Throughout my four years at USC, I’ve had many memorable experiences, and, thinking back on them, a lot of them came purely from my environment. Being in Los Angeles, living in a residential college or community, and having a suite or roommates have all been unique elements to the USC experience that have allowed me to have an exciting living situation.
The location of USC has contributed the most to what life is like. The weather’s always nice, so I’m able to have picnics with friends, study outdoors, walk around campus, etc. There are tons of things to do around campus, too, and we would always use our free time to go downtown for dinner, go to the beach, or explore hiking trails and attractions around the Los Angeles area. On top of this all, outings for housing communities are always exciting–there have been opportunities to see Dodgers games, Hamilton at the Pantages theater, visit the Getty museum, and more. All the opportunities that come with living in Los Angeles have made for so many unforgettable memories.
Beyond the location, having residential colleges or communities throughout my time at USC have helped me in making friends and finding a home. My freshman year, I lived at McCarthy Honors College, where I met many of the close friends I still have today. I then moved to Pardee Tower, where I have fond memories of late study nights with students I still work on projects with. Sophomore year, in Ilium Residential College, our common areas and study rooms were always lively and great ways to see friends while dealing with some upper level engineering classes. The residential colleges and student experiences facilitated by living in a community have given me many friends and memories I cherish now, when everyone is separate and far away.
One of the most memorable parts of a living situation is having a roommate, or several. Through my roommate freshman year, I was able to get to know a student in the film school, and learn about majors outside of engineering, cool opportunities around campus, and unique programs around USC. In my senior year, my roommate is one of my closest friends, and I’ve enjoyed when we’ve been able to live in our apartment, study for our engineering classes together, and have fun. Living in apartments and having roommates has been a great way to make close friends and learn how to be an adult, and the breadth of student backgrounds and living setups at USC allows for many different types of opportunities.
Looking back on my memories living at USC, I miss being around my friends most of all. Hopefully sometime soon, everyone can safely return to campus and begin spending time with one another, taking advantage of the opportunities in Los Angeles, and making lifelong memories. Stay safe, and fight on!
