USP Student Representative Student Spotlights
The USP Department Student Representatives began conducting student interviews in Fall 2019. Below are the student interviews that have been conducted so far. Please let us know if you have recommendations for who to interview next!
Jarvis Tran 11/19/2024
I am Jarvis Tran, a fourth-year USP major and History minor.
Why USP? Why History? When I first came to UCSD, I was a History major, but then I switched to USP in my second quarter. I think my interest in USP comes from wanting to ride trains and from there I became interested in cities more generally. I like to learn about why things are the way they are: nothing is inevitable. That’s the throughline that interests me both in USP and History.
Favorite part of the department? I love the professors. The faculty is so great - everyone’s really nice, everyone knows your name, and they really care about your education and getting to know you as a person.
Favorite USP class? USP 137, USP 125, and USP 3!
What are your interests in USP? I’m really interested in placemaking, place attachment, and the feeling people get from being in a place. Last spring, I did a TRELS project focusing on student perceptions of public open space on campus. What is their favorite public open space on campus? What do they feel could be changed? It was an individual research project I did with Professor Amy Lerner and I presented the project to Campus Planning. It’s kinda related to my SRP right now.
Are you part of any clubs? I’m one of the co-presidents for Urban Changemakers. We focus on placemaking and trying to improve the function of spaces on campus to make people feel more comfortable and included. We’re currently working on a tree naming project. Something more casual and fun that we do quite often is a rock painting event where students paint whatever they want and put those rocks around campus.
You’re a senior. Tell us about your internship! I’m doing my internship with the Planning Division at the City of El Cajon. I’m doing land use stuff and looking at code to review business licenses and review site plans and sign plans. If someone wants to build an ADU behind their house, we have to check if everything is according to code, so they have me helping out with things like that.
What’s the best part of your internship? I would say the best part is going in the office and picking up the planning jargon and professional knowledge, especially in the public sector. It’s stuff that that you don’t necessarily get in class - what it is to actually work as a planner.
What are your goals after university? Right after I graduate, I want to work at a local city planning department back home in the San Gabriel Valley. I feel like it’s so much more meaningful because I grew up there, so I feel like I understand their issues and concerns. I’m really, really interested in research currently and I definitely want to go to grad school and maybe pursue my PhD.
What advice do you have for other students? Everyone says this, but I genuinely think that getting involved and talking to professors is so valuable. I didn’t really feel like I was in USP until I joined Changemakers. I found out my research interests through talking to Professor Lerner in her office hours. It’s hard, but you gotta do it. But it’s so fun once you get to that point.
Elizabeth Owen 03/02/2020
I am Elizabeth Owen, a fourth-year Revelle College undergrad majoring in Urban Studies and Planning with a minor in Environmental Studies. I was born and raised in New York, so my interests in urban planning started from growing up in the City. As a graduating senior, I have taken most of our Department's courses, however my interests are primarily in affordable housing policy, urban design, GIS, housing for people with special needs, annd micro-housing. I have also taken some courses in Environmental Systems as well as from the Visual Arts Department. For my senior capstone project, I examined accessory dwelling unit (ADU) development in the City of San Diego to understand why this incremental and scaled density of housing may be a viable affordable housing option. I mapped out all of the City's permits for ADUs (over 1,500 within the last 3 years!) to evaluate why some neighborhoods are better than others at producing ADUs. During my time in USP, I have served as a Student Representative, UIA for both USP 100 and USP 177, and Co-Founder and Co-Chair of the Young Planners' Society. I also serve as the university's Campus & Community Planning Committee undergrad representative, as well as the Student Representative on the American Planning Association (APA) California State Board. My favorite UCSD memory was going on the Bauhaus Global Seminar to Germany in Summer 2018 and making so many new friends and solo traveling for the first time. In Fall 2020, I will be starting my Masters in Urban Planning. In my spare time, you'll find me working at the Sixth College Res Life Office, doing photography, finding new coffee places, or traveling! I also am a proud cat mom of 2.
Xinyi Huang 11/07/19
I am Xinyi Huang, a third-year undergrad of Urban Studies and Planning major and Studio Art Minor. In a lot of different planning focuses, I am most interested in urban design, place-making, and community/public art as well as urban history. I am currently working as a UIA of professor Bussell in her Land Use Planning course, which I have learned a lot from. Working as a UIA makes me more familiar with professor Bussell (who is brilliant!!), leads me to know how the courses were prepared by the teaching team, and gives me more opportunities to help my peers as well as making friends with them. I am also one of the current vice co-chairs of the Young Planners' Society. Here I met a lot of friends who are great individuals and are all passionate about planning and related topics. As an international student from China, I am very proud of our culture, especially food culture XD. I have explored a lot of San Diego Asian food.
