Student Blog
International
GI’s IG takeover! ⟩
April 14, 2020, by Japeth
Diversity International
First and foremost, I want to say that this blog post is dedicated to Global Initiatives, headed by Dr. Danny Park together with his team members James, Mariah, LiShan, Maggie, Katie, and Prutha. They have been doing a wonderful job in making the international students at USC Chan feel at home by organizing different activities (not to mention the free food that they always prepare!!!).
Some of the activities that we all enjoyed were:
- Global Corner (Meet and greet with local and international Chan students)
- Beach bonfire (I remember this happened around November and it was one of the best activities for me!)
- Thanksgiving dinner (It was their way of letting us feel the American culture during this occasion. I actually made a blog post about this!)
- Chinese New Year dinner (We had dinner in Chinatown together with faculty and staff; they also prepared games and activities)
- International Alumni Panel: Life after Graduation (This was supposed to be an in-person event, but due to the work-from-home set up, we had this online. It was an informative session where current international students like me, learn from alumni from different batches about tips on finding jobs, OPT processing, visa sponsorship, and many more!)
Sharing with you some snaps of the Life after Graduation event:
Actually, below is the highlight of this blog post — their latest Instagram Takeover where each of the team member has a day to show what their life is like! Being far from them and not having the usual bonding time that we used to enjoy makes me (and I’m sure the other students as well) really sad; but this takeover project made a way for us to know each other more despite the distance!! The photos below were just screen-captured from their official Instagram account. You may follow them on instagram (@uscchanosotglobal).
This is Maggie, one of my good friends here in LA! We became close because we see each other often at the office and extended our hangouts by drinking boba and eating Asian food! I couldn’t agree more with you on your explanation about OT, Maggie!
Although Areli and I only started seeing each other at the office during spring semester, we already had fun conversations about life, school, and everything in between. She’s also a coffee lover! Nothing that a coffee can’t fix, right Areli?
This is my small group leader LiShan! She was one of the first people who welcomed me at USC Chan and she also prepared a birthday cake for me last year during my birthday — that’s how thoughtful she is! Thanks for sharing some ergo tips too! We all can’t thank you enough for your thoughtfulness, LiShan.
No one can ever balance life better than this lady! Katie has organized many activities outside of school just to make sure that we are all enjoying our time here in LA. From oganizing fun activities to study session, Katie does it best! Thank you for allowing us to “Grow Together”!
Greetings from Minnesota to the world! Mariah is one of the Doctoral residents under Global Initiatives (together with James, another good friend!). She always fascinates me with her insight about life, politics, economy, and many more! And oh, you just made me crave tacos, Mariah!!
And that’s just the first wave of their Instagram activities. Rumor has it that they will do another takeover where they will share their travel pictures — exciting!! I hope they have pictures where they do a Fight On pose!! LOL
⋯
Throwback Thursday ⟩
February 20, 2020, by Kaho
Admissions Externships Housing and Transportation International Life Hacks Living in LA What are OS/OT?
As I was brainstorming what to write for my upcoming blog posts, I found myself at a complete blank. Nothing came to mind. I thought, what unique information can I provide as a student? As an ambassador? Social media chair? Then, a lightbulb switched on. Why don’t I take advantage of the data I’ve learned to analyze this year and make a compilation of other amazing blog posts? So, here we are. Here are the top 10 most popular blog posts from past and current student ambassadors (from Jan 1, 2015 through today), according to page views by you all! There are some oldies but goodies and they’re all definitely worth a read, so check them out.
- How to write a personal statement
- How to explain what occupational therapy is
- A Leadership Externship experience in South Korea
- A breakdown of the workload/life of an OT student
- Pros and cons of living at Currie Hall
- Pros of living in OT House vs. Pros of living somewhere else
- A different Leadership Externship experience in South Korea
- Pros and Cons of living in OT House
- Incorporating yoga into occupational therapy
- The role of occupational therapy in oncology
Hope you find these helpful!
⋯
The Building Blocks of the Pre-Master’s Program ⟩
February 14, 2020, by Japeth
Admissions Diversity International Videos
Coming from a country where English language is not the official language may be difficult for some students who intend to go abroad for continuing education. This is what I also felt when I was still applying to the program. Questions such as “Will I be able to speak confidently?” or “Can I express myself and my thoughts properly?” were always on my mind. International students also need to take an English Proficiency Exam (IELTS or TOEFL) and must reach a score that is accepted by the department. This requirement is difficult, to be honest! Aside from this, students who are planning to enter graduate school must also take the Graduate Record Exam (GRE), which includes questions about analytical writing, verbal reasoning, and quantitative reasoning. This exam is just equally difficult, if not more, as the IELTS or TOEFL.
For interested international students who might be worried on their performance on these tests, don’t fret! I am happy to share about USC’s Pre-Master’s Program, which aims to help students improve their performance and scores!
Below is a video featuring Yen Ting Ni and Yi Fan Lin, both went through the Pre-Master’s program before joining this year’s Post-Professional MA in OT cohort.
