Student Blog
Adventures in baking ⟩
February 24, 2014, by Rob
I recently had the opportunity to do some hiking and baking the same day, combining two of my favorite occupations. We started off driving up north of Pasadena to Eaton Canyon, a beautiful waterfall hike not too far from the city. The path was jammed with families, school trips, and people out to enjoy the weather and scenery. Fortunately, we know a little secret cutoff that takes hikers above the first falls and away from the crowds.
To get there is a little intense (read: FUN!). I mean, my frontal lobe is mostly developed, right? So I would be scared if there was real danger and I should exhibit good judgment (I just hope my mom isn’t reading this). We scaled a rocky area and edged along the cliff (see picture) to get to the next leg, which involved rock jumping along a stream bed, my favorite part. The reward was a deserted pool of clear, cold mountain water. Of course we jumped in!
That afternoon we baked double chocolate cookies stuffed with salted caramel, both made from scratch. I love to bake — it is a very therapeutic activity — and I’ve found that as I do it more and more, I get better at improvising. We mostly followed a recipe for this one and they were tasty. It was probably the best double chocolate chunk cookie dough I have eaten. I don’t usually eat the dough, but I snacked on this one the whole time! Try it out and share a favorite baking recipe with me if you have one . . .
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Presentations, Midterms, and Papers… Oh My! ⟩
February 21, 2014, by Jen
With Spring Break rapidly approaching, it has really sunk in how fast this semester has gone by. The faculty do a great job of making sure the assignments we have in different classes are reasonably spread out, so I never really feel too overwhelmed by the course work. Last week I had a paper due, this week I have a group presentation, and next week I have a midterm. I have also enjoyed the variety of assignments. Most of my grades in undergrad were determined by tests alone. Because of USC’s small class sizes, professors have the time to give feedback on presentations and projects instead of exclusively grading multiple choice tests. Not only does USC evaluate what we have learned in a variety of ways, but the faculty also makes sure to teach us in a variety of ways. For example, this week is my Dysphagia (swallowing) course a group of students presented some current research, the professor spent some time lecturing, and then we did a lab where we practiced the content we had just learned about. I believe this is one of the best ways to learn.
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Gearing Up For Ghana! ⟩
February 19, 2014, by Kate
As I may have mentioned, I will be going to Ghana for my Leadership Externship, alongside about 30 of my classmates and 10 occupational therapists/professors. I’ve known since last November that I was going on this journey, but it is so crazy to me that I will be leaving exactly 2 weeks from today! There have been many items on our “TO DO” list that I have accomplished just in the nick of time; there are also many items on that list that I still need to conquer! Today I bought my insect repellent in order to fend off the mosquitoes, a couple bandannas to help with the dust, and all-important sunscreen. I still need to purchase materials for my activities with the students and get my school materials together for when I am there. I will be able to journal each day to reflect on my experiences, and I bought a camera for pictures and video. I’m so excited for this journey and to learn more about myself and my own capacities as a future clinician. I can’t wait to come back after my 3 week trip (Ghana in 2 weeks and then Spring Break for a week in Germany) and share all about my experiences. My fellow ambassador, Clarissa, will also be on the trip, so I’m sure between the two of us, we will have MANY pictures and stories. HOORAY!
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Ode to Ambassadors ⟩
February 14, 2014, by Rob
There are many great reasons why being a Student Ambassador is such an awesome job. One of the highlights is working with such a tremendous team of peers. All five of us are so different, with such diverse backgrounds and experiences, but we get along pretty well and have a lot of fun. The past year has been even more special because I got to share it with Clarissa, Jen, Kate and Ryan.
I have to give a big thank you to Clarissa. I got sick one Friday morning and was scheduled to work that day. With little notice, she volunteered to take my shift, which included a presentation at the other campus that she did admirably. Clarissa is one of the quirkiest and helpful people you will ever meet (you know this if you read her blog and look at her pictures) . . . I really owe her one! Also, I initially began writing this blog several days ago and somehow accidentally published it only half done — whoops. Clarissa was the first one to text me and let me know what happened.
(Hola! This is Clarissa making a guest insertion into Rob’s blog. I felt left out that he didn’t have a picture of me so I decided to take matters into my own hands and post one myself. This is us being weird together at a Friendsgiving dinner we had last year! Okay, I’ll leave Rob’s blog now.)
Also, I think I need to address a celebrity on our Ambassador team: Jen. For those that haven’t heard, Jen’s face has been featured on one of the new photos that grace the Division hallways. I’m surprised she hasn’t written a blog about it yet — she talks about it all the time! I used all my celebrity photo resources to get an exclusive photo for this blog:
While I’m spreading the love, Kate and Ryan are pretty special too. I met Kate on the first or second day in the program and she was so sassy, we became quick friends. Ryan was in my group during my first summer class in Kinesiology — she had the most infectious and distinctive laugh. She has a talent for bringing a smile to people’s faces and her enthusiasm lights up a room. Here is a picture from one of our theme days during Kinesiology:
See if you can find Kate and Ryan, we all dressed up like ice cream flavors. Can you tell what flavor I was? I think I was pistachio and Ryan was peppermint. I have no idea what Kate was!
All together, these fine individuals have made this experience something I will remember and treasure for the rest of my life.
Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!
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USC OTs in Vegas! ⟩
February 14, 2014, by Clarissa
Community Living in LA School/Life Balance
As promised, I’m updating about USC OT’s annual Vegas trip! As the second year social chair of the Occupational Therapy and Science Council (OTSC), I planned our trip with my first year co-chair Kristin. The planning process started 2 months before our trip and, let me tell you, coordinating for 30 people isn’t easy but it was all so worth it!
We got rooms all on the same floor, which was great for meeting up before heading out to the clubs. With the excellent girl to guy ratio in our classes, we had no trouble getting into the nightclubs XS and Light for free on both Friday and Saturday nights. During our down time, some of our classmates went hiking (much admiration to them), ate delicious food at the Wynn buffet, and just slept in preparation for the coming night’s festivities.
It was such a fun trip, filled with late night bonding time, pillow fights, 5-hour meals at buffets, a legendary story with a wheelchair and transfer involved, and dancing!
My favorite part of being social chair is having events like this to get to know my classmates outside of class and also to build a relationship with the first years! Making these memories with my peers makes me love my time in the program that much more. OTs are such a fun crowd!
Here’s a picture of a group of us the second night!
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