First Year Perspectives: A Brief Insight into Life in LA Outside of Anderson

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About Alex: Alex Liu (‘24) is a native Californian who migrated from NorCal down to SoCal to attend Anderson. He graduated from Santa Clara University with a Bachelor’s in Finance and has experience working at a tech startup and in the defense industry. He hopes to find a job he is passionate about, whether that be as a consultant, in entertainment, or in another industry. In his free time, Alex enjoys watching classic movies, trying new cocktails, and spending time with those closest to him.



When deciding where I wanted to attend business school, the location was always further back in my list of priorities. Surely we’d be so busy with classes and recruiting that where I physically was would not really make that big of a difference. Well in 9 short months, that idea has completely evaporated, as being able to live in a metropolitan setting with countless activities available has been such an uplifting experience. The ability to connect with those with similar interests and have everything at your fingertips is truly incredible, and having the time to do it all is something I didn’t expect. The 3 main factors about life outside of Anderson are:

  1. Literally, anything you want to do, you can. Los Angeles truly has something for everyone, whether you want to be outside, inside, or somewhere in between. Friends have been able to surf and ski within the same day, check out both new and old movies at the countless theaters, or do a little of both like going for a hike and then a concert. Not many cities exist in the world that have the attractions that LA has, and almost every weekend I find myself in a new neighborhood seeing different things.
  1. Plenty of time to do things. With classes being once a week and no classes on Fridays, there’s ample time to explore and take your mind off of school. I was concerned with the time commitment of everything piling up, and while periods as such do exist, there is also certainly downtime to get back to doing what you want to do. I’m sure I could have had even more time previously if I had learned to manage my schedule more effectively early on!
  1. Easy travel access for yourself and those if your life. Another great benefit of being in Los Angeles is that there is no shortage of flights in and out of the city. If you’re not a native Angeleno like many here, that means your family and friends are probably spread out across the country. But with LAX and other airports being so close, it makes travel for those coming to visit and you visiting very simple. It feels like people are always jetting off somewhere or having someone come stay with them, but with a class of 300+, people are bound to be going to cool places and doing cool things.

I had many preconceived notions about what life at business school would be like, and believe me when I say I have plenty of time to explore my passions in a city that contains them all. Los Angeles has anything you could ever want to do, Anderson seemingly budgets time for us students to be able to do those things, and the city is easy to travel both in and out of.



Student Blogger: Alex Liu ‘24

Undergrad: Santa Clara University ‘17

Pre-MBA: Pricing Analyst at Northrop Grumman

Leadership@Anderson: First-Year Director, Admissions Ambassador Corps; John Anderson Golf Club; Wine Club at Anderson

Instagram handle: @alex_liu3

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