Student Blog
School/Life Balance

Self-care ⟩
September 19, 2012, by Kendra

Life Hacks School/Life Balance

As with many beginnings of a semester you start out fresh and excited, by week four you’re tired and looking for the finish line. I think that’s just the natural progression of being a student. We forget in the excitement to learn new things and see friends how much work goes in to making the grade. I’m in the mental health immersion right now and while the content is fascinating and inspiring, it’s also draining. By the end of each Thursday I have found myself mentally and physically exhausted. Because of the nature of the content our professor encourages us to perform some ‘self-care occupations’ to help us cope. It can be anything from working out, to visiting with your loved ones, or reading a good book, whatever it is that works for you. Lately my totally un-satisfying self-care routine has been to veg-out in front of the TV until bedtime.

So after feeling run down for two weeks I’ve decided to make a change. I am re-introducing some favorite occupations back into my life!

Let’s backtrack. Another thing that happens when you go into student mode is some/all of the things you had time for before get pushed aside for studying, napping, and studying some more. Sometimes when I come out of the fog of reading journal articles I try to remember what I used to do on a weeknight. I used to go to the movies, read plays, and cook. I love to cook. But lately the most cooking I’ve done is to turn on the oven in order to defrost a Trader Joe’s dinner. Where’s the self-care in that?

This week, instead of sitting home alone watching endless hours of television just to not think for awhile, I’ve given myself the assignment to cook at least three dinners from scratch. I’m two down, and both have not only left me feeling full with leftovers to spare, but the weight of the day is lifted when I busy myself with chopping onions, simmering a tomato sauce, or trying out a new recipe. I am so much more satisfied engaging in fulfilling, meaningful occupations than I am when I sit and watch 5 episodes of House Hunters International.

It’s hard to remember when we are busy and stressed to take care of ourselves, but giving yourself something to look forward to helps the stress melt away at the end of a long day and makes you better prepared for what tomorrow brings.

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Happiest Place On Earth ⟩
September 17, 2012, by Paula

School/Life Balance

As you may have heard, the second year Master’s students have suddenly been made aware of a lack of balance in our day-to-day experiences after an exercise in our Health Promotion and Wellness class. I’m sure you all are quite familiar with that feeling of readjustment to a routine and the effort involved in finding the healthy balance between work, rest and play. The stresses of life as a student, a worker, a family member, a friend, etc. can begin to feel heavy but it is so important to remember that each of these components does have a positive effect on your wellness and your person, it just may need a bit of tweaking to get the mix that works for you.

I was feeling as though I was completely out of balance after last week. What else to do but to go to Disneyland?

Two of my close friends were visiting for a birthday so we took advantage of the 105 degree heat and went to add some happiness to our lives. We had all previously been stressed over deadlines, projects and papers but a 14 hour day of theatrics and roller coasters was just the thing we all needed to take a step back and relax a bit (or at least put our stress on hold for the day). Sometime in the day when we were seeking out some shade for a rest, I realized that my perspective has changed since I began the program here at USC. I was intrigued by my heightened awareness of accessibility (or in this case, a lack of) to attractions and shops. I found myself noting whether the environment was restrictive to any individual and if so, how it could be changed.

Maybe Disneyland needs to hire a staff of OTs to implement Universal Design. :]

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Feeling like an Olympian ⟩
September 13, 2012, by Alisa

Classes Life Hacks School/Life Balance

This is Week 3 of classes already! Time is flying by so quickly. This week in my Health Promotion and Wellness class, we learned about the importance of having balance. We got to do a balance wheel of a typical weekday, and I realized that I do not have leisure activities during the weekday. So, after coming home from class, I set forth to do a new activity purely for myself. Since I live near the main campus, I have access to the track and decided to take a nice walk there instead of going to the gym. Instead of doing the elliptical like the usual, I craved a breath of fresh air and decided to start slow by walking/jogging on the track. I spent a total of an hour there, but it was very worth it in the end. I got to enjoy the cool breeze against my skin along with my workout music while getting to see students practice field hockey, doing lunges, and running. I enjoyed the atmosphere and simply being outside. Who knows I might enter in the Mud Run or Color Run the next time you see me? For a brief moment on the track, I felt like an Olympian.

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Balance ⟩
September 10, 2012, by Amber

School/Life Balance

This weekend, I spent four days in the mountains near Yosemite at my family’s vacation home. It is a cute little place nestled in three acres of oak and fir trees. My hectic schedule had prevented me from visiting for over a year, so the peaceful country setting was a pleasant shock to my overstimulated city senses. My entire immediate family was there, which totaled eight including significant others and my new baby nephew. The special reason for this visit was that my aunt and uncle had traveled from Oregon to spend a last summer weekend with my family. We took the jet skis out on the lake, roasted marshmallows, cruised the farmer’s market, and enjoyed my dad’s famous BBQ every night. It was a wonderful weekend.

It felt incredible to take time out for fun and relaxation. Today in my Health and Wellness class, I learned that my feeling of rejuvenation came from the insertion of much-needed balance into my activities. I completed a “Balance Wheel” indicating how my time is spent on a typical day. I found that very little of my time is set aside for leisure activities. I learned that to achieve balance in my life, it is very important to set aside time for my own health and well-being, and commit to defending that time. Personal time often gets set aside as less important than other activities in our lives. My goal for this school year is to incorporate more health-promoting activities into my schedule to try to achieve that elusive balance.

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New Occupations ⟩
September 10, 2012, by Paula

Life Hacks Living in LA School/Life Balance

With the start of another new semester, I was concerned about missing out on the luxury of free time that I enjoyed during the two-week break between summer fieldwork and the start of classes. As a result, I have made a goal for myself to find one new, fun activity to enjoy each week so that I don’t get too comfortable or bored with my routine. First of all, so you know a bit more about me, I am a list person. When I feel stressed or busy, I make a list! You don’t want to know how many different lists I have floating around in different notebooks & sticky notes. It is how I maintain structure and balance regardless of my everyday chaos. 😊 Luckily I have been making a “bucket list” of sorts involving activities in Los Angeles that I have been meaning to get around to but always end up putting off, so I have many, many options of activities to choose from. Last week, I finally went to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery for a movie with some friends! For those of you who are unfamiliar with this location, movie screenings are regularly shown by projector in a grassy area of the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Viewers attend and picnic prior to the film’s showing. I found this experience to be enjoyable on so many levels! The abundant culture, energy, and the shared appreciation of a new experience in such a unique environment was felt throughout the evening. I highly recommend it to those who are looking for something new, or for those of you who have attended in the past but haven’t been back in a while.

I look forward to continuing to make new occupations and adventures a part of my week and finally crossing some of those items off of my list(s).

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