senior thesis
It Will Always Be There
Program Events and the RHP Paradox
Despite the importance of “small” ritual activities like hanging out, there were several “big” events that RHPers spoke of in interviews. One of the optional elements of the Resident Honors Program was a monthly group meeting with Penny. The main purposes for these meetings were to check-in, see how everyone was doing, and discuss particular topics, usually dealing with the challenges of adjustment. The discussion topic I remember most clearly was discussed just before Thanksgiving: “how do I go home with green hair?” The meetings were light-hearted and sociable, with pizza and soda to provide incentive to attend.
While nearly the entire entering class attended the first meeting, subsequent meetings were dominated more and more by the emerging RHP social group. However, these meetings were a chance to check-in with those RHPers who were not intimately connected to the core group, and gave us a sense of solidarity.
Besides discussion of adjustment and academic issues, the meetings were a forum to request special events. RHP has a considerable budget to pay for “cultural and enrichment activities” for RHPers. So we voted at the meetings for events we wanted to attend (plays, concerts, and operas), and Penny would later send out an e-mail inviting absent RHPers to the event.
For an hour or two before the evening “dress-up” events, the girls’ floor of Marks Hall was abuzz with activity. Dresses, curling irons, makeup, blow dryers, jewelry, stockings, shoes, and bags all made their way up and down the hall, being examined, borrowed, lent, and changed. The girls helped each other with hair and makeup, gave advice, and laughed a lot. Getting ready to go out was a female bonding ritual in and of itself.
Once we went out, we were quite a sight: girls decked out in pretty dresses with pretty hair, guys in nice shirts and ties, moving as a mass of twenty or thirty. It made everyone feel special. One RHPer said:
“the nighttime get-outs were fun. Phantom and Rent and La Boheme, we had a lot of fun at those kind of things. I don’t know if those actually helped us solidify as a group. They were just fun, and we would have done them anyway, even if we weren’t RHP. It was nice to be able to do what nobody else was doing, we could get dressed up, go out, come back late at night, that kind of thing.”
This statement describes an interesting paradox that lies at the heart of the RHP social group. The big, obvious events were fun. But they were not the intense emotional experiences or the day-to-day happenings during which the group really bonded. However, the big events made us feel exclusive and special since the tickets and transport were paid for and it was only RHP students who were allowed to attend -- to “do what nobody else was doing.” Perhaps this was what made it possible for us to be “so cliquey. Whether or not we want to admit it, we really were cliquey.” One nickname we had for RHP was “Rank Has Privileges.”
Another paradox was our pride. Many RHP students in other classes have been reluctant to admit their RHP status, even ashamed of being a year younger than their fellow freshmen. However, our class was extremely proud of being RHP. This pride both encouraged and was created by the group mentality (though it did not necessarily alienate us from other students). According to one person,
“a lot of it had to do with the fact that I was such good friends with everybody that was RHP. I was really proud to be part of that group because I really, really liked everybody. I liked being identified with people that were so smart and so interesting and really, really fun to be with.”
I believe that most RHP students -- in all years -- come to USC with that sense of pride. But pride is not an easy emotion to maintain alone. In other years, it quickly fizzled out. Our class was unique because we bonded quickly enough to nourish the sense of pride which in turn nourished our group bonding.
One incident in particular stands out. One evening, about twenty of us decided to visit the helicopter landing pad on top of SGM. We watched the sunset and took pictures with the Los Angeles skyline in the background (one of which is displayed on the index page). After a hasty exit at the sound of an alarm, we gathered in an empty lecture hall. Somehow the conversation turned to group projects. We desperately wanted to “make our mark,” by either committing a brilliant prank or winning gloriously in a competition of some kind. Probably inspired by the last scene of Real Genius (where the protagonist students turn the dean’s house into a giant Jiffy-Pop), we wanted something tangible to prove our superiority. But beneath that arrogant desire, I think there also a craving for some kind of group goal. Maybe we subconsciously sensed that our intense friendships might not be enough to hold the group together. We never did manage to pull a great prank or make a name for ourselves.