It’s so surreal to think that in two short weeks, I will officially be halfway through my college career. It sincerely feels like yesterday when I was trying to decide where my new home would be for the next four years, and looking back, I couldn’t imagine myself anywhere other than USC! So, with May 1 just two days away, I thought I would share why I decided to make USC my home!

Making the decision to fly all the way across the country (from Orlando, Florida) to come to school in California was huge, but I knew that a major factor would be if I could be happy at USC. I think a lot of students get so caught up in rankings and academics that they forget how important finding a school with the right fit is. One resource I used extensively to learn more about student life and to get a better idea of what my potential life would be like was actually this site that you are on right now! I read through countless blogs on Viterbi Voices, and slowly I began to piece together what #ViterbiLife would be like, and it made me feel so much more comfortable with the big move! I realized that USC students lived vibrant lives both on campus and off campus, and this coupled with Viterbi’s amazing engineering program really made it a no-brainer for me.

We all know that Viterbi is an awesome engineering school with diverse students who do amazing things (i.e. build a rocket, undergrad research, making prosthetic hands?!), but what made it really stand out to me was how much Viterbi cares about its students! From the moment I was accepted, I was bombarded with information packets, emails, and even phone calls from alumni or current students wanting to answer my (many) questions. I got the sense that I could get a small school experience (where I would matter to the school atmosphere and community), yet I would have that large university feel that every high schooler dreams of. In terms of the school community I was enamored with the idea of the Trojan Family, but in the back of my head I have to admit, I was a little skeptical. Let me be straight up: the Trojan Family is real and it is unlike anything I have ever experienced! I could be at the beach, the airport, or even Universal Studios back home in Orlando, and if I’m wearing a USC shirt, I will always get a “Fight On!” I even met tons of USC alumni at my internship last summer, and it’s a great way to instantly connect with someone!

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Making a college decision can be really overwhelming, but I’m so glad that I chose to go to USC, where I’ve had amazing career opportunities (thanks to the Trojan Family) and met some of the smartest and most vibrant people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting! I couldn’t be happier here at USC, so if only there was a way to slow time down! Two years (almost) down, can I have more than two to go?

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Michelle

Michelle

Electrical Engineering, Class of 2018, Learn more on her profile here!