy Association is to “advance the quality, availability, use, and support of occupational therapy through standard-setting, advocacy, education, and research on behalf of its members and the public.” AOTA represents the interests and concerns of practitioners and students in order to provide the best occupational therapy services possible.

The Occupational Therapy Association of California (OTAC) is the professional association for the State of California. Their mission statement is to “serve, support, and promote the profession of occupational therapy and its practitioners.” As a member of OTAC, you can promote, advocate and serve as a leader within the field of occupational therapy. Coming up next week is the 2014 Annual Conference for OTAC. This is a great opportunity to network and learn more about what is currently going on in the field of occupational therapy. The conference occurs over several days and includes workshops, poster presentations, exhibits, and a feature presenter. I will be attending the conference this year and am very excited for a fun-filled weekend of occupational therapy. Stay tuned for updates on the conference and my experience there!

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(Un)balanced? ⟩
October 10, 2014, by Claire

Life Hacks School/Life Balance

The school semester is well underway — we are about halfway done! Hang in there, folks! One goal that I made for myself these two weeks is to work on LIFE BALANCE. (life balance? what is that?). In OT534: Health Promotion and Wellness, we discussed the importance of lifestyle balance and healthy routines. We did an activity using the Balance Wheel, which is a worksheet that helps you categorize how you spend your day in one hour time slots. The categories include Leisure, Individual care, Free/unscheduled time, and Effort in school/work activities (LIFE). Looking at my completed worksheet, I realized that my Balance Wheel was very much unbalanced — it consisted of Individual care (mostly meaning sleep) and Effort in school/work, with very little leisure and free time. I also noticed that I was frequently stressed and my buddies often commented that I looked tired.

So in my new initiative to be in a better state of health, I went OT on myself and started to pay closer attention to where all my time was going. I downloaded an app that allowed me to track my day by the half hour, and over the course of last week, I noted what I did, my productivity and satisfaction level. At the end of the week, I made a few goals for myself: waste less time browsing on my phone (this really added up for me!) and get in more studying earlier in the week to prevent high stress later. This week, I am making an effort to change my study habits in order for me to be less stressed and more pleasant around others. The method seems to be working now that I am making more conscious decisions on what I do with my time. Work and school, leisure, rest, and spending time with friends — these are all very important! I am happier now knowing I don’t need to choose one and sacrifice another by managing my time better!

I always have to remind myself that if I want to help others live their life to the fullest, I have to be healthy and taking care of myself as well. For others who are also feeling overwhelmed, maybe this is a helpful idea for you! Even just take a step back for fifteen minutes and breathe, meditate, take a nap, exercise . . . and you will feel more refreshed!

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The USC Mrs. T.H. Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy ⟩
October 8, 2014, by Bindi

Try saying that aloud, the USC Mrs. T.H. Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy. A mouthful, isn’t it? While it may be a mouthful, it sure does have a wonderful ring to the name.

While they were preparing for the big announcement, I was asked to interview for the division’s video and it was then that I was told that we were about to receive a $20 million gift! I was shocked, I had never heard of any occupational therapy school receiving such a sizeable amount. Of course during the interview I was asked what I thought the impact of this gift would be in the field of occupational therapy. I may have been flustered then and nervous to talk to a device that was recording me, but now I have a chance to think and give a well-articulated answer to that question.

My hope is that this gift will go a long way in research so that we as OTs have a stronger evidence based practice. Every occupational therapist around the world knows what Sensory Integration, and I would like for this gift to have the same impact in the world.

This gift should give people more access to the occupational therapy education. The China Initiative is wonderful news especially considering there isn’t a Chinese word for ‘occupational therapy.’ Giving easier access to occupational therapy education may be in terms of university affiliations, scholarships and awareness.

USC already has a great global initiative, and are recruiting people from all over the world — like me. But this should increase the numbers, making the OT course available to more candidates from around the world especially from Africa. It is only South Africa that has a bachelor’s and master’s program for occupational therapy that is highly valued. Most of the other African countries have only diploma schools.

I hope we have an African initiative soon too! ☺

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Yay USC undergrad OT classes! ⟩
October 3, 2014, by Claire

Classes

Today’s a shoutout post to all USC undergraduate students taking OT courses! A couple weeks ago, Leila and I had the privilege to visit OT classes at the main UPC campus to talk about the Occupational Science minor program. I was also lucky to give a HSC tour with some Bachelor’s-to-Master’s OT students earlier this semester. You guys really rock! As a current Bachelor-to-Master’s OT student (last year already, wow!), these assignments mean a lot to me personally. It was super exciting to see this year’s classes and see how much they have grown. In my freshman year (that was back in 2010!), I took OT310x Creativity Workshop and OT250 Introduction to Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy. I remember a student ambassador coming to talk to us about Occupational Therapy, and it’s so crazy to see everything come full circle. Not only that, that year we had about almost ten students signed up for the Friday morning class, but this year, the class is now double its size! Thank you to all the students for hearing our spiels about how amazing occupational therapy is and how much we love USC OT, and I had so much fun answering any questions that people had. USC Pre-OT club is having their first site visit — go check it out!! Best of luck to all USC undergrads — hope to see you at other USC OT events or at the Master’s program!

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