THOMAS COLLINS
Wilmington, DE
Thomas attended the 2020 3D Character Design and Creation course, which was offered exclusively online.
" USC has the best game design school in the country. Learning from one of those professors was something I wanted to take advantage of before applying."
Thomas has always had an interest in programming, but was unsure how to produce visual elements of a program before the course.
However, after learning the basics, he came to appreciate the creative aspects of the course.
" My favorite part of the course was being able to design our own characters instead of following our professor's exact moves."
Thomas compared the USC Summer Programs course to the online classes he'd become accustomed to in high school, noting how personal the summer course felt.
" I felt like our USC professor was very responsive to questions we had and he was willing to meet with kids after and established office hours. Everyone was still figuring out online learning, but it was a more personal experience than what I am so used to in high school."
He was also pleasantly surprised by the greater student body, the high school students attending different classes.
" I liked getting to know people who know things that you will never know in your life, and I wish we had more time to get to know each other. "
Since the Summer Programs, Thomas has continued his involvement in a nonprofit called Bring Change to Mind, which focuses on ending mental illness discrimination.
" We are able to advocate for mental health for everyone. I want to destigmatize mental health problems in my school and in my broader community. "
He started a chapter at his high school, the first of its kind in the state. Thomas now serves as the vice president.
Thomas hopes to pursue a career in software engineering and potentially game design.
Karyme Peña
El Monte, California
Karyme attended the Science of Food, Nutrition and the Biological World Course in 2020, which took place online.
" This course was perfect for me. It taught me things about food and nutrition that I have always been curious about and interested in! "
In college, Karyme anticipates pursuing a biology-related major to become a nutritionist or a pediatrician. The course, she says, cemented her interest in these fields.
What Karyme learned in high school biology was expanded in the summer course.
" I realized that the subject is so much deeper and so much more complex than what I already knew . "
In addition to synchronous online learning, students experience asynchronous instruction as well. Students were to make recipes at home, after learning the biological changes that our food experiences during cooking processes.
" This made the course so interactive, despite being online ... It was such a fun way to learn about biology. "
Karyme's favorite parts of the course were the interactive labs where she would cook a dish for her family and explain to them what she learned in the classroom.
She also gained confidence in the classroom, where she asked questions and participated extensively in discussions. With her improved confidence, she has become a youth ambassador and bettered her abilities in speech as an extracurricular activity. She also enjoys competing in soccer and track and field.
Karyme looks forward to applying to college after completing her junior year to pursue her interest in biology.
EVAN HOOPES
Pleasanton, CA
Evan attended the 2020 Summer Theater Conservatory for Acting.
Even though Evan had experiences around USC's campus and knew current students, he wanted a more in depth look into classes and student life.
"My goal right now is to transfer to USC so I had been considering the program lightly, and when my dad sent me an email about the program, those two things together told me this was a great opportunity to experience more of USC."
Evan grew up doing acting and modeling, which has more recently evolved into an interesting in acting, improv, and comedy. He says this made his decision on what course he wanted to take during the program.
After attending Summer Programs, Evan started school at Santa Monica community college where he said he felt very prepared after his experience at USC Summer Programs .
"I think the program at USC, funny enough, was a lot more rigorous than here. You might assume that, but it really did make the transition easier on me."
After he is done with his finals at school, Evan says he is traveling to film for an upcoming movie he's in.
"I've definitely taken a lot of things that I learned in the program to help me prepare for this, so that has helped a lot because this is one of my first big projects."
Evan says that while his experience in the industry did give him some knowledge of certain names and techniques, he never received any formal training.
"I've been thinking a lot about how if I didn't learn these things during the program, if I hadn't taken this opportunity, I would have been behind or learning these things from the other actors on the film."
Evan is looking forward to the possibility of transferring to USC and pursuing his career in acting.
MIRANDA NEUSER
Chevy Chase, MD
Miranda attended the Legal Reasoning and Argumentation course, a decision that she says was easy.
"I've always known I wanted to go into law in undergrad and law school as well, it's just something I've always been drawn to so this was the perfect opportunity."
However, Miranda says her main reason for attending the Summer Programs was to get a better feel for the school itself.
She knew she liked USC and wanted to continue exploring campus when she visited her junior year of high school.
"I knew I wanted to keep exploring USC and see what would come of it, and see if I really wanted to apply to attend college there, and that's what it was mainly about."
Starting her freshman year of high school, Miranda has been involved in putting together an art museum called MoCAT. The museum had to shut down because of the pandemic, but Miranda started a virtual version of the museum called MoCAT magazine.
Miranda says that MoCAT magazine focused on a lot of legal and political issues that surfaced this year, and that her specific Summer Programs course helped her in this endeavor.
"There were a lot of things that I learned at Summer Programs that I applied to this project, and I don't think I would have been able to do it without that experience."
Miranda says that many legal cases that her class looked at during the course resonated with her personally and gave her very valuable insights into the legal world, including helping her learn a lot of legal terminology.
Beyond that, Miranda says that the rigor of the program helped her time management despite already being in IB programs in high school. She notes that the teachers assistants really helped during the program.
"The TA I had was really awesome and, you know, wouldn't make you feel embarrassed for not quite understanding what's going on."
Miranda is looking forward to hearing back from colleges and is hoping to attend USC to pursue law.