Maria Wang

USC Food Choice This is not a guide for the best places at USC to get food. Instead, this is a quick recap of my usual food choices when I am on campus. USC offers a variety of dining options, but there are mainly three places that I spent the most time. Tutor Center (TCC): This spot holds freshman-year memories for me. I had a dining plan and dining dollars at the time, and they could be used toward Tutor Center places. Whenever I got tired of the Village, Parkside, and EVK, I would come to TCC for an acai bowl. There was usually a long line outside the small window, and while waiting, I always watched the staff put fresh fruit into the blender. I also liked the burgers inside the TCC building - the combo with the fries was especially satisfying after a long morning of classes. USC Village:  After starting my Sophomore year, I started exploring different restaurants in the Village. My all-time favorite was Honey Bird. I was so sad when they closed their place in the Village. My ...

The book I read is “ Hit Fresh ”, written by the current CEO of Microsoft, Satya Nadella. I picked this book because the technology wave in recent years was again reaching a historic peak. I wanted to learn more about how giant-tech leaders navigated similar scenarios in the past, and how they adapted their companies to the constant changes.  This turns out to be a great choice. This book is not only a great one to learn about a CEO’s attitude and consideration when leading a company to a better position, but also an insightful notebook for me to actively think about technology-related issues, and how a leading tech executive would approach these questions. The examples and stories in this book are pretty specific and easy to understand. Corporate strategy and technological discussion are the two main topics Satya discussed in this book. I truly gained useful insights that I want to share with you. First, the importance of culture. Satya mentioned the thing that he doesn’t want to ...

Mind the Pour! THE Guide to making your very first pour-over coffee at home You wake up in the morning, enter a coffee shop, order a cup of black coffee, and wish it doesn't get too bitter or acidic. Unluckily, it tastes like burnt soybeans. So, you wished to make some Americano at home, but the espresso machine is too expensive to set up at your dorm. What if I tell you, there is a way to make low-cost, personalized flavor, and time-efficient coffee? Pour-over coffee is the ideal choice. I have been making my own every morning for a year now, and absolutely never encountered burnt-smelled coffee since then.  Pour-over coffee, by its name, is a type of coffee where you literally pour water over ground coffee by hand, and let it pass through to a server of any kind (Counter Culture). No machine is involved. You can pick the flavor you like and control the details based on your preference. More importantly, the enjoyment is unparalleled with other methods. After trying coffee beans f...

The book I chose to read is “ Hit Fresh ” by Satya Nadella. Satya is the third CEO of Microsoft after Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer, and he has been leading the company since 2014. I chose this book because it not only vividly tells Satya’s personal experience from his childhood to the transformation he brings to Microsoft, but also conveys the philosophies behind Satya’s decision making. I think this book would provide insights that would be invaluable to my current stage of career. In his illustration of the first few chapters that I have read, Satya uses his personal hobbies in sports to draw insights to his philosophy in corporate management. This approach of conveying information is really easy to ignite my interest. In the following chapters, he detailedly discusses how he found Microsoft’s “soul”, the importance of teamwork, data and trust, as well as AI. The “roadmap” starts from general corporate management insights to more Microsoft-specific and industry-specific discussion. I...