Hi everyone! Happy November – I hope you are all enjoying this Thanksgiving season – at USC we are starting to gear up for finals and are looking forward to enjoying some much needed vacation!
When I first considered going to college, Los Angeles was on the bottom of my list. I thought I would dislike living in such a dense city, and for a while that made me discount USC as an option. The more I fell in love with USC, I decided I could resign myself to spending 4 years in LA if thats what it took to be a Trojan. It has now been over a year, and I can honestly say I have become more fascinated by this incredibly diverse, odd, and crazy city every day. Yes, there are the sirens, and traffic, and occasional smog that accompany busy city life, but LA also holds so many treasures and pockets of amazing, rich cultures. Not only are there great opportunities to impact the local community (read my last blog about Troy Camp!), but there are also so many ways to experience beautiful art, explore, discover, and enjoy what LA has to offer.
I’d like to tell you all about some of the random things I’ve done in LA just to highlight a fraction of all the cool things out there (Note: many of these things involve food, which I think is one of the best ways to spend time with friends!)
- Dinner in Little Tokyo – we had AMAZING Japanese ramen and sushi
- Korean BBQ with my BME study group – no better way to let out some engineering stress and relax than with heaping plates of korean bbq, not to mention all the fun we had trying to cook it!
- Hiking to Hollywood Sign with the Society of Women Engineers
- Getty Center with Thematic Option – we got to spend several hours exploring and analyzing incredible art exhibits while overlooking this amazing city
- Walt Disney Concert Hall – Symphonic Orchestra
- Taste of Mexico Cultural Expo
- Switchfoot Concert at the Wiltern Theatre
- Beauty and the Beast at the Pantages Theatre
- Midnight Movie Premiers
- Taco Tuesdays with my acapella friends
- Ice Cream on El Rodeo Drive
- Church in Downtown LA for Spanish mass for Easter and Reality LA in Hollywood
- Rosebowl – UCLA vs. USC and Mexico vs. USA game
- LA Coliseum – soccer games,
- Care Harbor Clinic in LA Sports Arena
- Volunteering at the California Hospital Medical Center
- Collegiate Bollywood Competition at UCLA
- Dinner and Sunset at Santa Monica Pier
- Night-hiking in Malibu
- Beach days with youth group
- Venture Capitalism Program in Santa Monica
- Research Conferences in Pasadena
- 3D Print Shows
- MUN conference downtown – meeting up with friends from Harvey Mudd
- Diwali Festival of Color
- King Lear at the Shakespeare Theatre
And thats just to name a few! Los Angeles is a city where it is nearly impossible to be bored. Because I am part of the Thematic Option Program (a literature and philosophy based alternative to the General Education curriculum, which I highly recommend), I also get a newsletter every week with lists of events happening around LA – just this newsletter alone has dozens of examples, the possibilities are truly endless! This city is one covered in murals, with many small parks, beautiful art, professional development, entertainment, great food, and textured culture.
Overall, its not just one thing I love about Los Angeles but the mosaic jumble of all these things that create an incredible LA experience. I am so grateful to have ended up here, and so excited to spend the next few years discovering as much as I can around LA!
[author title=”Author” author_id=””] href="#" data-color-override="false" data-hover-color-override="false" data-hover-text-color-override="#fff">Button Text
