College Survivors: How did you find out about all the school clubs available on campus?
JamTown’s Response:
At USC, there was an involvement fair in the middle of campus with 30-50 tables representing a myriad of organizations. Each table would have a few representatives trying to convince passers-by that their organization was the best one to join. As a freshman, this fair was a part of “welcome week” and was the way I found out about all the clubs on campus I joined that first year. Other clubs that weren’t represented, students would find out through word of mouth or through a club’s campus-wide events. I eventually became one of those representatives behind the table for several of the organizations I joined. It was a fun time selling the merits of the clubs with my fellow members and also meeting alot of new students at USC. And I was proud to be a part of the Trojan family that really had an organization for every student’s interest.
College Survivors: How did your class schedule affect your extra-curricular activities? Were you able to do everything you wanted to do or did you have to miss out on some clubs or events?
JamTown’s Response:
The class schedule definitely affected my extra-curricular activities, especially since I had a lot of night classes. Those were film and advertising classes and they would be four hours long. On those days, I would usually get out of class at 10:00. By that time, any school event or club meeting that I wanted to go to would just be getting out. My plight would change from semester to semester as my class schedule would change. So sometimes my classes were a problem and sometimes they weren’t.
When you’re planning your class schedule, you can plan one that works around the club meetings you already know you’ll be attending. But things come up for a student all year long that you can’t plan for. And sometimes you can’t plan your schedule as you’d like because you’re taking a class that is only offered one time every other semester and that’s required for you to graduate.
For a few semesters, I can remember major events happening around lunchtime in the center of campus. But I couldn’t go because I was in class. The worst part was that I knew they were giving away free stuff and sometimes even free food. (Free stuff is a big deal in college).
Another thing that annoyed me was a big group friends who would congregate at my apartment every week to watch America’s Next Top Model. I am a fan of that show, but I couldn’t watch it with them because I was in class. So I would often get out of my advertising class and bike as fast as my legs would let me to my off-campus apartment, only to get there in the last few minutes of the show. My roommates and friends would be excited, laughing and commenting on the show’s details. I would yell at them to get out of my house (in jest, of course). I was so annoyed that I couldn’t share in that weekly party in my own apartment.
The great thing about college though is that every semester is different because your class schedule is usually different. You’re taking classes on different days, different times, etc. So I couldn’t wallow in pity for too long because change was always coming.
Response of the Day comes from a Youtuber:? BlackLadyDiana @ College Vlog #7: Close Call (“Campus Life” category)
My near death experience was 4/14/09| I was so stressed about school and I was headed to SF but I couldn’t get on the road I started feeling light headed, and having chest pains. I was rushed to the hospital, and found my heart was literally skipping a beat due to stress but I knew about that 4/9 from my regular doctor||For some reason I felt I was going in to shock and my mom thought I was going to die because I was having a hard time keeping my eyes open|Long story short, I’m ok now|
In Wooden Nickels: CG ended up dropping out of a school club.
College Survivors: Did you ever drop out of any school clubs in college?? What were your reasons?
JamTown’s Response:
I don’t think I ever dropped out of any clubs…I just became inactive.? (I don’t know if that’s the same thing.)? There were the Admissions Ambassadors, we helped recruit students to the university.? But I don’t remember doing much of that my senior year.? I was also in a group called Black Women Investing, but we didn’t do much either.? Other than that, I was pretty committed to most of the school clubs I joined because they were just that awesome.
Happy Friday!? Next week will be a great week.? I can feel it coming.? Hope you have a good weekend!
In Wooden Nickels: CG joins a prestigious organization in affiliation with his major.
College Survivors: Were you a member of any honor societies or other prestigious organizations in college?
JamTown’s Response:
I was in an academic honor society.? All members had to have a certain GPA to qualify and we also had to write an essay and maybe get recommendations.? I can’t remember many of the perks of being in the organization, but we did get a special stole to wear at graduation with the organization’s name on it.? I was proud to have been selected and really enjoyed our induction ceremony.? One of USC’s prestigious law professors was our keynote speaker and I was inspired by his personal journey through college and law school at Harvard, as well as his commitment to being an impact player in his field.? I walked away with a renewed desire to keep working hard and to stay at the top of my game.
Response of the Day comes from Banks @ “Caught-Red-Handed!” Read the entire post under the category “Campus Life.”
