August is the time of year when everyone has their class schedules settled and starts looking for extracurricular activities. Students flock to info sessions for various engineering clubs available at USC. Other students begin building research with their favorite professor into their schedule. Still others find on-campus or off-campus jobs. I have done all of these in my spare time at USC, but above all, I have found the most important thing to find is a hobby that you enjoy.
While at USC, I have searched for the work-life balance that was so much easier to obtain while in high school, where classes are limited from 8 am to 4 pm. At USC, your classes may be early in the morning or late at night, and you will certainly have more unstructured time. The one thing missing from my list of activities above is the search for a hobby or pastime that you enjoy. For me, that was with USC’s recreational sports organizations.
My sophomore year, I joined USC’s intramural equestrian team, which holds regular practices, events, and competitions, but is not a Division 1 sport, so the time commitment is significantly less. USC also has recreational sports teams for almost all D1 sports, as well as other sports such as fencing. I have found several benefits to joining a recreational sport while at USC.
- Work-life balance
I find that it is easy to get wrapped up in focusing only on engineering classes and clubs since they can be so time-consuming. While at USC, where you have a significant amount of unstructured time, it is easy to forget to build in meals or breaks from being “on” all the time. USC’s equestrian team has provided an easy way to build breaks into my day.
- Friendships
Being on a team of any kind, whether it is engineering or non-engineering, helps build friendships that will last a lifetime. USC has ample opportunities to join clubs or teams with like-minded people!
- Workout Classes
USC offers a deal to students on workout classes. USC offers (on campus and in the Village, which is right across the street) workout classes including F45, cycling, and pilates, among many other classes. I have found these short 30-minute to 1-hour classes to be extremely helpful to break up a long day. Since they are on campus, I started going to a class during a long break between classes or in the morning or evening. They are a great way to take a break during the day, and the structure is great for someone who may not be experienced at using the USC gyms.
- Competitions
As an intramural sport, we compete against other schools in California and Arizona, and also occasionally have competitions in other parts of the US. For me, these competitions have been a great way to fill up a weekend and explore other parts of California or even other states that I have never been to.
While this is just my personal experience with a particular club at USC, I believe it is important to find activities that you find fun and invigorating outside of academics. I have also found that these benefits carry over to many other clubs or activities offered at USC.
Fight on!
