LauraLee

First I just want to say that I LOVE 3 day weekends. And since I don't have any Friday class this semester, I got to enjoy a 4 day weekend and took full advantage of this temporary break.  I made the 3+ hour drive to visit my boyfriend at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. We had a great weekend relaxing in SLO, but the highlight of the trip was definitely our visit to Hearst Castle. I visited the castle once before when I was about 8 years old but I unfortunately dont remember too much of the visit. I forgot how gorgeous and expansive the place is! The architecture and artwork was simply amazing. The history of the building was amazing.  And the weather was wonderful making the tour that much better as we overlooked the Pacific Ocean and basked in the sun.  However, as I strolled through the rooms and past statues, fountains, and pools; I've now decided that I want a castle of my own. I mean every little girl dreams of being a princess, so why cant I make that a reality?

In actuality, it might be more possible than you think.  I discovered 3 years ago when my family went to England, that my ancestors owned a castle in a small town in England called Nunney.  Unfortunately, they were on the wrong side in a war and a cannon went through the castle leaving it in ruins. And even more unfortunate, the castle now belongs to the state. But I believe I can get it back someday. Regardless of the fact that probably thousands of people can trace their lineage back to this castle. You all just wait, I'm going to be a princess someday :-)

Its the beginning of my final semester at USC and I am quickly approaching the end.  Well the end of my undergraduate years that is.

But the beginning of the rest of my life and the "real world."

First let me say that I signed all the paperwork over break so I am now officially working for Accenture after graduation.  *Pat on the back to me* All the late nights in the library paid off.  I will be based out of the San Francisco office doing technology consulting. I am really excited, it will be a great experience and I will gain a lot of exposure to a lot of fields really quickly. Obviously, I hope to focus on the life sciences- medical devices, pharma, and biotech. But I may dable in other fields as well while I'm there and get the most out of my experience. It will require a lot of travel but will allow me to see other parts of the country that I might never have seen otherwise.  I cant wait to start and at the same time I'm terrified. 

Now with that being said, I still have to get through one more semester. 4 more classes, 8 midterms, and 1 more round of finals to go. I think the hardest part of this semester will be staying focused, now that I have a job lined up it is difficult to focus on my coursework. But my goal is to remain focused and graduate with my desired GPA.  At the same time though, another one of my goals is to live this semester to its fullest. I want to be more spontaneous, take more risks, and enjoy being in LA. On Tuesday night, I went to the Standard downtown with some friends for my brother's birthday and as I was standing on the rooftop looking out at the city, I thought to myself, "this is why I live in LA." It was so gorgeous up there and I was just so happy to be going to USC and to be living in LA. I am really excited for this semester and all the adventures that lay ahead.  

Beating the Illini in the Rose Bowl will definitely be one of my favorite memories as a USC undergraduate.  It was a wonderful way to end the season, and a great way to end my football games as an undergraduate.  This was my first time going to a bowl game and also my first time being in LA for New Years, I normally spend it at home in Fair Oaks with my family or in Hawaii. My New Years Eve started by making a potluck dinner at my apartment and then we went downtown to a bar called The Golden Gopher. The place was packed and it was a ton of fun. We started the countdown at midnight to bring in the New Year, it was a blast.

The next morning we woke up super early to make our way over to The Rose Bowl.  Even though we got there pretty early the place was already packed! It was great meeting up with everyone from school and we had fun tailgating on the golf course. Once we made the trek over to the stadium and into the Rose Bowl, I discovered that the horrible curse of the tubas continues... every time I go to the Rose Bowl, my seats end up in the row right behind the tubas. You might be thinking, thats awesome you get to be close to the field! Wrong! I cant see past the tubas, and I'm basically bleeding from the ears once I leave. Dont get me wrong, I love the USC band and they sound great... from a distance. Not when they're 2 feet in front of you and you miss the whole game because all you see is your reflection in the back of the tuba. Please dont pity me though, it did end up being an amazing experience and I couldnt be happier. Beating the Illini was such a great cap on my senior year. (It also gives me great bragging rights over my UofI friends) And the game was amazing, everything from the hot dogs, to the flyover, the halftime show, the flip into the endzone, and yes even the tubas.