This weekend, I got to make the trip up to San Francisco for the “Weekender”.  The “Weekender” is when USC students all make the trip up to Northern California for the football game, either against Cal or Stanford.  It’s an incredible experience because USC basically takes over the entire city for the weekend – you can’t go anywhere without running into someone from school.

This year, three of my roommates and I drove up on a Friday morning so that we got to SF around lunchtime.  We were staying in a hotel a couple blocks away from Union Square, which was a perfect location in the middle of the city.  After we had lunch, we went back to the hotel and got ready for the big pep rally in the middle of Union Square.  It was so cool to see the band playing with the Spirit Leaders and the Song Girls, right in the middle of the city.  The crowd was huge and excited, and it was so fun to be a part of a team and school that completely took over our surroundings for the weekend!

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After the rally, we explored the city with friends of ours who were also in town for the game!

The next day was the big day – the game against Stanford!  We arrived early to tailgate with my roommate’s parents, and then we went to the game.  There is really no better feeling in the world than beating Stanford, especially when we aren’t favored to win.  The game was so fun – the student section was really rowdy and excited; it was full of an infectious energy that made me proud to be a part of the Trojan family.

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That night, we went to Boudin bread factory to have soup in a sourdough bread bowl, and then to Ghiradelli Square to have brownie sundaes to celebrate!  The next day, we grabbed breakfast and then headed out on our drive home.  Of course, we stopped at In N Out on the way!!

 

Samantha Kaplan-2015

Samantha Kaplan-2015

Mechanical Engineering, Class of 2015, Learn more on her profile here!