Student Blog
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Hey, hey, hey check out our NEW name! ⟩
September 26, 2014, by Kristy

Beginnings and Endings Community International

As you have seen, or heard, or maybe not, our division recently received a large donation in which a renaming ceremony took place. We are now called the USC Mrs. T.H. Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy. It was such an honor to be a part of this historic ceremony! And I do really mean HISTORIC, this is the first time any division of occupational therapy has been given a monetary amount of this multitude. We all at the Division feel very lucky that the Chan family donated money to our division to expand the research of occupational science and occupational therapy, and also increase our international relations, specifically with our colleagues in China.

Historic moments are nothing new to our Division. Did you know USC had the first post-professional degree program in occupational therapy in 1947? Or that in 1962, USC established the nation’s first two-year entry-level master’s degree? Or in 1989, USC created the world’s first doctoral program in occupational science? It is no wonder that we have remained ranked the #1 occupational therapy graduate program in the nation for more years than all other educational programs combined! For more on history of USC Mrs. T.H. Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, visit this link.

Fight on, Trojans! Fight on!

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New name, new initiative! ⟩
September 26, 2014, by Claire

Beginnings and Endings Community International

Last Wednesday was a super exciting day for USC OT! With a $20 million dollar naming grant, our division is now called USC Mrs. T.H. Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy. Students, faculty and many distinguished guests including former AOTA President and USC alumna Mary Foto, who I had the honor to escort. President Nikias came to make the announcement, along with our marching band (it’s not a big event without our Trojan Marching Band)!

As students, we received the invitation to attend the “historic announcement” a couple weeks before the event. Leading up to the announcement, we were all wondering what it would be: a new building? a new program? TUITION WAIVED?!

It was really inspiring to hear USC Trustee Ronnie Chan share his vision to unite efforts with USC to expand OT to others areas in the world, such as China. We could all tell this was a very special moment for their entire family. Having studied abroad in China during my undergrad and interned at an occupational therapy department in Taiwan, I would really love to see occupational therapy and East Asia come together even more closely. Our global initiative has really taken off with the MAI program and this past summer’s first international language exchange program, and I’m excited to see how this outreach will continue to grow!

This event made it to our USC headline news, and it was also really exciting to see how this announcement is gathering a lot of attention from other USC students. “Oh you study OT? Didn’t you guys just get a huge donation? That’s awesome!” It has been a great way to have a conversation about what OT is and why it’s awesome!

Because of our new name, all of our social media usernames are also being updated. If you haven’t been following, you can check out all the social media links on our website. We like to Instagram. 😊

Also, how does everyone like our new website? The photos are of our actual students and faculty — many of my classmates were going through and finding themselves on the website. (Leila made it in! Can anyone find her? 😛)

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Sharing is Caring ⟩
September 8, 2014, by Leila

Community

How quickly the time is going, we are already in our 3rd week of classes! I’m starting to adjust being a student again and now taking on the role as a student ambassador.

We just had our White Coat Ceremony for the class of 2016 and the event was a success! It was great to be part of the event and see all the wonderful new faces of our OT program with their white coats on.

Fortunately, I get to work with amazing people. With more school events to come, I look forward to the adventures we will have!

My fellow student ambassador Claire and I work together and within the first week of school/work we were already swapping shoes! She needed some closed-toe shoes and luckily I was wearing some. Regardless of our 1 size shoe difference, we managed to make it work. That is what fellow student ambassadors are for!

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The end is also a beginning ⟩
May 24, 2014, by Rob

Admissions Beginnings and Endings Community What are OS/OT?

Four years ago, I was a fishing reporter living in Arkansas. That version of myself would never recognize the me I have become. My life has forever changed, and I have been enriched by the imprint these two years have made on my life.

I learned how to open myself to life and the people that come into it, forming friendships I hope will last a lifetime.

I learned a lot about disability — in a sense, we are all disabled in some way or another — is there even such a thing as normal? I learned how to define occupational therapy. I did it so many times, I will probably have a dream where someone asks me “Does OT mean ‘overtime’?” And then I spend the next five minutes explaining what occupational therapy is. I’m not even kidding. This is going to happen.

I imagine coming to OT school at USC is kind of like going to school at Hogwarts, minus the wands, flying brooms and Argus Filch, of course. There is something special about being selected to the top program in the country and then spending two years getting to know every little nuance of the buildings, professors, and classmates that occupy the space with you. It’s like life stands still for two years — a period of shelter from the world of work, adulthood, and responsibility. Those things still exist in graduate school, of course, but they are different somehow — more temporal in nature.

For those about to begin the journey into the depths of the occupational therapy profession, good luck to you. For those that still dream about that journey, keep working towards it. What lies in the hallowed halls of USC’s Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy is worth everything you put into it.

Fight on!

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Graduation and Gratitude ⟩
May 18, 2014, by Clarissa

Community

Graduation happened! The ceremony was beautiful and the featured speaker this year was Elizabeth Yerxa — a legend in OT. I read her work and watched videos of her speeches! Of course, her speech was wonderfully inspirational.

The best thing about graduation, though, is sharing it with those who helped me reach my dreams. Pictured here is a book of messages and pictures my sister collected from my family and friends. I’m humbled by all the selfless love and support that surrounds me.

Here’s my family — without them, I’d be nowhere near where I am now. From doing my laundry to advising me on big life decisions to dealing with my short fuse during stressful times, they’ve been there. I owe them absolutely everything.

My friends light up my life. My home, college friends, and post-college friends were there through my quarter life crisis before I found OT. Our friendships never faltered, no matter how little I saw them through busy grad school. There are also my closest grad school friends who got me through all-weekend study marathons, who shared in life-changing travel experiences with me (see post about Ghana), and who support all my grad school endeavors, whether it is attending the socials I plan or debriefing challenging clinical experiences with me. I know we’ll be lifelong friends.

My absolute favorite thing about the program is the people. I feel so fortunate to have been a part of the Class of 2014 — every person in my class is selfless, warm, motivated, and supportive. My wonderful classmates made every single day in class something to look forward to. Because I have these amazing people to look up to, I am closer to the person I want to become. Whether it is developing rapport with patients or leading advocacy efforts for OT, I’ve learned from them all. They will make such a positive impact on so many people and I am proud to call them my colleagues and friends.

We did it!

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