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?
How I Learned to Love Myself and USC After a Rough First Semester
By: Antonia Le ‘22
Trigger warnings for mentions of anxiety, depression, and suicide.
I’m still trying to process the fact that my freshman year at USC is almost over. I’m heading into my second round of finals, and the first final I have coming up is for my 400-level math class. Right now, I’m really hoping that this past year has been a dream, and tomorrow I’ll wake up as a high school senior who doesn’t have to take a Theory of Numbers final.
Learn to Love Your Own Company
By: Alexis M Peters ‘20
One thing that I think is important for everyone to learn is how to enjoy your own company. I don’t mean that you have to break up with your significant other or cut ties with your best friends, but it’s good to spend time with just yourself. They say that friendship isn’t necessary for survival, but it’s what makes surviving worth it. And I agree. Friendship and companionship is wonderful and valuable. But if you can’t enjoy your own company, how can you expect anyone else to do the same?
Reflections on Freshman Year
By: Natalie Oganesyan ‘22
Now that freshman year is winding down to an end, I want to take a minute to reflect. The transition from high school to college is unique — it’s a time of intense change, exploration, discovery, and growth. If you had an experience that was anything like mine, it may have resembled Kylie’s 2016 resolutions.
Outside Your Comfort Zone: Fully Experiencing Study Abroad
By: Talia Walters ‘20
I want to make it clear that the “standard” study abroad options aren’t bad. The key is that your comfort zone is something that only you are able to measure, and decisions based off of that are yours alone. I just don’t think the image of a great, vast world filled with billions of people who aren’t the cookie-cutter USC student is well-presented to students traveling abroad.
How to Make Time for the Things You Love
By: Alexis M Peters ‘20
Okay, I’m going to be real. When I tell people that I love to read, I often hear in response, “Oh, I do too. I just don’t have any time to read.” Which I think is a terrible excuse. (Sorry if that was the excuse you were going to use too.) But I just find a statement like that patently false. Because if you really love something, and you truly enjoy it, you would make time for it. So, just be honest: You don’t like reading all that much, so, in your free time, you’re watching Netflix. You say: No, no, no! You’ve got it all wrong! You say: I love to read. Really. I do. But after studying all day, Netflix is just the easiest way to relax. If I didn’t have to do so much reading for class, I would read for pleasure too, honest. Alright, sure. I believe you. But, I propose a challenge for you. I want to challenge you to make time to do something you love this week.
Being Low-Income at USC
By: Lilly Kate Diaz ‘20
This year is my junior year. For some, it is their last, their second, or their very first. Some are wealthy, some are living decently, and some are barely surviving when it comes to money. While I have other identities, being low-income in college is what I will talk about in this post. In this post, I hope to share my story for those who are going through something similar and to share resources that I have used to help me get through financial issues.
Questions that Matter: What the heck do I want?
By: Fred Akau ‘20
After those seemingly endless years of high school, craving for that BIG next-step towards a new life of experience, opportunity, and (quite honestly) some fun, college has finally arrived. The long-awaited “best years of your life” have manifested themselves into that pretty sleek-looking, cardinal & gold, U-S-C acceptance packet. There is a tangible excitement when imagining the infinite paths your life can take; how, for what seems like the first time, you are in full control of what that path is. But, alas, that initial excitement now seems to have simmered down, and many of us are simply left confused, lost, and horribly indecisive. The endless list of opportunity that we once sought after has now turned into an endless series of difficult choices, a persistent frustration in deciding: “What the heck do I want?”
Sometimes It’s Okay to Quit
By: Amy Wang ‘21
Many of us come to USC previously as some of the top students at our high school. We were the school presidents, the editors-in-chief, and the honor students. But when you gather all the great students and put them in one place, we are no longer the big fish, but rather one of many fish in a large pond. I was not spectacular in high school, but I definitely worked hard. I pushed myself to my limits, ate late, slept later if I slept at all. I came to USC expecting myself to and actually trying to do the same. I would say I achieved my goal my freshman year for the most part. And because I survived, I decided to try again my sophomore year this semester. The results… I crashed and burned, literally.
Freshman Year: Expectation vs. Reality
By: Natalia Wurst ‘21
It seems almost impossible to encapsulate everything your first year of college teaches you about adulthood in one blog (which is great, because it should be). For awhile, I put off even trying–until I realized that, 12 months ago, I was exactly you. I didn’t care whether the author of the content I was reading felt self-conscious about the quality or relevance of her words. I needed answers, and I needed them before I spiraled into a black hole of doubt and what-ifs. So without further ado, the following are four takeaways from my experience, yours to leave or take.
USC seniors talk about their feels towards graduation
By: Jamie Wu ‘18
1. What advice do you have for college freshmen?
2. What is your biggest regret from college?
3. What is one organization you would rejoin here at USC?
4. What is your most memorable memory?
Click to find out what these three seniors have to say!
Top 3 Highs and Lows of College at USC
By: Jamie Wu ‘18
College can be described as a roller coaster full of ups and downs. As a senior, I reflect back on what were my top three and bottom three experiences of college!
What is the biggest misconception about college?
By: Jamie Wu ‘18
College is a great time. But is it always full of good times? Watch to find out the truth about college!