#taylor moises

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Exploring Through Interning - Taylor Moises

Starting my sophomore year, I was excited to get back to school and start my new set of classes, hang out with my friends, and get ready for a fun, fall semester! However, I wanted to add something to my year that I had not had before - internship experience. Although freshman year I wanted to get adjusted to college life and kept busy with classes, adjusting, and working an on-campus job, when I returned to campus this year I knew I was ready to look for an internship as well. 

The first place I looked was the internet. I googled keywords and an oversaturation of information overwhelmed me. After this, I decided to book an appointment with USC’s Career Center to do some resume workshopping and have more focused help on how to find a fall internship. I was pointed in the direction of the Career Center’s portal specifically for USC students and ended up applying for internships through the portal. The process was much easier than just looking online, and within the first two weeks of school, I found an ideal internship.

Though I am pre-law, I’m still not sure what I want to do exactly, so internship experience is perfect for figuring out what I am really passionate about. Through the portal, I found out about the Alliance for Children’s Rights. A non-profit legal organization in Los Angeles that provides free legal service and advocacy for children in foster care. Not only is this something I am interested in pursuing, it is also ideally located only 3 miles from USC’s campus.

I am an intake intern, meaning I am the first contact potential clients have with the organization, and I help figure out with a supervising attorney what legal services the organization may potentially provide. Throughout the semester, I have learned many valuable things from the internship. Firstly, learning what it is like to balance school, work, and an internship. More specifically, I am learning more about how a non-profit runs, the intricacies of the LA dependency system, and what resources there are for foster-care youth in Los Angeles. Internships are crucial for figuring out more about yourself and spending time getting hands on experience that you can bring back and apply to what you are learning in your classes.

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Go To Talks! - Taylor Moises

While there is an extensive amount of learning going on in the classrooms, it is great to learn about other topics of interest at the various talks and events held on campus. Every day there are talks and events put on by different departments in Dornsife, as well as other schools at USC, that discuss intriguing subjects that can be complementary to what is being taught in classes. Professors bring notable guest speakers for Q&As and panels that students and others can attend free of charge. 

One of my favorite talks this semester was put on by my major’s department of Law, History, and Culture. The Dean Professor of Gender Studies, Professor Ange-Marie Hancock Alfaro spoke with Professor Anita Hill about Social Movement to Social Impact. This talk was scheduled before the Brett Kavanaugh hearing and the #TimesUp movement began this fall, but the talk occurred briefly after it all took place. It was powerful to hear what Professor Hill had to say about Kavanaugh, especially in relation to her own experience with testifying to a senate judiciary committee in 1991 with her allegations of sexual assault against Clarence Thomas. 

She also responded to questions about how to deal with sexual assault on college campuses and Joe Biden’s current apologetic demeanor for Hill’s senate hearing. She joked that though he says he owes Hill an apology, she is still waiting for him to actually apologize to her. The talk was timely and relevant to current news as well as topics I have been learning about in my classes. Talks like this one are some of the additional ways I learn and grow as a USC student.

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Visions and Voices: Allegiance - Taylor Moises

 A unique program offered through USC is Visions and Voices, which celebrates the arts and humanities by offering free events for the USC community as well as the general public. I recently attended Allegiance: A New Musical Based on a True Story, my first Visions and Voices event. Initially, I signed up for this specific event even though I knew next to nothing about it because my friend wanted to go, and I had heard of the show when it was on Broadway. Even with no expectations going into the show, I left with any expectations I could have had met and exceeded. 

The musical is about a Japanese-American family and their journey mostly taking place in an internment camp during the World War II era. The biggest takeaway is on allegiance and loyalties, as the title would suggest, but the theme is explored as a multifaceted concept. The primary allegiance thematic deals with the ethnic and racial conflicting loyalties facing the Japanese and Japanese-Americans who lived in the United States after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. They were forced to choose allegiance either to their Japanese roots or to America. Depending on this decision, but sometimes disregarding their verbal decision, determined if the Japanese and Japanese-American citizens were imprisoned. The musical didn’t win any Tony Awards, but it is a highly enjoyable musical that is comparable to the film, Black Panther; both are unconventional stories as it is centric around a minority race with their three-dimensional experiences and struggles, and both benefit from strong female protagonist characters.

Visions and Voices and this specific event is an amazing USC-specific opportunity to reap the benefits of experiencing arts and humanities for free. I love musicals, topics on American identity and diversity, as well as visiting various places around LA. I highly recommend taking advantage of Visions and Voices if you attend USC, and regardless to what school you attend, watch Allegiance if you have the chance.

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BK Or Bust - Taylor Moises

After young, bright high school seniors receive their acceptance letters to the best university in sunny, beautiful Southern California, the next important decision that these students must make, even before committing, is which residential college they want to call home and ultimately have pride in, long after living in that particular dorm. Now all people are different and it is only natural that people prefer one way of living over the other, but I feel it is my duty to explain to all you who are perusing this blog that Birnkrant Residential College is objectively (ok, maybe subjectively) the supreme USC residential college.

Full disclosure, I currently live in Birnkrant and have as much pride in my residential college as the typical USC student has pride in being a Trojan and part of the Trojan Family (which means very proud). And like colleges, I can only talk about what I know, which is USC and Birnkrant Residential College. So here are three reasons why I think that you should put down Birnkrant as your number one choice when choosing which dorm to live in at USC.

1. Birnkrant is located promptly in McCarthy Quad, the freshman hub that is central part of campus. At the bottom of the dorm is the 24-hour Starbucks, known as Trojan Grounds or TroGro. There’s nothing like a nice, cold caramel  macchiato to keep you going during an all-nighter in the 24-hour Leavey      Library. Being across the way from the library is also ideal so it is so    convenient you want to study. 

2. Another source of food that is right at Birnkrant’s doorsteps is one of three dining halls, EVK. EVK, or Everybody’s Kitchen, is a staple dining hall of USC. [Pro-tip: EVK Late Night (from 10PM - 11PM) is available after all the regular dining halls close and there is always nachos and ice cream and other snacks.

3. If walking across the way to Leavey Library is too far for you, or you prefer working in a more social setting, Birnkrant’s lobby is home to the multi-purpose room, known as The Chiller. This beloved room is perfect for group projects, individual work, or just hanging out. I have many fond memories of studying in the Chiller, but even fonder memories of meeting and hanging out with the people who have become my best friends.

4. Last but most important - Birnkrant’s reputation and what it is known for is being a traditional, communal college dorm. Its catchy phrase “eight floors of open doors” stands true, and has been true my entire year I’ve lived here. Everyone keeps their doors open and the sense of community on each floor is     astounding and very present. I get excited to come home to my dorm     because I know at least of few of the 38 people on my floor will be around.

Living in Birnkrant (BK) has shaped my entire first year experience at USC. and I know choosing it on the housing portal as my first choice will continue to be one of the best decisions I have ever made. This may seem hyperbolic, but I love USC and its the Trojan Family, and mostly my BK family, that makes USC USC.