Student Blog
Externships

Time to Pack! ⟩
February 20, 2015, by Brenda

Externships International

In one week, I will be on my way to South Korea! And I am so very excited. I can’t believe the time has come. And in a very Brenda tradition, I am only now beginning to prepare for my three week trip. I have started by buying new socks, yes socks. Clearly, you cannot go on a trip without some new socks. Baby steps, baby steps. And since it is winter in Korea right now, packing is going to require some extra thought. Here in Southern California, weather remains pleasant pretty much all year long. The forecast in South Korea is looking a little colder than usual. I am going to be welcomed by 30-40 degree weather. Brrrrrrrrr. Wish me luck!

While I work on packing, I will leave you all with some pictures of my awesome dog Mosquito. I will only be gone for three weeks, but I know I will sure miss his warm cuddling.

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Buy the ticket, take the ride ⟩
January 29, 2015, by Brenda

Externships

So I did it! I booked my flight for South Korea yesterday. I will be there for about three weeks in March. I am ecstatic! It’s been awhile since my last travels. In undergrad, I had the privilege to study abroad in Vietnam. So now in grad school, I will be visiting Yonsei University in South Korea as part of my externship experience. Externships are a requirement for our OT 540 Leadership Capstone class. This class is taken second semester of our second year in the program. The purpose of the course is to further help students with professional development. Externships are student driven and designed to build leadership, communication and professional skills. They are also intended as a means to explore topics that are covered in class. The options for these are endless. Some students choose to stay locally and explore private practice environments, different community-based organizations, or different clinics and hospitals. Other students also choose to volunteer. Some of my really close friends will be going to Costa Rica to volunteer at an orphanage. Like them, I have decided to do my externship internationally. I will be going to South Korea with division along with seven other students. March can’t come any sooner! If anyone out there has any suggestions of what I should do when I’m there, please don’t hesitate to reply to this post! 😊

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Winter Break! ⟩
December 17, 2014, by Leila

Classes Externships

Last week was our final week of the Fall Semester, and as exciting as it is to be one more semester closer to graduation it is also a little sad. As 2nd year students, we have now completed our final immersion in our cohorts. The Entry-Level Master’s program focuses on three different immersions: mental health, pediatrics, and adult physical rehabilitation. During our first summer semester we were split into cohorts (A, B or C). My final immersion was in pediatrics, which meant it was also my last class with cohort A-mazing. 😊 It has been a great experience getting to know the great individuals in my cohort and see them grow. I know our immersions and complementary classes have done a great job thus far in preparing us to become amazing occupational therapists.

Next semester will be our final semester of classes. We will have the opportunity to take electives of our choice, as well as participate in a Leadership Externship. All 2nd year students will complete the externship in their final semester as part of the Leadership Capstone course. The externship is a two-week experience where students have the opportunity to build on their leadership skills. Students are responsible for finding and coordinating these externships. The places that you can choose to go to are diverse! I’m planning to complete my externship in a Spanish speaking country — possibly Costa Rica or Peru! I’m beyond excited and I can’t wait to share with you all about this amazing opportunity. Until then I will be enjoying my four-week winter break!

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Adventures in Ireland ⟩
April 18, 2014, by Rob

Externships International

One of the unique experiences of our program is the Leadership Externship that all second-year students complete in their final semester as part of the Leadership Capstone course. The externship is a two-week experience that students have the responsibility for finding and coordinating. The diversity in places people go is astounding — from Ghana to Vietnam and from adult day health centers to medical mission trips.

I did my externship in Cork, Ireland at the University College Cork’s occupational therapy program. One of my interests is education and I wanted to see how occupational therapy was taught in other countries. I was challenged more than I expected — visiting an unfamiliar country alone without knowing anyone living there was tough. It helped me realize how much of a home I have built here in Los Angeles in the two years since I moved here from Chicago.

Despite the challenges I faced, I found even more amazing opportunities. While looking at a brochure, I came across a community art group that was building floats for the St. Patrick’s Day parade and they invited me to not only help with construction, but to be in the parade too. How many chances do you have to be in a St. Patrick’s Day parade in Ireland? I couldn’t say no.

The community art group also attracted other young adults from the surrounding countries like Italy, France, and England who came to volunteer their time, sometimes for up to eight months. My last day, a few of my Italian friends cooked me a mouth-wateringly authentic Italian dinner.

Because the externship happens right before Spring Break, there is an opportunity to spend additional time traveling. Those days were the best. I stayed at a bed and breakfast owned by an older gentleman and on my first night he invited me to hang out and have tea while watching a recap of the day’s sports results. He had some amazing stories of growing up in Ireland and living in Australia — I could have listened to his stories all night.

I also went on several day trips, where I took the picture below. I visited Ballycotton, a small, seaside fishing village, and took a long walk along the cliffs. It had been raining lightly, but I wanted to get a picture that captured the green of the land and the blue of the sea and the island with a lighthouse in the distance. In one small moment of sunshine, I set my camera up with a 10-second timer and started running down the hill. You can see how far I made it. It was the perfect moment: birds taking flight as sunshine streamed through the clouds and me running wild down the road. The rain started again as I walked back up the hill, out of breath but content.

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Externship + Spring Break ⟩
March 26, 2014, by Kate

Externships International School/Life Balance

It’s been a whirlwind in my life the past 3 weeks. I went on my externship to Ghana (alongside 35 other OT students and fellow ambassador Clarissa) and then I spent 3 days in Berlin, Germany with one of my good friends from the OT program. My jet lag has not gone away, I must admit, and I am still confused as to when I should be hungry and when I should be tired. All in all, it was an amazing time away from school and I wish I could do a video blog to tell you all about it and share pictures and videos. I will try my best to be succinct yet thorough!

In Ghana, we stayed at the Mephibosheth Training Center in Appam, about 2 hours outside of the capital city of Accra. MTC is a boarding school for children with disabilities that come from all across Ghana, some as far as 9 hours away. About 53 children, ranging from about 5-23 years old, with physical and mental challenges, live at MTC and go to school. It is a true honor for these children to attend school because Ghanaians have traditional beliefs that disabilities stem from a curse on the family or the individual. Although this mindset is changing in the country, it is an ongoing process. Our group of USC OT students came to MTC to play and love on the kids, as well as perform 3 sets of vocational activities with them to note their skill and interest level in sewing, woodworking and leatherworking. We made a game of cornhole with bean bags and leather bracelets. It was truly amazing to spend time with these children!

We also had the opportunity to meet with OT students from the University of Ghana. They will be graduating their first class of 19 students this year, and it was really neat to share our knowledge and love of OT with them. Our group was also assigned to pair up with students from the University of Winneba in the Community-Based Rehabilitation Worker program. These students go out into the communities, find individuals with disabilities and refer them to sources. Many of the students/CBR workers are placed in schools. I was able to shadow a student placed at a primary school in a classroom of 14-16 year-old girls. They loved me and I loved them. It was magical to be surrounded by such joy.

I had the chance to relax in Berlin, where I toured the city with my friend Mona. We got on one of the hop-on, hop-off, double-decker tour buses for two days. This was the perfect choice because we were able to see all of the sites, get the history and have someone else drive! We ate pretzels, schnitzel, spaetzel and yes, drank a lot of beer. It was fun to visit such a cosmopolitan city! I was pretty happy to come home, however, despite the crazy time difference and my loads of homework due this week!!

Speaking of homework, I think I’ll get back to it. Stay tuned for more exciting developments as my fellow ambassadors and I wrap up our last 5 weeks of our grad school careers!!

Here’s a picture of one of the kiddos at MTC in Ghana and some pretzels in Germany. 😊

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