I can’t believe just a year ago I was packing up to move into my freshman dorm. I’ve loved being able to live in the Parkside Arts and Humanities dorm my freshman year, not only for the air conditioning, suite style rooms, crazy talented people on the music floor, and all the friends I made, but for, my favorite part, the Parkside Master’s Dinners!
Every Tuesday at 6pm, the faculty masters in Parkside Arts and Humanities and Parkside International Residential College (IRC) invite all the students in Parkside area to come listen and eat as they bring in speakers from either their circle of talented colleagues or people from the university to speak on how they have made it to where they are today. Speakers ranged from all different fields and jobs. We listened to professors in Viterbi, to professional dancers, to USC athletic Director, Pat Haden, to my favorite, the owner of Porto’s Bakery! (Porto’s Bakery is a Cuban bakery in Glendale. If you haven’t gone yet, I highly recommend it!)
Getting a picture with the Owner of Porto’s Bakery!
Each speaker spoke on their life, over coming obstacles, and gave advice on how to navigate through school and work in order to be happy and successful. My favorite speaker, the owner of Porto’s Bakery, was one of the people I found most inspiring. She spoke about immigrating to America from Cuba and remembering how her mom put everything they owned into this bakery when she was a child. Now, they have three locations in Southern California and are often featured in food magazines and newspaper articles!
After the speaker finishes, we conclude the night with amazing deserts in the faculty master’s apartment. Deserts always are my favorite part and they range from ice cream sandwiches from Cold Stone, to gourmet churros, to hand made chocolate, to sprinkles cupcakes and everything in between! (When the owner of Porto’s came, she brought some delicious pastries with her) The dessert time allows us to personally chat with the speaker and ask them questions, or when the owner of Porto’s came, get a picture!
Sprinkles Cupcakes for desert!
The dinners allowed me to learn different perspectives on life and explore different fields of study. The Parkside Master’s dinners are a HUGE benefit to living in Parkside. They allowed me to make new friends, speak with incredibly accomplished people, and gave me something to look forward to every Tuesday night!
If you are struggling to choose your housing options and are considering Parkside as one of your options, I’d highly recommend it because of the unique Parkside Master’s dinners!
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