Scream USC

Not every contribution I’ve made to Scream USC was bold or headline-worthy. Many were quiet, consistent acts of leadership. During my time in the organization, I have:

• Facilitated over 70 executive board meetings.
• Led 12 general member meetings.
• Proofread 56 weekly newsletters.
• Designed 16 marketing graphics.
• Authored 5 LinkedIn posts.
• Sent and received more than 6,000 messages with fellow e-board members.

In 2023, I was fortunate to receive a scholarship to attend the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) Expo through the Big Break Foundation’s Ignite Talent Program. The experience was transformative, and it quickly became one of my top goals to bring Scream USC to IAAPA.

Over the course of 2024, I worked closely with USC’s Undergraduate Student Government and successfully secured $6,000 in funding, enough to send seven members to the next IAAPA Expo. As the event approached, I coordinated with travel agencies to book flights and hotel rooms and ensured that all attendees had IAAPA registration and tickets.

In November 2024, our group traveled to IAAPA, where members of Scream USC had the chance to explore the industry firsthand. Several secured internships through connections made at the expo, and Scream USC as a whole expanded its network. One especially meaningful connection was with the president and founder of the Melanin Coaster Network (MCN), who later partnered with us to provide exclusive backstage tours at Los Angeles local theme parks.

The only thing better than going on an attraction is watching someone discover how much they love them. Some of my proudest moments in Scream USC have come from helping friends find a passion they didn’t know they had.

Many of our executive board members started out simply enjoying theme parks casually. They weren’t initially considering careers in the themed entertainment industry. But through countless conversations, shared experiences, and encouragement, I helped them see a path forward: nudging them to attend industry mixers, submit that first internship application, or take a chance on a creative ambition.

Today, I’m incredibly proud that five members of the Scream USC executive board have accepted positions at leading companies in the field, including Knott’s Berry Farm, Universal Creative, and Walt Disney Imagineering. Knowing I played a part in their journey is deeply meaningful and a true reflection of Scream USC’s mission in action.

Scream USC began with four core leadership roles: President, Secretary, Director of Marketing, and Director of Events. This functional structure mirrored traditional professional teams, where each member specializes in a role and contributes that expertise across all initiatives. Our executive board collaborated on every event, with each person fulfilling responsibilities defined by their position.

However, we quickly outgrew this model. What I didn’t anticipate was that functional structures rely on a level of ongoing collaboration that’s difficult to sustain among college students volunteering only a few hours each week. Because event planning was centralized, I unintentionally retained ownership over nearly every initiative. The result was a system that felt neither productive nor personally rewarding for anyone involved.

At the end of our first semester, I proposed a new structure alongside an expansion of the executive board. The revised model introduced seven roles and a hybrid approach: it preserved centralized leadership for certain cross-cutting areas (President and Director of Marketing) while shifting the remaining positions toward a divisional structure. Each of the following roles took full ownership over a category of events:

• Director of Events: park trips and other outings
• Director of Membership: general meetings and on-campus member engagement
• Director of Industry: guest speaker events and professional outreach
• Directors of Project Oversight: large-scale, headlining initiatives of their own proposal

This shift made delegation far more natural and significantly improved the leadership experience. In anonymous feedback, the percentage of executive board members who selected “Strongly agree” for the prompt “I have enjoyed my experience on the Scream USC E-board.” increased from 25% to 100%. Many also shared anecdotally that Scream USC was the most meaningful leadership experience of their college career.

At first, we relied solely on Google Drive to stay organized. Tasks were tracked in a shared Google Sheet, but the system quickly became difficult for anyone to maintain. Having already completed a professional internship, I was familiar with industry-standard tools like Jira. But for a student organization, Jira felt too complex and heavy-handed.

Instead, we found a middle ground with Notion. Over the summer, I designed a comprehensive Notion workspace tailored to our needs, including meeting notes, project planning, marketing timelines, task management, and other key logistics. The system was adopted enthusiastically and has remained active and up-to-date ever since.

During my freshman year, I began organizing monthly trips to Six Flags Magic Mountain with a large group of friends. Some enjoyed it so much that they never missed a visit, and it made me wonder how many other students shared our passion for roller coasters.

That question sparked the idea for a student organization dedicated to amusement parks. When I shared it with others, I was met with enthusiasm and encouragement. I drafted a constitution, secured a faculty advisor, gained initial approval from USC, and did some preliminary brainstorming.

I then invited three close friends: Olivia Owyang, Gabriela Gutzmer, and Varun Punater, to join me as the founding executive board. Together, we launched the organization in January 2023 and hit the ground running.