By: Lauren Brose ’15

I interviewed for this blogging position before the Fall 2014 semester started. At that time, Trojans 360 wasn’t even called Trojans 360 — Andrea, our supervisor, was thinking of names as she was mapping out our initiatives. Before there were a team of writers it was only me and Kelly. Andrea was discussing with USC Student Affairs about forming a new lifestyle blog that discussed topics pertinent to the college experience. More importantly, we were asked to shed light on the USC experience. This is where Kelly and I came in. We hoped that by incorporating our stories to these topics, students will be able to resonate with what we had to say. Although we all at times may feel small in a student body as large as USC’s, it’s important to understand you’re never alone. I truly hope that our content has accomplished what we aimed to do!

By: Lauren Brose ‘15

This year, my primary focus is my happiness. The first step to achieving this is by making your needs a top priority. A lot goes into your overall health and wellness and I feel that a blog post dedicated to this topic is long overdue. I am all about finding that inner-bliss and through these habits— many of which I have personally adopted over the past year— I can attest to what I’m saying. A healthy lifestyle is exactly that: a lifestyle.

By: Lauren Brose ‘15

We all have our opinions on 2015. If I could put mine into one word, it’d be tumultuous because 1) the word tumultuous cracks me up and I love using it and 2) my year was a riot. My entire attitude about my year and how I see 2016 going can be accurately illustrated in this GIF below. Last year, I wrote a post on resolutions that are possible to achieve. It included self-improvement goals such as loving yourself, trying new things and treating your body like a temple. These are objectives I believe we all should be achieving even after college. But right now, during your glorious college years, your new year’s resolutions should be focused on ways to enhance your USC experience. I came up with 10 solid ones I wish I had someone tell me take on when I was still a student at USC.

By: Lauren Brose ‘15

I’m bad luck when it comes to getting sick. Two weeks ago, I took the initiative and got a flu shot mainly because I knew it’d make my mom happy. 48 hours later I was checking myself into the emergency room so I can get hooked up to an IV because I had a bad reaction to the vaccine. Accompanied by a dead arm that reminded me of the days when I got into fights with my older brother, I had a migraine headache, fever and a bacterial infection where the shot was administered. After a week of taking antibiotics, I was free from illness. This only lasted me a week at best. So here I am, sniffling, as I sit here writing this blog post because now I have been blessed with the common cold.

By: Lauren Brose ‘15

Last year I wrote a blog post highlighting all of the cool, interesting electives that I wish I was able to take during my time at USC. To be honest, my course load was so packed with classes required for graduation, I didn’t get a chance to take advantage of the great electives USC offers. Even though my time here as a student has come to an end, I hope to live vicariously through all my friends who are still here! If you’re looking at your courses right now and realize you have 2 leftover units our tuition includes, check out these classes! They’re currently being offered this upcoming Spring!

By: Lauren Brose ‘15

Chris Felner—stage name “Felly”— doesn’t enjoy school. The 20-year-old from Trumbull, Connecticut, admits he’s never been totally captivated in his classes because he feels it hinders his ability to create. The technicalities with pitch, tone, specific chords and notes being played isn’t a calculated process for Chris. Instead, he feels the music and goes what what makes sense to him. That’s what’s worked for him since he started to write music at the fleeting age of 14.

By: Lauren Brose ‘15

When I came to USC, I was on the fence about joining Greek. I disliked how outsiders would dismissively remark how people in Greek are essentially paying money to be friends with people who were chosen to be in a house based on their appearance. To be honest, the notion that I was paying for friends really got to me. I knew I didn’t need to do that. As a transfer student, however, I recognized I didn’t have the same opportunities those who were at USC since freshman year had; namely, the chance to mix with students who were all freshmen just like them. So I joined a house. I had two amazing years in the sorority but when my final semester at USC came around, I decided against staying.

By: Lauren Brose ‘15

So October just happened. Football season is winding down and it’s getting kind of windy at night, isn’t it? Normally I am stoked about Fall… but not this time. I walk through campus counting how many days I have left before I no longer have a reason to hang out around here—I am officially done with college in December. Thinking back, I wish I had taken that study abroad semester I deliberated having. Instead, I thought to myself, “finish school. Lauren. Get a job. Real world sounds cool.”

By: Lauren Brose ‘15

Meet Natalie.

By: Lauren Brose ‘15

To all transfer students out there….you’re not alone! Embrace being a newbie to USC and just do you. I was once in your position as a transfer student myself and I can happily say I’ve found my place of belonging in this great school. It didn’t happen overnight — it was certainly a process that lasted months — but it was an experience that personally challenged me. Enjoy the ride and get out there and make some friends!

By: Lauren Brose

This past summer, it really dawned on me just how old I am getting. Deterministically not pursuing a Master’s, the next chapter for me is my career. I call this “Adulting.” As far as I can tell, adulting is the bane of my existence and the cause of death to this huge part of my soul: my social butterfly. I think to myself more often than not why I never took naps when I had the time. Now, naps are a luxury reserved for the weekends and the “occasional” I-have-so-much-to-do-I’m-gonna-nap-instead moments.

By: Lauren Brose ‘15

I remember the first time I started to interview for jobs. My heart was racing, my hands were shaking, my voice trembled as I spoke. My obvious nervousness hindered me from being the confident person I normally am and it affected the likelihood of my interviewer trusting my competency for this position. Through time, the nerves became less noticeable and I began to sound sure of myself and passionate for the career I am pursuing. What started off from landing initial phone interviews and then being eliminated has turned into being invited to second round interviews. Along the way, I’ve reflected back at the lack of professionalism I displayed both in interviews and in the application process.