Allen Pan

allenpan@usc.edu

Major: Electrical Engineering

Minor: Cinematic Arts

Year: Senior

Hometown: Gurnee, IL

High School: Warren Township High School

Student Involvement: USC Pinball Project, Salsa Dance Club, USC Robotics, Viterbi Summer Research Internship Program

Hobbies/Interests: Long walks on the beach, talking about my feelings, Batman

Favorite memories from freshman year:

• Seeing Stephen Hawking talk about black holes.
• Running around on the Galen Center basketball court.
• Living in a hotel.

Advice for freshmen:

• Be dapper.
• Fail embarassingly at something.
• Make something crafty with your own hands.
• Extra points: do all of the above in one night.

Andrea Lawler

alawler@usc.edu

Majors: Electrical Engineering, Screenwriting

Year: Junior

Hometown: Palos Verdes, CA

High School: Palos Verdes Peninsula High School

Student Involvement: IEEE (Corporate Affairs Committee Chair), SWE (Ambassador Liaison; Program Development Grant committee member on SWE’s national level), Trojan Vision (Writer), Trojan Film Society, ATPS, Renaissance Scholars Program

Hobbies/Interests: Cooking, traveling, learning languages, writing, doing anything artsy-craftsy, playing softball, appreciating/basking in/quoting 80s and 90s nostalgia, being a diehard sports fan (and everything it entails)

Favorite memories from freshman year:

• Getting stuck in an elevator with a few of my new (now close) friends on the second day of Welcome Week (disclaimer: don't try this for yourself!).
• I found out that the best friend of my recent east coast ex-boyfriend was in my math discussion section -- after he recognized me from a photo my ex had shown him!
• I started working for John Strauss (screenwriter of movies like The Santa Clause and There's Something About Mary) at the end of freshman year, making me his youngest intern ever, and got to meet a few of his close friends -- all of whom were celebrities or famous screenwriters that would swing by the office. No big deal, according to him, but I begged to differ!

Advice for freshmen:

• Take advantage of the first two weeks of school! That’s one of the best times you have that you can knock on anyone’s door, sit at anyone’s table at lunch, etc. and get to know other freshman.
• Meet all kinds of students, and don’t just limit yourself to the ones in Viterbi or the ones on your floor.
• Hit Los Angeles! I’m a native, but even after living here for almost 20 years, I still find new and exciting things to do. Trust me; you really don’t know how much is available to you a mere few miles away from the campus’s borders.

Animesh Lahoti

Major: Industrial and Systems Engineering

Minor: Business Administration

Year: Senior

Hometown: Canton, OH

High School: Jackson High School

Student Involvement: Southern California Indo Americans, Global Fellows Program, Office of Religious Life

Hobbies/Interests: Reading, writing, traveling, boxing, basketball, tennis, and exploring life and living it to the fullest!

Favorite memories from freshman year:

• Exploring Los Angeles with Parkside suitemates.
• Eating new food in a new part of town every weekend.
• Enjoying their company in the dorms.

Advice for freshmen:

• Explore! Get involved in anything that you're interested in because you never know what will fascinate you the most and who will become your best friends.

Benjamin Kwan

Major: Mechanical Engineering

Minor: Kinesiology

Year: Sophomore

Hometown: Irvine, CA

High School: University High School

Student Involvement: Basketball, USC Christian Students, FSAE (Formula One Racing club), Viterbi Student Council – Funding Board, Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society

Hobbies/Interests: All sports, the beach, snowboarding, movie-making, traveling, eating, cooking, piano, guitar, sleeping

Favorite memories from freshman year:

• Finding alternatives to EVK all around LA.
• Counting the number of hours that I could still sleep even though it was 2 or 3 in the morning.
• Meeting a ton of new people whose names I can never remember.

Advice for freshmen:

• Don't confine yourself to campus – grab a couple of friends and explore southern California.
• Find a friend with the Trojan meal plan.
• Remember that there are plenty of people around you going through the same things that you are.

