Engineers—the workaholic nerds of the school right? Well truth be told, I did go to nerd camp for seven summers and yes I do a lot of homework, but never once has this stereotype come close to defining my college experience. I do so much more outside of the classroom, both inside and outside of Viterbi, such as being a Freshman Academy Coach, working in a Biomechanics Research Lab, being involved in Engineers Without Borders, studying abroad in Paris this summer, being involved in Greek Life and exploring Los Angeles…
Engineers Without Borders: I got involved with EWB my freshman year and EWB has honestly been one of the most rewarding organizations to work with. Last Spring Break I traveled to La Estanzuela, Honduras (about three hours outside the capital) with other USC EWB students, where we worked with the village, checked in on our ongoing water project, and surveyed the land for our new schoolhouse project. Back on campus as events chair I plan a lot of the off campus events (last weekend we went hiking up to the Griffith Observatory! The view was spectacular and there were so many cool exhibits—I cant believe I’ve been at SC for over two years and this was my first time there!
Engineers Without Borders in Honduras (Spring Break 2010)
Greek Life: Both my parents went to Cal and were involved in Greek life—to this day some of their closest friends from college are from their fraternity and sorority. Coming to USC I knew I wanted to rush, but had no idea what to expect. Yes there are the social events (semiformal invite last weekend was a ton of fun with lots of dancing at a venue in Marina del Ray!) and philanthropies (we host a huge soccer tournament in the Spring!), but I have met so many awesome people by joining Greek Life, which is a great balance to engineering. This past year I served as our formal recruitment chair, which is one of my favorite personal achievements while at USC. I had so much fun with my house getting ready for recruitment (over 900 girls rushed!) and learned so many new skills that I know will help me later in life. And when else in my life will I get to live in a house with sixty other girls!? (This also serves as a fantastic network of buddies when I want to go to Yogurtland…) Joining a sorority has been one of my best decisions at USC—it has become my family away from home, and my sisters continue to amaze me with everything that they do at USC and within LA.
At my Sorority's Invite with two of my sisters!
Los Angeles: Growing up in the Bay Area, I say with great pride that San Francisco is one of my favorite cities in the world. Coming to USC, I faced the hyped-up norcal/socal rivalry and while Los Angeles is very different from San Francisco it has a whole other spectrum of things to offer. From the cool restaurants, fun shopping (Santa Monica!) and warm beach weather (although 113 degrees on Monday was a little too hot to handle…) I have loved getting to know LA (an having a car this year is a total bonus!) And tomorrow night I’m going to my first Dodger game which should be a ton of fun, so Ill try and post some pictures from the game!
Claire
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