Student Voices

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Student Voices

Considering Oxy? Check out what our students have to say...

An Update!

February 26, 2013

Blogger: Amber Thai

Hi again!

It’s about the time of the semester when things start to feel a little hectic and work needs to be done. A couple of weeks have passed since the start of the semester and I’m starting to feel the stress, but a good friend of mine reminded me to not let a piece of paper scare me and to not succumb to challenges easily. It’s nice to have support and encouragement, especially when it’s hard to see past the day.

Recently, I answered a variety of questions that determined my top 5 strengths...

Let senior year begin!

February 26, 2013

Blogger: Marilyn Bran

Okay, so, let me start off by explaining my title. Studying abroad made me feel like I was a junior again because all the people I met were juniors. Now that I am back, I had to adapt to the senior mentality. That means I had just a few weeks to determine my future. Yikes. I had to play catch-up with my requirements, both CORE and major/minor, and of course spend time with my senior friends. So technically I am just starting my senior year, but in this case it’s one last semester.

So what does a gal...

Welcome back!

February 25, 2013

Blogger: Daisy Zhang

It’s Daisy again!

I went back to China and met most of my high school friends during the winter break. Most of them are studying in Britain or Scotland, and as I talked about my college life, they kept asking me questions like "Hmmm, so, what's your major? "- college life in the UK is so different from my life at Oxy. They declared their majors when applying to colleges, and could only take major-related classes during their three years of studies - no wonder they were surprised about me talking about the new American Literature and European Philosophy knowledge I learned last semester as a Physics major. Also, the first year of college in Britain does not affect their final transcript, and they are only getting tested for what they learned at the start of each semester. While I studied 12...

A Night in West Hollywood

February 23, 2013

Blogger: Caitlin Fein

Valentine’s Day has come and gone and I’m sure that many of you didn’t even notice. Single or not, you’ve been eating chocolates and making cards for your friends since kindergarten, and even that kiss scene from The Notebook has lost its appeal (if it ever really did). The answer to this Hallmark holiday slump? A quick drive to West Hollywood! Appropriate for friend night outs, as well as unconventional dates, West Hollywood is home to great 18+ options like Hamburger Mary’s and Rage. While many of you might be familiar with Rage, a dance club that ...

Discounted Valentine’s Day Chocolate

February 22, 2013

Blogger: Madi Tsuji

This year, the day after Valentine’s Day was the best day of the year. Why? Because it’s the day my sorority found out we got 24 beautiful new pledges, and because all the chocolate in heart-shaped boxes at CVS is 50% off.

I, like probably many of you, was single this Valentine’s Day. But it ended up being okay, because I spent the day with my sisters. The fourteenth happened to be the night of our Pref Dinner, which is the night that PNMs (potential new members) going through the Recruitment process select us as an organization that they are ...

Legions of Terrified Bookworms; Oh My!

February 20, 2013

Blogger: Miranda Sieg

So, my ideal plans for after-graduation (research on interstellar unicorns) fell through, and I cried, and it was depressing, but it sort of opened my eyes to the fact that there are many ways to get where I want to go, some not even tangentially related to unicorns. Also to the sheer volume of derpy unicorn pictures on the internet. I mean, seriously, look at that guy. But let me back track a little.

While panicking that I had no future and would become a thirty-year-old couch bum reading manga all day in my parents’ basement, I scheduled an appointment with Oxy’s Career Development Center (or Center for Disease Control, when I can’t remember what it actually stands for). In the time between learning I would not, in fact, be circumnavigating Saturn uni-back and my appointment I...

YEAR 2, SEMESTER 2!

February 18, 2013

Blogger: Kyle Beasley

Wow. The first four weeks of the semester have gone by so unbelievably fast. Already, I have found myself spending long nights completing readings and writing reflection papers. I definitely don’t mind, though. This semester I am really enjoying all my classes and the material. The class that I find most interesting so far is GEO150 – Geographic Information Science. In this class we are mapping different groups and various inequalities. I find the material very useful in terms of identifying issues across different areas. I am also enjoying my Intergroup Dialogue course. In the class, there are students from various backgrounds that come together and talk about their experiences with race and...

Comps: Check

February 16, 2013

Blogger: Amalia Frick

Last week was probably the most important and most stressful week of my undergraduate career because it was the week that my comps, or comprehensive project, was due. It called for some desperate measures.

It was a hard week, but I am relieved and pleased to say that despite being something that many undergraduates fear fortheir first years at Oxy, I have survived! Here’s a photo of me giving my presentation in the Morrison Lounge.

As an English and Comparative Literary Studies (ECLS) major, there were three components to my project. Part one was the class I...

Exploring (all of) Turkey

February 13, 2013

Blogger: Aja Sanneh

Merhaba Everyone!

I recently went on a class trip to Turkey. By Turkey, I mean all of it, not just Istanbul. We went to Istanbul, Ankara, Cappadocia, Nevsehire, Göreme, Avanos, Pamukkale, Aphrodisias, Konya, Selcuk, Kusadasi, Izmir, Ephesus, Cankkale, and ended with a free day in Istanbul. I never thought I'd have a chance to do all of that and be well informed too!

The name of the class is "Turkey: Then and Now" and the...

Senior Thesis: Scary or Fun?

February 12, 2013

Blogger: Sarah Sterling

Hello, lovely people!

I haven’t blogged in awhile, partly because I was away for most of my winter break, but also because my life has been completely consumed by my senior thesis, or as we call it at Oxy, senior comps (Comprehensive Project). At first I thought that blogging about my comps might be boring, but in reality I think it’s interesting to hear what different people have the option to do for their comps and to see what people are writing about.

For example, I am writing about... Disney. Are you surprised? What I love about my major (Critical Theory & Social Justice, in case I hadn’t mentioned that before) is that the “point” of our studies is to learn how to think...