Learning to Love My New City: Moving to LA

by Angelynn Huang ‘24

My first year at USC was a hazy blur. The highs were high and the lows were low, to say the least. My biggest struggle was adjusting to life in a place very different from my small Illinois hometown. My classes at USC were difficult, and there was immense pressure to fit in. There were so many moments that year when I would go out to a social event – be it a party, club, or wherever everyone else was going – and leave the night feeling horrible about myself. Though I wasn’t able to admit it at the time, I was forcing myself to be someone I simply wasn’t. While I was changing and growing as a product of my new environment, the positive aspects were getting lost behind the mask I felt I had to present to those around me. 

I found myself wanting to go back home every opportunity I had. My resentment grew towards LA, and I often declared to people at home that I hated the city and couldn’t wait to move back to the Midwest once I finished school. 

I hit my all-time low in my junior year. My classes became even more difficult, my social ties were crumbling, and I was distracted. There were so many times I found myself going out or using partying as a way to distract myself from the problems at hand. Nearly every month of the fall 2022  semester, I flew back home to spend time with my friends and family. 

Coming into my senior year, things have changed immensely and I’m happy to say the adjustments I’ve made to my life are a result of both shifting my mindset and also time. My view of LA has changed dramatically over the past couple of years, and it wasn’t a linear path. It took me a while to grow accustomed to city life, but finally opening my mind to what the city had to offer and exploring more of LA helped me change my mind about my college town. It’s easy to stay in the USC bubble and forget that LA is a city of millions of people and comprised of a variety of neighborhoods with distinct personalities. Due to the layout of the city, it’s easy to get stuck on the USC campus and not explore what the whole city has to offer. But that mistake took me a long time to recognize and remedy. Take advantage of the incredible arts scene here, and look into fun, free activities to do on the weekends in different areas of the city. I highly encourage everyone to not associate USC with LA because LA is huge, diverse, and incredibly beautiful if you take the time to explore it. 

Becoming more open-minded about the city isn’t going to be a linear process, and it isn’t obvious to a lot of people. At a school like USC, it may be easy to fall into cliques and friend groups built of people who are mostly just like you. However, as I started meeting different groups of people and opened myself up to new experiences that sometimes made me uncomfortable, not only was I able to grow so much as a person, but I also became more decisive in my intentions. I was able to figure out what exactly I wanted in a friendship rather than defaulting to hanging around anyone who would accept me into their group. 

Now that graduation is just around the corner, I’m currently looking into full-time positions in the L.A. area, eager to explore what else the city has to offer. I’ve realized that attending school in the city has shown me that I’ve barely scratched the surface of what this place has to offer and I’m so excited to continue growing and expanding my worldview here. 

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