Student Blog
FIN ⟩
December 14, 2012, by Ricky
Ahhh . . . nothing like being done with another semester. On the real, these last two weeks were the roughest yet (for me). The schoolwork wasn’t that hard, it was the volume of stuff that piled up towards the end that did it. That, and my time management skills (or lack thereof . . . no, definitely lack thereof). I was done on Wednesday — it’s Friday now, and I am still recovering. My battle scars were comprised of tightness in the chest, tension in all parts of my body down to my little toes, and some peculiar behavior in my eyes — darn you laptop screen! (fist clenched . . . ever so tightly). My adversary consisted of the following:
Week 1
Monday — early final (yay)
Thursday — group presentation
Friday — community program poster presentation + proposal (oh, roughly 100 pages)
Week 2
Wednesday — 10 page paper
Wednesday (yes, same Wednesday) — 10 page case study
To some, it may seem like just another finals period, but in my lived-experience, I no likey :( The happily-ever-after in this story is that I am still breathing. I am always amazed of what we are capable of when we are put to the test (literally, in this case). Plus, there’s always room for it to be worse. I always tell myself that it isn’t really that bad until I get that bad metallic taste in my mouth . . . you know what I mean? You’ve read Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea, right? Anybody? Anyhow, thank you all for the chance to vent a bit. Now for a little recess . . .
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Crossing the Finish Line ⟩
December 12, 2012, by Amber
Well, it’s already finals week and I’ve almost completed another semester of grad school! I cannot believe how quickly the time has passed, particularly this semester. My schedule was especially packed as I took on part-time work this school year. It has felt very good to finish up one class after another, starting last Friday when I presented a community program that I had created with a group. That project was the culmination of an entire semester’s work in my community programming course, and we presented our poster along with all of our classmates in an inspiring display of creativity and hard work. I felt proud to explain my program to other students and faculty that attended the presentation. Today, I turned in a lengthy case study paper for my Health Promotion and Wellness course. I also took a final exam for my Adult Physical Rehabilitation and Geriatrics immersion course. In addition to the written exam, we will have a lab practicum tomorrow morning where we will execute an actual occupational therapy session based on a case study. What am I going to do in a mere 18 hours when all of this hard work is complete? I’m going to Disneyland! I am looking forward to celebrating the end of the year with Mickey and relaxing at last.
My poster presentation
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How do you make the season bright? ⟩
December 12, 2012, by Kendra
Happy 12/12/12! This time tomorrow I will be blissfully done with all my final papers/exams, etc. And this time in one week I will be waking up to see the Olympic Mountains outside my window, spending my first Christmas away from my family with my husband. So many exciting changes to look forward to, and as I endeavor to make change I think on the traditions that have helped make this time of year so precious to me.
Some traditions I hold dear are food and presents (shocking I’m sure!). My family loves to gather in the kitchen and cook for hours on Christmas Eve. While we have a feast for Christmas Eve dinner we also feast throughout Christmas day, making it a relaxing, elastic waistband kind of day. But despite years of making homemade cinnamon rolls and potato soup and ceviche, we still have yet, after 20+ years of making Christmas dinner as a family, to find the perfect Christmas Eve dessert. Even though there is no perfect sweet treat to look forward to each year, it has become its own dysfunctional tradition: what new-fangled dessert do we try this year? We’ve done chocolate pudding, coconut cake, cookies, chocolate cake, and homemade ice cream. And despite all of their delicious success, we still prefer to try again next year. This odd little tradition is very close to my heart.
Another tradition I hold dear is wrapping presents. Odd right? But since I was 16, I’ve sat in my mother’s work room for hours upon hours making perfect hospital folds and sealing packages with invisible tape while my mother makes the most beautiful bows and the TV plays ‘Christmas in Connecticut’ or the ‘Muppet Christmas Carol.’ It is our quiet time between cooking and holiday parties, when we can reminisce and cry at a movie we’ve seen at least 20 times together.
This year I won’t be wrapping presents for hours or finding the perfect imperfect dessert, but I will be taking these traditions to my new family and in years to come sharing these traditions with my children. That is what makes the season bright for me.
So as people fly home, drive home, stay home for the holidays I wonder what are your holiday traditions? What do you do with your family to keep the season bright? What meals do you cook? What church service do you attend? How does your family open presents? How do you show your loved ones gratitude and love during the season?
Peace, Love and OT to all and happy break to students!
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Finally Finals ⟩
December 11, 2012, by Paula
Finals week is here and man, can you feel the stress. As students make their way through study guides and coffee canisters, it is important for us all to incorporate a bit of balance in each day and to remain mindful of the reason that we are in school. It always helps me to have an endpoint or something to look forward to.
For the second years, this may be the fact that we will be done with the program this coming May (wow!) or that we have Spring electives to look forward to. For the first years, they have just conquered their first practice immersion (yay!) and are creating bonds with one another which will continue to provide them with support, laughter, and distractions. I know that all of my classmates are eagerly awaiting the four week break that we have from classes which begins at the end of the week.
I have always been a planner, list-maker and extremely talented procrastinator. These characteristics come out full throttle during finals. In order to create some balance for myself, I have focused my energy into study breaks which include exercise, fresh air, packing, and planning for the break. I plan to spend the four weeks recharging for our final semester and catching up on the occupations I neglected through the semester when other tasks took priority. To be sure that I revisit these occupations, I have made some personal goals for myself to tackle over the break: read a book for fun; visit Yosemite; spend a weekend in San Francisco; cook and bake old family recipes; visit the wineries in Livermore; relax with friends and family; see the infamous Christmas lights at Deacon Dave’s (345,200 lights this year!); and go adventuring in Donner with some great friends.
What goals do you hope to accomplish this holiday season?
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Wrapping Up ⟩
December 5, 2012, by Amber
This is the last week of the Fall semester, and today was my last regular class day. It was fitting that our last lecture was on end-of-life issues. It also happened to be the last day that I will spend with my cohort. I have been with the same cohort of 40 since my class was divided into three groups for our immersion courses last Fall semester. For three semesters my “Cohort B” has learned together, laughed and cried together, and become like an extended family. We have created many memories and lasting friendships.
In honor of our last day together, our classmate Kim gathered hundreds of photos and created a slideshow looking back over the past year and a half. Today we watched the slideshow while enjoying a potluck lunch, to which everyone had contributed something delicious. For the last time, we laughed and celebrated together.
I still have one more semester before graduation, so I will continue to see the people in my cohort next year. However, we will all be in different courses and have different schedules. I suppose it’s an appropriate way to mentally prepare for graduation, after which we will part ways for good. I know I will definitely miss my USC family. Go Cohort B!
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