USC is giving students a new way to pause and reflect with the Keys to Life Walk, a weekly series created by Professor Elisabeth Weiss of the Viterbi School of Engineering.
The program brings students together for guided Wednesday walks across campus where conversations about purpose, identity and emotional intelligence take center stage.
Weiss, who is currently the Associate Professor of Technical Communication Practice at USC and has taught at USC Viterbi for more than 26 years, said the idea grew from seeing students striving for success while also searching for meaning.
“I feel that young people right now are struggling to find their purpose,” she said in an interview conducted during one of her walks.
“Purpose gives our lives meaning. It gives it focus. It gives it motivation,” Weiss said. “And students, if they’re not aware of their own purpose, I want them to be able to discover it.”
Each session focuses on a “key” or theme to help students reflect on their own lives. In one walk, Weiss asked participants to think about the purposes of their parents, elders or mentors and how those values might shape their own goals. She shared a story about her father and a childhood memory involving oranges to show how everyday experiences can reveal a person’s deeper motivations.
The first walk took place on October 1, marking the start of what Weiss hopes will become a lasting tradition of reflection on campus.
The walk itself, which winds from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. at a casual pace, is part of the lesson. Weiss calls it “embodied learning,” a practice that draws on the classical tradition of walking and talking. It’s also a better chance for students to slow down and take in the incredible parks and walks around campus.
“There’s something about walking and talking that changes the conversation,” she said. “We’re moving together, listening, brainstorming and supporting each other as we think about purpose.”
She added that these conversations are especially important as students prepare for rapidly changing futures.
“Technologies are rapidly advancing, and this is affecting all of us. It is really important that we have a strong sense of ourselves in what I would call a machine dominated world,” said Weiss. “We need to continually explore what it means to be human.”
USC senior Marzia Rahman, majoring in Intelligence and Cyber Operations, who participated in the walk and was involved in one of Professor Weiss’ classes, said the experience helped her connect classroom discussions to real-world challenges.
“Earlier that day, our class heard from a guest speaker who runs an AI company, and our walk became a continuation of that conversation,” said Rahman. “With the growing presence of AI in most industries, we talked about how it can be thoughtfully integrated into education to support creativity and learning. The walk emphasized the need to balance technological progress with creativity and ethics.”
The Keys to Life Walk is open to all USC students, regardless of major or background. Sessions begin at the USC Office of Religious and Spiritual Life courtyard and continue weekly throughout the semester. Weiss said the goal is to give students a protected space to reflect before outside pressures begin to define their choices.
Attendance can vary from week to week, and Weiss acknowledged that on a recent Wednesday, no students were able to join the walk. She views this not as a setback but as a reminder of how busy students can be, and why creating intentional spaces for reflection matters.
The event series is free for USC students and will continue weekly on Wednesdays from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. Students are encouraged to RSVP on engageSC beforehand, but anyone is welcome to attend.
“I want to give them that space to be able to discover their purpose before the whole world sort of puts their purposes on them,” said Weiss.
The message is clear: reflection is not optional, but essential. Through the Keys to Life Walk, USC students are invited to step outside of routine, strengthen resilience and walk toward a greater sense of meaning in their lives.