Now that I have been a college student for nearly two years, I think I have a solid understanding of the pros and cons of different study spaces. As an engineering student, a lot of time is spent with our noses down wrestling with tough concepts and long assignments. Early on, I was spending a lot of time in the …
New Semester, New Study Spaces
By the end of the last finals week, I found that I had spent a little ~too~ much time in RTH (Ronald Tutor Hall, the hub of Viterbi). I had everything from class to lab work to meetings in this building, and I frequented RTH Café as my study space. While there are many redeeming qualities of RTH, I decided …
Myth Busted: Engineers Can Have a Social Life, and Here is How
The presumption that engineering students have a lot of work is true. However, the myth that engineering students do not have time for a social life is false. There are so many things to do in college…eat out with friends, fight on at football games, network with recruiters at career fairs, attend student organization meetings, conduct research experiments, write eight-page …
Midterm Madness
As a college student, I spend a large amount of time taking and preparing for midterm exams. Although there’s no way to make taking midterms enjoyable, I have a few tips for taking and preparing for exams a bit less stressful. I know it can be easy to fall prey to procrastination; however, I would recommend beginning to think about …
The Best Places to Study on Campus
Freshman year at USC I found that finding a reliable study spot could be a difficult task. Leavey tended to be crowded, Doheny was fairly hit or miss, and many other places closed early. While this wasn’t a huge issue during the majority of the semester, when finals season rolled around finding a good place to study became a big …
Study Skills: Sleep!!
One of the biggest challenges my first semester was adjusting my sleep schedule to college life. In high school, my schedule was pretty routine: I woke up every morning at 6 to go to school and was typically home by 9 from all my activities. With this in mind, I could plan times to do homework throughout the day, and …
Having a Minor as an Engineer
That's my roommate!In high school, dance class was an everyday activity for me . So when I got to college I didn’t know how to keep dancing seeing as my classes revolved around engineering. Luckily for me I had awesome roommates in the Glorya Kaufman School of Dance (check out their website: https://kaufman.usc.edu/) who let me into the studios to ...
My Transition from High School to College
Before I got to college, everyone adult told me the transition to college will be a difficult path full of challenges and triumphs. I did not know what they meant, but as freshman year went by, I slowly realized the extent of their warning, freshman year kicked me in the ass! I remember when I first moved in, I was …
Viterbi Expo- My Most Asked Questions
This past weekend was the Viterbi Student Expo, which was a chance for prospective students to come check out Viterbi and see what the school is like. As a VSA, my job was to lead groups on tours of various student labs. I answered countless questions throughout the day about my life as an engineering student at USC, so here …
I “Study” Everywhere
Hey guys!! I can’t believe it’s already a week into November! Most of my friends are past the midterms-hump now and I’m T-2 days away from joining them! October was a great month, super busy, but also really fun. I, of course, spent a significant amount of time perfecting the art of procrastination. You know how it goes. You’ve got …
How to Deal with Midtermz on Midtermz
My physics professor likes to use memes in class It’s week 6 (!?) already which means it is the beginning of midterm season. At USC, we are in the semester system. This means that we have classes for a 15 week period and usually have 1-2 midterms and then a final in that time span. Midterms creep up on you …
Keep the Projects “Fly”
If you like things that fly, and you want to know more about it, then AME 261 is the class for you! In this class, I finally felt like a real engineer by the end of the semester. Throughout the year, you learn the foundations of flight, with all the components that lead up to a successful design. Homework assignments …
My Study Tips
Hi everyone! Finals are fast approaching, so as the semester winds up, I’m going to share some of my study tips that I’ve learned over the last four years. Find a place where you’re comfortable. – The fastest way to kill productivity is to always be worrying about how your chair is too stiff, or the desk is too low, …
My (Super) Cool Building Science Project
Hi all! I hope you all are enjoying the fall weather! Back in Houston, fall is the best season of the year because it is not at 100% humidity like the other 9 months of the year. What can I say… California does have the best weather! Anyway, I wanted to share with y’all one of the coolest projects that …
How To Emotionally Cope with Missing the Thursday Night Football Game Because You Procrastinated All of Your Friday Homework
So it’s the once-a-year Thursday night football game, and you can’t enjoy it because you need to finish your homework. Though this perhaps could have been avoided with some better time management skills, here we are. These are some ways to help yourself deal with arguably the best gameday experience of the year (all of the gameday fun minus the …
Ten Places to Study Other Than Your Room
Coming in last year as a freshman, I confined myself to almost always studying in my dorm. This was before I realized how unproductive studying near my bed was because the temptation to watch Netflix in bed instead of do homework was often very overwhelming. Since then, I have discovered many alternatives to the small-desk-in-room default. The study room! …
The Importance of Office Hours
So now that I am an upperclassman and old experienced, I feel entitled to be giving out advice about collegiate life to anyone and everyone. This is my biggest though, especially because I desperately needed it in the beginning of my USC career. As a confused, nervous freshman I thought professors were scary people with PhDs that would rather be …
Life Management
Hi guys! I hope you’ve been doing well. Remember how I had three midterms a couple weeks ago? I came out alive! Snaps for Aarya! I wanted to give a couple tips for how to function in college, because I know it was very difficult for me to figure out how to balance school AND friends AND clubs AND health …
MIDTERM SEASON: Time Management Tips and Dealing with Stress
The middle of September to the middle of October is notoriously known amongst USC students as “Midterm Season.” Encompassing both the 1/3 mark of the semester and the halfway point, the majority of classes have either an exam, a presentation or a paper due; if you’re lucky, they’re not all in the same week, but if you’re not, then midterms …
“Hanging” Around USC: How to Take the Stress out of Studying
I’m going to be honest: engineering is a hard major and it can get really intensive at times, especially during finals season. Luckily I have some secret techniques and spots at USC to keep your heart rate below 100 beats per minute on those extra tough days. First off, I’ve learned that it can be exhausting sitting in one …