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
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Meet Gene Delvecchio, Pioneer of USC’s Most Entertaining MKT Course
By: Joy Ofodu ‘18
Foreword: I am so honored to have been in the guinea pig section for what is now known as MKT 461: Marketing Blockbuster Entertainment. I recommend this course to anyone at USC, Marshall student or not, who loves entertainment, brainstorming and courses that analyze markets in real time/ have real-world implications. This is one class you won’t regret taking!
Where to Find USC Alumni
By: Joy Ofodu ‘18
Maybe it’s because I’m about to become one, but I can think of no better time than the present to pass on the various ways a current (or prospective) USC student can connect with alumni to inform their own career journeys! Alumni connections aren’t just professional - they can be social, personal, based on membership in a certain community or local to your hometown! Here’s where you can find USC Alumni:
How I Stay Sane During the Second Week of Classes
By: Joy Ofodu ‘18
The first week back at school is like a highlight reel - you become re-acquainted with your dorm and friends, unpack your holiday gifts, and glide from lecture to work to the gym’s free fitness classes as if in a dream. By the second week, you’ll have received some kind of rude awakening - you return from a workout and your roommate didn’t refill the Brita. Your fellow E-Board members start sending demanding texts about funding deadlines. Somehow, there are 14 assignments, readings and peer reviews due. Also, you’ve fallen sick, and your family is complaining that you haven’t checked in. Fight On! Need help staying afloat? Here’s how I’ve tackled this second-week panic for the past 7 semesters:
Kitwana - How Black Greek Life was Reborn at USC
By: Joy Ofodu ‘18
Kitwana is a Swahili word, meaning that one vows ‘to live.’ This is what Junior USC student Marcus Burke, an Animation and Digital Arts Major, roared into the cold air Wednesday as he ascended the steps of PED. He and senior Marquis Morris (USC Sociology major and All-American Track athlete) had just officially joined one of the most esteemed fraternities in the National Pan-Hellenic Council: Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
Happy STEM Day to These Trojan Entrepreneurs
By: Joy Ofodu ‘18
In honor of National STEM Day, I thought I’d shine a Trojans 360 flashlight on some of the most dynamic USC student-made apps and tech companies!
Places to Go That Aren’t the Row
By: Joy Ofodu ‘18
I remember dressing up in wacky costumes every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night as a freshman (yup, throwing it back to Fall 2014, folks) jumping from house to house, looking for adventure and hiding from trouble. 28th Street and I were new to each other then: I graciously tied hair, passed out water bottles and ushered giggling floormates away from the ragers, the comforting blue glow of DPS Emergency light-posts guiding us home. Over the next three semesters, visits to The Row came fewer and farther between. I found community, meaningful (audible) conversation and good vibes in so many other places on and off campus that I didn’t need to lean on The Row anymore. As a Sober Trojan and non-Greek, we simply grew apart. If you or someone you know is looking to get away from 28th Street, I have a few ideas.
USC Athletics Recruiting - Working in “The Office”
By: Joy Ofodu ‘18
The flyest on-campus job you’ve never heard of? Think: watching every home game from the field, working with players like Iman Marshall and Velus Jones Jr. to host recruits and reporting back to one of the nation’s top university Athletics facilities every week. I had the chance to sit down with Taylor Lott (left) and Haley Coleman (right), two Recruiting & Operations Assistants for USC Athletics. Both are seniors in Marshall and Annenberg, respectively, and key-holders to an exclusive, fast-paced working world that changes the face of the USC football team each year. Let’s go behind the scenes of USC Football, through Taylor and Haley’s eyes!
Where Trojans Find Internships
By: Joy Ofodu ‘18
If you thought that internship postings wouldn’t spring up until Spring, you’re in for a surprise: companies across the U.S. have already launched their search for Summer interns! As Trojans, we pride ourselves on having access to an unbelievable network (occasionally nicknamed the Trojan Mafia) of professionals & resources. Whether you’re a Trojan looking for a head start, or a prospective student doing your due diligence in research, here are a few of the best and least-known sources for internships!
“You Can Sit With Us” - Bystander Intervention Tips
By: Joy Ofodu ‘18
You’re on Menlo, partying on a Thursday night. That girl who sits to your far left in Discussion every Tuesday is going hard on the dance floor (so you join her, duh). You part ways and bump into each other an hour later, but something has changed: She seems sluggish, exhausted and unwilling to follow her new companion out the door (a dude you absolutely don’t recognize). He seems really impatient to take her home, and she seems really really unwilling. What do you do?
USC Move-Out Hacks
By: Joy Ofodu ‘18
We all want to get out of here with our limbs intact. That was an odd way to start, but you know what I mean. Leaving Troy can be intense and stressful, but these hacks may help you manage the madness:
Truths From a Sober Trojan (FAQ)
By: Joy Ofodu ‘18
I have delayed writing this for at least two years for fear of doing it wrong; I don’t want my relayed sobriety experience to be pedantic or preachy, or stuffy, or polished or dishonest. Having survived another 4/20 in Los Angeles, it seems High Time to publicly answer questions that have plagued and amused me since I made the decision that I’d go through college without a drop of alcohol (or any other substance, for that matter).