Student Blog
Living in LA

LA Times Festival of Books at USC ⟩
April 23, 2012, by Floyd

Getting Involved Living in LA

This past weekend was the annual LA Times Festival of Books at USC and it was a lot of fun! It was great to see and meet so many avid readers and distinguished authors at the central of Los Angeles. Every morning, we started off the grand sunny day with the music played by the one and only, USC Trojan Marching Band. This starting was a great lift for the day full of amusement, reading, and delicious food from food trucks.

USC OT had a booth in the center of campus that marketed what OT was and how people can learn more about our program. We also occupied the health tent that focused on health promotion and education on OT. Inside the tent, we welcomed participants to learn more about the different services that OT had to offer. We had for areas of practice: Low vision, weight management, stress management, and sensory integration. People received quick assessments of low vision, weighed themselves and learned what their BMI scores mean, create their own stress-relief balls and heat packs, and play in an obstacle course (Kids only please). Everyone had a lot of fun and we got a lot of great feedback from the participants and staff.

What a wonderful weekend full of good books, great company, and occupational therapy!

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Hiking for OT Month ⟩
April 19, 2012, by Kimberly

Getting Involved Living in LA

This month the Division has hosted and helped promote a variety of events to celebrate OT Month. As students, we have done a couple of our own as well. I put together a hike this past weekend in Runyon Canyon for anyone who wanted to join. Hiking is one of my favorite occupations and so I wanted to share with fellow hikers or non-hikers alike. We all met up Sunday morning for a couple of hours and took in the California sun. Since it had rained a few days earlier, the views were breathtaking. If you’ve never been to Runyon, I would highly recommend it for a leisurely-paced morning hike. There are 3 different trails you can chose from and the park allows dogs to hike the trail as well. Definitely a needed dose of the outdoors amid end-of-semester stress.

Happy OT Month everyone! And Happy Hiking. 😊

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LA Times Book Festival ⟩
April 17, 2012, by Alix

Getting Involved Living in LA

Before I came to LA, I worked as a book editor in New York City. So my past and present lives will collide this weekend when the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books comes to USC. We’ll have a booth there to showcase USC OT faculty books and spread the word about OT, and we’re also hosting a health tent with free stress management, weight management, low-vision, and sensory integration stations (free stuff!). I’m looking forward to exploring the festival and possibly seeing some of my old publishing co-workers, this time from the completely different perspective of an industry outsider.

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Warrior Dash and CICLAVIA ⟩
April 16, 2012, by Chris

Living in LA School/Life Balance

Man, this semester has passed rather quickly. It seems like it wasn’t so long ago that I was just entering the program and now I’ll be graduating soon. I’m in the process of trying to find a place to live in San Diego for my upcoming fieldwork experience at California Children’s Services. Aside from that, a few weeks ago my friends and I completed the Warrior Dash 5K obstacle course. Crawling through mud, swimming in extremely cold water, scaling walls, and jumping over fire was the perfect was to punctuate the weekend. Yesterday, my roommate and I attended the bike festival in downtown LA called “CICLAVIA.” The city closed streets throughout downtown and let cyclists from all over LA ride without the risk of getting hit my a absent-minded driver. Next up, I really should start studying for COMPS, I can’t believe it’s almost here.

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March . . . ⟩
March 1, 2012, by Kimberly

Living in LA School/Life Balance

. . . is awesome. Since it is the first of the month and school is not providing me with blog material, I thought it would be good to discuss why March is such a great month! First, our spring break is in March (and in California that means beach days 😊. Second, for us sports fanatics, March is both the time for March Madness and spring training. Third, there are lots of holidays in March, the most popular being St. Patty’s Day when we all get to wear green, my favorite color. And to top it all off, March is officially the first month of spring. I love spring, mostly for the flowers. East-coasters get to experience the seasons for real, but here in Cali we still get to see all of the winter bulbs finally bloom. Walking the neighborhood becomes a colorful display . . . sigh. So Happy March Everyone!

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