Student Blog
Living in LA

From Kenya to Los Angeles ⟩
September 29, 2014, by Bindi

Living in LA

I remember landing in Los Angeles, and seeing baseball and American football fields for the first time. It was then that I had my moment of realization that I had left home and was in the United States of America!

I had several chances to realize that, for instance saying goodbye to my wonderful family and my precious dog, Toto, or any time through my 30-hour journey to Los Angeles. But it had to be the football fields!

Of course it was the longest flight of my life but being here at USC has made living through those 30 hours worth it! 5 weeks have gone by in flash and it makes me wonder what I have been up to.

Making the transition from Kenya to Los Angeles has been much easier than I expected it to be. Strange but I wasn’t anxious about the big move to LA despite this being my first time in USA and that is all because I had all the information I needed weeks before I left Kenya. I knew exactly where I was going to live, how I will be commuting to the Health Sciences Campus and back to the accommodation. I got everything I needed to know from the emails that Kim and Liz would send including the daunting tasks like applying to the program and visa application procedures.

We had a series of events to orient and integrating International students into the Trojan family such as the student orientations, reception dinner and mentor-mentee programs. The highlight of our first week of classes was of course the White Coat ceremony. It was different compared to other universities around the world, and I too believe the oath should be taken at the beginning of the course rather than the graduation. The ceremony re-instilled the values of occupational therapy and our commitment to becoming better OTs.

Living at the OT house (Centennial Apartments) has to be one of the best decisions I made for many reasons. The best reason being meeting my roommate, Kathleen, a second year MA2 student. She has been such help to me and I wouldn’t be having half as good of a time as I am having right now without her. With her I managed to attend many events such as the interdisciplinary health mixer at Dockweiler beach, the Los Angeles County Fair, the Greek festival and we watched several movies at the European Film Festival. We are taking full advantage of all the good and fun things USC has to offer.

Residing at the University Park Campus opens up opportunities to attend all the fun events they host. One of the first one I attended was the welcome back concert where they had Nico and Vinz perform. I especially enjoyed the concert because they had a good African groove to their music.

My American experience wouldn’t be complete without exploring the Greek sororities and fraternities. Not only did I go to ‘frat party’ but I also rushed for a leadership fraternity Delta Omicron Zeta for about half a week before I decided that it wasn’t for me. I just know where to go when I need to take a break from being a responsible graduate student.

So far I love being at USC and a part of the Trojan Family. Fight on Trojans!

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Riding the Wave ⟩
September 1, 2014, by Jonathan

Getting Involved Living in LA What are OS/OT?

Greetings and aloha everyone!

Welcome to my very first blog post! I Being that this is my first blog post, I figured I’d start with the story behind why I’m here today.

As an undergraduate, I attended Cal-State Fullerton, where I majored in Kinesiology. During my time at CSUF, I developed passion and love for surfing. In fact, surfing became such an important occupation in my life (defined as meaningful activity) so much so that I decided to take the surfing class offered at CSUF four times! During each semester taking the class, I was assigned to do a project that would increase my awareness and education regarding surf culture. For one of my projects, I decided to write a paper about surfing and explain a therapeutic purpose as to why I engage in it. In my research I came across the Jimmy Miller Memorial Foundation, an organization that utilizes ocean and surf therapy to facilitate meaningful activity and foster therapeutic relationships for children with special needs and Veterans who are living with PTSD. After doing more digging, I found out that the program was started by an occupational therapist who was a product of USC’s OT Doctorate program (USC’s very own alumni, Dr. Carly Rogers!) To realize that you can utilize something that you love to do and use it as a means to help people pretty much solidified my career aspirations of becoming an OT. Coming full circle, I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Rogers when she spoke to our class during my first summer session within the program! Here’s a snap of Dr. Rogers and I, the OT that ignited my journey. Thank you, Dr. Carly Rogers!

As I continue on my journey as an OT student, I can definitely say that it’s been a fun, enlightening, and rewarding ride thus far, and I’m stoked that I’ll be able to share with you my experiences. As I continue to enjoy this ride, stay tuned for more of my adventures as I continue to grow within our program and profession.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, I greatly appreciate it.

Take care and aloha for now!

— Jonathan

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Such Great Heights ⟩
May 14, 2014, by Clarissa

Community Living in LA

The end of the year celebration, themed Such Great Heights, was this past Saturday! As you know, I’m the social chair of the Occupational Therapy and Science Council (OTSC) and, this year, I was responsible for spearheading our huge year-end party. It was a long process and big team effort — I started all the way back in December and the historians of OTSC even made a promotional video for it! We had a ton of fun filming the promotional video, which I starred in! My favorite part is where my friend Jon uses the reacher to put on his jacket — love nerdy OT jokes.

