Student Blog

Aha Moment ⟩
August 25, 2014, by Leila

School/Life Balance What are OS/OT?

Hello, Hola, Aloha, Shalom, Bonjour, Ciao, Ola, Merhaba, Guten tag! :cheese: Welcome to my . . . wait for it . . . very first blog! It comes with great pleasure that I have the opportunity to report to you all on my experiences as an occupational therapy student here at USC! Before I begin to tell the tale, I must share with you what led me to the wonderful world of occupational therapy.

Occupational therapy? Say what? I actually graduated from Cal Poly Pomona in International Business!

See, there I am on a cake. After graduating, I went on to work, intern, volunteer and within a couple of years I started to realize that a career within business wasn’t for me. I first heard the term occupational therapy while speaking to my older cousin about her daughter Maria* with down syndrome. Maria was working with an occupational therapist named Terri* to help her master skills for independence through self-care, fine and gross motor skills, school performance, play, and leisure activities. Over the years I became so intrigued and excited to hear about Maria’s progress with her therapy. With the help of her occupational therapist, Maria is not only able to participate but excel in activities such as dance, cheer, and acting. Terri’s success with Maria has become one of my motivating factors to becoming an occupational therapist. Who knew there is a career out there to help people live their life?! A light bulb went off in my head and I decided to pursue my journey to become an occupational therapist.

Fortunately, I’m here at the #1 Occupational Therapy program in the nation. It’s crazy to think that two years ago I didn’t know where I was going to end up. Luckily, I found OT. I feel extremely lucky to be here among so many supportive and brilliant people.

Here is a glimpse of my 1st school year:

I look forward to sharing with you all my last year as an OT graduate student! Tune in . . .

*names have been changed

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One year down, one to go! ⟩
August 21, 2014, by Kristy

As I begin my first level II fieldwork, I slowly make the transition from a “first year” to a “second year” — you’re kidding right?!? As you may know, the program here at USC is just over two years, in which we spend our first summer in a intensive kick start to grad school, fall and spring in two immersions, second summer in our first level II fieldwork, followed by our last immersion in the fall, a spring semester full of electives, and then our last summer level II fieldwork. Not too shabby! (Follow this link for an in-depth description.) I just cannot believe that I have already finished up my first year here! Let me tell you, time flies when you’re having fun, especially in occupational therapy! The “second years” always seemed so knowledgeable, and always knew what was going on in the world of OT; I was in awe of them when I started the program and asked a million questions! Now I realize I will be the one getting the questions and providing answers. Am I ready to pass on the knowledge I have learned in the program from my courses, from my professors, from my fieldwork experiences, from student organizations? I think so!

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One Step Closer ⟩
August 21, 2014, by Claire

Fieldwork Getting Involved What are OS/OT?

It is a couple days before USC Commencement 2014! It’s hard to believe that my time as an undergraduate at USC is officially coming to an end. “Officially,” because I feel like I’ve been done with my undergrad for forever, but now I’m finally getting the diploma! Hooray! People often get confused about my class standing, actually. (“So . . . you’re both an undergrad and grad student right now?”) I technically finished all my undergraduate credits in my third year and this past year was my first year Master’s. When I tell friends that I’m staying another year, they think I’m a super senior when actually it’s to wrap up the master’s degree in occupational therapy. Talk about some identity crisis!

So, we are done with the first year in the program!! Most of us have two weeks off until the start of Level II fieldwork. This year has been absolutely amazing. I befriended so many talented classmates with a huge variety of backgrounds that all the passion to become occupational therapists. The faculty has lots of experience (seriously, mad respect for them). The two immersions that I went through this year were mental health and pediatrics. This summer, my Level II fieldwork will be at a pediatric clinic in Northern California. Part of me is super excited and another part of me is going EEPS! I am sure it will be a very valuable learning experience, and I’m looking forward to it.

