USC Dornsife News

Jaime Gomez, who spent six years in the U.S. Army and 16 years in the business world before becoming a first-generation college student, graduates with honors and an undergraduate degree in history.

Ahead of graduation on May 13, the psychology major has some advice for other first-generation students like himself on navigating life’s ups and downs: “You’ll never be alone.”

Encounters with key faculty members helped Hameedha Khan overcome the uncertainty that marked her initial days at USC.

Political science major Luis Tun says he wants to create a firm to help spread financial literacy among immigrant, low-income and Latinx communities. [3 min read]

Thanks to a prestigious Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship, Isis Galeno ’21 explores the history of Mexican American ska music in Los Angeles. [3¾ min read]

Graduating senior Kimberly Melgoza has been studying how mind-altering substances, like psilocybin mushrooms and ayahuasca, have been used in rituals across Latin America. She’ll bring this research to Yale Divinity School as a master’s student this fall. [4½ min read]

Inspired by scholar-activists such as Angela Davis and international social movements for Black liberation, Mellon Mays Fellow Felanté Charlemagne’s research focuses on prison abolition, decarceration and the Black radical tradition. [5 min read]

Senior Betty Thai earned a fellowship that could lead to a job as a U.S. diplomat, an ideal fit for the first-generation college student who wants to help solve global challenges. [3 min read]

A USC Dornsife chemistry professor’s bet on a student proposal leads to new understanding of what defines a metal — and lands the cover of Science. [4½ min read]