College: Being Away in a Nutshell

I was browsing through other classmates' blogs for ideas on what to write about and I found that almost all of them wrote a blog on their experiences as a college student, so I figured I'd give it a go. :)

Coming to college, one of the things I was most afraid of was missing home. Since I was born and raised in Hawaii my whole life, I was scared that I would experience a total culture-shock and miss home to the point where it would be unbearable. Interestingly enough, my experience here at USC has been totally the opposite of what I had expected. I've been here for over a month, and I haven't experienced a single ounce of homesickness. In fact, I've enjoyed my time here so thoroughly that I almost enjoy living here more than Hawaii!

I think one major factor that contributes to my lack of homesickness is the fact that the people here are so friendly, diverse, and welcoming. So far, I haven't met anyone at USC that I haven't liked. Everyone here strikes me as intelligent, always has a friendly demeanor, and is so easy to just strike up a conversation with. I've made friends here really easily - in fact, it's far easier than high school. I believe a lot of it has to do with everyone is going through the same experience, and are generally more open to meeting new people and making new friends. In high school, or at least where I came from, it was totally the opposite- everyone already had set groups of friends, tight cliques, and didn't bother to mingle. The people here at USC have made all the difference for me.

Another reason I'm not homesick is that it's really easy to keep in touch with my friends and family through email, over the phone, or online using AIM or skype. It's not the same as being with people face to face, but in a way, your friends and family never leave you. They're always just a fingerstroke or phone call away.

The weather here at USC is also really manageable. I was afraid that the mainland would be really cold compared to Hawaii, but I've been able to adjust really well. I still put a jacket on when it gets into the 60s - the weather hardly ever does in Hawaii, that's why - but for the most part, I'm surviving and coping easily in jeans and a sweatshirt. Hopefully the weather doesn't get any colder than it does now, cause it's actually starting to get decently chilly!

The fact that there's just so much to do here at USC and in LA also makes my experience here so much fun so I don't even think about home and Hawaii all that much! It's so easy to take the metro/the bus to the Santa Monica pier, Hollywood, Westwood/UCLA, Little Tokyo, and downtown, which I've done so far. It's impossible to get bored here. Also, obviously we always have homework and assignments to do and that occupies a lot of time. Simply living with your friends and peers also keeps you busy - people are constantly walking in and out of your suite, stopping by to chat, and just hanging with you/going to eat meals with you. I love the college lifestyle.

In a nutshell, I don't miss home at all. Occasionally I think about how nice the weather probably is in Hawaii, or I wonder how my friends from home are doing. I also really miss the local food- Hawaii has REALLY DELICIOUS Asian food and all types of other foods as well. In the end, though, I don't feel like I really had to "transition" to USC- it was just so easy to start living here that I don't think I needed to adjust at all. I'm so glad that I chose USC and Southern California for school, and also grateful that I gave it a shot- USC was actually my third choice after UCLA and Berkeley, but turned into my first choice when I didn't get into the other two. It must have been a sign when I didn't get into those schools, because I love it here so much. :)

USC Football Mania

Last Saturday was our first home game against Ohio State. USC came in ranked 1st and Ohio State ranked 5th, so the pre-game hype had escalated to a pretty high point. The day of the game, there was a palpable sense of energy infused throughout the entire campus. My own suitemates woke up early, making tons of noise since they were so excited about the football game. When I went to eat brunch at Parkside, there was literally a sea of red; everyone was wearing a USC shirt or some type of USC clothing. 

My friends and I decided to head over to the colosseum at noon that way we could beat most of the crowd. It turned out that there were already well over 1,000 fans waiting in line. Feeling slightly overwhelmed by it all, we plopped ourselves at the end of the line and proceeded to play cards to pass the time until 2:00. Luckily, my friend brought his boombox so we were able to listen to music. The sense of energy around the colosseum was far greater than on campus. There were dozens of drunk people stumbling around, overly loud and exuberant fans, people whose bodies were painted half cardinal and half gold and even a brawl that broke out between a drunk USC fan and an unlucky Ohio State fan that had happened to walk by. The smell of hot dogs, hamburgers, beer, smoke, and even the faint scent of pot permeated the air. 

With so much activity to see and smell, the hours passed pretty quickly. Before we knew it, the line was moving. However, we were given a rude awakening when we reached the front of the line: we weren't allowed to bring our backpacks in. We had to trudge over to a tent on the side where we gave them our bags. It was extremely unorganized and took much longer than necessary. To make matters worse, people were getting written up for underage drinking and other offenses at the same tent, so there were a lot of pissed off people we had to encounter. 

When we finally got into the colosseum, the student section was already 80% full. The time we had spent waiting in the backpack line had let a hundred people behind us skip ahead, so we were left with seats that were five rows from the absolute top. Although I would have preferred being just a tad closer, the view of the football field was great, and we also had a great view of the entire student section. 

The football game itself was pretty exciting. The student fans were extremely loud, impassioned, and Trojans at heart. Nothing beats the first touchdown that you see in a huge stadium of 93,000 screaming football fans. USC played really well offensively and defensively and didn't give Ohio State an inch to do anything worthwhile. In the end, I was really glad that we had won by such a large margin, but I was simultaneously disappointed that Ohio State hadn't given us a harder run for our money.

Needless to say, we lost to Oregon State the next week...

American Culture & Medicine

Prompt: Based on your own observations, how does American culture view the practice of medicine? In what ways is this view political?

From my own observation, it's pretty clear that American culture views the practice of medicine as extremely respectable. Being a doctor is a very prestigious profession, and this message is certainly conveyed in the media where doctors are always shed in a positive and helpful light. It is also a "hip" profession, which I can see from the dozens of television shows that exist today that concern doctors, hospitals, and the practice of medicine. 

Being someone of Asian-American descent, I can especially see this is true among the Asian community. I have so many friends whose parents want them to become doctors, or at least emphasize what a great profession being a doctor is in today's society. To the Asian mindset, being a doctor is extremely respectable not only because you are helping others, curing illnesses, and saving lives, but it also brings in a very respectable salary where you can support your family and your parents. Especially in today's job market and economy, where many people are struggling to make ends meet, making $40k or $50k a year is hardly enough to support a middle-class family and make ends meet. Probably not only Asian parents but people from many different races also view being a doctor as a great profession. After all, it's a double whammy: you make a good salary but at the same time you are helping people in a great way.

Certainly, this view of the practice of medicine is political. Since doctors are revered and seen as  respectable and also very knowledgeable, this gives them a lot of power. I read a very insightful book this past year called "How Doctors Think." I remember it mentioning how patients often times don't question what their doctors say when they give advice, and instead take for granted that whatever their doctor says MUST be right. This is dangerous, because doctors are simply humans like us who can make mistakes. What patients often don't do is ask their doctors questions to better understand their own health, and instead hold their doctor in a very high regard where they apparently "hold the answers to everything."

Doctors also have the power of swaying opinion. For example, in one of the medical ads I was sorting through to choose for my Writing Assignment #1, it shows a doctor promoting a cholesterol-reducing medicine that he uses himself. Just the fact that he uses the medicine gives it credibility because he is a well-known doctor. This is an example of someone that practices medicine giving a product accountability/reliability.