Student Blog

Looking Back — Summer 2008 ⟩
March 7, 2010, by Mari

Beginnings and Endings School/Life Balance

When it all began . . .

As we’re nearing the end of our OT school journey, I can’t believe we’ll be graduating so soon — I have mixed feelings of excitement to be done, sadness to leave the comfort of student life, and anxiety about where I’ll end up in the future. I can just remember when I was in the process of applying to OT school and deciding where to go, when I had my weekly email and phone conversations with Sarah Kelly to ask her my list of questions and help with the decision process! It’s definitely true that time sure flies by when you’re having fun! Lately, I’ve been thinking about all the amazing times I’ve had at USC in the past couple years. So, for my next few blogs, I thought I would take you back through my experience as an OT student at USC!

First, we start with the summer of 2008 when we were immersed in what it really meant to be a full-time student! We didn’t know if we were going to make it out of the summer still being able to think and function during our fall semester classes, but of course, it was completely fine!

As we were lined up to go into the auditorium, I’m sure everyone remembers the first people they befriended! For me, it was Wendy and Miriam!

Here’s Wendy and I pretending to be happy right before our Kinesiology final. 😉

Although it was a lot of studying, we definitely found time to have fun too! We love celebrating birthdays!

Here’s Tina blowing out her candles at the Wine & Dine event hosted by the OT House.

And this is a group picture from Miriam’s birthday — we went to a modern-day play of Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew and ate at the Tofu House in Korea Town!

We also had fun in Dr. Fazio’s Skills class, which worked out to be the perfect stress reliever from Kinesiology and Neuroscience!

Here’s an angel pot holder that I made from ceramic tiles and grout — probably one of my favorite pieces!

And who knew Neuroscience could be fun too (sorry, Myka — she’s another Student Ambassador who was a Neuroscience major)?! At the end of the summer, I brought in a cake that was in the shape of spinal bone, marking a few of the tracts that ran through it. A little nerdy, I know, but I always think there’s some way to incorporate food into your projects — it just makes it more fun for everyone!

And that’s about it for the first summer. It was definitely a busy summer, but filled with fun as a great start to OT school! =)

⋯

The Lived Experience ⟩
March 2, 2010, by Myka

Classes What are OS/OT?

In OT school, we don’t focus on the diagnosis or the lesion, we focus on the client’s goals and dreams — and help them make stories to succeed!

During undergrad, majoring in neuroscience, I didn’t think too much about the lived experience of what I was learning about. I was too busy figuring out where the lesion in the brain was, or discussing the philosophy of mind, or understanding abnormal psychology. The first summer of the Master’s program here at USC we take a neuroscience foundation course, and I thought I would be an expert and be familiar with all the material. I was excited to learn that many guest speakers had been invited to really talk to us about their lived experience with different neurological disorders or injuries. This was an aspect I had missed out on during undergrad. I learned that in OT, we don’t focus on the diagnosis or the location of the lesion or injury — we look at function and goals. When our clients are having difficulty doing the things they need and want to do, we work with them to fulfill their goals and live their lives to the fullest!

One of my favorite speakers was a girl not much younger than me, Allison, who has cerebral palsy. She talked to us about living with this disability which looks different on the outside, but she is a typical college student. Well, I shouldn’t say typical. She writes screenplays and is hoping to transfer to USC. She is also a stand-up comic, performing all around Los Angeles. She actually just won first place in the qualifying round at a comedy contest! I’m friends with her on Facebook, so can keep up with her there. I thought of her today because I met with the current neuroscience professor for the undergraduate OT program and told her about our guest speakers, and got in touch with Allison so that she could come speak to that class. She replied that she would love to come. When Allison spoke to us, she had good advice for us future OTs. She told us to assume competence, and that OTs need to work with their clients’ goals in mind, not their own goals for the clients.

Having these guest speakers in our neuroscience class really opened my eyes to what I would do as a future OT. I had thought about going to medical school, and enjoyed taking tests in college that were very clinical and diagnostic. But what I really wanted to do was help people individually, and understand each person as a unique individual with goals and dreams. Elizabeth Yerxa, one of the founders of Occupational Science and former chair of USC OT, said: “Medicine is concerned with preserving life; occupational therapy is concerned with the quality of the life preserved.” I know that in this profession I will be able to change lives for the better and am so excited for my future career!

