Student Blog
Community

Smell the Roses ⟩
January 17, 2017, by Erwin

Community Living in LA What are OS/OT?

Exciting things were happening in the world of OT during the holidays. On January 2nd, occupational therapy had the honor of having a float at the 128th Tournament of Roses Parade.

If you didn’t know, 2017 marks 100 years of occupational therapy. That’s an awesome achievement for our profession and a testament to OT’s contributions to society. The float is a celebration of our wonderful profession and provided exposure about what OT is to the millions of people that watch the Rose Parade.

In anticipation for our 100 years as a profession, the American Occupational Therapy Association decided on a centennial vision:

“We envision that occupational therapy is a powerful, widely recognized, science-driven, evidence-based profession with a globally connected and diverse workforce meeting society’s occupational needs.”

This float was an excellent opportunity to support our profession in meeting its centennial vision of being “widely recognized” and “globally connected”!

This float could not been done without the support of the Occupational Therapy Association of California, which sponsored the float, and its volunteers. Many USC faculty members and students dedicated their time to help with this awesome project, and being one of those volunteers, I can proudly say it was worth the time and effort! Read more about the float.

Here are some photos of the float and the volunteers that helped to make this float possible.

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New Year, Big News! ⟩
January 10, 2017, by Alyssa

Community Living in LA

Happy New Year! I couldn’t be more proud to be a Trojan!

With a big football victory and a kickoff to celebrating the OT centennial with a float in the Rose Parade, things are certainly exciting here at USC OSOT! Not to mention, this week also marks the beginning of spring semester. Now when it comes to football, the Trojans made quite the appearance at the Rose Bowl. It had been a long 8 years since USC had played in the Rose Bowl game and were certainly able to FIGHT ON and win 52-49 against Penn State. What a way for USC to start off a new year!

2017 marks a century of Occupational Therapy, which means our national organization and health profession will turn 100 years old! As we move forward into this New Year, the students here at USC OSOT continue to promote our profession, especially the wonderful people we have met and helped. Check out our AMAZING float and learn more about OT! ☺

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Cohort Love ⟩
December 6, 2016, by Jessica

Admissions Community School/Life Balance

Prospective students are often nervous about the fact that USC’s program is relatively larger than other OT programs. Each class has about 120-130 students, so students might be worried about getting “lost in the shuffle.” However the great thing about the program is that students are divided into three cohorts, with about 40-45 students in each one. Your cohort is the group of people you’ll be taking most of your classes with, so class sizes remain more intimate. For lab sections, your cohort is divided in half, so there will only be 20-25 students in each lab, so you can get more hands on experience.

You’ll become pretty close with your cohort, since you take most of your classes with one another. Some cohorts will plan outings together and share resources with one another. Some of the fun things we’ve done as a cohort: go out to dinner, happy hour, hiking, attend a Dodgers game, and celebrate the holidays with a white elephant party!

This past week was our last class together as a cohort. For our last semester, we will all be taking elective courses of our choosing, so everyone will be split up into different classes. In rememberance of my awesome cohort, here are some photos of Cohort A!

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The Community Matters! ⟩
December 5, 2016, by Alyssa

Classes Community What are OS/OT?

Currently, I am taking OT 537: Occupation-Centered Programs for the Community! Specifically, this class is about finding a need within the community and developing a program to address it. With this purpose, you become familiar with the process of planning and evaluating a program, proposal writing, and addressing a prevalent health need. With an understanding and love for meaningful occupation, what better way to apply this knowledge and passion than to build and cultivate a program design! My classmate, Lauren, and I both have a strong interest in health promotion and wellness!

With this interest, we decided to research and develop a program within the workplace to address busy professionals with or at risk for developing hypertension. Our purpose was to educate and collaborate with this population in how to self-manage their health needs, incorporate healthy lifestyle habits into their daily routines, and engage in purposeful, occupation-based activities.

In addition, if you would like to learn more about the other courses offered within in the entry-level Master’s program, I highly encourage you to do so. 😊

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The Trojan Family ⟩
December 2, 2016, by Erwin

Community

A lot of times, prospective students ask me what it’s like to be in such a large class. Comparatively, USC has one of the largest programs in the country. Does everyone just go home after school? Will I really make lasting friendships here? Will I really be friends with everyone?

To that I say, we are all one big, happy Trojan family.

With Thanksgiving in the books and the holiday season fast approaching, I wanted to share a glimpse of what being part of the Trojan family looks like.

This week, our entire class came together to throw a huge OT holiday potluck. Large gatherings like this are not out of the ordinary. We all love to be in each other’s company and while Thanksgiving just past, I can honestly say for this year, I am thankful for all the friendships I’ve made with my peers and professors.

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