Hey everyone!
Thanksgiving is just around the long, midterm filled corner, and I wanted to take some time to talk about giving back to the local community. One thing that always stood out about USC for me when I was picking colleges was the relationship it fostered with the local community. Since coming here, I’ve gotten involved with several different student orgs dedicated to giving back to our University Park community, and it’s made LA feel like home for me! Here’s some of the initiatives I’ve gotten involved in:
Joint Educational Project (JEP)
The JEP house on campus
I got involved with JEP, a program to tutor local students on specific subjects, and ended up receiving extra credit in my calculus class. I would walk ten minutes off campus to a local middle school twice a week and sit with sixth and seventh graders to help them get ahead in math. One-on-one tutoring helped me feel like I was making a noticeable difference.
SCience OUTreach (SCOUT)
Performing a science experiement with SCOUT
SCOUT is a program where students membering in STEM fields at USC walk over to local elementary schools and perform science experiments for the kids. I got involved with this club freshman year, and would perform experiments to the same group of kids every Thursday. I loved being able to form a personal bond, and honestly I had as much fun adding dish soap and food coloring to milk as they did!
Scholars Leading Scholars
Recently, I’ve gotten involved with a new venture on campus to give high school kids from the area advice about the college admissions process. I really like this program because I still clearly remember being confused about applying to college, and talking to kids about why they should apply to college is an awesome reminder of how much I really love university.
These are just a few of the volunteer orgs on campus I’ve gotten involved in, which is in NO way a comprehensive list. I’ve had a lot of fun giving back and feel so much closer to the community around us as a result.
Fight on for University Park!
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