Christina Kozlowski

Major: Industrial and Systems Engineering

Minor: Marketing

Year: Senior

Hometown: Austin, TX

High School: Westlake High School

Student Involvement: Alpha Delta Pi sorority, Bel Air Presbyterian-Quest, Adventures Ahead tutor, Friends & Neighbors Day, Gamma Sigma Alpha executive officer

Hobbies/Interests: Film editing, singing, dancing, acting, cooking, art, hanging out with friends, volunteering, travel, reading

Favorite memories from freshman year:

• Living in Birnkrant and hanging out in the 7th floor fish bowl!
• Being hard core for USC football games
• Taking a random tap class and laughing with my friends nearly the entire time

Advice for freshmen:

• Get to know the people that live around you - they may become your best friends!
• Don't get too stressed out. Remember to have fun, and take a study break if things stop making sense
• Push yourself to be really outgoing the first month of college - it's the easiest and best time to make friends!
• Go to football games even if you don't like football. They are a lot of fun and it's not just about the game.

Claire Christian

Major: Biomedical (Mechanical) Engineering

Year: Senior

Hometown: Oakland, CA

High School: Saint Ignatius College Preparatory

Student Involvement: Viterbi Student Ambassador, Alpha Delta Pi sorority (2010 Recruitment Chair), Engineers Without Borders (Executive Board – Events Chair), Merit Research (Biomechanics Lab), 2010 Viterbi Summer Overseas (Paris), ATPS, ASBME, BME Progressive Degree Program

Hobbies/Interests: Traveling, college football, skiing, hiking, volleyball, tennis, baking, going to the beach, hanging out with friends, Yogurtland

Favorite memories from freshman year:

• USC football games – the energy and spirit around campus is contagiously awesome!
• McCarthy Quad – everything including Welcome Back Concerts, lying out in the sunshine, and late night study breaks at TroGro.
• Hanging out with my floormates and having floor adventures!

Advice for freshmen:

• Get involved in clubs and other student organizations – Viterbi and USC!
• Go to class and get to know your professors!!!
• Put yourself out there and take advantage of freshman year – meet and make lots of friends! It goes by way too fast so make the most of every day and opportunity!

Emily Schubert

eschuber@usc.edu

Major: Astronautical Engineering

Year: Junior

Hometown: Kokomo, IN

High School: Northwestern High School

Student Involvement: USC choir, lab research student, VP of Corporate Affairs in Society of Women Engineers, Women in Engineering, Viterbi Student Ambassador, ATPS

Hobbies/Interests: Space, squash, singing, reading, watching movies, playing soccer (badly)

Favorite memories from freshman year:

• Playing soccer on a team with my best dorm friends against a group of LA kids (ages like 8-16), we tried so hard, but they still beat us, and beat us bad. I gained some friends in my dorm, around LA, and a new respect for 8-year-olds.
• Staying up all night before move-out with my roomie/best friend. We got milkshakes and bagels from Ground Zero and sat on boxes watching movies all night, pausing frequently for bouts of Boggle.
• Meeting a ton of really great contacts/friends and having an unforgettable year :)

Advice for freshmen:

• EAT HEALTHY! - its really easy to get into that coke and pizza diet, but keep up the vegetables or that extra 15 will just creep up on you.
• SAY HELLO TO STRANGERS! - everyone else is just starting to make friends as well, so no need to be shy. Also, most of the people at USC are relatively normal and will say hello back and probably remember your name ;)
• DO YOUR HOMEWORK! - 'nough said.

Emily Sylvester

Major: Aerospace Engineering

Year: Junior

Hometown: Seattle, WA

High School: University Prep

Student Involvement: Society of Women Engineers (SWE), USC Women's Ultimate Frisbee Team (Hellions of Troy), Viterbi Overseas Program in Rome during summer 2011

Hobbies/Interests: playing basketball and/or Frisbee on the weekends with friends, cooking, photography, art history!

Favorite memories from freshman year:

• Being able to walk up to anyone in the first few weeks of school and introducing myself without feeling awkward – everyone was always so friendly and excited to meet me.
• Realizing how much I had already become a part of the Trojan family, and seeing familiar faces every time I walked to class and having people to do things with on the weekend. It was a total sense of belonging.

Advice for freshmen:

• Never be afraid of being outgoing! People are excited to meet the real you and doing stuff like going to every football and cheering in the student section, or signing up to play an intramural or club sport, or just not being afraid to introduce yourself to your peers, will make all the difference. USC is a welcoming community and it’s so easy to feel at home here if you allow yourself to really connect with all it has to offer.

