What did you do when you first found out you got into USC?

I remember my parents were out of town when I got my package. I live in an apartment building, though, and mail always gets delivered to a table on the bottom floor of the house. The package was, however, sitting in front of my door, as if one of my neighbors had brought it upstairs and left it there for me knowing it was important. I was exhausted and opened it, and I don’t think I even fully registered that I had gotten in until a few minutes later because I was alone at home. All of a sudden, I was frantic – but in an excited kind of way. I immediately called my mom and told her first I needed to book a flight. She asked me why – and I told her I needed to fly out for an interview. Again, she asked why. I told her I had gotten into USC, and at that point, she got so excited, because it was the first school I’d gotten into. It took her getting excited for it all to sink in, and then I got excited too and started calling and texting everyone

What are you most excited to learn/do/experience/etc. while at USC?

I’m so excited to explore LA! I’m a native New Yorker, and moving out to the west coast is a whole new world for me. I don’t drive though, but I have been managing pretty well so far with my bike and the metro.

What is one thing you brought with you to USC that means the most to you?

I have a Hamburg flag hanging in my room surrounded by some super cute LED lights. I bought the flag at the end of my gap year in Germany and had all of my friends from the year sign it so I could put it up when I got to my room. I got lucky because I’m living in McCarthy and the accent wall where my bed is is red as well (I was worried about my giant bright red flag clashing with the room) but I ended up getting super lucky, and it all looks pretty good together!

What piece of advice were you given about starting college that you’ll follow?

I was told to try out as much as possible and just stuff for the love of doing and exploring. I love the idea of trying out new sports once my knee heals, new dance forms, going to speaker events to learn, traveling, taking a crazy class – I really want to expand my boundaries.

What do you think/hope you’ll be like four years from now?

I hope to be comfortable in my field of study, a bit more traveled, and ready to take on the world! This sounds a bit naive, I guess, but that’s really all I want. I don’t like setting specific expectations, because that makes me feel boxed in…but I do want to get my Spanish back into shape as well if I’m living in LA for four years…and hopefully, I will be at least a moderately experienced driver.

Nadia Filanovsky was admitted with a Trustee Scholarship last year but decided to take a gap year to complete the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange program. The economics major from New York and daughter of two artists also spent a year doing a full immersion at a high school in Germany.