I hope this video is helpful to future applicants and students! Also, I would like to share with you about what changes the Admissions Team has been doing! The admissions team headed by Dr. Arameh Anvarizadeh, together with Dr. Kristin Nxumalo and Dr. Amber Bennett, has changed how admissions look like! USC Chan has moved towards what we call the “new admission holistic process”, where all components of the admission criteria are given equal importance and value.
Fight On!
⋯
Wrapping Up with Thanks ⟩
December 3, 2019, by Kaho
International Living in LA
I hope everyone had a relaxing and long Thanksgiving weekend surrounded by friends and family! Students of the Chan Division are back for their final week of classes and are sprinting to the finish line as they prepare for presentations, final papers, and exams. It’s a time of high stress, but I want to try to soak in the warm soothing vibes from Thanksgiving for a little while longer.
I spent my Thanksgiving this year with my boyfriend’s family here in SoCal. My family is far, far away in Japan and the holidays can be a lonely time for international students like me, so I’m really grateful to have been able to get that home-with-family feeling with lots of home cooked food. My cohort, Cohort A, also had a Friendsgiving potluck that week. I found out that everyone is a master chef and we had like . . . a century’s worth of food. It was amazing. Our professors, Dr. Diaz and Dr. Gunter, prepared turkey and ham for us too, so I’m not exaggerating when I say we had a FEAST.
Dr. Diaz and my classmate, Daniel, cutting the turkey
My favorite cohort 😉
*Sorry for the blurry photos, my phone has terrible quality*
As this semester comes to an end, I’m reflecting on all that’s happened (classes, fieldwork in pediatrics, elective courses selection, OTD application, externship planning, student ambassador events, etc. oh my) and how quickly these past 4 months or so have flown by. To be honest, this whole year and a half since I started the program has flown by. I can’t believe that I’ll be done with my final immersion by the end of next week and I only have one semester left until I graduate. I know that next semester will feel even faster because it’s filled with exciting elective courses and I’ll be working lots of events. Although I have an indefinite list of things that I’m thankful for, this year, I’m especially thankful for the friends that I’ve made and become closer to through the program, the opportunity to pursue my passion and study OT at USC, my teachers and mentors, my family that never fails to support and encourage me no matter how far they are, my support system back in San Diego from undergrad, and my good health/able body. I’m heading home to Japan over winter break and my annual family reunion is waiting for me on the other side of finals. It’s been a whole year since I’ve seen them, so I’m beyond excited and motivated to get through these last two weeks. I hope everyone has a great holiday season and good luck on finals! Finish strong!
⋯
I am thankful for . . . ⟩
November 25, 2019, by Japeth
International Living in LA
November is thanksgiving season in American culture, and what better way to celebrate it than by having dinner with friends at the USC Chan division? Last Friday (November 22), the Global Initiatives team was thoughtful enough to organize an early thanksgiving dinner with the students and some faculty and staff of USC Chan. It was a wonderful way for us to de-stress and be with everyone. Everybody found something to do to help as we prepared the food!
Before doing the meal prep, its always best to start it by taking a group photo while doing the Fight On pose! In this group photo, Dr. Emily Ochi, the MA1 Program Director and Bianca Ojeda, USC Chan’s social event program coordinator, showed the inner Trojan in them by also doing the fight on pose!!
Katie Miller, MA2 student and also a member of USC Chan’s Global Initiatives together with MA1 students, Raffy Wagas, Lin Hung-Yi, Pan Yen-Wen, Hasmin Palo, and Yvonne Lin (from L-R).
MA1 students designing their own cookies! That’s me right there!!
Here’s my photo showing the cookies that I designed . . . well I am not artistic to begin with and that’s the best that I could do! LOL
MA1 ladies showing their “girls just wanna have fun” look! Indeed, they look like they’re having sooo much fun!
Of course, this is everyone’s favorite — turkey!!
I asked my friends who grew up here about thanksgiving and their answer in a nutshell is . . . it’s a time for us all to think of what has been great and why you’re thankful about it; some may also consider what did not work out or what failed if they see it as a blessing in disguise.
Honestly, when you’re facing a lot of stress and tons of schoolwork to do and on top of that, life gets in the way — what is there to be thankful about, right? But again, how we perceive things greatly affects how we feel and how we react to them. Last week too, while I was hearing the mass, the priest was preaching on how to live not on the ‘what if’, but live on the ‘even if’. Is this the universe trying to intervene? Hmmm.
With that being said, I took some time to do a thanksgiving reflection, and what I realized is something that I cannot discredit myself: one thing that happened to me this year that I am most thankful for is being able to take my MA and being able to thrive in a totally new environment. It’s difficult but it’s doable, especially if you are with the right people!
Life may be difficult at times, but being with the right people helps a lot. To me, these are the right people and I am so blessed to have them!
If I may ask you, what are you thankful for?
⋯
Subscribe | RSS