One of the best/most generic advice I heard within my first semester of college was that I should get to know my professors. However, I wasn’t really sure how exactly to go about this without coming off as trying to force the issue. It turned out thought that all of my freshman worries and concerns were for naught. Surprisingly enough, college professors are people too that share many of the same interests as students. One of the first professors I ever got to know well was my PHYS-161 professor, Prof. Bickers. I had heard that he was an amazing professor and even that he had gone skydiving with some students in the Physics Dept. (skip to 3:00 for the big jump). From taking first semester honors physics (PHYS-162) with Prof. Bickers, I realized how easy and enjoyable it was to develop relationships with professors. From going into office hours for help with homework or just talking to him about random happenings in the physics world, I found it to be incredibly easy to talk with Prof. Bickers.
And I’ve found this to be the case with a ton of the professors at USC. One professor I’ve taken a class with and have worked on projects with is Prof. Alice Parker in the EE department. It was so easy to just approach Prof. Parker after class or in her office to talk about different developments in the alternative energy field or different research going on at USC’s campus.
Posing with the mobile solar array from Prof. Parker’s ENGR-499: Alternative Energy class.
From that class and being so enthusiastic to work on renewable energy related topics, I ended up working on a solar energy project at USC’s Catalina campus with Prof. Parker and other students. I still to this day meet with Prof. Parker to either talk about the project or just life in general and get her advice on what I should do after graduating.
No matter what you major in at USC and what classes you take, I’ve found time and time again that it is rewarding and easy to get to know professors at USC.
#ViterbiSwag
