Student Blog
Getting Involved

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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A Day with Celebrities ⟩
November 21, 2013, by Clarissa

Getting Involved What are OS/OT?

Life at the USC OS/OT Division has been really eventful and exciting. So many things happening to update you on! It was hard but I am picking the 24th annual Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy Symposium at USC occurred a couple of week ago to hone in on today. This year, the symposium focused on research on Sensory Integration (SI), which is a specialty practice area of occupational therapy. SI theory is the manner in which one’s neurological system organizes sensation from the environment for participation in occupations. Dr. Jane Ayres, who was actually a faculty member at USC, developed SI theory!

I’m currently learning about SI in my pediatrics immersion and see it practiced in my fieldwork — it was really great listening to what the big names in SI and pediatrics had to say about it based on their research. Presenters included Drs. Jane Case-Smith, who wrote our pediatrics textbook, Lucy Miller, who created an assessment tool (Miller Function and Participation Scales) that we learned about in class, my neuroscience professor Barbara Thompson, and the chair of our division, Florence Clark. It was so cool seeing and learning from the people whose tools we use in school and practice! It really hit home just how renowned the presenters, which included USC faculty, are and how lucky I am to attend such an amazing school where opportunities like these to learn are readily available. Practitioners in the audience were snapping pictures of the panelists — they are celebrities!

Here is my very own paparazzi shot of the presenters and also a photo of me and my fellow student ambassador Kate! I’d take breaks from my part-time job title of “paparazzo” (yes, I had to Google the singular form of paparazzi) to visit her.

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Happy Veteran’s Day! ⟩
November 12, 2013, by Ryan

Getting Involved What are OS/OT?

I was able to help out as a Student Ambassador at the Veteran’s Appreciation Reception dinner last night. I helped set up and took photographs to document this great event. I wanted to attend this event because my grandfather and father served in the army, my grandmother was a women’s marine, and my uncle was in the navy. I have a connection to people who have served and think it is a great idea to show our appreciation. Also, being in the master’s program I have learned about the many ways we can support this population through occupational therapy. And what an awesome way to spend Veteran’s Day!

The reception dinner was held at the Town and Gown building on the University Park Campus, a beautiful dining hall with amazing chandeliers in an old brick building. As I walked around taking pictures I would talk to individuals who have served or are connected to the population in some way. There was a woman I met who is in the social work program and wants to work with veterans when she graduates. Her brothers, father, and uncles have all served in the army so this population is close to her heart and you can tell by talking with her. She expressed such passion for veterans and talked about going to meetings for veterans to start building connections before graduating. She actually gave me her contact information once she found out I was in the OT program so if the opportunity presented itself, we could collaborate in some way to help out this population.

I also met a man that had a service dog. He explained that once he returned from service, he had so much anger and would seek out violence. He would go out to bars wanting to pick fights and started carrying a gun illegally. He was going to therapy and making progress, but couldn’t shake the desire to be violent. He became connected to Pets for Vets and expressed that he need help or was going to buy another gun. They provided him with a stray dog and it changed his life. The process of caring for an animal, having someone that counted on him, someone to come home to, he lost the desire for violence. Isn’t that amazing!

This event was great and opened my eyes to the many young veterans coming home and needing support. I am so glad that OT is so broad and able to help this population. For those out there interested in OT and veterans, know that there is so much we can do. OTs look at the whole person and that is exactly what vets need, from psychosocial to biomechanical. Yay, OT!

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Transition from Undergrad to Grad School ⟩
November 8, 2013, by Jen

Classes Getting Involved

I had a wonderful opportunity to work at the USC Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy table at the California Forum for Diversity in Graduate Education. I enjoyed speaking with all the students who were in the process of exploring what they might want to do after they graduate. This experience caused me to reflect on my own transition from being an undergraduate student to being a graduate student. My undergraduate school prepared me to have a general understanding of multiple subjects from science to philosophy in addition to taking the numerous kinesiology and psychology classes that were required for my major and minor. Now that I am in graduate school, my courses are much more focused on a single topic — occupational therapy. Within the topic of occupational therapy are many sub topics such as: geriatrics, sensory integration, hands, assistive technology, ergonomics, physical rehabilitation, and much, much more!

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Unofficial Rose Parade mascot ⟩
October 31, 2013, by Rob

Getting Involved

This past weekend was the Annual Conference for the Occupational Therapy Association of California (OTAC) in Sacramento. There were lots of educational seminars, presidential addresses and opportunities for after-hours mingling. For me, the most enjoyable part was volunteering and working behind the scenes.

Helping with registration and volunteers gave me the opportunity to meet a lot of new practitioners and students. I think it always helps to see a smiling face first thing in the morning. That, and a cup of coffee.

I also have been helping promote OTAC’s effort to get a float representing occupational therapy into the 2017 Rose Parade. This is a nationwide movement, spearheaded by California therapists, focused on promoting the profession and making us more “widely recognized” the year in which we celebrate our Centennial Anniversary.

One way that I put my skills to use is illustrated in the picture below. Usually, I am down for just about anything, and that includes putting on a wacky hat and walking around getting attention for the Rose Parade effort. At some point in the day Sunday, a woman came up to me and offered to paint my face. I think she was only half serious, but when I challenged her to do it, she rummaged around in her bag and came up with some makeup and got to work.

The results were pretty spectacular, as you can see. I’d like to think that I was responsible for at least part of the great fundraising we did that weekend. But I wonder if I scared more people away that afternoon?! Happy Halloween!

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