Here’s some mood music, because this blog post is about to get real.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLyDCtoqra8
Flush faced and eager eyed, I woke up to my first full day in my new dorm room. I was prepared to become best friends with everyone as soon as I met them. Unfortunately for me, this is not how human nature works. Naturally, I did not befriend everyone in sight and enter my first week of classes with tons of people who would be invited to my wedding.
I’ll have to admit, it got very lonely in those first few weeks. There were many days where I was so homesick I would reach for the phone, yearning to ask my parents to book a flight back home.
But fret not my friends, this sullenness quickly turned around. College campuses are these beautiful, moving, friendship-demanding organisms that stimulate relationships and smiles, two things that define most USC freshmen’s year. My dorm, Birnkrant, has co-ed floors, with about 40 freshmen on each floor. As we supported one another throughout the year, my floor really turned into a community, one for which I am grateful.
But I know what’s really on your mind, and don’t worry about that either. The engineers here at Viterbi are just as fun-loving and enthusiastic as you are. One of my fondest memories is traipsing through the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, LACMA, with a friend I made in AME 101 (Intro to Mechanical Engineering) while nerding out over calculus. You will find people who have similar interests—whether that be sports, physics, or music. Plus, every freshman engineer must take a class called “Engineering Freshman Academy”, in which we not 
only learn how to prepare ourselves for a job, but also bond with other engineers, forging friendships that will serve you well with class homework and college adventures.
I will not lie to you: homesickness is real. But you will find such astounding people, make invaluable friends, and bond over the weirdest things. And the brilliant thing about USC, and Viterbi especially, is that there will be so many people just like you. I was not the only person in my engineering class to be the single kid from my high school to come here, nor was I the only one with a strange addiction to WaitButWhy.com. So many people will be able to relate to your struggles, and Viterbi does a stand-up job of helping you meet
them all. So if you’re worried about having that ideal college experience, don’t worry, USC’s got your back.
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