Looking back to my first moments at USC, it has been so cool to see how OT is now a much more well-known area of study among the students. When I came in to USC with a Pre-Occupational Therapy emphasis, I remember needing to explain what OT is to basically every person that I met. (Wow, this is a major throwback to four years ago. I’ll try not to be too sentimental.) Now, I’m meeting a lot of first and second year undergrads who are already applying into the OT program, which is awesome! I am aware that the program is becoming increasingly competitive, and some of my advice to undergrads is to get involved! I was active in the USC Pre-OT club, which was a great way to see OT in practice. USC OT elective classes are informative, fun, and a good way to meet faculty (hint: letters of recs!). Volunteering and getting as much exposure to OT is also definitely recommended — that’s how I first learned about OT too! I was in high school trying to collect some community service hours to graduate and I met OTs at the center that I was volunteering at. I loved the idea of improving health and development through fun (we were working with children), did some research about OT, and found myself here at USC.

There’s so much to learn still about OT! I will be keeping you updated as the summer goes on! Congratulations to the Class of 2014, hooray, everyone!

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The end is also a beginning ⟩
May 24, 2014, by Rob

Admissions Community What are OS/OT?

Four years ago, I was a fishing reporter living in Arkansas. That version of myself would never recognize the me I have become. My life has forever changed, and I have been enriched by the imprint these two years have made on my life.

I learned how to open myself to life and the people that come into it, forming friendships I hope will last a lifetime.

I learned a lot about disability — in a sense, we are all disabled in some way or another — is there even such a thing as normal? I learned how to define occupational therapy. I did it so many times, I will probably have a dream where someone asks me “Does OT mean ‘overtime’?” And then I spend the next five minutes explaining what occupational therapy is. I’m not even kidding. This is going to happen.

I imagine coming to OT school at USC is kind of like going to school at Hogwarts, minus the wands, flying brooms and Argus Filch, of course. There is something special about being selected to the top program in the country and then spending two years getting to know every little nuance of the buildings, professors, and classmates that occupy the space with you. It’s like life stands still for two years — a period of shelter from the world of work, adulthood, and responsibility. Those things still exist in graduate school, of course, but they are different somehow — more temporal in nature.

For those about to begin the journey into the depths of the occupational therapy profession, good luck to you. For those that still dream about that journey, keep working towards it. What lies in the hallowed halls of USC’s Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy is worth everything you put into it.

Fight on!

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Graduation and Gratitude ⟩
May 18, 2014, by Clarissa

Community

Graduation happened! The ceremony was beautiful and the featured speaker this year was Elizabeth Yerxa — a legend in OT. I read her work and watched videos of her speeches! Of course, her speech was wonderfully inspirational.

The best thing about graduation, though, is sharing it with those who helped me reach my dreams. Pictured here is a book of messages and pictures my sister collected from my family and friends. I’m humbled by all the selfless love and support that surrounds me.

Here’s my family — without them, I’d be nowhere near where I am now. From doing my laundry to advising me on big life decisions to dealing with my short fuse during stressful times, they’ve been there. I owe them absolutely everything.

My friends light up my life. My home, college friends, and post-college friends were there through my quarter life crisis before I found OT. Our friendships never faltered, no matter how little I saw them through busy grad school. There are also my closest grad school friends who got me through all-weekend study marathons, who shared in life-changing travel experiences with me (see post about Ghana), and who support all my grad school endeavors, whether it is attending the socials I plan or debriefing challenging clinical experiences with me. I know we’ll be lifelong friends.

My absolute favorite thing about the program is the people. I feel so fortunate to have been a part of the Class of 2014 — every person in my class is selfless, warm, motivated, and supportive. My wonderful classmates made every single day in class something to look forward to. Because I have these amazing people to look up to, I am closer to the person I want to become. Whether it is developing rapport with patients or leading advocacy efforts for OT, I’ve learned from them all. They will make such a positive impact on so many people and I am proud to call them my colleagues and friends.

We did it!

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