I can’t believe 8th of my senior year has already passed! The year seems to be off to a fast start, but I am hoping it will slow down somehow so that I will be able to enjoy every minute of it. But looking back down memory lane and remembering my most favorite and hardest classes seems to be a good way to start this year’s blog.
My favorite class at USC was Earthquakes, GEOL 240 Lg. Even though I took this class to fulfill one of my General Education requirements, I would say it is one of the classes that helped me realize which component of Civil Engineering I enjoy the most. The class was structured around the science behind plate tectonics and the components of geophysics that help explain most of the responses we see during an earthquake. The class also covered different signs geologists use to predict certain movements and how it is also possible to to look at past earthquakes and explain what type of earthquake is most likely to happen in certain areas. Around the end of the class, we also covered how current building design systems are including base isolation systems and other preventive measures to mitigate the damage in the structure. I enjoy this component of the class the most and realized I would definitely want to learn more about Earthquake Engineering and design of structures that are the most susceptible to experiencing an earthquake.
My hardest class so far was Essentials of Electrical Engineering, EE 326 L. I took this class last spring to fulfill an elective requirement, and this class is designed for Civil and Industrial Systems Engineering students who have to take an electrical engineering class as one elective. I was surprised with how much harder this class was for me, mainly because electricity and magnetism was one of the components of physics I enjoyed the most. I did enjoy the theoretical component of the class, however, when it came to applying that theory onto some of the electrical equipments that were covered in the class, I was surprisingly uninterested. I was glad to find out the opposite was true for some of my friends in the class so having a study group was the best way that helped me get through this class.