Gagan Basandra

Major: Computer Science (Games)

Year: Sophomore

Hometown: San Jose, CA

High School: Evergreen Valley High School

Student Involvement: Makers of Entertaining Games Association (MEGA), Southern California Business Film Festival, National Organization for Business and Engineering (NOBE), and Advanced Computer Machinery (ACM)

Hobbies/Interests: Meeting new people, going to USC football games, volunteering, programming video games, and having a good time

Favorite memories from freshman year:

• Meeting my new friends at Orientation.
• Welcome Week.
• My first USC fo

Advice for freshmen:

• This will be said a lot, but keep your options open – there are hundreds of student groups and organizations on campus that could potentially be the exact thing you're looking for. Activities that you make have despised in the past could very well change your viewpoint as you step into USC.

Georg Ristock

Major: Mechanical Engineering

Minor: Digital Studies

Year: Junior

Hometown: Walnut Creek, CA

High School: Northgate High School

Student Involvement: USC Ballroom and Latin Dance Team, SC Outfitters, Viterbi Student Ambassador, Viterbi Summer Abroad (Rome), Pi Tau Sigma, ATPS, Emerging Leaders Program, Alpha Lambda Delta Honors Society, WVT Rush Honors Colloquium

Hobbies/Interests: Camping/hiking/backpacking, ballroom and Latin dancing, photography, robotics, piano

Favorite memories from freshman year:

• The Weekender and other football games.
• Studying at Ground Zero or in the Cinema School building in December with hot chocolate and a pain au chocolat/chocolate croissant.
• My Freshman Academy trip to the Grove.
• Seeing The Fray, Train, Jason Mraz, Colbie Caillat, and Solomon Burke at "Cue the Music".

Advice for freshmen:

• Go to the Involvement Fair, sign up for everything that sounds remotely interesting, and go to first meetings – try things that you never tried before.
• Figure out whether you came to USC for a degree, or for an education. If it's the second reason, then realize that the whole university exists just for you – the point of USC is for you to learn and discover new things. Professors are here to teach and enlighten you, not to torment you with busywork. They are primarily paid to teach you – grade-giving is only a small requirement in their job. Look at it from that way, and milk every opportunity to talk to these brilliant minds by going to their office hours.

Gordy Lanza
glanza@usc.edu

Major: Biomedical Engineering

Year: Junior

Hometown: Palo Alto, CA

High School: Gunn High School

Student Involvement: Viterbi Student Ambassador, Engineering World Health (Webmaster)

Hobbies/Interests: I’m a total enginerd! I’m into reading classic science fiction. I love playing video games. And my newest passion is experimenting in the kitchen, especially on the grill.

Favorite memories from freshman year:

• Every Sunday my friends and I would have a late breakfast in the back courtyard of EVK. It sounds underwhelming I’m sure, but there is nothing as pleasant as sunshine and omelets after a fun Saturday night.

Advice for freshmen:

• Jump in! College is probably going to overwhelm you at one point or another, but don’t let that scare you away from having the time of your life in the mean time. USC is ready and willing to make you happy as a clam – let college, and specifically the USC experience into your life, and I promise you won’t regret it.

Hunter Haygood

Major: Aerospace Engineering

Minor: Russian

Year: Junior

Hometown: Houston, TX

High School: Cypress Woods High School

Student Involvement: USC Men’s Club Soccer, teacher’s assistant for PHED Swim

Hobbies/Interests: Soccer, track, singing, writing, Russian language, satellite constellation architectures, and most importantly, FIFA

Favorite memories from freshman year:

• Spurning EVK for the long trek to Parkside, home of the best made-to-order omelet’s in town.
• Road trips with the club soccer team.
• Co-authoring my first technical paper focused on satellite communication with potential lunar bases.

Advice for freshmen:

• Take up a new hobby. College is all about finding yourself in an environment outside of your comfort zone. Try something new and run with it!
• There is nothing wrong with staying in every once and a while. Have fun, study hard, but remember to recover.

