Up until my Freshman year of high school, I had never thought too much about college. It wasn’t until I went to an NCAA women’s tennis match that I stumbled across USC’s campus. Not knowing much about the University of Southern California, I was awestruck. I looked around at what felt like miles of red brick buildings; however, after attending for a few days, I quickly realized it wasn’t that big of a campus.
Exploring the campus and seeing the environment of the school, I automatically fell in love. I remember discovering a Sprinkles ATM, the beautiful and modern Village, and an enormous bookstore! I felt overwhelmed by the beautiful gold and cardinal all around campus.
One of the biggest things that struck me during this initial campus visit was the incredible amount of school spirit displayed. Almost every ten steps, I would come across a student repping some kind of USC merch. To me, that showed me the students here are very proud of the school they go to.
After my first visit and realizing the excitement I felt being at USC, I started looking into the educational opportunities that came with being a Trojan. I learned about the undergraduate research opportunities offered, the design teams that work in the Makers Space, the classes I would be taking, and much more. One of the biggest reasons I could envision myself at USC for the next four years was because not only would I be able to grow into a skilled engineer, but I would also be given opportunities to have fun and make new friends with people of different backgrounds.
In terms of opportunities for having fun, I learned about the crazy sports, events hosted by the university, and just being in LA. Every year USC hosts concerts, LA outings, and so much more that I knew I would find ways to get involved and expand outside of Viterbi. Just as an example, I’m going to a Clippers vs. Kings game where food, transportation, and the ticket are being provided by my residential college coordinator, which I am super excited about!
Events like these and the environment this school creates make it so that finding a community becomes very easy. Just from joining certain involvements such as the Trojan Club Tennis Team, Theta Tau, and Helenes, I have been able to meet fellow engineers and some of my closest friends in college. Therefore, I think having that space and environment to build connections in college is incredibly important.
Overall, the biggest reason as to why I chose USC was because of the way I felt when I opened my letter of admission. USC was the last university I heard back from, and it was the only university that I cried because of how happy and excited I was. The gold and cardinal confetti immediately made me smile, and it no longer mattered to me where else I had been accepted. Although USC had always been a dream school and my motivation in high school, the feeling I got from being admitted and just being on campus told me I wanted to be a part of the Trojan family. Because of this feeling, I would tell any high school senior to look for that feeling when choosing where they want to go for the next four years.
