Student Blog
Community

Oh Happy Day! ⟩
December 16, 2013, by Clarissa

Community Getting Involved

I just took my last final today for my Current Issues in Adulthood and Aging class — hip hip hooray! I always have trouble picking from a jillion things to blog about but since it’s a jolly day, I’ll blog about jolly things — the OT Ugly Holiday Sweater Party! As the social chair of OTSC, I always look forward to planning and implementing this event. This event is a young tradition, started only last year, where the students get together and eat, participate in an ugly sweater competition, decorate gingerbread houses and ornaments, and make holiday cards. This year, we held it at the Center for Occupation and Lifestyle Redesign, which is a beautiful Victorian house owned by the USC OS/OT Division. The homey atmosphere, festive decorations, and Christmas tree made the party that much more enjoyable.

It has been so long since we had the opportunity to be creative and do arts and crafts! Participating in crafts reminds me why I so strongly believe in OT — meaningful ways of occupying my time lifts my mood, boost my self-esteem upon product completion, and, since I like doing crafts with other people, increases socialization. Basically, it’s a recipe for well-being. Unfortunately, in the midst of projects, finals, and papers, my creative brain has taken a backseat so it felt great to unwind and create again. On top of that, I was able to catch up with so many classmates and get to know first years. I get lonely with my laptop as my only companion during finals week.

This year, we also teamed up with another student group in our division called Design in Action. They encouraged the students to build gingerbread houses with universal design in mind — they created ramps, grab bars, handrails, and wheelchair accessible doorways. It was a fun way of incorporating some of the principles we learned in class and I loved hearing our classmates’ stories about each house. I was really impressed with some of these houses. Here is the first place winner along with some happy OTs!

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MOvember, Thanksgiving and a White Christmas ⟩
November 26, 2013, by Rob

Community School/Life Balance

Holiday cheer filled the office today, as I entered to Christmas music playing from the office computer courtesy of fellow ambassador Ryan. Kim was out of the office for a meeting, so we felt completely free to carol to our hearts content. Growing up with White Christmas as a winter staple and maturing into a deep voice, I’m a big Bing Crosby fan. His songs are some of the few I can belt out without embarrassing myself.

This is a time for holidays. Thanksgiving is coming up and I am feeling very grateful for all the special people in my life. Even though I won’t be able to make it back to Chicago until our winter break, it’s going to be a time to spend with friends here on the West Coast. I’ll enjoy the few days off from school and lots of delicious food.

November is also MOvember. It’s a chance to grow wild mustaches to promote awareness of men’s health issues such as prostate or testicular cancer and mental health. As someone who has seen the impact of these challenges, I feel like we have a responsibility to share our experiences and bring awareness to these issues. Things like urinary incontinence, erectile dysfunction, cancer and mental health issues are often hidden conditions that can cause men considerable anxiety as they try to live with these challenges. Being supportive, non-judgmental and conscious of language can make a difference.

I grow my mustache to encourage support and understanding, not only during the holidays, but for the rest of the year too. And thank you to Ryan, my MOSista, for her contribution to this month, as you can see below!

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The Greatest Feeling in the World: WINNING!! ⟩
November 19, 2013, by Kate

Community Living in LA

Alongside other great feelings like being with family, making someone laugh, having a fulfilling purpose in life and studying at USC, there is the best feeling in the world when it comes to a USC football fan: WINNING. This weekend was our annual Homecoming. The USC Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy put on a bunch of different events this weekend to celebrate our alumni as well as our current students. There was a Casino Night on Friday and a tailgate before the football game on Saturday. Our football game was against #4 ranked Stanford University, and we were, no doubt, the underdog. I attended the game with three friends from out of town, whom I had met while I was an undergraduate at USC. We celebrated our reunion on campus with other friends whom I haven’t seen in a while. It was truly a great day catching up with familiar faces!

The best part of the day, however, was being there to witness USC beat Stanford, 20-17. Our Trojans played a great game against the top-ranked Stanford Cardinal. Going into the 4th quarter, we were tied 17-17; it wasn’t until the final 2 minutes that we scored the game-winning field goal. And magic ensued. Fans rushed the field and surrounded our team and the coaching staff. It was such a celebratory moment full of happiness, and I could not have been more excited to be there. I’m still feeling the high from being there in that amazing moment with my old friends! What a great way to be reunited!

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I Am Thankful ⟩
November 13, 2013, by Jen

Community Life Hacks

With Thanksgiving only one week away, I cannot help but think about all I have to be thankful for. I am thankful for the intelligent and caring faculty that is supporting me throughout my education at USC. I am thankful for my student ambassador co-workers who make my job even more enjoyable. I am thankful for my classmates who have become some of my closest friends. I am thankful for the skilled occupational therapists that have taken so much time to mentor me and enrich my learning experiences. I am thankful for my friends and family who give me space to study (or much needed study breaks) and provide me with unconditional love and support. Most of all, I am thankful that I have found a professional that will remind me every day how much I have to be thankful for.

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A global reach ⟩
October 24, 2013, by Rob

Community International

Occupational therapy is a profession practiced worldwide, with 80 different nations represented in our global association, the World Federation of Occupational Therapists. USC has embraced the global nature of the profession with the MA-I program, which offers a one-year master’s degree to practicing clinicians, both from the United States and internationally.

I recently received a picture from my friend Toshi, who came from Japan last year to do his MA-I at USC. After finishing the program, he returned to Kyoto, where he works in the sub-acute care sector of adult rehabilitation. I’ve attached his picture at the bottom and I’m glad to see our buttons proudly displayed in his work space!

The opportunity to integrate with practitioners from other countries is of great value to us as students. Being exposed to a broader perspective on occupational therapy continues to challenge us to keep an open mind when it comes to our expectations on what OT should look like. And we get to meet interesting people from a variety of backgrounds and expand our interconnected network of OTs across the world.

Toshi, you may be across the world from us, but you will never be far from our hearts!

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