Check out this link to see Allison’s live performance! Allison Cameron Gray performing stand up comedy

⋯

A Wonderful Day of FUN! ⟩
February 16, 2010, by Mari

Community Getting Involved What are OS/OT?

PTE’s 3rd Annual Occupational Extravaganza!

Last weekend, USC’s Pi Theta Epsilon (National OT Honor Society), aka. PTE, put on our big event of the year — The 3rd Annual Occupational Extravaganza! This is an event that has been hosted every year by the current 2nd year Master’s students in PTE. It was held at USC’s Center for Occupation and Lifestyle Redesign, a beautiful Victorian-style house, just up the street from USC’s University Park Campus. It was a special day to show off our wonderful profession through yummy food, crafts, research projects, speakers, and panelists from Good Samaritan Hospital in LA. As a part of the PTE board, it took a lot of planning and organizing, but the event turned out great, and despite the expected rain, there was a pretty big turn out! Those who attended the event were USC OT 1st/2nd/OTD students, USC OT alumni, CSU Dominguez Hills OT students, USC OT faculty/staff, OTs from our students’ fieldwork sites, staff from Good Sam Hospital, students admitted into our OT program, and children from ENGAGE. ENGAGE is a volunteer community organization to help children in the area participate in meaningful occupations, and it is run by the residents of the OT House. So, it was definitely a huge OT event and a great way to kick off OT month in April! Our PTE members were able to put together a wonderful day of fun! Here are some pictures!

Crafts
We made Valentine’s Day trinket boxes using tiles and grout.

Here’s Dr. Florence Clark, the head of our OT department, as well as the President-elect of AOTA (American OT Association), sharing some of her wisdom with us as we make beautiful origami cranes.

And we also made stress balls using balloons and flour.

Research
Here’s a small view of the research that was displayed. Research projects were done by current USC faculty (Well Elderly Study, PUPS), OTD students, and current Master’s students.

Speakers/Panel
We also had three wonderful speakers, each owning their own private practice (Susan Harris, Tammy Richardson, and Erna Blanche), and below, is our interdisciplinary panel from Good Sam, consisting of an OT, OT student from CSU Dominguez Hills, a rehab director, a nurse, two PTs, and a SLP. Using a case study of an actual patient they all had treated, they discussed the treatment plan and role of interdisciplinary care with this patient.

Here’s a picture of me with Dr. Jeanne Jackson (a faculty advisor of PTE) and Phoebe (co-president of PTE).

Overall, it was a very enjoyable and successful day! =)

⋯

5 weeks closer to graduation . . . ⟩
February 8, 2010, by Michelle

Beginnings and Endings Community

It’s week 5 of the last semester of my master’s. I gotta say it feels good 😊. Even though I still have a couple large hurdles to get through before I actually get to accomplish my dream of having a job and being a “real OT.” At this point I have already started looking online for jobs, and wouldn’t you know that a couple days ago I found an awesome job listing in DC for my dream job.

But now back to life — this past Saturday we had the OT extravaganza. The extravaganza is a chance to celebrate Occupational Therapy! It’s the third time that we’ve had one and except for the rain I think that it was a huge success! Mari, one of the other student ambassadors was responsible for putting the event on and she had asked me and some friends to present a project that we had made last year. Our project was very popular and I enjoyed talking about it so much.

Here’s a picture of my group at the extravaganza.

⋯

First Post ⟩
January 6, 2010, by Sarah

What are OS/OT?

To be honest, I didn’t know what OT was until my junior year of college. At that time, I knew I wanted to go into a healthcare profession that helped people, specifically children. I was studying psychology, and I really enjoyed it, but I couldn’t really see myself becoming a psychologist or counselor. I wanted to do something that was more hands-on, more medically based, but still incorporated psychology. My friend, who was in the program, told me to check out the website, and I realized that OT was the profession I’ve been looking for!

⋯