Highlighting their exemplary leadership, commitment to inclusion and student support, and the impact they have had on the campus community, California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) honored five students with the Presidential Award for Outstanding Student during the 2019 President’s Student Leadership and Service Awards Ceremony on May 7. The annual event also celebrates and showcases co-curricular experiences through student organizations, and recognizes outstanding faculty and staff who support them. The university is home to 115 student organizations with more than 2,300 students involved in various clubs. Presidential Award for Outstanding Student Alejandro Campos, ... Read More
Occupational Therapy
Graduate Illen Barrios Draws Strength from Unimaginable Loss
Illen Barrios may not hear her mother among the thousands of family and friends cheering on graduates at California State University, Dominguez Hills’ (CSUDH) 2019 Commencement Ceremony on May 18, but knowing her mother will be there, and that she is proud of her, is all Barrios really wants. Strength is a dominant trait among the women in Barrios’ family. For her mother, her children’s education was always a high priority, and one of the reasons she left her home and family in the Philippines for a job as a nanny in Saudi Arabia when Barrios was just 2 years old—to earn money for her children’s schooling. Tragically, the job was a lie, and Barrio’s mother was forced into domestic ... Read More
Alumni Share Knowledge and Try Their Hand at Teaching During Professor for a Day
Passing on knowledge and advice that will help both students and their industries thrive are among the top reasons California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) alumni return to their alma mater for the university’s annual Professor for a Day. Experiencing teaching at the college level and as a potential future career option is another. This year, 31 alumni became honorary professors in the most industry-diverse cohort in Professor for a Day history, which after six years has grown to cover several days. Alumna Dehra Lopez (’12, M.S., Occupational Therapy), an occupational therapist (OT) who works full-time for Windsor Gardens Convalescent Center in Long Beach, tried her ... Read More
Living Long and Prospering: Occupational Therapy Program Promotes Carson Seniors’ Health
On a Thursday morning last spring, Paul Penoliar and his CSUDH student assistant, Isabelle Guevera, help 15 older adults do a series of stretching exercises. Stretching will give you a better quality of movement,” the longtime occupational therapist and CSUDH lecturer tells them. “It helps you to become more flexible. Stretching helps joint issues and provides stress relief.” Some of the seniors have back pain, others are recovering from breaking bones and from surgery; Penoliar shows them how they can adapt the exercises to accommodate their abilities. It’s no secret that one of the most pressing health care concerns in the United States is the increasing demand for innovative, ... Read More
Occupational Therapy Students Take 1st at CSU Student Research Competition
For their ground-breaking research on incorporating a proven, yet emerging, wellness methodology into occupational therapy (OT), California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) OT students Lisa Faust and Vanessa Dougherty took 1st Place at the statewide 30th Annual CSU Student Research Competition, held this year at CSU Bakersfield. Dougherty and Faust won in the “Health, Nutrition and Clinical Sciences” category for their presentation “Occupational Therapy Trauma-Informed Practice Using the Community Resiliency Model [CRM]: Narrative and Photo Voice with Veterans.” The overall goal of their research was to explore the benefits of OT professionals’ use of CRM with trauma-exposed ... Read More