Jason Hoffman

Major: Biomedical Engineering

Year: Sophomore

Hometown: Kansas City, Kansas

High School: Blue Valley North

Student Involvement: Associated Students of Biomedical Engineering, Association of Trustee and Presidential Scholars, AED Pre-Med Honor Society, JEP, Colleges Against Cancer, Club Ultimate Frisbee, Intramural Sports

Hobbies/Interests: soccer, snowboarding, technology, movie editing, food

Favorite memories from freshman year:

• All of my favorite memories from freshman year involve my best friends on my floor, Birnkrant Floor 6. I was so fortunate to meet such a great group of people in Birnkrant and I have so many fun memories, such as the Birnkrant soccer team, which I captained to an intramural championship! I hope every year is as much fun as freshman year.

Advice for freshmen:

• Make friends with everyone, because you never know who you might encounter in the future and work with. Collaboration is a key to success, especially in engineering.
• Take chances because you never know what something is going to be like until you try it.

Jeremy Middleton

Major: Biomedical Engineering (Pre-med)

Year: Junior

Hometown: Agoura Hills, CA

High School: Agoura High School

Student Involvement: Alpha Epsilon Delta, ASBME, Delta Omicron Zeta, EMSC – Deputy Director of Operations, Society 53, Trojan Health Volunteers

Hobbies/Interests: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Drum Set/Percussion Instruments, Emergency Medicine, Family Guy, Rock Climbing, Soccer, USC Sports

Favorite memories from freshman year:

• GAME DAY!
• Friday morning breakfast in-between early classes.
• Walking on Water (or trying to) as part of Freshman Academy.
• Late-night study breaks for structure bombing and Tro-Gro.
• Meeting so many people!

Advice for freshmen:

• Learn time management! The sooner you learn how to plan in advance, the less stressful your life will be!
• Get involved! USC presents you with so many opportunities; go find something that you're interested in!

Kat La Chapelle

Major: Civil Engineering

Minor: Political Science

Year: Senior

Hometown: Wilmette, IL (just north of Chicago)

High School: New Trier High School

Student Involvement: Supplemental Instruction Leader for Physics 151, USC Ski and Snowboard Team

Hobbies/Interests: Skiing and snowboarding, exploring, hiking, sailing, and being outside

Favorite memories from freshman year:

• Exploring LA (Disneyland).
• Christmas fireworks.
• Football games.
• Amazing free concerts.

Advice for freshmen:

• You only have four years! Get started now!

Kelsey Moirao

Major: Industrial and Systems Engineering

Year: Junior

Hometown: Walnut Creek, CA

High School: Las Lomas High School

Student Involvement: Alpha Omega Epsilon, Society of Women Engineers (SWE), Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE), National Academic Initiative tutoring, Explore USC host

Hobbies/Interests: Reading, cooking, hanging out with friends, the beach, being outdoors

Favorite memories from freshman year:

• Exploring LA through all the events my awesome RA planned.
• Realizing my randomly-matched roommate and I actually had a lot in common.
• Not-so-stealthily decorating rooms for people’s birthdays.

Advice for freshmen:

• I know everyone says it, but get involved! Find something that works for you. If you don’t like the first activity you find, look for something else you enjoy so you have something else to think about besides school.
• Go out of your way to meet people, in your dorm and in class. Everyone is in the same boat as you for the first month!
• Check out SI the first week it starts if it’s offered for your class. It can really help you get a decent grade in those harder classes.

Laura Falkner

Major: Biomedical (Biochemical) Engineering

Minor: Kinesiology

Year: Junior

Hometown: Encinitas, CA

High School: Cathedral Catholic High School

Student Involvement: USC Women’s Lacrosse, SWE, Catholic Center

Hobbies/Interests: Lacrosse, running, going to the beach, snowboarding, cooking, Chargers football, USC football, going on adventures

Favorite memories from freshman year:

• Meeting so many new people.
• Playing lacrosse.
• Late-night Tro Gro runs.
• Welcome week adventures.

Advice for freshmen:

• Get involved! There are so many opportunities to explore.
• Find that balance between fun and studying – both are important.
• Don’t get too stressed out if you don’t get all A’s.
• Go to office hours and Supplemental Instruction (SI) sessions, they are there to help you.

