Until Next Year

It's a little hard to believe, but freshman year is coming to a close. It's not everyday that a kid from New Jersey gets the opportunity to further his education while living in a completely different area of the country, but the experiences and lessons that I have learned for next year and beyond, are invaluable. A lot of this is owed to my participation in the Journalism Living and Learning Community. Going to college in an area that I'm not used to, regardless of how much I wanted it for myself, is a difficult thing to get used to at times. But when you're able to live on the same floor as other students that have similar majors and interests as you, and be able to get to know them by taking some of the same classes, it makes things a little easier. As much as I wanted something completely different in my college years than what I grew up with, it is nice to be able to ease into the situation. The living and learning community gave me a platform from which to meet new people, get involved in a multitude of on and off campus activities, and feel comfortable at a large university. There is no doubt that this year has been an eye opening experience and has taught me a lot about myself and others, but that's exactly what I was looking for. Until next year.

Living & Learning Community Advantages

My freshman year could not have been better. By participating in the Journalism Living and Learning community, my transition from high school to college was nearly perfect. Most of my floormates have similar majors to mine, so we all had at least two classes together (University 101 and Journalism 201). We all bonded immediately and formed a family- to this day we still share a facebook official mother! Coming from a very sheltered home, it was fun to be able to experience the college social life and know that I have a group of friends to make sure I'm safe. I have to say, one of the biggest perks besides gaining these AWESOME life-long friends is you never have to worry about eating alone. Also, my academic advisor is one of my teachers and we got to meet the heads of the School of Journalism and Mass Communications. I can not even explain how awesome of an experience it has been to live in the Journalism Living and Learning Community. To all of the future participants, I wish you so much luck and hope you have as great of a time as we all did.

~Genelle Williams

Relay 4 Life!

This past Friday was USC's Relay for Life held at Blatt Field. Even though I signed up through the Student Media team, I spent most of the time hanging with the 9th floor and our new friend, Buddy. I didn't expect to stay all 12 hours but it went by so quickly, I hardly noticed...until the next morning.

This was my first time participating in Relay for Life and I had a blast. For the most part, we walked around the track (which honestly could have been positioned better so there would have been more room to walk but anyway) and took turns manning the tent. Watching the step show with Sally (I see you, Larry!), dancing around with Bernice and Colin and watching Pat fist pump like a champ were definitely some highlights of the evening and morning.

Even though I had a great time, it was really moving to hear about some of the victims and survivors of cancer. One participants mom passed away only a few weeks ago from cancer and his team was one of the top fundraisers. I was glad to see our entire University support a cause that effects so many people and their families. Can't wait till next year!