My Favorite Things About USC
By Lindsey Hamilton ‘22
Raindrops are nowhere while walking through campus
Bright kids all around and “Fight On’s” from Trojans
Brown paper bookstore bags filled with school merch
These are a few of my favorite things!
Diverse student body and dining hall waffles
Floormates and clock bells and music quad squirrels
An alumni who flew to the moon on TV
These are a few of my favorite things
Girls in white sweatshirts with red and gold letters
Snowflakes that stay far away from the weather
Silver lights glowing in downtown LA
These are a few of my favorite things
When the Bruin bites
When the grades sting
When I’m feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don’t feel so bad
Research success whisked away to be published
Bright Nobel Prizes in past and in future
Brown and red bricks and fountains glittering
These are a few of my favorite things
Creaming the competition in school spirit
Trojans care for Trojans through thick and thin
With hard work and heart, we all pursue our dreams
These are a few of my favorite things
Girls boys and everyone else welcomed here
Relying on each other to get through the year
To people who don’t know “the real USC” I say
These are a few of my favorite things
When the doubt bites
When the grind stings
When I’m feeling sad,
I simply remember my favorite things,
and then I don’t feel so bad!
Cheesy, I know. But not a word of it is insincere: I really do love USC.
In the terrifying period of my life known as “choosing which college I’m going to commit to for the next four years,” making this decision was really difficult for me.
After countless pro’s and con’s lists and a few pleading paragraphs to College Confidential asking for help with this seemingly-huge life choice, it became more and more clear to me that, for me personally, USC was the best choice.
(And as a side note: for any prospective college students, this decision is FAR from the life-changing crux many people crack it up to be. No matter where you choose, your college experience is what you make of it— in other words, you always have the choice to make it great— academically, socially, etc. Plus, four years fly by real fast.)
In light of the recent, less-than-ideal press our school has received lately, I have been revisiting the reasons that I chose USC in the first place. In this re-exploration, not only have I found that all of my original reasons still held true, but that more reasons have developed and blossomed with the love of my school.
In no particular order, these are some of my absolute favorite things about USC:
The ultimate balancing act: Social and Academic life
Unsurprisingly, college is pretty dang stressful. You’re going to have weeks where you have two midterms, a ten-page essay, and a hundred pages of reading due all within the span of a few days. Don’t say you weren’t warned. USC is an academically rigorous institution, so you know you’re getting your money’s worth for the education. Despite a general external sense of stress, however, there have been very few times that I feel like a complete work machine. In addition to being strong in academics, the people at USC are some of the friendliest people you’ll meet. There are always activities going on both on and off campus that are great opportunities to meet friends. There are clubs and teams and labs of all sorts you can join to meet people who share your interests. At USC more so than other universities I’ve visited…the campus just seems so alive.
Diversity and the City
When I was choosing a college, to me diversity didn’t seem like a huge factor in my decision. College students are college students, right? Luckily for me, I happened to come to USC when diversity is at a record high. This has ended up being a far more valuable experience than I could have anticipated. I have friends from all over the world who share little bits and pieces of their culture with me. Friends who grew up differently than me have shared their experiences. And just by virtue of living in LA, I have been exposed to a crazy city culture like no other (and to anyone who’s heard something similar to “why go to USC? It’s in the ghetto”…please, come visit. The surroundings are real Los Angeles, and if you use common sense, there is nothing to worry about, just like any other big city. But the campus is gorgeous. We have old majestic buildings and tall shady trees and statues and fountains and green spaces and… just please come visit!) I honestly feel like the cultural diversity here alone has contributed to my education almost as much as my classes have, and I could not be more grateful for having this experience.
Welcome to the Cult (kidding…sort of)
Another thing I originally didn’t think I’d care too much about: school spirit. In fact, I even viewed too much school spirit as a negative thing. What I had heard about USC’s fanatical spirit was almost a reason I didn’t want to go here. (And a quick real talk moment: I think my exact words to a friend were “I don’t want to go to a school whose mascot is also a condoms brand…that just seems awkward.” Acknowledged, but once you’re here you get over the similarity in about 2 seconds.) Fast forward to USC orientation, and I quickly learned the opposite: crazy school spirit is SUCH A COOL THING. Not only does it create an environment that you feel immediately bonded to USC students past, present, and future simply because they’re fellow Trojans, but the strong school pride creates a sense that whatever you’re doing is important. It makes it so that studying and writing papers and working on clubs means something. It means something because in the Trojan Family, every single person matters, and while we all have different strengths and weaknesses, we all have important contributions to make. For me, this motivates me to always work hard and think of the big picture, which takes me through most any stress and difficulty.
When contending with factors such as perceived prestige and cost (and I’ve heard these rumors too — USC isn’t just for rich kids; if you qualify they give out solid financial aid packages), picking a school based on how happy I thought I’d be there seemed to be a factor I could ignore. But really, what is academic success based off of? If you study all day and are miserable, sure you may get good grades, but that’s probably about it. Grades don’t change the world. Inspired people change the world. For me, USC has provided simultaneously a quality academic foundation, opportunities to expand my interests, and a balanced, purposeful, happy lifestyle. For me, this translates into both the inspiration to change the world and the tools to do so. And for me, I can’t imagine a school better than that.
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