Adios, USC Madrid
By: Grace Carballo ‘17
If you kept up with my previous posts this summer, then feel free to skip this paragraph guilt-free, but if not, allow me to fill you in. From the end of May to mid-July, I participated in a study abroad program through Dornsife in which we took two Spanish courses and learned a whole lot outside the classroom, too.
Summer Recap of Work On It Wednesday
By: Emily Young MA ‘16
I created Work On It Wednesday around the idea of taking time each week to invest in long-term career planning and building a personal image. During summer I found that it was easy to put my long-term career planning on the back burner when I didn’t have a set routine. Therefore, each Wednesday when I’ve posted tips, tricks, and advice to help improve your online image and achieve your career goals, I’ve been following them too.
Work On It Wednesday: Facebook
By: Emily Young MA ‘16
If there is one thing you should work on before starting college, it’s your Facebook, not your resume or your baking skills. Yes Facebook.
About AnnaLiese
By: AnnaLiese Burich ‘17
Hi! My name is AnnaLiese. My legal name is Anna and my middle name is Liese, but I’ve always smashed the two names together to be the uniquely-capitalized name that I have. I’m a junior here at USC, and I like food, TV, and sometimes people. Okay, kidding about the people part—I am lucky enough to have some pretty great ones in my life. Just so you can picture me while I’m talking to you, I’m the one in the patriotic striped shirt. Go America!
Leadership is a team sport
By: Rini Sampath, ‘16
This weekend, the 2015-2016 USG team and I traveled to the City of Industry for our annual fall retreat to kick off the year with team building activities, diversity training, and planning for our year of advocacy, programming, and funding.
Freshman Fears: Partying
By: Kelly Kinas ‘16
Kelly gives you some tips on how to always feel comfortable at a party if you do decide to go or other options than partying at USC.
Work On It Wednesday: Twitter
By: Emily Young MA ‘16
Networking and building your personal brand image isn’t top of mind when you think of social media platforms like Twitter. If you have never utilized Twitter to build your personal brand you probably have perceptions of Twitter like this:
(CON)QUEST: Vid Con Killed The Tabloid Star
By: Judy Lee ‘17
“Are you guys excited for Jon Cozart?” Approximately 200 high pitch screams pierce the convention hall in a resounding mix of “yes” and “woo” as a celebrity walks onto the stage. Is he on the cover of all the tabloids? Not quite.
(CON)QUEST: Thanks, Comic Con nerds! Love, An Otaku
By: Judy Lee ‘17
Super late post on Comic Con, but a must! Comic Con 2015 was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. Interesting (though not necessarily surprising) enough, the demographic was older than Anime Expo. This led me to the realization that while I always imagine “comic book nerds” as ostracized teens, they’re now at a point where a lot of them are grown up.
(CON)QUEST: Thoughts Of An Aging Otaku On Anime Expo 2015
By: Judy Lee ‘17
Hi, folks! Long time, no write—but here I am again to share my experiences at a few summer conventions I’ve attended this year! The first one I’ll be sharing was a couple weeks back and is near and dear to my heart.
Vamos a La Playa!
By: Grace Carballo ‘17
My first excursion outside of Madrid was to Barcelona because I have the good fortune of having family there at the moment and I needed a familiar face so badly I would have settled for a photo of a familiar face. Or maybe a 3D printed copy now that 3D Printers are a thing. But I didn’t have to settle, because I had the real thing- my cousin Bob is living and working in Barcelona with 14 other entrepreneurs and he graciously hosted my friend, Lauren, who is studying in Granada, and myself. Blood is thicker than water, as they say, and speaking of this, the water in Barcelona is mierda so you gotta buy it bottled everywhere you go.
A Delegate of Sorts
By: Grace Carballo ‘17
Last weekend, I had the distinct pleasure of representing the good old US of A, along with my roommate, as a delegate of sorts, if you will, at a 150-person, super exclusive fiesta about 40 minutes from Madrid hosted by an affluent friend of my host brother. Mind you, I didn’t ever participate in Model UN or even take the course when it was available to me sophomore year of high school (I took Comparative Religions instead because I wanted to open my mind and also because there were so many field trips), but I think after hearing how well I mingled, you may be willing to overlook my lack of qualifications.
Vamos a La Comisaria
By: Grace Carballo ‘17
You may be thinking to yourself, “Grace, what? How did you get carded in Madrid? Isn’t the drinking age there 18? Aren’t you several years older? I’ve always thought you have such a maturity about you well beyond your years!”
London Calling
By: Grace Carballo ‘17
Time to break out my ‘Ello Govnah playlist, which I’ve been constructing for upwards of 13 months now, because I’m about to leave for the airport to Londrés, which translates very nicely to London.
Anything Could Happen
By: Grace Carballo ‘17
I am going to hold myself accountable and post at least a few times a week because in the paraphrased words of the wonderful Ron Swanson, “Never half-ass anything. Except for swimsuits because that’s trendy now.” Which reminds me, I went to Barcelona a few weekends ago and have a lot to say about that, so stay tuned.
Started From The Bottom
By: Grace Carballo ‘17
When I first arrived in Madrid, I was jet-lagged, stressed, and barely able to put together an English sentence let alone one in Spanish. As she showed me around, my wonderful host mom told me to close the hallway door always “porque de las ratas” or because of the rats. This didn’t bother me one bit because she seemed very chill about it and I’m trying to be low-maintenance and honestly I’m not afraid of rats nearly as much as I’m afraid of actual scary things like sharks or my future kids growing up to be bullies.
Pocket Full of Karma
By: Grace Carballo ‘17
My first day in Madrid when I went for a run, I realized as I struggled to find my way home that someone had somehow pickpocket my running arm band of my ca$h (luckily just 10 euros at the time). Like any furious parent, I wasn’t mad, I was just disappointed.
Look, I Am Your Father
By: Grace Carballo ‘17
They say “absence makes the heart grow fonder”, but I believe a nice additive to this is “especially when you miss your father” because it kind of rhymes if you pronounce things a certain way and also it’s very timely given that today is Father’s Day.
Why Father’s Day is Today, Not Super Bowl Sunday
By: Emily Young MA ‘16
Spoiler: Today is Father’s Day. If you have not yet wished your dad a Happy Father’s Day, please do so before continuing to read the rest of this article.
Home is Wherever There is Food
By: Grace Carballo ‘17
People always say that the best way to really immerse yourself in a new country is to live with a homestay family, especially when you’re trying to learn a new language. And I’m going to have to agree with the masses on this one, though at first I had my doubts.