Bruin grads trade blue for Trojan red

In their final days as students on the UCLA campus, many of
those graduating grow nostalgic about the time they’ve spent
as Bruins. Fond memories of dorms, finals, 500 helpings of Panda
Express and games against rival USC are among the mix.

But a select number of graduates have an added problem in
adjusting to life after graduation: becoming a Trojan.

Barry Friedman, a fourth-year communication studies student,
says he used to shake his keys and join his fellow Bruins in
yelling “beat ‘SC” (or some other equally
appropriate four-letter word) at the UCLA-USC basketball games.

“I cringed,” he said of receiving admissions
literature from the USC film school that read, “Welcome to
the Trojan family.”

Friedman’s choices in graduate school may have put him on
the other side of the rivalry.

Other UCLA undergraduates share Friedman’s uncertain
loyalties.

After displaying her school pride as a tour guide on campus,
graduating sociology student Andy Oxman has opted to attend law
school at USC.

“I tell people why they should go (to UCLA) on a weekly
basis,” Oxman said, demonstrating the irony of her academic
choice.

Many undergraduates may find it hard to swallow that any
red-blooded Bruin could ever attend the school across town.

“I hate ‘SC … I have too much pride to go to a
school that I hated for four years,” said Wais Nezami, a
graduating psychobiology student, adding that the only way he would
go to USC is if he had no other option.

“I would wear UCLA shirts and sweatshirts and throw it in
their face. … My colors wouldn’t change,” he
added.

But the general consensus is that the rivalry, though fun as an
undergraduate, takes a backseat when deciding where to go from
here.

Oxman, who also applied to the UCLA School of Law, said she will
enjoy the change of scenery, and found her dislike for maroon and
gold subside as she was forced to make choices about her career and
academic life.

Her top priorities in choosing a school included small classes,
good networking and “a little greenery.”

USC met her criteria.

The crosstown switch is not entirely unheard of for
graduates.

“It’s common I guess for UCLA students to go to USC
and for USC students to come here,” Oxman said.

“It’s like a sibling rivalry,” he
said. “(Both schools) know they’re good” and
are constantly in competition over it.

Friedman, who will be attending USC’s cinema and
television school for film production, doesn’t enjoy
that he’ll be cheated out of a month of summer with the
school’s earlier start than UCLA, but looks forward to his
experience at USC.

“It’s the No. 1 film school in the country. You
can’t deny that,” he said.

“It’s the only school I thought I wouldn’t get
in.”

But despite the alluring offerings USC may present to graduate
students, these two know where their loyalties remain.

Oxman, who says her transition will be like experiencing
“the best of both worlds,” admits, “I will always
be a Bruin ““ there is something sacred about your undergrad
experience.”

Still, practical concerns, though lighthearted, remain.

Friedman has already made plans to place a USC School of
Cinema-Television sticker next to his UCLA sticker on his car to
try to avoid getting keyed.

Though the transition will be difficult, these two students look
forward to their experiences outside of Westwood and remember their
undergraduate years as irreplaceable.

“I’m a Bruin at heart,” Friedman said.