Hey guys! This has been one of the craziest semesters, and I can’t believe that it is already the last week of class! The busy-ness of the semester definitely kept me occupied and made it fly by. After reflecting upon it, I have come up of a countdown of my top 10 memories of this semester.
10. Lakers Game with my SWEsters
We had a membership retreat this past Sunday to a Lakers game in the Staples Center downtown! We took the bus there and back, which was only $1.50 each way. I love public transportation – it is so convenient!! The game was fun, as much as I’m not into sports, I still could appreciate it and was amused!
SWE members retreat to the Lakers game this past Sunday was so fun! #viterbilife #ViterbiOrgs pic.twitter.com/futnFp1V1r
— Cassandra Gabara (@CassGabara) December 5, 2013
9. Friend Carly visiting from Michigan
Two summers ago, I interned at Abbott Labs near Chicago, and met my good friend Carly. She goes to school in Michigan, but was in town for a weekend for an internship interview. She stayed with me for a night, and the next morning I gave her a tour of our beautiful campus! She was so amazed with how our campus looked, and kept on saying that it looked like a movie set! (Which it totally is, btw – several times over! There is a scene in The Social Network which was filmed in one of my classrooms!)
With my friend Carly!
8. SWE Officer Council Retreat to Lake Arrowhead
At the very beginning of the semester, all of Officer Council went to Lake Arrowhead for a fun getaway from campus. We went out for dinner at a fun Mexican restaurant, and then hung out at one of our SWEster’s lake houses. The next morning we hung out by the dock and walked around the lake side! It was such a nice break from hectic life at campus.
Lake Arrowhead
7. President Nikias’s house for Thanksgiving
For the past 3 years, I went home with different friends for Thanksgiving weekend. It was always great to celebrate Thanksgiving at a home with great food and awesome families. However, this year I wanted to spend the weekend with my other friend who isn’t local. We went to President Nikias’s house for Thanksgiving dinner. There were about 300 students at his house celebrating Thanksgiving with the President! It is so nice that the President opens up his house to all of the nonlocal students for a holiday which is tough to spend away from home. I definitely miss my mom’s Thanksgiving meal (which I haven’t tasted for 4 years) but the food served there was definitely Thanksgiving-worthy.
Heading to President Nikias’ house with other students for a delicious #Thanksgiving dinner!!! #ViterbiLife
— Cassandra Gabara (@CassGabara) November 28, 2013
6. USC ROTC Navy Ball with my friend
One of my friends in my classes is in the Navy ROTC program here, and every semester they have a ball for the Navy and Marine ROTC program. He invited me to the Navy Ball this year! The venue was The Queen Mary, which is a permanently docked cruise ship. I had such a blast!
Had such a fun time last night at the Navy Birthday Ball! #ViterbiLife pic.twitter.com/pltBy6lhc4
— Cassandra Gabara (@CassGabara) November 10, 2013
5. Disneyland with my friends
My roommate this year interned at Disneyland over the summer as an Industrial Engineering intern, and one of her intern friends is still working there for the fall. One of the perks of working for Disney is that you get to let in 3 guests at a time! So he let us into the park for free and spent the day with us! It was awesome going to Disney with employees, since they knew exactly which rides to hit up in which order, and which ones to get the Fast Passes for. The last time I had been to Disney was over 6 years ago, so it was great to be back again.
At Disneyland!
4. San Diego for Thanksgiving weekend
After going to President Nikias’s house for Thanksgiving dinner, my friend Kim and I spent the rest of Thanksgiving weekend down in San Diego with her high school friend. Some of the highlights – we walked by the beach and took plenty of pics. We also took a hike up Mount Soledad and saw ALL of San Diego from the top; it was amazingly beautiful. It was such a relaxing getaway that was much needed, especially right before the craziness of finals sets in.
Enjoying the view of San Diego from Mount Soledad! #thanksgivingbreak #SanDiego #ViterbiLife pic.twitter.com/gNxWqE6jUF
— Cassandra Gabara (@CassGabara) December 1, 2013
3. Baltimore for National Conference
Every fall, SWE Nationals puts on a multiple-day conference that consists of a huge 200+ company career fair, insightful workshops, and a fun networking night with tons of suites hosted by companies. This year it was in October in Baltimore, and I went to an awesome workshop with a panel of 4 strong female executives from Northrop Grumman who spoke of being a female leader in an engineering field. I also got an interview with Unilever for a 3 year rotational program. And of course, we had plenty of time to explore the city of Baltimore.
Accenture hospitality suites!! #viterbicareers @sweusc
— Cassandra Gabara (@CassGabara) October 25, 2013
Had a great weekend in Baltimore at SWE Conference, but now it’s back to business! 4 interviews and lots of work this week! #ViterbiLife
— Cassandra Gabara (@CassGabara) October 28, 2013
2. Going to Chicago for my PwC interview
Recruiting season was one of the most time-consuming things this semester. I had about 14 total interviews in the span of 2 months. The final round office visits were the most time consuming – with travel oftentimes taking up the better part of my day. One of my final round interviews was with PwC in Chicago! It worked out perfectly that my brother lives in Chicago, so I was able to spend the weekend with my brother and his girlfriend in Chicago.
Had a great time in Chicago this past weekend! #viterbilife pic.twitter.com/uj7uRE5ECw
— Cassandra Gabara (@CassGabara) November 19, 2013
1. Signing with Accenture for full time next year!!
This is the one that I am perhaps most excited about; after such a long recruiting period, and receiving several offers to bounce around and consider, I finally signed with Accenture for a full time position in Systems Integration (which is basically technology consulting). I will be here in LA, and I am so excited to start working!
