Jasmine Thum at the annual Honors Engineering Retreat at Camp Condor, California.
Jasmine Thum
University of Southern California 2012
Jasmine is a Full Trustee Scholarship Merit Scholar, NSHSS National Scholar recipient, and distinguished Toyota Community Scholar
Getting Involved at College—Freshman Year Opportunities at USC
My first year at the University has gotten off to a wild start, and has reinforced the notion that if you are true to your passions for scholarship and your passion to serve, more opportunities to serve and share of yourself will ultimately fall into place.
From attending academic forums and becoming involved in clubs specifically geared toward my major of Biomedical Engineering, to playing in club sports such Ultimate Frisbee, I have found a plethora of interesting ways to get involved in both the University and Los Angeles communities. Not only has this offered me a respite from the long hours of academic work, it has helped me to help others through volunteerism and social activism.
Starting with Welcome Week, I helped lead and organize a group of fellow University of Southern California students to participate in a community service project oriented around promoting science at a school for economically disadvantaged children in the Los Angeles area. Not only do we help inspire an interest in the math and sciences, we help them realize there is a possible, different future for them if they continue their education.
After school began I have also been offered several leadership opportunities. Elected Vice Chair of the Dean's Halls' Building Government, I have helped deal with student governance and procedures in a residential community of my peers. Not only has this allowed me to understand governance issues at universities, it has helped me understand governance issues more generally. Also as a Freshman Representative of the Associated Students of Biomedical Engineering I am charged with representing the concerns and issues that face current freshmen majoring in BME and help them obtain peer mentorship from upperclassmen in the ASBME society who are further along in their coursework. Both of these activities have continued to strengthen my leadership skills that in turn help me promote the collective efforts of others to serve the community for the greater good of all.
The university environment has also allowed me to pursue social issues in the workplace. As freshman representative for the Corporate Events Committee of the USC chapter of the Society of Women Engineers, I am working on inviting women in industry to discuss what it is like to be a minority in their field of research or engineering, and how things are changing in the workforce, both for women, and for engineers in general as the various job markets respond to fluctuations in the economy.
Overall I am finding my experience at the University of Southern California to exceed expectations, and I am glad that of the number of schools I was looking at, I chose this one. It truly inspires an interest in service and offers future leaders the opportunity to learn and grow academically as well as socially. After all, it is said that large contributions to society oftentimes start with the many little steps in social activism and volunteerism in the academic and local community settings. In choosing a university, choose one that offers not only the academic rigor, but the atmosphere to serve both the community and the university. Most importantly, however, remember that in being true to your passions there will be more opportunities to serve and share of yourself with likeminded or diverse groups of people.
Oh, and I finally have learned how to longboard to my classes...