Summer School Lovin'

Gardening for Creative Occupations

I’ve finally decided to write about summer classes. Not going to lie, I didn’t have the drive to write about it before. It had left a bad taste in my mouth after everything that happened to my mom. But, I’m feeling more positive about it and want to share summer school experiences with you.

Summer classes can be a huge drag. I have taken many summer courses before and to say they can be a bit painful is a gross understatement. Fortunately, our professors at the U of U are very sympathetic to our restless summer selves. They work really hard to keep everyone engaged and on track. Classes are broken down two mini semesters, each lasting three weeks. Each mini semester has two classes, which cumulatively amount to six hours of class each day, which can make for pretty long days.

First round of classes includes Creative Occupations and an OT theory class. The Creative Occupations class may be the most popular course taught in my program. We get to analyze different occupations and dissect the physical, and cognitive demands of the task. Basically, we got to make bird feeders, quilt, hand sew, do car maintenance, make origami, and make fires-- it’s awesome.

Kentucky Durby Day, because why not?

The OT theory class is well constructed to solidify a lot of the theory we have learned about in OT. It’s pretty intense and my brain was always fried by the end of the day. But Dr. Price does an amazing job implementing different teaching strategies to make theory more digestible. Also, she is always open to comments and feedback--which I always greatly appreciate in a professor!

Frosting cupcakes with low vision goggles 

Second half of the semester consisted of our second seminar two class, where you learn about manual muscle testing, and measuring active and passive range of motion. It feels really good to be more hands on. Also, you get to learn about transfers, which are a lot easier than you’d think. Finally, we have an aging and wellness class. There is a lot of reading attached to this class, but it’s all really interesting to anyone who loves health and wellness (which should be everyone in OT). There is a large project for this class, where you develop a wellness program outlined by the objectives for Healthy People 2020.

Learning about car mechanics like a boss

Summer school has come to a close, and summer vacation has been so so welcomed. Although school is still school, regardless of how you wrap it, classes were pretty fun. Also, we got to celebrate the completion of our first year in OT school! We still have two years ahead of us, but every step counts. Classes for the fall start again Monday (can you see how much I’ve procrastinated this post??). Needless to say, I’m really looking forward to being with my classmates again.

Onto a new chapter.

Liza