My Semester: Fall 2014

Hey guys!

I hope you’re all excited to be heading back to school, even if you haven’t started yet. My first week of classes is officially over, and I’m already super excited for this semester. I’m going to tell you a little about what I’ve been doing since I got back to USC, what my classes are like this fall, and a few activities I’m really looking forward to.

What I’ve been doing since I got back:

When I got back to school I jumped right back in to all my involvements on campus. I serve as a Viterbi Freshmen Academy Coach, so I attended the Viterbi Luau where I got to meet a lot of incoming Viterbi students and enjoy a really fun day in the sun. I also coordinated the Orientation for Freshmen Scholars through my position as the Co-Chair of Special Events on the Executive Board of the Trojan Scholars Society. This is my second year in that position, and I’m really looking forward to planning a lot of fun events throughout the year with my co-chair, Nick. I’ve also been settling in by unpacking my apartment, catching up with friends I haven’t seen in awhile, buying textbooks, and generally preparing for the upcoming semester.

: Freshmen Academy Coaches at the Viterbi Luau

: Trojan Scholars Society Executive Board 2014-2015

My classes this fall:

I’m really happy with my class schedule this fall. I’m getting into a lot of upper-division courses for my major in Industrial & Systems Engineering: Operations, which is pretty cool. I’m also taking a class for my minor in Cultural Anthropology. In total, this semester I’m taking five classes:

ISE 330 (Introduction to Operations Research: Deterministic Models)

DSO 435 (Enterprise Data Architecture)

PHYS 152 (Fundamentals of Physics II: Electricity and Magnetism)

WRIT 340 (Advanced Writing: Communication for Engineers)

ANTH 370 (Family and Kinship in Cross-Cultural Perspective

I’m really interested in all of my classes, and I’m quite happy because I really enjoy taking a mixed schedule: technical classes like Physics or Operations Research mixed with non-technical classes like Family and Kinship in Cross-Cultural Perspective. It’s still early, but one of the classes I’m most excited about is DSO 435: Enterprise Data Architecture. In that class (which requires no prerequisite skills) we will be working on a semester-long team project, during which time we will actually build a database for a company or non-profit. How cool is that?

A few activities I’m really looking forward to:

The fall semester is always really fun because of football season. I’m a huge football fan so I already bought my season tickets, and I’ve made arrangements to attend the “Weekender” also! The “Weekender” is a tradition at USC – basically every other year we alternately play an away football game at either Stanford or Cal (University of California, Berkeley). Many, many USC students drive or fly up to the Bay Area to tailgate, watch the game, and sometimes even just visit family or friends. I have been unable to attend the last couple of years due to various conflicts, but this year the game is next weekend (September 6th) and I couldn’t be more excited to attend with a bunch of my close friends.

I’m also looking forward to the Viterbi Career Conference next Friday. This will be great chance to network with representatives and alumni from a variety of different engineering companies, and sit in on workshops, panels, resume critiques, and more.

Lastly, I’m really looking forward to my first semester as an active member of Delta Omicron Zeta, USC’s leadership fraternity. I had a wonderful experience last semester as a journeyman (our term for potential new members), but I’m really excited to be “official” this semester. I think organizations like DOZ, service fraternities, and pre-professional fraternities (pre-med, pre-law, etc.) are a great alternative to traditional greek life for people who are looking for something a little different, but still want to get involved in an organization with a family-like vibe. DOZ has been a great fit for me so far, and I’m excited to see how this semester goes.