Lydia Froemelt

Major: Industrial and Systems Engineering

Year: Senior

Hometown: Roswell, GA

High School: Roswell High School

Student Involvement: Viterbi Student Ambassador, Merit Research, Grand Challenge Ambassador, Campus Crusade for Christ, Kappa Alpha Theta, ATPS, Alpha Pi Mu, African Wells Project

Hobbies/Interests: Swimming, tennis, traveling to far off places, coaching swim team

Favorite memories from freshman year:

• Taking study breaks at Disneyland
• Organizing trips to the beach

Advice for freshmen:

• Get involved early – don’t wait!
• Visit your professors’ office hours early in the semester.
• Take advantage of life in Los Angeles!

Michael Rodriguez

michaear@usc.edu

Year: Senior

Hometown: Sylmar, CA

High School: Bishop Alemany High School

Student Involvement: Trojan Swimming, President of Institute of Industrial Engineers

Hobbies/Interests: I love to play the Guitar, play video games, read books, and talk about movies

Favorite memories from freshman year:

• My favorite memories from freshman year are the ones I formed with my Freshman Academy class and participating in my first swim meet with USC!

Advice for freshmen:

• Try to listen to everyone who is willing to give you advice about staying afloat as a freshman!

Nathan Berger

Major: Computer Science/Business Administration

Year: Junior

Hometown: Denville, NJ

High School: Morris Knolls High School

Student Involvement: College Republicans, Association of Computing Machinery, ResEd Peer Review Board, Viterbi Student Ambassador, W.V.T. Rusch Undergraduate Engineering Honor Society, Thematic Option

Hobbies/Interests: Traveling, programming, running, debating, being outside, Yankees, reading, Angry Birds

Favorite memories from freshman year:

• Spending weekends at my friends' beach houses.
• Trips to Catalina and Cuyamaca Rancho State Park.
• Football games!

Advice for freshmen:

• Get involved—don't wait to join clubs and start exploring your interests. You'll be heading home for the summer before you know it.
• Go to office hours and talk to your professors – it's really fun to talk about course material or anything else with them.

Nathan Pureco

Major: Industrial and Systems Engineering

Year: Junior

Hometown: Foothill Ranch, CA

High School: Trabuco Hills High School

Student Involvement: Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE), USC Volunteer Latin America, Beta Theta Pi Fraternity, Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE)

Hobbies/Interests: Swimming, cheering on the USC sports teams, tennis, trying out different restaurants around USC

Favorite memories from freshman year:

• Witnessing and being a part of my first USC football tailgate and game.
• Going to EVK 4 times a day and seeing all of my good friends there.
• Playing baseball in McCarthy Quad.
• Visiting all of my friends in different dorms and meeting so many people!

Advice for freshmen:

• Try new things – the yoga class I recently took proved to be a very positive experience.
• Visit your professors during their office hours. Whether you just want to get to know them or have a subject-specific question, it will prove to be very beneficial at the end of the semester.
• Try out different clubs on campus. There are a plethora of clubs on campus that you might love to be a part of but are not familiar with. The involvement fair is an excellent opportunity to find out more about these clubs.

Radhika Raman

Major: Electrical Engineering

Minors: Business Law, Screenwriting

Year: Sophomore

Hometown: San Diego, CA

High School: Scripps Ranch High School

Student Involvement: Viterbi Student Ambassador, VP of USC NOBE (National Organization for Business and Engineering), Society of Women Engineers, Pre-Law Society

Hobbies/Interests: Los Angeles Lakers basketball, Trojan football, Harry Potter, real estate, playing tennis, hiking, film viewing, writing, cooking, swimming, dancing

Favorite memories from freshman year:

• Winning the Smart and Final Trivia Challenge at our first home football game and getting to watch from the field.
• Going to Knott's Scary Farm with friends from my floor (BK4 represent).
• Late night dance parties /eating taquitos with friends to reenergize when staying up late to complete Physics 161 problem sets and Writing 140 papers.

Advice for freshmen:

• Take care of yourself! It’s so easy to fall in to a pattern of weird sleeping and eating habits. Try to establish some sort of guidelines for sleep, exercise, and eating properly whenever possible. It will keep you energized and ensure success.
• Don’t be afraid to reach out to people. Especially early in the year, a simple introduction in a class can go a long way.

