Freshman Year's Memory Lane

As I was pondering what to write about, I couldn’t help but think of how great my freshman year was. This may be a little late, but here is my freshman year recap:

For me, it felt like freshman year started in July. On our admitted students Facebook page we decided to plan a group trip to Disneyland a month before fall move-in. That day I met so many of my future classmates and made so many lasting memories. For the entire day, we all walked around the park decked out in cardinal and gold singing the Fight Song and chatting USC cheers. By the end of the day, I couldn’t wait to join the Trojan Family in August.
Next was move-in day. It was bittersweet. A combination between excitement for my new roommates and floornates, but a little bit of sadness for leaving what I called home for the past 18 years. Overall, it kind of felt like I was at a summer camp, not moving permanently.
Sadly for me, move-in week wasn’t all fun. My grandpa suddenly passed away the Friday before classes started. I found myself in a new place without family trying to cope with this. However, less than a minute after I received this devastating information I had two friends sitting with me and helping me get through it. They sat with me for three hours while everyone else on campus was making friends. When I look back on this, I realize how special USC is. For two girls you have known for less than a week to take it upon themselves to make sure you are ok is really an extraordinary thing.
Another great memory about freshman year was accepting my bid card from Alpha Delta Pi. Rushing, accepting my bid, and joining such an amazing sisterhood were some of the best decisions I made freshman year. As the year progressed, the women in ADPi became such a big part of my life.
Like I mentioned in my bio on my student page, I grew up going to Trojan football games. Game-days were already such awesome and one-of-a-kind experiences, but experiencing them in the student section was amazing! I wanted to go to a school with a ton of school spirit, so sitting in a sea of cardinal and gold and singing and chanting for four quarters made me so happy.
In September I also joined a research team for my merit research project. Under the direction of Dr. Meshkati, I spent the school year conducting research with my team on how to improve pediatric patient safety at Children’s Hospital LA.
Another great memory from freshman year was running the Color Run at Dodger Stadium with my sorority sisters. The Color Run is a 5K race where you get covered in colorful powder every 1K. They advertise as being the Happiest 5K on the Planet, and it’s true!
Viterbi Ball with Dorcey, Katie, and Jack was also a great memory from freshman year. You can read about it in my Viterbi Ball blog.
Another exciting thing I did freshman year was to visit my best friend, Kelsey, in Texas at TCU over Spring Break. If I can recommend one thing, it’s to visit friends at other colleges. You get to see what life is like at other schools and in other parts of the country. My trip also made me fall in love with USC more and realize how perfect USC was for me.
While in Texas, I also had the opportunity to do something somewhat crazy. I camped out in front of Cold Stone for a night so I would be one of the first 50 people and win free ice cream for a year. I felt like that was something you would only do in college. It didn’t work out very well considering the voucher was only valid at the TCU location, but I won’t forget that one time I camped out on the streets in the rain for ice cream.
Another memorable experience was being on stage in Bovard for Songfest, which you can read about in my Songfest blog.
Despite all the fun things I did this past year, I did have to study for my classes. In fact, I pulled my first all-nighter writing an essay the last week of classes. However, I discovered studying in college is a lot more fun than high school. You live with your friends and classmates so it’s very easy to study with friends. For my all-nighter, I pulled it with one of my close friends, Sami, and while I studied for my Roman Civilization and Honors Physics classes in the Spring I would always study with my good friend and VSA, Alex. These study sessions were always productive, filled with life-long memories, and made the work, wait for it… FUN!

These were just some of the highlights from my freshman year. If I wrote about everything I loved from freshman year, I could be writing forever. Look back soon for an update on how summer is going (hint: It’s great!). Until then, I’ll be tweeting.