Day in the Life of a Cognitive Science Major
By: Lauren Liang ‘23
Have you ever wondered what a day in the life of a junior Cognitive Science major looks like? Well, welcome to a Wednesday in my life this Spring.
Wednesday is the most intense day of my week but also the one weekday I get to sleep in. Even though I trade the early mornings for a late night, between my Monday morning classes and internship on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, I’m grateful for any chance to wake up after 8:00 a.m.
My first class of the day is well into the afternoon at 2:00 p.m. and is my only remaining course to complete my Cognitive Science major requirements. In Social Cognition, a typical day consists of lectures and group discussion. Usually, class begins with a lecture before breaking into small discussion groups to work on an activity related to the day’s material. The class is around 30 people, so there’s plenty of opportunity to ask questions and engage with the professor and classmates. Today, we’re covering moral reasoning and moral intuitionism. This covers how people form their morals and make judgements with them. Social Cognition is one of my favorite courses that I’ve taken within my major – it’s all about people and social behavior, one of the interests that inspired me to major in CogSci. Once class is over, I skate back to my off-campus apartment for a quick bite to eat before my next class at 5:00 p.m.
At 5:00 p.m., it's time for my private vocal lesson at Thornton. One of the best things about individual lessons is that they’re tailored to the student’s goals, so there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. This week, my professor and I work on vocal agility and prepare a song to sing at the end-of-semester showcase. Despite not majoring in music, it has always been a huge part of my life, and I’m lucky enough to continue my studies while at USC.
One hour later, I sprint (ok, skate) over to my last class, Reading and Writing the Web. When my friends ask about this class, I typically describe it as my “creative coding” class. Although the course covers coding and styling languages that apply outside of the School of Cinematic Arts and other creative endeavors, in this course, we apply these skills to generate web-based art projects that range from personal to broader social justice. Today, we’re presenting our Project 2 websites, which we’ve spent a third of the semester working on. For this project, we’re prompted to create a hyperlinear narrative using HTML, CSS, and p5.js. While this class has been one of the more challenging courses this semester, it’s immensely satisfying to be able to see my code come to life outside of the traditional applications.
It’s 9:00 p.m., and my day is finally over. I’m completely exhausted after 7 hours of practically back-to-back classes. Into bed I go!
I’ve enjoyed my classes overall this semester. Being able to take classes outside of the scope of my major is one of my favorite things about attending USC. While I’m fascinated by the range of approaches to cognition I explore in my major, I also value learning for the sake of learning, which means academic and artistic exploration! If you’re like me, don’t be afraid to explore WebReg during registration season and take a class (or more) that piques your interest.
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