Student Blog
Welcome back! ⟩
January 16, 2013, by Paula
Community Living in LA School/Life Balance
It is a bit scary how quickly 4 weeks can go by — especially when it is the last time that you will have no obligations for an unforeseen period of time. After a month of break, we have all returned to the Division here at USC and are settling into new class and work schedules. It has been great to see everyone again! Some congratulations were in order for classmates with exciting news from the break — engagements, OTD residency decisions and summer fieldwork placements. Each of the professors I have had class with thus far have commented about how close we all seem, since it is very difficult to quiet the chatter and hugging at the beginning of a new class. I guess it goes to show what happens when you throw 100+ OT students into an auditorium.
Over the break, I had a wonderful time catching up with family and friends. Many adventures were had and I was happy to play tourist in my hometown for a while, going sight-seeing in San Francisco and other Bay Area cities. My sister was gracious enough to allow some friends and I to use her home as our own for a weekend so we were all able to try out “city living” for that period of time. Definitely a highlight of my break — what a wonderful, beautiful city. I was also able to spend a fair amount of time in San Luis Obispo (my favorite non-home location, as many of you know) :]. It was great to relax there with friends and see Occupational Therapists who I had the opportunity to work with prior to entering this program.
The break was rejuvenating, restful and full of new memories, just as I had hoped it would be. I did find myself anxious to return to school, who wouldn’t be ready to kick off the LAST semester of graduate school?? I look forward to the electives which we have the opportunity to take this semester as second year students. I have chosen to take the SI, motor control, hands and dysphagia courses so you can bet that I will be sharing my experiences with all of you!
Enjoy this snapshot of my time spent over break!
⋯
Health and Wellness ⟩
January 16, 2013, by Alisa
I just came out of the Lifestyle Redesign class, and I enjoyed it! During my time as an undergraduate, I had my first exposure to Lifestyle Redesign, working as a student worker at the USC Occupational Therapy Faculty Practice, but I never truly understood what it was all about — or what happens behind closed doors. With the class that I’m taking, I’ll get a rich experience of what Lifestyle Redesign is all about. It is based on practicum, lecture, guest speakers, and observation hours. By the end of class, our instructor, Dr. Dieterle said that we’ll be able to implement similar programs such as weight management, pain management, diabetes management, et cetera. I have always been drawn to health and wellness at a young age. When I was 13, I created an incentive workout program for my family: every 30 minutes on the treadmill equals to 1 raffle ticket, and by the end of each month, we would raffle off prizes! I remember how much fun it was and how my family would line up to use the treadmill. I even committed to using it every day for a month, and I was able to improve my mile time by a minute. Those were the glory days. Now, I enjoy hikes, yoga, and Zumba. As a resident advisor I try to plan programs that involve health and wellness as well from hikes to time and stress management workshops. It is my passion to work in this field, and I hope to own my own health and wellness center some day. 😊
The greatest wealth is health — Virgil
⋯
Happy New Year ⟩
January 14, 2013, by Amber
Today is the first day of the Spring Semester — the last semester of my Master’s program. I cannot believe how quickly the past year and a half has passed. It’s incredible to think that in a few short months I will be graduating and on my way to becoming a certified occupational therapist. It has been a long and challenging journey, and one that I have chosen to continue. Over the break I committed to continuing my education by entering the doctorate program next year. I am excited for what the next two years will hold!
My holiday break was full of fun and family. I had several items on my to do list, and as predicted I only accomplished a few of them. However, I did catch up with dozens of friends and family, and traveled to Oregon, Nevada, and Northern California. It was wonderful to see people I haven’t seen in years, and know that they haven’t forgotten about me since my move to Southern California. Here are a few photos from my holiday: cuddling a newborn lamb in Bodega Bay, my Grandpa’s farm in Oregon, visiting the Oregon coast, and my baby nephew in San Jose.
Happy New Year everyone!
