McCarthy Mondays

By Emily Young MA ‘16

I hope that everyone had a fantastic first day of school.  The first day of school can be a bit overwhelming: finding your classes, getting books, awkward new friend exchanges, etc.; but instead of my experience, I want to highlight Emily Hunter, who literally stole the show.

Emily is a performing artist who was itching to get back to school and perform her new material at Ground Zero’s Welcome Week Open Mic Night.  15 names were drawn out of a hat and unfortunately her name was not among them.  So she sat down in McCarthy quad and started playing her guitar and singing to several friends.

What started out as a small group of friends turned into a larger group of curious bystanders checking out the action.  After my 9:20 class let out, I heard the music from across the quad and stopped for 10 minutes before I drove home.  I caught the last two songs, after which Emily thanked on-goers for their support and was thrilled so many people stopped and watched.  “I’ll have to make a Facebook page,” she said, “McCarthy Mondays or something.”

The first day/week of school can be overwhelming, but if you take a moment to absorb the energy and excitement, you will realize that USC is a place where dreams are happening.