I heard that everyone had such a great time! It was at the Bonaventure Brewing Company in the Westin Hotel, which is in downtown LA. It was on a rooftop, hence the Such Great Heights theme, so there was an outdoor patio area for people to chat and a DJ indoors. It was such a beautiful venue! Here’s a picture with me and some OT friends in the outdoor patio area. 

There were about 200 attendees, which included students, faculty, and staff members. It was so great celebrating our achievements with the wonderful people that my fellow OTs are. Hanging out with the staff/faculty and their significant others was also really cool. Food, open bar, good company, a slideshow, and a photobooth — what more could we ask for in a party?!

Here are my fellow student ambassadors with our incredible supervisor Kim! The photobooth picture is on the bottom, juxtaposed with a picture we took at the beginning of the year. This was a crazy fun group to work with all throughout the year!

By the way, Rob is floating head because he wore a green shirt (on purpose) and there was a green screen — he did it by accident at the photobooth last year and decided to continue the tradition this year.

The party was infinitely fun because I was surrounded by people I look up to and love. These 2 years flew by and I’m so lucky to have had both educationally rich and fun experiences. I was definitely getting choked up during the OTSC 2014 Slideshow.

Earning my Master’s here at USC was an unforgettable experience and one that I will treasure always.

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Leaving Los Angeles . . . ⟩
May 12, 2014, by Kate

Fieldwork Living in LA

This summer, I am embarking on an adventure! I will be completing my second Level II fieldwork in Seattle. I am pretty excited, as I’ve never really lived in the Pacific Northwest. My parents moved to West Seattle in 2006, right when I graduated from USC (the first time). I will be moving in with them for the summer, living in the basement apartment of their house. My fieldwork is in Puyallup, at a children’s therapy clinic. I’m excited for a little bit more green scenery and some occasional raindrops! I’ve lived in Los Angeles since I came to USC in 2002 for undergrad, and it has been a truly magical experience. I love the weather — there is no place else like it in the world!! I also love the variety of experiences that LA offers — from the best restaurants, to the magic of Hollywood, to sunny beaches, to great hiking, to art and history, this city has a place in my heart. I know I will be back in August to begin my doctorate work, but it is going to be welcome adventure to experience something new for 12 weeks!

Which reminds me . . . It is my last day as a Student Ambassador! I have loved the last 9 months writing this blog and representing the Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy. I have learned and grown a lot, and now I am ready to accept my diploma this Friday. So, here’s to the future!! Cheers!

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FAQs ⟩
February 26, 2014, by Kate

Housing and Transportation Living in LA School/Life Balance

As more and more students are admitted for the upcoming school year (which begins in June), I am fortunate to be in contact with more and more of them. I feel so lucky to be in the position to connect with the newcomers in our program, the class of 2016, and share my experiences and knowledge with them. I’ve received many questions about housing. “Where should I live?” is a big question I get almost on a daily basis. I always reply with the same answer — it depends on what you’re looking for! That’s one of the best things about Los Angeles: there are many neighborhoods that offer a variety of different things. My classmates live all over the greater Los Angeles area, some as far as Orange County! Many people look for a shorter commute than that, and so Pasadena is a great option. Some people like to be closer to the beach areas, so they look into Brentwood or Santa Monica. It really all depends on what is important to you in a place to live; the best thing is that Los Angeles offers a lot.

Another question I have been receiving frequently is about student life. “What is student life really like?” people have asked. I mention my blogs and those of my fellow ambassadors and I hope prospective students have read our posts. We are 5 very different individuals whose interests and tastes differ. I hope that these blogs give readers a diverse perspective on what it is truly like to be a student in the program, and that the readers can identify with one or some of us. In my opinion, student life is great! I make sure that I have balance in my life, meaning equal time commitments to work/productivity, leisure, rest and self-care. I make time for friends and I make time for my studies. I make time for myself with an hour spent at the gym and an hour each night reading a book for fun. I stay updated on my favorite TV shows (Real Housewives on Bravo). I have two internships this spring and I work as an ambassador representing the Division. I love my life and I’m a really happy graduate student. Of course, there are stressors; but with preparation and dedication, I stick to my routine in how to combat them. There are things I wish I could make more time for (I’d love to cook more!!); but I know that will come. I take things week-by-week and try to not sweat the small stuff.

I hope I have given you a glance into my life as a student and my thoughts about where to live in Los Angeles. Life isn’t shabby as a USC student.

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