Join us in congratulating USC undergraduate, Madeline Sellinger, for being selected to lead the METRANS Fast Facts transportation research briefs team this summer.  Fast Facts research briefs are cutting edge research summaries, created for students, by students and distributed broadly to make transportation research accessible to a broad audience.  Read more about Fast Facts here:  https://metranstsa.org/fast-facts-research-summaries.

Madeline is a rising junior from Florham Park, New Jersey, studying Health and Human Sciences at USC.  Madeline hit the ground running her freshman year at USC and joined the METRANS student team within days of her freshman year at USC, in early Fall 2020. She recalls she was drawn to METRANS because of her interest in public policy and urban planning, the strong student-based staff, and the numerous and valuable opportunities for student growth. She now holds several roles, in addition to leading Fast Facts.  One role she particularly enjoys is as a data analyst with the Strategy team, compiling and analyzing the work done by the METRANS student team into data reports that can be used to help understand the time spent on various teams and projects and best use resources. She appreciates in particular that with her reports she can also broadcast and give credit to those teams and projects being done by the METRANS team.

Last summer, Madeline joined the K-12 team to plan and execute events for local youth, such as the Port of Long Beach funded “Across the Seas” (ATS) series, and in collaboration with the USC Alumni Association, “Building a Better World with GIS.”  Along with a student-led team, Madeline shares that she created and distributed promotional content for the event, coordinated involvement of faculty and practitioner speakers, METRANS members, and K-12 students, and worked as a lead during the event to ensure it ran smoothly. So far, her favorite K-12 project has been the “Across the Seas” event. These K-12 outreach projects presented a very different experience from Madeline’s typical work on the Strategy team, and she enjoys the opportunity to work with both large and small teams to put together fun educational events.  She is thrilled she as part of this programming she and her teammates can contribute to reaching hundreds of local youth and introducing them to the importance of transportation and the many opportunities the industry provides. She, along with her team, just learned that the Port of Long Beach has again funded the ATS series, is grateful to the Port for their support, and looks forward to continuing this work.

Fast Facts Lead Madeline Sellinger

Madeline originally came to USC as a Psychology major but felt that Health and Human Sciences was a better fit for the medical career she plans to pursue. She shared that this degree is particularly appealing as it allows students to complete pre-med program requirements while exploring social sciences and health of the mind. Madeline is also completing the prestigious USC Dornsife Thematic Option Honors program in which participants are given smaller specialized classes on a variety of ‘themes’ to replace the typical general education courses. Recently, Madeline found out she is projected to complete her undergraduate degree much sooner than she had anticipated and with the extra time she hopes to pursue a Master’s degree as part of a progressive degree program.

Madeline spent her first year at USC in a virtual environment and recalls she was bracing for a challenge with the move to in-person instruction but was pleasantly surprised at how easy the transition has been and has been enjoying her courses in-person. Madeline shared that she found USC has a beautiful campus that turned out to be much larger than what she expected. Exploring the numerous nooks and crannies while finding the best spots on campus has made campus life very enjoyable for her.  When Madeline came to Los Angeles she expected an urban environment similar to New York City. After arriving, she found the metropolitan setup of the city to be very interesting and realized only downtown LA came close to what she had imagined for the entirety of Los Angeles region.  She admits she has been needing to adjust to the lack of seasons in LA and enjoys the colder weather and celebrates when it gets down to about 60 degrees, a real low for LA. Madeline typically gets around campus by walking and will use ride-share services, take the Metro, or carpool with friends when venturing off-campus. Overall, being here in Los Angeles has been a wonderful experience for her.

Madeline Sellinger (third from left) with her USC Silks colleagues

Outside of METRANS and her studies, Madeline is a member of the USC Silks, the color guard group in USC's “The Spirit of Troy” Trojan Marching Band. Although being a part of the band is a big commitment, it’s one of Madeline’s favorite parts of USC. She has met many great people and made numerous friends through the organization. Each week, she and her teammates have demanding rehearsals learning routines and drill for halftime shows that they perform for games and other exhibitions. In addition to home games, the Silks also travel to every away game, which this year included fall football trips to Chicago, South Bend, Indiana, and Tempe, Arizona. In the spring, the Silks have a lighter schedule but still have the opportunity to participate in various fun gigs at events like SongFest, ExploreSC for accepted/prospective students, or in Hollywood for events like the Red Hot Chili Peppers walk of fame ceremony (photo above).

This spring, Madeline also began participating in the USC Health Sciences Education Program, an educational club that goes to several schools in the LA area to teach K-12 students about health topics they may not traditionally experience in their science classes. She has found the work to be incredibly fulfilling and when working with students she has utilized many of the skills she has learned working with the K-12 team at METRANS.

This summer, Madeline is excited to take the lead at METRANS for the Fast Facts team and will also keep up with work with the METRANS K12 and Strategy team projects and other general METRANS summer efforts. Midway through the summer, she will travel to England and participate in a USC “July-mester” course that covers global health and medicine. When she returns to the states, she will go back to LA for TMB band camp. She is looking forward to a busy and exciting summer and is grateful for METRANS being a part of it!

About the Author:

Amy Guzman is an undergraduate student attending the University of Southern California studying Political Science and International Relations. She is a student staff writer for the METRANS newsletter and is also part of the METRANS K12 student outreach team.