The USC campus is a great place to be; with Trader Joes, Target, Sephora, Dulce and so much more there really is no reason to leave… That is, no reason to leave if you are content living in a red-brick jungle.
I was content in this environment when I first got to USC in the fall of 2023. I was entirely consumed by the bustling environment of Los Angeles. I could go to so many cool and interesting places by only taking five steps from my freshman dorm. As the semester progressed, however, I started to grow bored of the repetitive architecture and limited space of campus. I yearned to escape to the outdoors, away from busy people and LA smog.
This desire to be outside led me to join Peaks and Professors. Peaks, as it is commonly referred to, is an outdoors organization where Trip Leads take a group of USC students and a professor on a hike somewhere in the greater LA area. Students are given the opportunity to explore the wilderness while also getting to connect with their professors in a non-academic context. It is fulfilling to watch participants open up with their peers and find common interests and beliefs while also destressing from their busy class schedule.
I have found that the professor part of Peaks and Professors has had the most impact on me. I have been granted the amazing opportunity to learn about many of the professor’s lives and backstories, often many of whom I would only know in an academic context. One of my most memorable hikes was taking the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) on a collab hike with two female engineering professors, Amy Childress (CEE) and Emma Singer (AME). They shared with us how they made their way in a male-dominated field and offered advice on research and continuing education. Many participants reached out to me in the following weeks, thanking me for the experience and sharing the benefits the trip had in planning their future careers.
I believe our best ideas can come when we disconnect from the world we exist in on a daily basis. For many of us, this world is the USC academic grind that sucks us into a cycle of studying, researching, and learning. While those are rewarding activities, our brains need rest to continue working their best. My advice to those of us who are feeling stuck and uninspired: take a couple of hours on the weekend to get outside and allow yourself to breathe. I think you will be amazed by the results.
