Trojan family for life

April 19, 2013
by Kendra

Community

Recently I was taking an admitted student on a tour of the Health Sciences Campus, and she came prepared with a list of questions, one of which was, “I heard the culture at USC is eat or be eaten, is that true? What’s the student culture like?”

I’m not sure who told her this, but it couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact the students at USC are one of the reasons why I love this program so much!

While in the program you will spend 3-4 days a week with the same group of people. You will go through the highs and lows of Graduate school together. You will create programs, projects, and presentations together. You will cry and laugh and celebrate with your peers. Never once have I felt competitive with my classmates.

In fact my MA-II class consistently blows me away with their support. It was my peers that nominated my community program for a community service award, not an instructor or dean. And it was my peers that came together one day to support another student undergoing chemotherapy.

Occupational therapists are generally happy, empathic people. We live our lives working with other people, collaborating and sharing intervention strategies and new research. We do not exist in a bubble. Not OTs and not USC students.

When I think of the students in my program, I do not think of competition, I think of family. I think of a safe place to go and learn, to try new things, to challenge yourself and have fun while doing it.

Do these cats on “arbitrary coordination day: hats” strike you as cut-throat? I hope not!

The saying is true: when you go to USC you’re a member of the Trojan family for life.

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