Coming off of my first year at USC and a summer internship at Northrop Grumman, I definitely feel far more prepared and motivated to perform well academically. I gained skills that I can apply into my classes such as time management and handling stress. Also, since I was a software engineering intern I decided to pick up a minor in Computer Science and am taking CS 101 this semester which introduces us to Fundamentals of Programming. I am grateful that my internship helped me decide what my minor would be and so far I love the course. I am also taking EE 101, which is Digital Logic. The professor for this course is Dr. Redekopp, the son of a highly esteemed professor at USC, and the way in which he teaches the material makes me feel more and more passionate about Electrical Engineering as the days go by. I am also taking Calculus 3 and so far it is going great. I have my first test for that this week and I am feeling prepared as well as further preparing with a set of review questions the professor provided. Lastly, I am taking Physics 152: Electricity and Magnetism. The course is awesome and the material is very intellectually stimulating. I am finally understanding physics and the concepts I learned in my first physics course last semester are becoming clearer. I am extremely grateful for all the great professors USC and the Viterbi School of Engineering provided me with this year. I am convinced that they all want me, and every other student in the courses, to do well and I will take advantage of all the resources they provide. I will definitely be visiting their office hours this semester to develop a relationship that will last beyond the semester.
I am also extremely excited for what I am going to be involved with on campus. The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers is becoming a very dynamic organization in providing its members with resources such as workshops and career fair opportunities. The most notable change is the addition of study nights for the members where we all come together and help eachother study. I am looking forward to getting very involved with the organization and gaining the leadership to eventually play a vital role in the way the organization functions. I recently was cleared for a lower back injury and cannot wait to be back out there with USC Rugby. It will take a few weeks for me to get back into shape and to relearn the game smarts but with new coaches excited about our potential, it should be a great season this spring. I will also be part of Gates Millennium Scholars USC and will be completing several hours of community service at local high schools, including my alma mater South Gate High School, through the Norman Topping Student Aid Fund.
Lastly, even though this should go unmentioned, the USC Football team is going to do major damage this year and I cannot wait for another home game next Saturday against Berkeley!
I am ready to make this semester my best yet!
Fight On!
