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Ode to Ambassadors (and Kim) Part II ⟩
May 14, 2014, by Clarissa

Community

I have loved being a student ambassador this year and am so grateful I had this amazing opportunity. When I was a prospective student, I attended an admissions info session and met a previous student ambassador. I decided right then and there that I wanted to be just like him, mentoring prospective students and marketing a profession I truly believe in.

Lo and behold, my dream came true! I still remember when my supervisor Kim Kelton called me and offered me the student ambassador position. I was ELATED.

Working with the ambassadors and Kim this year has been such a valuable experience. I learned so much from my tasks on the job — I have better public speaking abilities, more self-confidence, and an increased passion for advocating for OT. I also learned a lot from my incredible team.

My fellow student ambassador Rob previously wrote an Ode to Ambassadors blog post and this post is the highly anticipated sequel!

I’ll start with Rob, who has taught me to let go. From him, I’ve learned that issues giving me nervous breakdowns — I’m a worrywart if you can’t tell — don’t matter as much as I think they do in the moment. He’s also taught me to add a bit of fun to everything. Here’s a picture of him sleeping under our supervisor’s desk, which him, our fellow student ambassador Kate, and I decorated with pictures of the ambassador team. I love our shenanigans!

Next is Kate, who is wonderfully sassy and confident. Whenever I feel doubtful about my ability to manage a situation, I pretend I’m Kate. She’s also taught me to be more vocal about my opinions. Kate is so versatile — she can be professional Kate to roll-around-in-grass-with-kids-in-Ghana Kate. Here’s a picture of us together on our Ghana trip.

Ryan is simply a ray of sunshine. No matter how difficult her life situations are or how badly her stomach hurts during ambassador meetings, she radiates positivity. From her, I’ve learned to hone in on silver linings. She also has some incredible dance moves.

I’ve worked with Jen closely in the Occupational Therapy and Science Council (OTSC) as well as as an ambassador! Jen is the co-chair of OTSC and I’m the social chair, so I know she’s great at running meetings and effectively delegating tasks. I tend to put a lot of weight on my own shoulders because I’m a perfectionist. I’ve learned from Jen and, by the end of the year, ran meetings and delegated tasks for the End of the Year Party (see this blog post) committee! Here’s me and Jen — with some photobombers — at a tailgate at the very beginning of the year.

Last but not least, we have our esteemed leader Kim Kelton. She’s so great with balancing building rapport with us and being our supervisor. She’s so young, yet so accomplished! I’m always in awe at her efficiency, dedication, and eloquence. Thanks for being our role model, Kim, and for making our professional development your priority. As you can see in this picture, we love you!

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Such Great Heights ⟩
May 14, 2014, by Clarissa

Community Living in LA

The end of the year celebration, themed Such Great Heights, was this past Saturday! As you know, I’m the social chair of the Occupational Therapy and Science Council (OTSC) and, this year, I was responsible for spearheading our huge year-end party. It was a long process and big team effort — I started all the way back in December and the historians of OTSC even made a promotional video for it! We had a ton of fun filming the promotional video, which I starred in! My favorite part is where my friend Jon uses the reacher to put on his jacket — love nerdy OT jokes.

I heard that everyone had such a great time! It was at the Bonaventure Brewing Company in the Westin Hotel, which is in downtown LA. It was on a rooftop, hence the Such Great Heights theme, so there was an outdoor patio area for people to chat and a DJ indoors. It was such a beautiful venue! Here’s a picture with me and some OT friends in the outdoor patio area. 

There were about 200 attendees, which included students, faculty, and staff members. It was so great celebrating our achievements with the wonderful people that my fellow OTs are. Hanging out with the staff/faculty and their significant others was also really cool. Food, open bar, good company, a slideshow, and a photobooth — what more could we ask for in a party?!

Here are my fellow student ambassadors with our incredible supervisor Kim! The photobooth picture is on the bottom, juxtaposed with a picture we took at the beginning of the year. This was a crazy fun group to work with all throughout the year!

By the way, Rob is floating head because he wore a green shirt (on purpose) and there was a green screen — he did it by accident at the photobooth last year and decided to continue the tradition this year.

The party was infinitely fun because I was surrounded by people I look up to and love. These 2 years flew by and I’m so lucky to have had both educationally rich and fun experiences. I was definitely getting choked up during the OTSC 2014 Slideshow.

Earning my Master’s here at USC was an unforgettable experience and one that I will treasure always.

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OMG!!! ⟩
May 13, 2014, by Ryan

Community

I cannot believe this is my last blog, the last time I will work in the office, the last time I will be an OT graduate student here at USC. I dreamed about this moment for a long time so it feels very surreal. I have to say, it has all been worth it. Being a student ambassador, I have been reminded of what it was like to apply and be stressed about where to go, the cost, etc. Deciding to go to USC was one of the best decisions I have made in my life. I have had such a great class to be inspired and loved by. I have made the most wonderful and supportive life-long friends. I adore the faculty and am so impressed by them every class, each semester. I feel that I am a completely different person coming out of this program than when I entered. I will miss these hallways and saying hello to everyone I see. I am going to miss the routine of having lunch on the patio chatting with my friends. I am going to miss that feeling of growing and inspiration throughout my classes. I am so grateful for this opportunity and for anyone who is applying or about to enter the program, you are in for an amazing and wonderful ride!

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Pause . . . and Rewind ⟩
May 2, 2014, by Samar

Classes Community

I can’t believe I had my final MA class! It feels like it was only yesterday when I moved to California and started the master’s program at USC. I remember orientation as if it happened yesterday. I vividly remember the feeling I had during that day; a good mix of nervousness, excitement and hopefulness of the all possibilities yet to come. This year has been amazing on so many levels. I’ve started the year in a room full of strangers as my classmates. Now, we are graduating and celebrating our success together as a family. Moreover, I’ve had the fortune to meet the top leaders in the occupational therapy profession and have embraced my inner geek by taking pictures with each and every one of them: Dr. Florence Clark, Dr. Jane Case-Smith, Dr. Patricia Nagaishi (OTAC president), and Dr. Virginia Stoffel (AOTA president). In 14 days, I plan to add to my picture collection one of me and Dr. Elizabeth Yerxa at the Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy Satellite Commencement Ceremony. That day is going to be so surreal! I guess I should stop thinking about graduation and think of the comprehensive exam I am taking on Monday . . . Wish me luck!

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Ode to Ambassadors ⟩
February 14, 2014, by Rob

Community

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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