Student Blog
Why OT? ⟩
August 22, 2018, by Evan
Timothy Leary said, “if you don’t like what you’re doing, you can always pick up your needle and move to a new groove,” and when I was 29 years old I took this message to heart. My first career was fulfilling in a lot of ways, but lacked a component of service that I had come to realize was important to my own emotional health. So there I was, passionate about helping people and interested in research, but unsure how exactly I fit into the greater landscape of healthcare. I began to actively volunteer in a variety of settings and was finally introduced to OT. I’ll never forget it, because it felt like at last there was a word for what I wanted to do!
OT’s primary concern is quality of life, and I fell in love with the holistic and patient-centered approach of our discipline. I find that OTs are uniquely qualified to address both mental and physical health in a broad variety of settings with patients/clients across the lifespan, and I love being part of it. I am honored to study in the USC Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy and am filled with eagerness to apply that knowledge during real world patient encounters both in fieldwork and beyond.
Today is our first day back at school after 3 months summer fieldwork. It feels so good to catch up with my student colleagues but I find myself thinking about my patients and clinical instructors I had gotten to know so well this summer. What are they up to?? How are they doing?? No way for me to know right now sitting in class . . . but I do know this: I think the fact I’m thinking about them is evidence that I’ve found the right groove for me.
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Hello, it’s me again! ⟩
August 21, 2018, by Jessica P.
It has been quite some time since I last blogged as the summer student ambassador, but I am thrilled to begin blogging again and sharing my occupational therapy journey. The past year has been a whirlwind, starting the master’s curriculum and graduating with my bachelor’s degree in occupational therapy this May. I have previously talked about my experience falling in love with OT and why I chose USC, but after immersing myself in the master’s program I feel even more passionate and lucky to be able to pursue the profession I love.
Last fall, I began my OT grad school journey with the mental health immersion and I loved being exposed to areas of OT I had never seen before, such as in forensic mental health. At times, I felt overwhelmed by exams, quizzes, and projects but this summer I was able to reconnect with the reason why I am pursuing OT: to help others.
This past summer, I completed my Level II Fieldwork at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, IL. When deciding where I wanted to do my fieldwork, I chose to go out of area to explore a new city for the summer. At Rush, I worked on four different inpatient psychiatric units — child/adolescent, general adult, mood disorders, and geropsych. Throughout my Level II Fieldwork, I realized how prepared I was to be an entry-level practitioner from everything I had learned in my classes and previous fieldwork experiences. Since I was able to work with clients across the lifespan, I learned how to rapidly shift the different therapeutic modes I was using based on the client and situation.
Over the twelve weeks, I gradually gained more independence and eventually was carrying a full caseload where I evaluated 3 patients daily and ran 2 groups. In addition to assessments, treatment plans, individual interventions, group interventions, and progress notes, I was also able to pursue research on OT’s role in medication management in this setting. I loved being able to apply evidence-based practice and see the progress in my clients. Coming back after my fieldwork experience, I feel more prepared and energized to take on my second year!
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First Day of Classes ⟩
August 20, 2018, by Bethany
This is it. The end of summer. The end of long sunny days, home-made lemonade, and sleeping in (except, of course, on weekends). The end of drive-in movies with old high school friends. The end of unscheduled days and reading stacks upon stacks of fiction novels. At least for now.
But it’s the start of something else. Junior year has begun, folks, and it’s time to get back to the grind. I’ve learned so much this summer about my favorite occupations, USC life in the summer, and different areas of occupational therapy. I’ve been able to meet so many different people from so many different backgrounds, all with a passion for helping people.
But I’m looking forward to where this semester is headed, and once I finish this semester, I only have one more until I’m taking all OT classes. It is strange to be thinking about not having music courses, general education writing courses, or even business courses in my schedule. But it will be nice to have a chance to really focus on occupational therapy. This semester, I’m starting to finish up classes for my minors in USC’s Marshall School of Business and Thornton School of Music. I’m looking forward to my Global Leadership class. I’m even taking a course in Hip Hop Music and Culture! I get to take the OT Foundations classes throughout this next year, starting with Foundations: Occupation and Foundations: Kinesiology in the fall. My Foundations: Occupation class is even at USC’s Center for Occupation and Lifestyle Redesign! I’m excited to be able to start building the foundations for what I will need in the Master’s program and beyond.
Fall also means football season and move-in day for the out-of-state and out-of-country friends I haven’t seen in a while. It will be nice to get back to the business and bustle that is campus life, this time as an upperclassman!
As a new season starts, readers, keep Fighting On!
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Band Camp ⟩
August 13, 2018, by Bethany
It’s the week before school, and what better way to spend it than preparing for the upcoming football season! The Trojan Marching Band has its Band Camp where we practice all the moves and music to start off our season strong. Members of the marching band come from every school at USC (Surprisingly, the most represented school is our Viterbi School of Engineering.) Some have never even played their instrument before. We’ve got one week to get ready to cheer our team on to Victory. Our incoming freshman get to learn our amazing fight song and of course, the incredible Tusk.
The band doesn’t take the responsibility of being the Spirit of Troy lightly. Not only do we have Band Camp, we also have practice four times a week, preparing new shows for the field. We play at every single football game, home or away. And we do our best to support the rest of the Trojan Family, too, whether that means going to basketball, volleyball, water polo, tennis, or even baseball games.
It is truly Trojan weather, so we make sure to bring Hydroflasks of ice to practice to refill the CamelBacks we bring on the field. A lot of work goes in to being the Greatest Marching Band in the History of the Universe (Ever!) In the end, it’s all worth it. Come see us and support our Team when football season kicks off! FIGHT ON!
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The Roads That Lead to Rome ⟩
August 6, 2018, by Bethany
There is one downside to being an undergraduate OT. I mentioned in a previous post that when I talk about Majoring in Occupational Therapy, I get the reaction: “Oooh, what is Occupational Therapy?” So I had to quickly adapt to giving my fifteen-second pitch about what OT is and how I found it. Sharing about OT is definitely not the downside. Neither is being part of this incredible program (I am often reminded of how lucky I am to have known so early on in life what I want to do in the future). The downside is that the only other people who seemed to know what OT was, were on the same road I was on: We were all passionate about helping others, all had discovered OT early on in life, and all were part of the same program. The downside is that as an undergraduate OT, I was only aware of one way to get to OT.
But this summer, as a Student Ambassador, I had a chance to recognize that all and any roads truly do lead to Rome. Through tours, information sessions, and even meeting the incoming Entry-Level Master’s class, I have been able to see the diversity of those who stumble upon OT, not just in ethnicity and age, but also in interests and walks of life. For example, in our incoming Master’s class, there are people with degrees in Biology, Kinesiology, Psychology, and other health sciences (Majors that would be helpful for completing some of our prerequisite coursework while also highlighting the student’s passions). But then we have others who pursued other interests during their undergraduate study, perhaps the French language, Economics, or even Dance. And somehow they ended up all in the same OT Master’s program at the same time. In our information sessions, there are people who simply went to different college but have always been interested in OT, some who found OT during undergraduate study, and even those who are coming to OT as a second career after seeing OT in the second-grade classroom where they taught for the past few years.
My own Bachelor’s to Master’s class is diverse in and of itself. We have our own stories for how we each found OT, whether it was shadowing a practice or perhaps watching a loved one grow through OT, and we have the honor to be part of an incredible program that allows us to engage in our specific passion for OT, even through our undergraduate years. But our paths to OT were quite direct, and it is amazing to listen to the stories about others’ journeys to where they are today. After all, it is said that more often than not, the journey matters more than the destination.
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