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My College Bucket List

By Ning Hannah Teoh

As I enter my final year at USC (oh, how the time flies), I have been reflecting on my time here. Unfortunately, I was one of many who had their freshman year disrupted by the onset of COVID-19. I am also one of many who have decided to graduate early, finishing my degree in three years instead of the traditional four. Now, instead of having four years to explore USC and LA, I have two due to the time lost during the pandemic. In an effort to get everything out of my USC experience I possibly can, I have created a college bucket list for myself. Today, we will be exploring this list together and tracking the progress I have made on my bucket list so far!

  • Make new friends

This goal of mine is somewhat intuitive and is probably the cornerstone of all incoming college kids’ bucket lists. However, this was particularly important to me. I grew up surrounded by a relatively homogenous community— mostly upper middle class, English-educated, Chinese people. I grew up in a privileged bubble, and thus was never able to fully recognize the privilege I had. It was then important for me to consider diversity as a factor in choosing my colleges. Choosing USC has been one of the best decisions to this end, as I have had so many meaningful conversations with people from diverse backgrounds and personalities. I have grown by getting rid of my isolated bubble and listening to the people around me. The beauty of diversity is that it inspires growth and empathy. While this is a goal I set for myself in college, this is merely just a stepping stone. Nonetheless, I am so glad that I have come across great friends and that we have mutually taught each other so much. 

Photo by Conscious Design on Unsplash
  • Learn how to cook

I would say that this goal of learning to cook has sufficiently been achieved. The other day, I successfully made my own dumplings! As a clumsy child, I was never allowed in the kitchen, let alone allowed to handle a knife. Cooking has always been a sign of independence and self-sustenance for me. I knew that coming to the United States, approximately 8170 miles away from home, that I would be alone and fully independent for the first time. Being alone meant that I would have to learn how to take care of myself. Thus, I began my culinary journey of learning how to blanch vegetables, season (generously), and not trigger the smoke detector. I can proudly say that my meals are edible, and quite tasty even! The next step: to branch out into different cuisines and really put my culinary skills to the test. 

  • Get involved on campus

I have had the great pleasure to be a part of several organizations on campus that are near and dear to my heart. I have met some of the most compassionate and uplifting people through the organizations that I am in and I am eternally grateful to have met them at USC. Perhaps one of my biggest takeaways I had from joining on-campus organizations was how much a community can empower you to experience personal growth. There has been a lot of learning and un-learning, realizing potential and affirming boundaries. I have learned to delve deeper into advocacy and meaningful social activism. I have developed professional networks and had great mentorship opportunities. Even through the One-on-One Conversation Partner program, I have met people from all walks of life and learned so much about them and from them. As an international student, it can be daunting to explore the variety of clubs and societies, especially when you are unfamiliar with the culture of extra-curricular involvement like I was. But I believe that the vibrancy of the people and campus can best be explored by taking the first step of getting involved. With the variety of options and opportunities on campus, there’s something for everyone. 

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  • Figure out my interests

A fun fact about me is that I switched my major and minor combination four times in the span of two semesters. One of the reasons why I chose to come to USC was the flexibility USC offers to explore different majors. I went from a Global Studies major to a Political Economy major and then an Economics major, and I also went from an International Relations minor to an East Asian Area Studies minor. I will be honest— I did not even know that all these options were available to me in the first place. Through some of the most interesting classes (and some boring ones), I managed to flesh out what I truly enjoy and what truly excites me. I’ve come to realize that Economics is more than just the technical aspects of the economy and includes interesting insights from sociology, public policy, and psychology. Some of my favorite classes at USC were from my interdisciplinary minor that allowed me to explore culture, politics, and history focused on the East Asia region. I have to thank resources such as the Dornsife Major and Minor Fair and my academic advisors in helping me discover my options. As I enter my senior year, I have also come to integrate my academic interests with my professional development. Now that I have hashed out what interests me, I am excited to see where it takes me. Will it be a career or graduate school or a gap year?— that’s for my post-graduation bucket list to figure out.

  • Be an extra on a TV show/movie

I have yet to achieve this. But I believe that one day, I will. I await the time where my friends will catch my on-screen cameo and send a picture of me living out my acting dreams now that I attend school in LA.

So, that was my college bucket list. As you can see, I have achieved some parts and am still working on others. Creating a bucket list is a great way to figure out your goals and set them in motion. What’s on your bucket list? 

Featured Image by Levi Guzman on Unsplash

Hannah is a junior at Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences, majoring in Economics and minoring in East Asian Area Studies. Born and raised in Malaysia, she has a background in interacting with multiple cultures, languages, and heritages. She has also spent some time in Boston, Massachusetts, and briefly studied abroad in Osaka, Japan. Aside from English, Hannah is also fluent in Malay, proficient in Mandarin, and conversational in Cantonese and Korean. On campus, Hannah works for the Financial and Business Services and is involved in the International Students Assembly. In her free time, she loves going on food trips, listening to music, and simply enjoying a good conversation.

Senior Year: A Bucket List

By Kurt Ibaraki

This is it. This is my last semester at USC. These past three years have gone by so fast. I remember how excited I was when I first got on campus. My parents helped settle me into my new dorm room and after a couple of hours of reorganizing my room, they left me to start my new life at USC. The first couple of weeks were not easy, but slowly, USC became my second home. USC has so much to offer and I wish that I had more time. However, there are still a couple of months left for me. As a result, I have compiled a small bucket list of things that I want to do before I leave.

First, I would love to study in every library here at USC. I have only been to Leavey, Doheny, and the VKC library in my three years here. More often than not, I have spent countless hours studying at Leavey, but with so many other libraries available, a change of pace would be nice.

Second, I want to enter every building. Being a Neuroscience major, I often find myself in SGM, THH, and ZHS. While there are so many buildings here, I have probably only been in half of them. I would love to see the insides of the buildings in which business and engineering majors spend the most time.

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USC Bucket List for New Students

By Jackie Kim

I want to address this article to new students at USC. At the beginning of each semester, USC is blessed with new students, and they seem to be forgotten about after the first crazy week of orientations and welcome events, especially during the spring semester. Having been at USC for almost three years, I want to share some bucket list items that I have completed/ want to complete that are great ways to explore the campus and get to know USC on a more personal level. I’ve included items that are not mentioned during the campus tours, in the brochures, or on the school website. Most are things that I’ve figured out while attending USC, and fun things I wish I knew when I was adjusting to life at USC. Most continuing students will know things on this list, so feel free to ask a continuing student for more fun ideas!

  • Try all of Ground Zero milkshake flavors

Ground Zero, the on-campus coffee shop and performance café, is a great place to hang out with friends—especially because of their milkshakes. Amazing creamy and sweet, these milkshakes can cheer anyone up instantly. The diversity of the milkshake menu is fantastic, stretching out over three chalkboard menus. I recommend that you grab a different-flavored milkshake as a treat every weekend!

  • Run around campus

The running route around campus is just over two miles long, a perfect distance to burn off all the calories from the Ground Zero milkshakes. It’s great to go for a run before it gets too dark and say hi to all the fellow Trojans you’ll be running in to! The best thing is that if you get too tired, you’ll pass by a lot of gates, so you can stop and rest inside campus whenever you want!

Continue reading USC Bucket List for New Students