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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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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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Enjoying my peeps!!! ⟩
February 6, 2014, by Ryan

Beginnings and Endings Community School/Life Balance

I am starting to realize that these will be my last moments with my classmates that I love so dearly . . . so I have been taking advantage and spending some quality time with my peeps! I feel so lucky that I am going to be an OT soon, that I got into USC (which has inspired me to everyday), and to have been in the program with the most amazing people! I have made great friends and am so proud of the amazing OTs my classmates will become. I will miss them so terrible when we graduate.

Went golfing with some peeps, yesterday . . .

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