University of Southern California Top Questions

My college experience has helped me find to my true personality by granting freedom to choose and responsibility to stand up for myself. On the academic side, the quality of my overall educational experience (professors, media, facilities, content, classes) has been challenging and capturing, evoking true interest and engagement in academic fields I had never cared about before. In addition to academics, the Trojan Family (as the entire USC community calls itself) provides a familiar human environment of friendship and support, academic stimulation as well as the opportunity for extracurricular and athletic involvement. Because USC is such a huge institution, there are niches for every individual. The geographical setting greatly adds to my USC experience, since Los Angeles on the one hand and the larger Californian environment on the other hand contribute to the educational aspect by establishing suitable frameworks for personal relations to academics. The healthy balance between social life (including athletics, extracurricular involvement, etc.) and academic engagement consists at USC; in addition, students get the chance to fully develop their own personality and figure out their future (educational) careers; throughout this process, they neither are not left alone nor governed by superior institutional branches and regulations.

I have gotten a lot of valuable experience out of my college experience. College teaches me how to be independent and uses my own judgment. For example, I have to choose my major and pursuit my future career. University of Southern California is very competitive which gave me motive to study and gave me real-world experiences. Also, my courses all require teamwork and presentation, which build me a lot of valuable work skill and social skill in my future career. I think to attend a college is very important because the higher the education you finished, the more skills and knowledge you have for your career path and I believe that education is treasure. I am the first generation in my family to attend college. When I was a child my parents always told me that how much they want to attend a college and how important they think education is valuable for people. I strongly agree with them and so decide to attend a college for continue our goals and bright my future.

College has been so valuable for me. I took two years off of school after I graduated high school; because I was not sure what I wanted out of life or what I wanted to do. I then took a job at a major retail store and worked there for the next two years. I did not like working retail because it was not going to get me anywhere I wanted to be in life. Two years of working at that job made me want to better myself. So I started to take basic courses at the local community college. I realized that I had missed school so much and that it was so fun being in school and learning. After my first semester of school I was still unsure of what I wanted to major in and what was going to be the job that was going to be fulfilling. So the next semester I took a couple classes that might answer that question. I found that I really enjoyed an education class that I took. Then I though maybe I should work towards being a teacher. I am greatful for college and how much it has helped me.

As a spring admit to USC, I realized that I have missed out on quite a bit of fun. The 'Welcome Week' events are supposedly "awesome" and "crazy," according to many fall admits. However, I came to the realization that college experience is not just about meeting cute guys at parties and having the time of my life. College is actually a time frame in a person's life when he/she, including myself, becomes truly independent. After attending college, it is up to me to get my lazy self out of bed to attend 8 o'clock classes or seek job opportunities during on-campus recruitments. It is also up to me to balance out my lifestyle between socializing with friends and maintaining an amazing GPA for applying to graduate school. College is valuable, because it is the time when I finally realized that my life is going to start in 4 years whether I want it to or not, therefore I better make it or break it.

I have learned to embrace diversity from attending USC. Prior to college, I talked the diversity talk but true acceptance of those ideologically different from myself was not yet a part of my life. Republicans, for example. I had no Republican friends before college and I did not think I ever could. I was and still am extremely liberal politically and socially and believed that being a Republican automatically made one a bad person...someone I could not befriend. While I will never agree with most Republicans on issues close to my heart such as gay marriage, abortion, taxes, and the death penalty, I have learned from studying, partying, exercising, and living with many-a-Republican, that they can be just as good-hearted people as Democrats, independents, and apathetic individuals. What makes a good friend is not one's politics but rather the kind of person they are. The best friends are compassionate, caring, and nurturing, and I have become friends with quite a few Republicans who possess these traits. Politics is very important to my life so I still follow it obsessively, but I no longer rule out friends simply by party affiliation. Thanks USC for enlightening me!

I entered school as an economics major, but I was eager to explore other fields. University of Southern California makes that easy with its “Core” curriculum, which consists of single classes from various departments. I was always interested in environmental issues, for example, but I never thought I might like a geology class, which I took to fulfill a science requirement. But I liked it so much, that I even joined an environmental club, Beyond Coal at USC. I just now finished my first semester at the university, but I have already found many interests that were previously unknown to me. And that’s what I’m hoping to gain from college, aside from a bachelor's degree: an idea of what it is that I truly want. It looks like I’m on the right track!

Getting to attend one of the most prestigious universities in the country has been very beneficial. Just because I am in the Annenber School for Communication and Journalism, I get a lot of networking done and many opportunities. I have fully enjoyed the different organizations my school has to offer and the great internships I have been able to be a part of. But most importantly, I am part of the Trojan Family. I always feel welcomed and taken care of.

I have had the privilege of attending three very different colleges, and each has provided me with valuable life lessons along the way. The first was Corban College, a private institution in Salem, OR. Corban taught me the value of small institutions and the powerful impact they can have on student-teacher relationships and learning. The second was Tacoma Community College (TCC) in Tacoma, WA. While I was at TCC I learned the value of a diverse community. It was a place of varying standards, teaching styles, and philosophies, but I soon found my place at the college that was giving me a second chance to make progress towards my Education degree. The third was Central Washington University-Pierce Campus (CWU) in Lakewood, WA. When I applied to CWU I was looking for a campus with flexible options. CWU was just the place! They provided me with several different options for my major, and all the campuses I considered were within driving distance from my home. I am currently a student in the Teacher Preparation Program at CWU. My experience of attending multiple colleges has provided me with unique insight to the power and growing necessity of higher education.

The one thing I have learned in college is that education is the only way to succeed, and nothing should hinder your own success. In the past year, I had lost three family members, and my boyfriend of two and a half years left for Afghanistan. On top of it I had little support from my family to be a nursing major. I realized that I had let other things get in the way of my education. I knew I wanted a career where I would help others, but in order to that I needed to help myself first. I switched from the University of Cincinnati’s main campus to their regional campus of Raymond Walters. Both my grade point average and myself have benefited from the smaller classes and easier contact with my professors. My education was the foundation for everything I wanted to do in life. My education is what I would build my entire life off of. What have I gotten out of my college experience is to let nothing get in the way of my dreams. To me, my college education is everything, and this is why I value my education.

I have learned that college is no joke! I still haven't gotten the full college experience which is why I am applying for this to help me with getting money to go off to college!