From kids living under the same roof to college students attending rival schools, these Bruin-Trojan siblings bond through their crosstown rivalry.
"Which one should I choose, USC or UCLA?"
Nathan Wu often hears this inquiry as a UCLA campus tour guide. Yet, he has no easy answer. The fourth-year cognitive science student, double-majoring in statistics & data science, said he knows that his twin brother and older sister have enjoyed their experiences at USC as much as he loves UCLA. To the Wu family, their schools’ rivalry does not pose a binary question of which school is better, but instead creates a source of unconventional family bonding. A blue and red "house divided" flag waves above their parents’ garage in Walnut Creek, California, broadcasting their shared UCLA and USC pride to their neighborhood.
Nathan said he cherishes his proximity to his siblings in Los Angeles, finding solace in his sister Jackie Wu and his twin brother Teddy Wu while being away from his parents. He fondly recalls Jackie driving across town to see him on a day he was feeling down, and said Teddy feels like a safety net when he enters unfamiliar situations throughout college. The school rivalry never weakens the trio’s mutual support system, he explained.
Teddy, a fourth-year business administration student at USC, said he feels the same way.
"Being twins, you just grow really close to your brother," Teddy said. "So it was really nice always having someone there. Didn't really feel lonely because he's always had my back."
Dabbling in similar activities growing up, the twins developed a playful competitive relationship as swimmers in high school, Teddy said. He added that he sees their current banter, teasing each other over college sports wins, as nothing but an extension of that teenage competition.
"I think it’s pretty funny that he goes to a rival school because sometimes we did compete a lot ... so it didn’t change that competitive dynamic that much," Teddy said.
While Teddy enjoys a bit of competition, he was initially drawn to USC as he observed the student body’s friendliness during his college visit, Teddy said. He has since found it easy to meet people at the school, adding that he made some of his closest friends in the Christian fraternity Alpha Gamma Omega.
Nathan said he is just as content with his choice to be a Bruin.
"Not to be a tour guide but I think it (UCLA) fits me very well," he said. "I do really like the big school vibe."
Jackie, a USC alumni in business administration, said she feels responsible for setting a good example for her younger twin brothers. Growing up in Northern California, Jackie has always seen USC and UCLA as two great schools in LA, rather than two opposing options. While she was open to offering her advice when her brothers applied to college, Jackie said she ensured they had space to independently explore their own college choices without judgment.
"The rivalry is more of a funny, fun way to spice up the college experience," Jackie said. "If anything, I think it brings the dynamic between those family members closer together because that’s pride that all the siblings went to a great school."
Before the 2021 rivalry football game hosted by USC, Nathan tailgated with Teddy and Jackie at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum. Jackie said she remembers sharing their excitement about the game together. The upcoming 2023 rivalry game at the Coliseum is one of the events Nathan feels most excited about, entering his last year at UCLA, he said.
"Having this big football game, one of the biggest games of the year, it was just really fun to celebrate that together in the same place," Jackie said. "If it wasn’t for both of our schools being in LA and having that rivalry, we probably would not have seen each other and had that experience."
Tara Izadi, a fourth-year biology student at UCLA, received a call in the middle of her club meeting in January. A week before this moment, she attended a USC tour with her younger brother, Tyler Izadi. On the other side of the phone, Tyler was now overwhelmed and about to give up on his application to USC.
Tara rushed out of the meeting to Zoom with Tyler in the lobby of her apartment building and made a promise to him virtually.
"I’ll be here with you the entire time as you do your application," Tara recalled saying. "If you have any questions, if you want me to look at something, go ahead and tell me. I'll be with you even though I’m not physically there."
Tara ended up staying online with Tyler for hours, accompanying him as he finished his essays. This fall, Tyler will enter USC as a first-year student double-majoring in biopharmaceutical sciences and business administration.
When Tyler announced his commitment to USC, his high school teachers and peers began making remarks about the Izadis’ divided household. His family, supportive of both of their children’s decisions, would also playfully discuss the rivalry, he said.
"My family has always just been really nice about it because, at the end of the day, they want both of us to succeed," Tyler said. "But every now and again, my dad will throw out some jokes."
Despite the teasing, Tyler said he feels confident in the college journey that awaits him. He was interested in USC’s programs for his majors and charmed by the architecture and statues throughout its campus. A college sports fan, he has also followed USC’s performance in the NCAA since he was a kid. Tyler said he looks forward to immersing himself in USC’s athletics, trying out for club sports, as well as spectating rival games while taunting Tara.
Tara is also excited for Tyler’s debut at USC, eager for him to enter an institution with a much larger population than their high school in Apple Valley, California, she said.
Coming from a town of 70,000 residents, less than double the number of UCLA students, Tara said she has gained more independence at her LA school. Back home, she runs into acquaintances nearly every time she visits a grocery store; yet, she knew fewer than five people coming into UCLA.
Motivated to establish new friendships and connections during her freshman year, Tara messaged people in Zoom breakout rooms, set up lunches with her peers and joined the co-educational community service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega. The people she met in a life sciences study group have since turned into her lifelong friends, she added.
"The biggest thing that helped me out when it came to finding myself is finding the people that I related to and the people that I clicked with," Tara said.
While she looks forward to watching her brother branch out at USC, she is even more excited to reconnect with her brother when they live in the same city, Tara said. Whether it’s face-timing or getting dinner together in person, they plan to continue supporting each other once he moves to LA.
