UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
STUDENT BLOG
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Navigating Your First Year as a USC Trojan
by Lanie Brice
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Navigating Your First Year as a Spring Admit
by Lanie Brice
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How to Balance Your Social Life During Finals
by Donal Buckley
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Study Tips and Habits to Get Through Finals Season
by Lauren Liang
looking for something to read?
5 Reasons USC Students Need to Study Abroad in Singapore
By: Jamie Wu ‘18
One of the biggest regrets that college seniors always have is not studying abroad. I didn’t truly understand why until I studied abroad at the National University of Singapore in the Spring of 2017. Living abroad for 4 months was the best decision of my college career. I know that puts a lot of weight to my words but I genuinely cannot recommend studying abroad enough (and especially in Singapore). And these are the top 5 reasons why.
Keep up Your Language Skills Over the Summer!
By: Ellice Ellis ‘20
Did you take a foreign language this semester? Maybe it was Spanish, Korean, or French, like myself? Well, that’s great! Kudos to you. Personally, learning languages has been a huge challenge for me over the years. I’ve taken French since the 4th grade and I have always had problems retaining what I’ve learned after the school year ended. And as you may know, summer is typically the time that most of what you have learned during the semester wears away. So I’ve decided to pull from my failures and tell you the best ways to stay fluent, or close to it, over the summer.
5 Ways To Organize Your Life in Time For Finals
By: Ellice Ellis ‘20
Anyway you frame it, preparing for finals can be stressful. Whether they come in the form of your normal tests, essays or other types of projects; these assessments are of the utmost importance because they reflect the hard work you’ve put in all semester and play a major role in your final grade. Personally, I’ve found myself stacked with studying, finishing projects, writing essays and completing other important personal tasks during this time. In addition to the stress there seems to be an attitude amongst many professors that their class assignments are the most important. Despite these tensions, here are five pieces of advice you can take into the next few weeks in order to reduce your stress and get your stuff together during this stressful time.
Everything You Should Know About Being a Spring Admit
By: Anna Lipscomb ‘19
If you were admitted into USC for the spring semester, you may be wondering what this means. I can relate - me and many other students at USC have been in your place. Here’s everything you should know about being a spring admit, and the reasons why I would make the same decision again.
SCA’s Diversity Organizations
By: Grace Carballo ‘17
Last Friday, I met some amazing and inspiring peers at the Diversity Networking Mixer at SCA through several rounds of “speed dating.” The event was hosted by Acción Latina, USC WCA (Women of Cinematic Arts), African American Cinema Society, the Asian American Cinema Association, and Queer Cut, the School of Cinematic Arts’ diversity organizations.
An Introverts Guide to Office Hours
By: Ellice Ellis ‘20
“Office hours” is a popular phrase on college campuses. It is mentioned in almost every syllabus and always comes up during conversations about school with family members, alumni, or academic counselors. Office hours are times that professors or teaching assistants (T/A) set aside to be available to their students. A student may go to see a professor or a T/A during office hours because they don’t understand class material, want guidance in the course, or to pursue a topic in more depth than it was covered in class. Going to office hours seems like a pretty simple key to success, but if you’re an introvert or a shy person like myself meeting with your professor seems to be uncomfortable and scary. I’ll be honest, it was not until midterms of my first semester to feel 100% comfortable talking to my professors. I initially was very anxious and scared that I would have been disturbing the professor or asking “stupid questions.” However as time went on, I developed coping strategies that helped me to overcome my office hours jitters.
The wretched woes and learned lessons from Writing 150
By: Terry Nguyen ‘20
The writing requirement offered at USC is an undergraduate rite of passage: It is not explicitly stated so, but as a course requirement for all majors, Writing 150 is the epitome of freshman suffering. The late-night essay write-ups and the inevitable low paper grade in one’s college career will stem from this dreaded course, but in certain circumstances, we must embrace the beauty within this collective suffering. For those currently oppressed students taking this class — best of luck. Here are a few lessons learned and wretched woes you will experience from Writing 150.
5 Resources at USC to Help you Study
By: Jamie Wu ‘18
Want to know how to ace all your finals? Watch this video to find out!
Trojan Marching Band: Behind the Scenes
By: Lilly Diaz ‘20
For those that don’t know me, I am a huuuuuge lover of music. Ever since I was able to walk and talk, I have always had a love for singing, dancing, and playing instruments. I recall one day actually digesting the idea that I was finally a senior trombonist in my high school (this past spring) band. And when I received my letter to USC, I remember feeling stoked about joining the Trojan Marching Band (TMB) as a trombonist. And look where I am now – a freshman at USC and in the TMB.
SC Spotlight: USC Taiwanese American Organization
By: Ayman Siraj ‘18
USC Taiwanese American is an organization on campus geared towards promoting the awareness and exploration of Taiwanese culture on the USC Campus. Trojans 360 sat down with the executive board members of USC TAO, Ivy Yang (VP External) and Marissa Di (VP Internal) to learn more about the organization and its activities.
SC Spotlight: Peaks and Professors
By: Ayman Siraj ‘18
Peaks and Professors is an organization on campus geared towards connecting students with professors through outdoor trips. Trojans 360 sat down with the co-presidents of Peaks and Professors, Thomas Donovan and Peter Bergmann to get some deeper insights into Peaks and Professors!
Best USC Electives This Spring
By: Grace Carballo ‘17
If you’re anything like me, you are pretty pumped to have access to the Spring 2017 schedule of courses. There’s just so much potential and so many courses to choose from; my roommate and I were literally counting down the days before its release two weeks ago. Even if you’re not quite on our level of excitement, I want to make sure you’re aware of the amazing 2-unit courses available to you, regardless of your major. The Courses of Interest page conveniently details courses chosen by the designated departments for students who are not majoring in that particular subject but who might find them enjoyable and beneficial. Nothing like being well-rounded and multi-interested, am I right?