Yesterday was my car’s first birthday and my first anniversary as a car owner! I couldn’t do anything to celebrate because, unfortunately, finals come first. Perhaps later I can take a cross-country road trip from LA to NYC and set a new a road trip record.  Admittedly, it wouldn’t be nearly as amazing as what this team did—driving a Tesla car … Read More

I should be studying for finals but I started thinking about all of my post-finals holiday plans and decided to blog instead. I’ve always gone home for the holidays or traveled, but I pondered what I would do if I were in LA for 3 whole weeks…here are some ideas I had: Exploring LA never gets old. Unlike most of … Read More

A few weeks ago, I had a reunion with some of my college friends in the area at Sushi Gen, an authentic and group-friendly Sushi joint in Little Tokyo.  It was relaxing and fun. Seeing my friends and meeting my friend’s one year old son was such a joy. Little Tokyo always has good memories for me.  Whether you go … Read More

This is my third installment of random car-related blog posts. If you’ve been reading my other posts, you’ll know I’m a first-time car owner, so it’s the little things that strike me which most people take for granted. One of the biggest challenges moving to a new place is understanding the little differences, not the big ones. The big ones … Read More

What’s the best way to get around campus? With finals around the corner, there’s no time to waste and knowing efficient ways to get to and from campus is just as important now as it is when we are new, dewy-eyed first-semester students. Answer: it depends on your preference, but it’s one of the three –biking, walking, or skateboarding/hoverboarding USC … Read More

I joined a group of BME graduate students to watch Spectre on its opening night a couple weeks ago! Sponsored by VGSA, we went to LA Live to watch the movie. It was a fun experience and I give the movie a B+. I have done my best to write this without any spoilers so read on without apprehension. To … Read More

Last weekend, I volunteered to be on a Society of Women Engineers college panel for high school students from neighborhood schools at the USC MESA College Day event. It was meant to show students what college is like, the event had industry representatives from Disney, Northrup Grumman as well as admissions officers from various universities across the country. One of … Read More

I attended the Viterbi Graduate Preview Day last week to meet prospective graduate students, and talk to them about my experience at Viterbi so far. I couldn’t make it to this event when I was applying so I’m glad I got to see it now. The Town and Gown venue never fails to please, and the lunch buffet was no … Read More

My friends and I went to the Viterbi Ball this week and had a ball! The Viterbi Graduate Student Association (VGSA) organized this Halloween-themed party. A lot more people dressed up in costumes than I expected and some really went all out. I saw Wolverine, Captain Jack Sparrow, Superman, Catwoman, and many others. For my costume, I borrowed my roommate’s … Read More

For explanations of italicized terms, see Glossary below. What do you do for a 10-day long festival? Good question. Navratri, meaning “nine nights,” is a Hindu festival that focuses on worshipping the Goddess Durga, but it is mainly about the triumph of good over evil. According to Hindu mythology, the goddess vanquishes a demon who was terrorizing the people on … Read More