Making the Most of It
and what its like being a Junior 1.5 years early
By: Dara Udobong ‘23
I started my USC journey back in Fall 2019. I had almost no idea what to expect: I’d only been to LA once before, barely knew if I was even ready to do this whole school thing again (after the most restful gap-year experience ever), and knew almost no one that was starting at USC in my grade. People from my high school rarely (if ever) came all the way out to the West Coast simply because it’s too far away from home, so I already felt like a fish out of water from the jump.
And for good reason: by the second day of Orientation, everyone seemed to know at least someone. Whether they were eating together at the dining halls, exploring campus, or helping Target reach their quarterly profit margin, everyone had their buddy—meanwhile, I was still trying to figure out how to find my way around campus.
By the time school started, it was clear I needed to make a decision: juggle acclimatizing to LA with getting a social circle, or do one at a time. I chose the latter.
Fast forward 3 virtual semesters and a pandemic on the side, I can’t help but feel like I’ve missed out on the college experience I never got to have. I’d put so much faith on my second semester—and all the ones after that—to transform me into a Trojan (or whatever my idea of that was), that I’d completely missed out on living in the moment.
The silver lining a year-and-a-half of virtual learning seemed to offer was that since everyone was so eager to return to campus, they’d just have to want to make new friends.
Only the first part proved true.
When Fall 2021 rolled around, everyone just picked up right from where they left off. The friendship groups were back and better than ever, the inferiority-complex inducing parties were in full swing, and college was the high school 2.0 version it was always born to be.
But what happens if you didn’t leave anything to pick up from? What if you spent a whole semester trying to figure things out in the hopes of integrating into social circles during the next semester, only to be hit by a global pandemic? What if coming back in-person is no different from being online? What if you’re a freshman in junior clothes?
Looking back, I’d make the most of the opportunities that were presented to me when I had them. If these past two years have taught us anything it’s that nothing is promised, as accessible as it may seem at the time. I’m in my third year, and they are still so many places + resources on campus I’m just finding out about. Many I’m sure I still don’t know of. You’re only a student once, so make it count: Study in a new place every day. Check out the resources the schools/departments outside of your own have to offer. Ask questions when you can. Explore the city. Choose the former. Seize the day.
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