Student Blog
Life Hacks

Occupation Renewal ⟩
October 4, 2011, by Floyd

Life Hacks

I used to be in cross country in high school and started to do less running when I went to college. During my undergrad, I ran the track once or twice a week. But after I graduated and started my career, I stopped running for leisure. Now that I am in graduate school, I do no more than walk to class from my car in the parking lot. So I decided that I should get back into it after so many years. I did not want to start at it alone so I coerced my friends to run with me during the annual Run for Diabetes. My friends and I even raised over two thousand dollars and participated in the run on a sunny Saturday afternoon.

Even though I felt sore and tired the day after the run, it feels satisfying to have accomplished it. Whether or not it is all in my mind, I can already feel the benefits from the run. Elizabeth June Yerxa researched on life satisfaction of people living with severe disabilities and illustrated that by learning about how people develop into occupational beings, we can help people increase their well-being. Being able to participate my occupation of running, I am able to do something I love while improving on my overall health. Unlike exercise, I do not find running as a chore or duty in order to support of health and well-being. Running is an occupation that supports my interest and indirectly promotes my life and work balance.

I thought I lost all my interest in running but it has been hidden within me and needing to be ignited by the start of the activity. It was a great feeling to be running again. It has been so many years since I ran; it was somewhat like I was doing it for a first time. I did have some endurance difficulty since I did not properly train for the run, but like riding a bike, I got back into it steadily. Running may not be a novel occupation to me, but I have not been doing it for many years and I have been curious in participating in this occupation again. Also, I never participated in the Run for Diabetes, which came to a great surprise and I hope to do it again next year.

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Procrastination . . . I Mean Occupation! ⟩
September 30, 2011, by Alix

Life Hacks School/Life Balance

I’m pretty busy this semester, so when distractions come up throughout the week, I ignore them. For about five minutes. Then I move through stage two of the procrastination phase, mostly involving profound guilt, shame, and self-beratement. Finally, I give in. For example, I am in the middle of planning my wedding. As some of you probably know, a person could literally fill 60 hours a week with wedding planning. There are always details to iron out, vendors to contact, and logistics to agonize over. (Especially since our wedding is taking place in a field, under a tree, with no infrastructure or electrical outlets.) Plus, the internet contains a seeminly endless supply of wedding blogs, all filled with pictures of perfectly executed events and reasons that you should be panicking about yours. And this is in addition to the wedding magazines that arrive practically daily at my front door. I find myself wondering what kind of dessert to serve, and then spending three hours “researching” the (very complex and elusive) answer. But then the other day I had a brilliant realization: Maybe this isn’t procrastination. Maybe it’s an occupation! Maybe planning my wedding is one of my leisure occupations! And being in OT school, I of all people should know that health requires a balance of work, rest, and leisure. So, in reality, I should be proud of myself. Right?

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“Flowing” ⟩
September 26, 2011, by Chelsea

Life Hacks

Have you ever done something that was so engaging it made you completely forget about everything else on your mind? In occupational therapy, we call this the “flow” state because it is the point at which every move you make has a seamless connection with everything that precedes it and follows it. It is a state of deep concentration and great autonomy, in which the person experiences a perfect balance between their skill level and the level of difficulty. Why do we seek out these experiences? The result is explicit emotional satisfaction.

I experienced “flow” last weekend.

It was in San Diego, my hometown, where I had this experience after my friends and I decided to go wakeboarding. Being an avid snowboarder, wakeboarding came naturally to me, yet it was still a new and invigorating sensation. From the moment the boat lifted me out of the water, I was in the zone. It felt so awesome to be carving through the cool water with the wind whipping across my face. And the best part was being able to completely clear my mind of everything — for a few minutes I had no deadlines, no papers to think about, and no places to be . . . just sheer bliss. I can’t wait to help my future patients find their flow state! As for you . . . you may already know — what makes you flow?

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Be Active and Be Happy ⟩
April 17, 2011, by Austen

Life Hacks Living in LA

As you may already know, running is part of my daily routine. I roll out of bed every morning and get outside for a little jog, rain or shine. It wakes me up, gives me energy, and clears my mind. Days without a jog in the morning just are not the same. I feel lethargic and lazy, I do not eat as healthy, and I am not as alert and energetic. I had to take some time off from running last week, and I realized the negative effects not exercising has on my lifestyle.

