Graduation, Goodbye, and Good Luck: Onwards and Upwards!

May 17, 2016
by Ariel

The time has finally arrived! Essays have been essay-ed, tests have been taken, comps have been comp-ed, presentations have been presented, and friends have been . . . well, friend-ed and subsequently woven into my heart. In other words — we’re finished! Two weeks ago, we took the comprehensive exam — a test that pulls together information from seven of the classes we’ve taken over the past two years and reminds us all how much we’ve forgotten in such a short period of time. Suffice it to say, everyone I know got out alive.

It has been such a privilege to study occupational therapy at this renowned institution. The myriad experiences I’ve had throughout grad school — from attending our national conference to hands-on classroom fun to customizing my courses to celebrating the gift that is life here in Los Angeles — have truly been a rollercoaster of excitement, challenge, friendship, and lessons in learning more about myself and occupational therapy than I ever thought I could.

As I sit here on the precipice of graduate school and “real life,” I can’t help but feel a bit verklempt about leaving this place and the people who make it as special as it is. We’ve come so far; I can hardly believe it has been two years.

Next steps on my agenda? I’m moving from my beloved Echo Park apartment back to the San Francisco Bay Area, where I will complete my second level two internship in SF at California Pacific Medical Center (Sutter Health), a multidisciplinary outpatient pediatric clinic. I’ll be continuing to pursue my passion for impacting people’s lives through connection, compassion, and creativity. Whether it be through infusing technological innovation into my interventions, building adaptive equipment, or advocating for OT in the public sphere, I hope to advance our profession in my own unique way.

My fellow ambassadors have given you readers a number of great words of wisdom and pieces of advice for conquering graduate school, so I won’t repeat. Instead, I will leave you — my readers — with three suggestions my favorite history teacher left me with before I graduated high school. They still resonate with me today:

1. If you want to make an impact on someone, write them a handwritten letter and mail it via snail-mail. Think about it; when was the last time you received a letter in the mail (handwritten, no less) that you actually wanted to read? It’s a surefire way to make a lasting impression.
2. Take care of your back. Seriously. You only have one spine and you need it to be functional for hopefully ten decades or so. Once it’s hurt you’ll have a heck of a time trying to fix it, and it will encroach on almost every aspect of your life (and your ability to complete your daily occupations)! So strengthen your core, practice good posture, learn proper lifting techniques, and brush up on your workplace ergonomics. It will help you survive grad school and it will help you enjoy life.
3. It’s never too late to send a thank-you note. No explanation necessary for this one! 😊

So that’s it. Three morsels of advice from me to you. And with that — I’m out! Happy graduation to all who just completed the program, and WELCOME TO THE TROJAN FAMILY to all those who are just entering. FIGHT ON!!!

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