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 a specific read?
How To Write An Effective Follow-Up Email
By: Jordan Bucknor ‘22
If you do not write follow-up emails on the regular, you are probably missing out. Networking is a huge part of the college experience and a great way to foster those relationships with future employers/possible mentors is through follow-up emails. Even if you are writing them to every recruiter, speaker, or alumni you meet, you may not be going about it in the best way. So, if you want to learn the most effective method to express your self, thankfulness, and career aspirations through email, keep reading!
A Summer in the Arc Lab - Why it can be nice to work for yourself and others
By: Camila Grases ‘21
In the summer of 2017, someone on the third floor of The Ahmanson Center (ACB) pulled a chemical wash shower and left the building. As the building began to flood, many began to realize that USC’s priceless collection of artifacts contained in the Archeology Lab on the third floor of ACB was in danger. These artifacts, mostly ceramics, are highly sensitive to even the slightest change in humidity, let alone the gallons of water pouring out of the shower. This flood was threatening thousands of years of priceless objects. An emergency evacuation took place and the collection was moved to an external storage site for nearly two years. Finally, in March of 2019, the collection was returned home.
Alumni Spotlight: Joy Ofodu
By: Jordan Bucknor ‘22
The first time I saw Joy Ofodu was the spring before I had even started my year at USC. It was during an organized student breakfast on Admitted Student Day and I, staying true to my oh-so-social nature, settled quietly in the back of the ballroom with my cold eggs and pastries. I didn’t know what kind of presentation to expect at a breakfast; no clue whether I’d actually pay attention or just keep moving around the cold eggs on my plate, but at some point during the program, Joy Ofodu approached the podium. She gave a speech, and for someone who had already been to about a billion other repetitive prospective student gatherings smushed into the month of April before Decision Day, it was refreshingly entertaining. Honestly, even the 10-second clip of it on her Instagram is worth checking out. But what I truly saw then — and what I’d like to share now — was someone who is passionate, driven, and genuinely inspiring in pursuit of their goals.
What is Journalism?
By: Natalie Oganesyan ‘22
As a journalism major and a citizen who likes to stay informed, I’m one of the first people to rush to its defense when both the government and the public criticize media. Like it or not, journalists do hard work that should be valued as both an art and a technical skill. I don’t think it was until I came to USC and got involved in my passion for reporting and writing that I realized how important news media is. That is not to say, however, that the industry (like all other industries) doesn’t have flaws. In this blog post I want to touch on journalism’s merits, its history, and maybe help give you a less negative perception of media.
No Internship? No Problem! - Things to Do Over the Summer!
By: Ann Nguyen ‘22
So, you didn’t get that summer internship you were hoping for… that’s okay! There are plenty of other things you can do to make your break worthwhile. Whether you’re a freshman, like me, who thinks the sky will fall if you don’t find some last-minute summer dream job or a rising senior looking for one last great resume-building experience before you graduate and step into the real world, don’t fret because I have plenty of options for you.
Applying For Internships With No Career Plans? I Got You.
By: Alexandria Frank ‘21
I am a Psychology major with minors in Journalism and Classical Civilization and an interest in Screenwriting. That is, to say, I don’t really know what I want to be when I grow up. I just have a lot of interests and no specific drive or pull to any specific one. And I know that can be common to a lot of undergraduate students. Therefore, when it comes to looking at internships, which are supposed to help you gain experience for your future career, it can be challenging to figure out where to apply and how to narrow your search. And let’s face it, sometimes you can’t afford to just not work during the summer until you figure your life out. Luckily, I’ve gotten a little experience in this realm during my last two years and would love to share some tips about applying to internships when you don’t know what you want to do with your life.
Interview Tips for Anxious People
By: Jordan Bucknor ‘22
For people who are socially anxious, even day-to-day conversations can be a bit taxing, so professional interviews are far from easy. Whether you struggle maintaining eye contact, controlling your fidgeting hands, or stumbling over your words, there are ways to improve your chances of scoring that dream job. From one socially awkward over-thinker to another, here’s how to ace your interview:
How to Make Money as a College Student
By: Natalie Oganesyan ‘22
As we all know, college is expensive. Extremely and unnecessarily so (but that’s a topic for another blog post). If you’re anything like me, the enormous cost of college, basic necessities, and also extra fun expenditures are always on your mind. Stressing out over money, budgeting, and if you can afford certain things is not only detrimental mentally, but it’s also distracting from studies and extracurricular activities. I wanted to provide a conclusive list of ways to make money that are feasible and accessible for college students, regardless of their year or experience. Contrary to popular belief, there are plenty of ways to make money as a college student. You just have to look for them! Hopefully, this post can help ease some worries and give you a look into how simple it can be to get that bread and secure the bag($).
The New Feminism: STEMinism ft. Cool Women Scientists at USC!
By: Lindsey Hamilton ‘22
Challenge: name one woman scientist… other than Marie Curie. While Ms. Curie certainly earned her title as the quintessential female scientist with her discovery of radioactivity and the elements radium and polonium, she is just one small piece of the larger picture of women in science. Women have made invaluable contributions to science, despite many obstacles preventing them from succeeding in a field not historically welcoming to females. But times are quickly changing, spurred on by passionate, brave, intelligent women in all fields of research. It is therefore with great pride that I would like to feature some of these incredible women making big strides in the world of science right in our very own USC community.
Getting Inspired at USC SCAPE’s InspirASIAN Event
By: Antonia Le ‘22
According to Murphy’s Law, anything that can go wrong will go wrong. As a woman of science and perpetual optimist, I’m usually the first to tell you that Murphy’s Law is absolute garbage. It’s not even a real scientific law! However, as an intern for USC’s Student Coalition for Asian Pacific Empowerment (SCAPE), I witnessed the effects of Murphy’s Law firsthand. On Thursday, February 28th, SCAPE put on its signature event, inspirASIAN. As part of my intern duties, I had to help the executive board make sure that everything went according to plan (spoiler alert! It did not.). Yet, as I think back on that exhausting Thursday night, what sticks out to me the most is that fact that despite all the bumps along the way, the SCAPE E-board ended up putting together something pretty great.
Black History Month: Honoring The Tuskegee Airmen
By: Jordan Bucknor ‘22
If you don’t know about the Tuskegee Airmen, you should. The Tuskegee Airmen were the first Black military aviators in the U.S. Army Air Corps. They’re best known for the extraordinary efforts in the aerial warfare of World War II and for challenging the stereotypes that had kept Black Americans from serving as pilots. Together, they encouraged the eventual integration of the U.S. Armed Forces. If what they’ve done already wasn’t amazing enough, to this day, they continue to give back to the world with the Tuskegee Airmen Scholarship Foundation.
Black History Month: Honoring Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie at USC
By: Sumaya Hussaini ‘22
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was honored by the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism with the 2019 Everett M. Rogers Award, being recognized for her impeccable talent for storytelling and for working towards changing the discourse on gender, race, and identity. The award was named in honor of the late USC Annenberg professor Everett M. Rogers, and is presented each year by the Norman Lear Center on behalf of the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.