Stuck at USC? 5 Tips for Spring Break on a Budget
By: Antonia Le ‘22
After a month of midterms, rainy days, and late nights, spring break is finally here! Your best friend is headed to Cancun, the girl you sit next to is going to London, and your roommate has a plane ticket home for the next week!
Meanwhile, you’re still here at USC. But don’t worry, whether you’re stuck here because of work, money, or because you simply don’t want to go home, here are some ways to make the most of your week at USC without emptying your wallet!
1. Take advantage of the USC Ticket Office
Sure, you don’t usually have time to head to the movies or to many LA attractions during the summer, but there’s no excuse not to go if you have free time over spring break! Buying tickets for anything fun can be expensive, but if you make the time to head down to the USC Ticket Office, you can find cool discounts. For some theaters, USC offers tickets that cost less than ten dollars each! Now that you have free time, why don’t you go check out the new Captain Marvel movie?
If you don’t want to go to the movies, the USC Ticket Office offers discounts on tickets for the Los Angeles Zoo, Legoland, Universal Studios, and more! You can hit up many fun attractions without racking up costs that would befall most vacationers!
2. Have a spa day
Want to relax but can’t go to the spa? Make your own spa day! Head over to the USC Village Trader Joe’s or the Target right next door, and get yourself some inexpensive spa supplies.
According to the Target website, a single bath bomb can sell for as low as $4.49 (pre-tax). If you think ahead and buy additional bath bombs for the future, you’ll find additional savings. For example, a pack of six bath bombs from Target can sell for as slow as $9.79 (pre-tax).
If you’re looking for a good, yet cheap face mask, look no further than your local Trader Joe’s! One of Trader Joe’s Rich Hydrating Face Sheet Mask retails for $1.99 (pre-tax). There are many other savings on spa and beauty products at Trader Joe’s. You just need to know where to look.
If you don’t want to buy your spa items at the same place you get your groceries or school supplies, Fruit+Candy in the village also sells inexpensive Korean face masks.
If you need a little more relaxation, make the journey over to the Lyon Center, and try to use the jacuzzi! Because so many people will be gone for spring break, there will be fewer people around, which means it’ll be more likely that you’ll have the hot, relaxing jacuzzi waters all to yourself.
3. Take advantage of free museums
They say that you can’t buy happiness, and if your happiness comes from museums, they’re right! One of the perks of going to USC is that you have access to several different museums with free admission.
If you’re a fan of science, head over to Exposition Park and visit the California Science Center for some super cool exhibits!
The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County is also close to USC. This museum is a destination you must go to if you were a fan of dinosaurs as a kid. The Natural History Museum has dinosaur skeletons on display, and it has both permanent and special dinosaur exhibits!
For all the history fans, there’s also the California African American Museum nearby. It’s a fact that we don’t learn enough about African American history in school, so why not get caught up on your history and have fun at the California African American Museum?
There are many more museums with free admission (or discounts for students) all over Los Angeles if you bother to look!
4. Be a tourist
Let’s be real: as a student, you’re probably on USC’s campus every day, and with so much exposure to USC, it’s easy to forget how genuinely cool USC is. But don’t forget, there’s a reason that even on weekdays, you can spot tourists taking pictures in front of Tommy Trojan or the Hecuba in the USC Village.
Put on a fresh pair of eyes, grab your camera, and walk around USC like you’re seeing it for the first time. Go see some cool places you haven’t had the chance to check out before! Take some pictures! Remember why, before all the midterms and essays and presentations made you want to drop out of college, you wanted to come to USC in the first place!
5. Take a day trip
Sure, if you have a job, you can’t exactly hop on a plane to Paris at the drop of a hat, but there’s no reason you can’t get away on an off day!
The Jefferson/USC and Expo/USC metro stations both serve the Expo Line, which heads straight from USC to amazing downtown Santa Monica! A round-trip between either of the stations and Santa Monica only costs $2.50 (the price of a two “taps” on a tap card).
If you’re not a fan of Santa Monica, pull out your browser and do some research. There are places to be all up and down the Expo Line. Or, if you want a broader array of options to choose from, simply take the Expo Line (eastbound) down to the 7th Street/Metro Station, where several lines connect and go on from there!
Staying at USC over spring break doesn’t have to be a bummer. There’s a world of possibilities out there for you as long as you’re willing to look for them!
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