During move-in week, Trojans quickly begin making friends — and memories

As freshman Akshay Vadlamani of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering stood in line with his mother and grandmother waiting to move into his new home, he got a text message.

The text was from somebody he had never met in person, but felt like he already knew: Aiden Park, one of three Trojans with whom Vadlamani is sharing a McCarthy Honors Residential College suite this school year.

“We’ve been texting and FaceTiming with each other about what to pack, and he’s been super helpful,” Vadlamani said of Park, who quickly dashed from their suite to the line outside to greet his new roommate.

Park, a biological sciences major at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, said the four suitemates started a group chat in May and have been “really excited to meet everyone, to interact and to learn more about each other.”

The pair are among the nearly 9,000 first-year, returning, transfer and graduate students settling into USC’s residential colleges during move-in week, which began on Saturday and concluded Wednesday. There are also more than 30 welcome events being hosted by USC colleges and departments throughout the week as well as other large-scale celebrations.

A special Trojan welcome

USC Interim President Beong-Soo Kim has been visiting many of the new arrivals and their parents throughout the week.

“The excitement they have as they look forward to their years at USC really uplifts all of us,” Kim said while visiting Parkside Arts & Humanities Residential College on Tuesday afternoon. “We are looking forward to having an amazing year together with the students.”

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Freshman Alero Mack of the USC Marshall School of Business was surprised and pleased to meet Kim on Saturday as he unpacked boxes inside his fourth-floor room at McCarthy.

“I wasn’t expecting that,” said Mack, who discussed his Business of Cinematic Arts major with Kim. “I didn’t think that presidents actually greet their freshmen.”

Mack’s parents expressed their pride and excitement for their son’s dream of attending USC, which has been his goal since childhood.

“We have this really sweet picture of him at 6 years old at a USC game,” said his mother, Kenya McGee. “He had on his USC beanie, his USC hoodie, and there was confetti because we won the game. This is a full-circle moment.”

Getting settled in

Over at Birnkrant Residential College, new roommates Aryana Cayton and Jade Alvarez were also in the same place for the first time after months of chats on FaceTime. Both are from the East Coast and admitted to being nervous about moving across the country.

“What has made it more comforting was knowing we would at least already know someone when we got here,” said Cayton, a USC Viterbi computer science major from Washington, D.C.

Alvarez, a USC Dornsife history major from Whitehall Township, Pa., arrived on campus three days before Cayton. But that didn’t stop them from teaming up long-distance to start decorating their room.

“While she was still on the East Coast and I was here, we were on FaceTime coordinating and talking about which dresser to get to match our room,” Alvaraz said.

Twins step out of their comfort zone

Twin sisters Amelia and Sarah Batt have shared a room all their lives. But when the USC Dornsife freshmen and San Francisco natives were initially assigned to be roommates at USC, they asked for a switch.

“It’s only because we’ve been roommates for 18 years already and we didn’t think we wanted to continue that,” Sarah Batt said. The political science major moved into Pardee Tower on Tuesday, while her sister — an archaeology and heritage studies major — moved into Marks Tower on Wednesday.

They may not be sharing a room at USC, but the sisters will be sharing their Trojan experience.

“Having someone here from home will cut out a little bit of the homesickness that I’m definitely going to experience,” Amelia Batt said. “But I’m also excited to be able to grow as an individual and blaze my own path.”

Learn more about Amelia and Sarah Batt (for one thing, they both swam the English Channel) on the USC Dornsife website.

‘Just meet everyone you can’

While many Trojans were excited to meet their new roommates, a smiling Kayla Uwagbai said she is happy to have a room to herself inside New North Residential College.

“I don’t have a roommate,” said the USC Kaufman School of Dance freshman. “I wanted a little bit of isolation, and they said a single room would be best for me. But our hall is very social, and I’ve met so many people already.”

Uwagbai, who is from Columbia, S.C., plans to also earn a master’s degree from the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism through USC’s Progressive Degree Program.

“She’s worked really hard in both dance and journalism to be here,” said her mother, Jessica Uwagbai. “To be here is a dream realized. With the cohort at [the] Glorya Kaufman [School], she already has her own little dance family, and I feel like she’s in very good hands.”

If sophomore Kassidy Atherton of the USC School of Dramatic Arts and her parents seemed relaxed while moving her belongings into Bohnett Residential College on Tuesday, it’s because they have been through the drill before.

Atherton said she learned a lot during her freshman year living in a residential college and advises new students to embrace all that campus life has to offer.

“Just meet everyone you can,” said Atherton, who grew up in Telluride, Colo. “Say yes to everything in the beginning: Go to lunch with people, go to any club event or fair that the school is having. I did that, and it lived up to my expectations.”