Ryan Seams

Major: Electrical Engineering

Minor: Marketing

Year: Senior

Hometown: Pleasanton, CA

High School: Amador Valley High School

Student Involvement: Viterbi Student Ambassador, IEEE – President, HKN – President, Tau Beta Pi, Tau Kappa Epsilon

Hobbies/Interests: Sports, video games, technology/gadgets, travel, hanging out with friends, exploration/adventures

Favorite memories from freshman year:

• Getting a 4.0 GPA second semester.
• USC football games.
• Pulling all-nighters to finish assignments.
• Meeting tons of new people.

Advice for freshmen:

• Ask upperclassmen when you have questions about things!
• Don’t be afraid to try new things/take on new challenges.
• Go to class and pay attention.
• Enjoy yourself!

Sarah Hester

shester@usc.edu

Major: Astronautical Engineering

Minor: Screenwriting

Year: Senior

Hometown: Yorba Linda, CA

High School: Esperanza High School

Student Organizations: USC Rocket Propulsion Laboratory, Women in Science and Engineering, Collaborative High Altitude Flow Facility, Thematic Option, Residential Honors Program

Hobbies/Interests: Writing, reading, watching movies and TV, extreme sports, travel, eating out with friends, having fun

Favorite memories from freshman year:

• My first football game - It was one of the first times I truly felt like a part of the Trojan family. The school spirit was contagious and I found myself screaming for us to win. It felt great to become connected to the school in such a finite way.
• My first rocket launch with the Rocket Lab - we spent the weekend in northern Nevada launching rockets and watching other hobbyists' rockets. It was the first time I knew I had chosen the right major and that I loved what I was doing. It made me realize that everything else is worth it to be able to do something as amazing as this.

Advice for freshmen: 

• Take the time to figure out who you are. Once you find yourself and are secure in that knowledge, the rest of college (and your future) is going to be a lot easier for you. Also, get to know people outside of engineering - they're the ones who are going to keep you sane!
• Once you get involved, GET TO KNOW THE UPPERCLASSMEN! They're the ones who will give you the best advice and one day recommend you for jobs.
• Be ready to be out of your comfort zone. College is what you make of it. Force yourself to get out of your room and talk to people you don't know. It's uncomfortable, but it gets better.

Scott Nomura

Major: Biomedical Engineering

Minor: French

Year: Sophomore

Hometown: Monterey Park, CA

High School: Pasadena Poly

Student Involvement: ASBME, Merit Research, Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society, ATPS, Pre-Health String Ensemble Student Director, USC Fencing Team, Going for the Goal, Explore USC Host, Baccalaureate/MD Program

Hobbies/Interests: Camping, fencing, watching USC sports, ukulele/learning new instruments, French horn, LA Clippers, eating

Favorite memories from freshman year:

• Having eating contests at Parkside with my floor-mates. 18 plates was the record. Unfortunately, I wasn’t the winner that time.
• Alternative Spring Break volunteer trip to Orcas Island.
• LA Live scavenger hunt as part of Freshman Academy. Our team won!
• Taking late-night study breaks with Ground Zero milkshakes and throwing a glow-in-the-dark Frisbee in McCarthy Quad.
• Losing my voice at USC Football games.

Advice for freshmen:

• As cozy as your dorm room might be, go outside (into the hall at least) and meet other people!
• Go to office hours! The professors and TAs are really helpful and often pretty funny.
• Take advantage of public transportation. Great sporting events, food, and the beach “suddenly” become available.
• Listen to what Mom’s been saying all these years: eat healthy, get lots of sleep.

Seth Adams

sethrada@usc.edu 

Major: Mechanical (Petroleum) Engineering

Minor: Organizational Leadership & Management

Year: Senior

Hometown: Dallas, TX

High School: Prestonwood Christian Academy

Student Involvement:  Tau Beta Pi, Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity, lab researcher, Society of Petroleum Engineers

Hobbies/Interests:  USC football, USC basketball, snowboarding, going to the beach

Favorite memories from freshman year:

• Watching the Trojans crush Ohio State in the first home football game.
• Going on weekend trips to Mammoth and Las Vegas.
• Eating EVK breakfasts.