"It doesn’t matter if you go to rival schools here, it doesn’t matter if you’re far apart, I think that family is the connection that will always hold true," Tara said. "I will support him no matter where I am. But it's easier if I’m a 20-minute drive away instead of a three-hour plane ride."
Her father is a USC sports superfan, but she’s going to UCLA this fall.
Lily Centeno learned about the Bruin-Trojan rivalry early on in life while watching football games with her family. Sitting on a black leather sectional, sometimes covered in USC blankets, the family would savor chips and wings paired with her dad’s loud cheers whenever the Trojans scored.
Living in Oxnard, California, the incoming third-year statistics & data science transfer student said she always envisioned herself going to a college in Southern California. However, even growing up watching Trojan athletics, the specific school she would attend remained rather uncertain in her mind.
The academic experience of Lily’s sister, Raquel Centeno, a political science and international relations doctoral student at USC, was crucial to Lily’s transfer process. She said that Raquel encouraged her to listen to herself when making her decision.
"When it comes to school, she pretty much just told me to go for what I want in college and focus on myself more so than listening to what other people tell me," Lily said. "I think it's important to really follow your own instinct and she really taught me that."
With Raquel’s advice to follow her gut, Lily’s instincts led her to UCLA. She said she was fond of the friendly environment she felt on campus during her visits.
"Going out of high school, the pandemic had just started so I was kind of unsure where to end up," Lily said. "I honestly wasn’t sure I’d ever see myself at UCLA, but the more I learned about it, and the more I visited, I realized this could really be a place for me that I could call home."
Raquel was also once deciding between a few universities, back when she was picking her doctoral program after graduating from California Lutheran University in 2018. She said it was meeting her faculty and peers at USC on visit day that ended up solidifying her commitment to the school. Since that day, she said she has enjoyed finding time between her schoolwork to visit USC’s event venue, Tommy’s Place, with her cohort and attend conferences across the country.
Raquel said she hopes the same for her sister at UCLA — to find a supportive group of friends while engaging in organizations on campus that enrich her college experience.
"I hope that the people around her in her classes and the people in the big clubs she joins can also expand her network and help her feel like she has a lot of different people to turn to for all of her different interests and things that she’ll be experiencing in university," Raquel said.
Back in 2020, Lily lived at home in Oxnard, and Raquel stayed near USC. When the COVID-19 quarantine set the sisters apart, they spent months playing the video game Animal Crossing: New Horizons to stay connected. Lily convinced Raquel to join her in the social simulation game, Raquel said, stating that they could still make memories on the virtual island as if they were close by.
Starting this September, instead of relying on their Nintendo Switches, the sisters will be able to meet up within just half an hour’s drive. Raquel said she is excited to take Lily to explore different coffee shops, discovering the scrumptious chai lattes and matcha lattes in LA, all while continuing to support Lily throughout her college life.
"It’s nice that in going to UCLA we actually can hang out regularly, in some ways maybe more regularly than we even see each other now because she'll be that much closer to me," Raquel said.
For siblings and gym buddies Caitlyn Johnson and Adrian Johnson, attending rival schools is nothing new.
In 2020, Caitlyn graduated from Aragon High School in San Mateo. Two years later, Adrian graduated from Hillsdale High School — Caitlyn’s rival school less than two miles up north. Back then, the pair never had the chance to spectate their rival competitions in the Peninsula Athletic League together, but they anticipate running into each other in upcoming games between USC and UCLA.
The Johnsons’ school rivalry is set to continue as Caitlyn enters UCLA as a third-year pre-psychology transfer student and Adrian enrolls at USC as a second-year astronautical engineering transfer student.
A sense of friendly competition is core to their relationship, Adrian said, adding that growing up with a tight age gap and spending lots of time together, the siblings get into harmless arguments easily.
Yet, because of the naturalness of that competition, going to rival schools never threatens their bond but adds a playful touch to it, he said.
"That competition has always been there, so it's going to be fun that that competition is still going to last throughout college," Adrian said. "Collaboration is fun with her and all but not as fun as competing."
Despite all the battling, there is one place where the siblings stick on the same team — the gym.
Caitlyn began her body-building journey last summer, inspired by her brother who has been going to the gym for two years. Since then, the pair have bonded over their passion for weight training. They exchange fitness knowledge and techniques, encourage each other to push through sets and spot one another when pressing heavy weights. The duo now plans to meet up for a joint workout session every week as they spend the year in LA, Adrian said.
Caitlyn and Adrian laugh about how they are both strongly motivated by the progress of other gymgoers. However, the similarity between them goes beyond their shared ambitious mindset.
"We’re both very outgoing," Caitlyn said. "We make friends really easily. We get along with pretty much everyone we meet. So in that aspect, we’re pretty similar."
Despite those matching dispositions, the siblings looked into different criteria when working on their transfer applications. Adrian prioritized the opportunity to transfer as a rising sophomore, which is less common in the UC system, he said. On the other hand, Caitlyn said she prioritized public schools among her transfer options after realizing the expense of private tuition.
Having each made their separate transfer decisions, the siblings now await making the most of their respective schools. Caitlyn looks forward to engaging in a larger community — as compared to her relatively isolated experience at community college — at UCLA this fall, meeting new friends and attending sports games, she said. Wrapping up his internship at the aerospace company Northrop Grumman in LA this summer, Adrian said he is excited about the student entrepreneurship scene at USC and hopes to explore the school’s rocketry organizations.
"Going to UCLA was a huge dream for me," Caitlyn said. "Going to USC was a huge dream for him, so I think it worked out."