I woke up Tuesday morning and set out on my typical loop around campus. Around one mile in, both of my legs started cramping. My shins felt like they could not relax and my calves were tight. It was so uncomfortable that I could barely run 2 miles, when my daily mileage usually reaches 4. After jogging/walking the rest of the way home, I noticed my left knee was stiff and swelling. I have had meniscus repair surgery done on that knee, but it usually does not act up when I run. Something was up, but I could not figure out what the issue was.

I got up Wednesday morning and tried again. No luck. Leg cramps and tightness. At that point I gave up and decided to take a couple days off. During those 2 days, I noticed a huge change in what my lifestyle is like without exercise. It is much unhealthier in all aspects. I eat more, I lay around more, I watch more TV, and it just feels terrible! There is a physical feeling inside that I do not like, it is hard to explain. But, I realized how exercise affects me both physically and mentally. It gives me more energy and makes me a happier person in general. It makes me feel alive and well. There are so many things about exercise that make me feel good that it will need to continue to be a daily activity throughout my life. Interesting how much you learn about the importance of something when it is taken away, right?

I had a sneaking suspicion that my leg issues were related to old running shoes. So during those couple days off, I bought some new ones. I tried them out yesterday on a light jog, and it made a huge difference! I was worried I was having muscular or skeletal problems, but I do not think that is case anymore. And yesterday was a great day after that run. I felt rejuvenated, I wanted to be outside, I felt alive. And my body craved nutritious and healthy meals, which always makes me feel better. I love running! Even though it is not always easy and can be boring (especially running around South Central LA), it feels so good once you are done.

Go be active! It feels great! 😊

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Finished a half marathon! ⟩
February 6, 2011, by Austen

Life Hacks Living in LA

This morning my OT friends Jen, Lauren, and I ran the Surf City Huntington Beach Half Marathon! A good number of first and second year OT MA students ran in the race, and it was great to see some familiar faces down there.

I typically run 3-4 miles a day, at about a 9:30-10 minute per mile pace. The farthest I have ever gone is 6 miles. But at the beginning of this year, Jen encouraged me to start building on some more distance. Little did I know, the Surf City Half Marathon was on her radar. She told me and Lauren to register and do it with her, so that is what we did! I have never run in a race before, but always wanted to someday. I guess I did not realize that day was coming so soon.

I started training over winter break. I would do 4 short runs, about 4-5 miles, a week, then one long run (7 or 8 miles) on a weekend morning. Once we got back to school, Jen and I ran an 8.5 miler together. That was the longest I had gone, and farthest I would go before race day.

So after Motivation Interviewing on Saturday, Jen and I drove down to Huntington Beach and stayed at Lauren’s parents’ house for the night. We loaded up on carbs (spaghetti and garlic bread) and had big bowls of oatmeal for breakfast. We certainly were energized! At 8:12am, we were off, starting the 13.1 mile adventure. Jen and Lauren bolted out, weaving through the slower runners. I decided I could not do that and wanted to keep an even pace. So I stayed behind maintaining my comfortable pace. Mile 5 I was feeling good. Lauren’s parents were on the sideline cheering us on there. But by mile 7 I was seriously doubting why I chose to do this. When the mile 10 marker showed up, I was feeling great again, on that runner’s high. Only 3 to go, and they flew by! I ran all 13.1 miles in 2 hours 8 minutes 52 seconds, with a pretty steady pace of 9:50 minute miles. I beat my goal of 2 hours 10 minutes!

I never really understood why people run marathons. But now I do. It was a great feeling running alongside thousands of other people who enjoy doing the same thing you do. The other runners kept me going, they kept me energized, they kept me strong. Even though I was separated from my running buddies, I had lots of other runners to keep me company. There is also quite a bit of an adrenaline rush, especially when all the friends and families are yelling on the side line down the entire route. What a rush! It was just a great experience overall. I think I will do one again someday.

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