The best story I have about getting in trouble with the law took place my sophomore year (I think). After having dinner downtown, my friends and I decided that paying $10 for parking was much too much. I convinced my future roommate to grab a ticket out of the machine for incoming cars so that we could simply go out the ?in? way. Sounds great, right? Not so much. A cop on a bike came around the corner just as she pulled the ticket. Next came an action-packed, high-speed car chase through the parking garage. I don?t know how we got away since we were being chased in an enclosed area, but I think the cop?s 10-speed had something to do with it. So yea, we got away.
In Wooden Nickels: CG joins a few school clubs to expand his social network.
College Survivors: Were you in any school clubs in college?? What were they and why did you join?
College Dreamers: What organizations would you want to join when you enter college?
JamTown’s Response:
I was in a number of organizations in college: Gospel Choir, a Dance Company, Rites of Sisterhood, Admissions Ambassadors, and an Investing Club.? I joined the Gospel Choir because I’ve been singing all my life (classically trained in high school) and I wanted to continue it in college in a more down-home, looser sort of way.? I joined the Dance Company because I’ve always had a love for dance and thought it would be fun to perform on the stage again.? It was in this organization that I started choreographing and that I met a few of my subscribers! (Shout Out to Dani and Joe!)
I joined Rites of Sisterhood because I wanted to meet more like-minded college students who had a passion for volunteering.? The club was a volunteer organization for young girls in the surrounding community.? Some of the mentors in this organization became my closest friends and it was very inspiring to see the impact we had on our mentees.? I joined the Investing Club because I thought it was important to learn about the stock market.? I learned alot, but I still think it’s kind of confusing.? I joined the Admissions Ambassadors because I wanted to help high schoolers have the information they needed to get into USC.? The ambassadors had a fun time doing all the phone-a-thons that came with the free food, giving campus tours, hosting perspective students overnight, and answering questions at recruiting events.? I truly enjoyed working with this organization because I could see the results of our efforts.
The film school was a club in and of itself because of all the ongoing projects that were done in the smaller partnerships and the larger film crews.? That took up the rest of my time in school.? There, I met some of the most talented, funny, and awkward people with the passion to create.? All these organizations provided me with daily entertainment and I kind of miss looking forward to those weekly meetings.
Man! This week has gone by fast.? Ready for the weekend?? I am.?? I get to go to the mountains and play in the snow.? Very excited.? I’d like to welcome my Twitter friends to the website.? I hope you find these college stories as interesting as I do.? Also, I know that alot of you like to come by and just read the stories and haven’t shared any of your own yet.? But every now and then, drop me a line.? Let me know what you think about the stories.? Give a shout out to the college you went to.? Also, feel free to share your own videos that are relevant to the daily posts.
Response of the Day is a throwback to the very first post that I did in December about roommates.??? You can find the entire post and my response under the “Dorm Living” category.
Duke @ “Hello World!”
I?ve had a lot of ?interesting? roommate stories, but i think the most hell-ish situations have been those dealing with mind-boggling messiness.
I once lived with a guy who hadn?t yet been introduced to the concept of a sponge, thus never felt the need to wash his dishes. Consequently, our kitchen became the main headquarters for the USC Area Roach Consortium. I mean, it was ridiculous. There was one week where every night I had a particular and necessary routine. I would walk through the door. Set down my bags. Grab a can of Raid from desk. Stealthily approach the kitchen entrance. Flip on the lights. And commence battle. No joke, I killed about 12 to 15 roaches of various size every night; and I slept uneasy for fear of an impending retaliatory strike.
In Wooden Nickels: CG flexes his less than impressive skills in the band.
College Survivors: Was your college band amazing or nothing to write home about?
College Dreamers: Do want to go to a college that has a band and a football team or is that not on your priority list?
JamTown’s Response:
I think my college band was pretty awesome.? They kept us amped at the football games with all the different fight songs and rocked the field at halftime.? Basically, if you had school spirit at USC, that came along with having love for the band, as well.? I can remember at graduation when I heard one of the fight songs for the last time as a student.? Tears came to my eyes as I realized I was leaving the college bubble and going into the real world.? The one thing I didn’t appreciate though was when their horn section would walk around campus at the crack of dawn playing by dorm room windows when it came time to play UCLA.? That is enough to make someone take an instrument and throw it into the Pacific.? Here’s the band in action at the Rose Bowl Parade this year:
So what’s your story?
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