Advice for freshmen:

• Actually go to Professors' office hours.
• Find a way to keep yourself organized.
• Make friends with everyone you meet.

Soumya Murag

Major: Biomedical (Biochemical) Engineering

Year: Sophomore

Hometown: Cupertino, CA

High School: Monta Vista High School

Student Involvement: Research in the Biomedical Engineering Department, ASBME Viterbi Liaison, Viterbi Student Ambassador

Hobbies/Interests: Hanging out with friends, trying out new restaurants, running/gym, TV

Favorite memories from freshman year:

• Late night unproductive study sessions with floor mates.
• Ground Zero milkshakes.
• Football tailgates.
• Hiking up to the Hollywood sign.
• Venice beach.
• Figuring out the LA bus system.
• EVK waffles and Parkside omelets.

Advice for freshmen:

• Be strong and confident in who you are and who you want to become, but be open-minded to all the paths open to you. Make it count.

Steve Wolfsohn

Major: Biomedical Engineering (Electrical emphasis)

Year: Junior

Hometown: Hartland, WI

High School: Arrowhead High School

Student Involvement: Colleges Against Cancer (Relay for Life), research on the Health Sciences Campus, building government

Hobbies/Interests: tennis, volleyball, cello, skiing, cheering on Trojan football and volleyball, friends

Favorite memories from freshman year:

• Hanging out with my awesome floor (trips, events, making a music video, writing for our blog, Mario Kart, just hanging out).
• Going to Magic Mountain and Disneyland and Knott’s Scary Farm.
• The Weekender.
• Going to LA Live to see movies.
• Seeing the Fray at the Galen Center, OkGo.

Advice for freshmen:

• USC has tons of resources to make your life easier/better/more fun. Seek them out and take advantage of them.
• Talk to upperclassmen (like the coaches or your RA) for help with the last piece of advice.
• Get involved with something as soon as possible. You do have time, and you’ll enjoy being a Trojan a lot more.
• Take advantage of the free shuttle to LA Live or try out other public transportation. You’ll get more out of the city and you won’t have to rely on people with cars.
• Go to Ground Zero and get a milkshake: they’re fantastic!

Tanya Parker

Major: Chemical Engineering (Nanotechnology)

Year: Sophomore

Hometown: Baguio, Philippines

High School: Vanden High School, New Fairfield High

Student Involvement: SWE Student Affairs Committee, AIChE, Troy Philippines, Dance Club – Swing

Hobbies/Interests: Traveling and exploring, singing, watching movies, video games, photography

Favorite memories from freshman year:

• Going to Disneyland, LA Live, Little Tokyo, and other great LA hangouts with my boyfriend and friends.
• Petting the stray Parkside kittens.
• Late night TG food orders during midterm season.
• Getting pumped at tailgates and watching the marching band.

Advice for freshmen:

• Try EVERYTHING! Join random clubs and introduce yourself to people. Get to know people in your dorm, people with the same major, and people who have the same interests as you. You'll have someone to eat with, someone to study with, and someone to take a break with!
• Don't be afraid to ask for help! Ask upperclassmen for advice so you know which classes to take, what resources are there to help you study, where to eat, and especially what to do for fun.
• Give back to Los Angeles. There are tons of ways to help the city like the Joint Educational Program. You tutor kids in local schools and get extra credit for class.

Tucker Pettis

Major: Computer Science

Minor: Applied Computer Science

Year: Junior

Hometown: Newport Beach, CA

High School: Sage Hill High School

Student Involvement: Explore USC Viterbi Host, USC Club Water Polo Team, Sigma Chi Fraternity, Systems Security Association, Lifted Tees

Hobbies/Interests: water polo, racquetball, web development, snowboarding, going to the beach, hanging out with friends, philanthropy, travel, reading, grilling, soccer, Liverpool FC, Norwich City FC

Favorite memories from freshman year:

• Living on the 3rd floor of New/North Residence Hall.
• Hanging out in McCarthy Quad.
• Exploring Los Angeles.
• Football games.
• Waking up at ridiculous hours to watch soccer games.

Advice for freshmen:

• Sleep!
• Enjoy every minute of freshman year!