S.W.A.P. conquers USC

April 9, 2014

During a field trip to USC on Mon., Mar. 24, S.W.A.P students admire one of the USC’s streets due to the similarity of its name to the city of Downey. “It was so funny to see Downey as a street name in USC,” junior Jessica Angell, said. “We just had to take a picture with it.”

On Mon., Mar. 24, S.W.A.P club members visited the University of Southern California to get a sight of the admired university from a high school’s student point of view.

Students met in front of bungalow 7 at 7:30 a.m. to check in before they departed to USC. The 48 club members took the Metro bus and the Metro rail on their way to the university. Junior Salma Marquez, co-president of the club, rode the Metro for the first time on her way to the campus.

“It was a mission to ride the metro with such a big group, but we made it there nice and safe with no one missing,” Marquez said.

Once the students got to the school, the beauty of the college amazed them. It was the first time visiting the college for many of the students, including junior Jessica Angell who had been eager to visit USC.

The school has such an amazing environment,” Angell said. “Everyone is just doing their own thing and minding their own business; it amazed me with its beauty.”

One of the tour guides, Dru Chavez a current student at USC, was very informative about the schools history and helpful answering the questions the students had. He spoke about the George Lucas and Steven Spielberg buildings, which are dedicated to filmmaking and located in the USC School of Cinematic Arts built in 2010.

S.W.A.P (Students with a Plan) helps students with questions they might have about college. The club provides members with different volunteer options to get them started with their community service hours to help with college applications. The club held a fundraiser to raise money for their field trip to USC. Alexis Ortiz, one of the club members, has been attending the club for over two months, since Mrs. Sanders had advised her to try it out.

“I’m so glad to be in the club, because I’m finding out things about college that I didn’t know before,” Ortiz said. “I feel a lot more prepared and informed now that I’m in this club.”

The field trip ended with students roaming around the USC souvenir store seeing if anything caught their eye that they might want to buy. The club members had a good time touring the campus and getting a glimpse of the college environment. The students left the school well informed and impressed by its campus. The trip was a good opportunity to explore different options students have after high school.

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About the Contributor

Karen Ariciaga, Co-Photo Editor

Senior Karen Ariciaga is starting her second year in Newspaper, and she enjoyed her position very much. She entered Newspaper with a position, as photographer last year, was her first year actually knowing how to work the cameras and take pictures on a professional camera. As a photographer, she has a job of taking pictures of sports events, rallies, and school events. “I really liked taking pictures for events, it was a way for me to see what was going around me,” Agriciaga said. “Being a photographer seems like a fun job, but there is also work that comes with it, there’s a balance.” stated Agriciaga stated. Her goals for newspaper are to enjoy every minute of it.

Photography is one of her many interests, she also enjoys re-watching old TV series such as Gossip Girl in her spare time. “Blair is my favorite,” Ariciaga stated. Other than Gossip Girl, she loves to sleep and eat Sushi, “I can eat sushi it all the time,” said Ariciaga. As a senior, one of her plans for this year is to go to all the dances. Ariciaga wants to be a lawyer when she is older. “I love the feeling of winning an argument,” she said. She plans to attend Loyola Marymount University after high school and wants be signed to a firm after college in hopes of fulfilling her goals. “ I want to get higher scores on my SATs’, pass with straight As, and join more school activities,” Ariciaga said, Her back up plan is to go to San Francisco State and fall back on business, so she is applying for scholarships and other colleges just in case. She is very focused on her career; Karen Ariciaga is very dedicated to get what she wants in life. She is taking steps to get to where she wants and going through it with a great attitude toward her up and coming year.