College decision time is one of the most stressful times in a high schooler’s life. So many great options, so many places to potentially go. For me however, the decision was easy. Prior to ExploreUSC, I knew nothing about the school, other than that the football team ALWAYS won. To be honest, it was almost annoying seeing the Trojans dominate every season, cleaning up in the PAC 10 like it was nobody’s business. So when I arrived on campus I didn’t really know what I was getting into.
I walked around the school, checking out the sights, going on tours and talking to students the majority of the day. Everyone seemed so nice and willing to go out of their way to talk to me, which I really appreciated. After having toured many other “hardcore” engineering schools, I found it refreshing that everyone I met had a personality and did things at USC outside of engineering. As a musician and athlete in high school, it was important to me that I would not be spending all of my time hunched over a desk in the basement of an engineering building for nights on end, and that I would get an opportunity to explore and experience new things while attending college.
Later in the day when I went on lab tours, I knew that USC was still going to provide a great engineering education coupled with the extracurriculars. I saw many undergrads working in the rocket propulsion lab and the collaborative high altitude flow facility, and knew that I was going to be able to get my hands dirty at USC, and not just learn theory in class.
I could go on and on about every detail that made me excited about USC, from the school spirit for our Division 1 sports, or the awesome electrical engineering professor that tried to convince me to switch from astronautical to electrical engineering before I began college, but really, when it comes down to it, USC was just a good fit. I liked that it wasn’t too close to home, and that I could experience so much in the surrounding Los Angeles area. I liked that there were over 600 student organizations, study abroad opportunities, and the famed “trojan network” (which REALLY exists). I like that every movie is “ruined” for me now because of Hollywood’s affinity for filming places I go every day. USC is many things to many people, and it became clear to me during my brief stay that for the next four years, I would call USC home.