⋯
Returning to school ⟩
January 11, 2013, by Kendra
Happy 2013 blog readers! I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable holiday, I know I did! Below is a picture of my husband and I freezing our bums off in the Pacific Northwest!
But now it’s back to life, back to reality, and back to school. This semester will be unlike any I’ve had so far. The final semester of the MA OT program is when we get the opportunity to begin specializing and focusing on different practice areas. This spring I’m taking Ergonomics, Dysphagia, Motor Control, and Lifestyle Redesign. Each, I believe, will allow me to be a better applicant and employee for working with adults in acute care or outpatient care.
While it is very exciting, it is also terrifying. It’s as if when the ball dropped in Times Square to welcome in 2013, an alarm clock went off in my head screaming ‘real life, real career is coming, be prepared!!’ I feel this tension has settled over me and my peers as we take the final classes and final steps towards becoming certified occupational therapists. And as we near the finish line the alarm clock screams questions: are you sure you want to work with adults? You are so good with kids! Are you sure you want to learn Ergonomics what about Sensory integration? Where do I work? What setting? What side of town? It goes on and on and on.
These same questions overwhelmed me when I was in undergrad, but then I did not have the faculty and peer support and information to help me make smart choices. I know, despite the panic, that I will be supported as I make my first steps as an OT. Yet another reason why I love this school, they prepare me to be a great OT on paper and in person.
That being said, the alarm clock still chimes, but this time I’ll funnel that panic into productive preparation!
⋯
New Year, New You! ⟩
January 9, 2013, by Alisa
Life Hacks School/Life Balance
Happy New Year! Happy New You! Yes, we all survived the apocalypse. That’s something to celebrate about, right? I hope all my readers had a restful break. Last year I was in Thailand for the holidays and got to visit China as well. It was short and sweet, and I learned a few new things as well. This year, however, I did a stay-cation. I got to enjoy the warm rays of sun, wished upon a shooting star, and spent the holidays with friends and family. As I grow older, I realize that the people you spend time with matter more than the location. I made myself a few goals over break, and I achieved most of them. Yay! Time to celebrate by doing the Gangnam Style dance!
Just to recap the goals:
- Decorate the Christmas tree (Did that and already undecorated it)
- Learn how to play a ukulele (Had a jam session with a classmate who generously taught me tuning, reading tabs, and strumming patterns)
- Learn how to juggle (I haven’t practice over break yet, but break is not over, so I could still achieve this goal)
- Master the Gangnam-style dance (Okay, maybe I haven’t completely mastered it, but a group of us danced in front of a crowd. Does that count? Also, on New Year’s Eve, my mom and I danced with Psy on TV. Did you know that his YouTube video reached a billion views? That’s unbelievable and of course, it was the top news of 2012)
- Read Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (Done and already rented out the next book on my Kindle)
- Do more yoga (Yes, I went to my local yoga studio to practice. One of the sessions I attended was taught by a male instructor. Honestly, he was the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen, which, of course, gave me the adrenaline to work harder. He was an eye candy with a soft tone of voice, muscly, tall, and handsome and emphasized fluidity in our poses and movements. Another class that I attended was taught by a chiropractor. The class is called Prana Flow, and it was 2.5 hours. Yes, you are reading correctly. 2.5 hours. 150 minutes. A good half hour of it was meditation. Since I went to the class at night, I had already exerted myself leading a food tour earlier that day, so when the corpse pose (savasana), where you lie supine on the ground, came around, I knocked out. Twice. At the start of class and at the end of class. So, I’ve concluded that I’m addicted to yoga. I would like to get a teaching certification one day, so that I could share my practice with others, making it accessible to everyone. It is my dream to own a health and wellness studio one day. Yes, all my readers could get a free class. 😉
I can’t believe that school resumes next week, but it’ll be good to get the ball rolling. I still have to finalize my schedule, but I’ll get that all sorted out very soon. It doesn’t help that there are so many elective options we could choose that with my being the indecisive type does not really help.
⋯
Subscribe | RSS