Honestly, I think as a general population of students, we don’t appreciate how lucky we are. I mean seriously, there are so many perks that come with being a student, and more specifically a student in LA. I feel like I’m constantly learning about new perks for students and free things that we can do that you really wouldn’t be able to do at any other school. And I’m not just talking about Student Beans or Unidays, I’m talking about tangible events and opportunities.
Like did you know we get free access into pretty much any museum in LA? The Broad, The Getty Villa, The Natural History Museum, LACMA, you name it. These museums are beautiful, and some are amazing picture spots (I’m looking at you Getty Villa). And if transportation is an issue, did you know we get a quarter of free metro rides? I learned about it this year, and it is honestly such a useful resource for students.
But there also are definitely some LA specific perks we get. I mean, we live in the entertainment capital of the world, so I think we all ought to be taking advantage of that. There are a ridiculous amount of TV shows filmed in LA that are pretty easy to go to, for free I may add if you just sign up. On campus, clubs such as the Club Sampling Club have set up trips to go to America’s Got Talent and American Idol, but a life hack I’ve learned about recently is a website called 1iota. 1iota specializes in tickets for TV show tapings and special events. They consistently have tickets for The Voice, The Kelly Clarkston Show, Jimmy Kimmel and The Late Late Show. AND, they even have tickets to live tapings of shows like That 90s show. All you have to do is request and wait.
Another perk I didn’t learn about until recently was that so many big events that take place in LA need volunteers and will look through universities to find volunteers. Recently, my friend volunteered to help at the medical tents at Rolling Loud LA, and they are planning to volunteer at Outside Lands in San Fransisco over the summer. And if you aren’t premed, don’t fret, because there are other organizations that take volunteers in a similar fashion. For example, there is an organization called “Headcount” that gives out free concert tickets if you help register people to vote before the concert begins. They do this for major artists such as Kehlani, Lizzo and Harry Styles. That’s right, I said Harry Styles.
The beauty of all these experiences is that they are all right at our fingertips. And when else will we have the time and resources to participate in these things except for while we are college students, with free time and a love of free things? If all other reasoning fails, then at least listen to this one point: Do it for the plot. It’ll be fun and a cool story one day!