The Business Scholars students in the unique freshman cohort at the David Eccles School of Business recently took a trip to sunny SoCal to visit companies they’ve studied in class, meet with area alumni, see the sights and take in the Utah Utes football game against the USC Trojans at the legendary LA Coliseum. While the game didn’t go so well, Business Scholar Kevin Tao writes that the trip was still well worth it.

Here is Kevin’s report on the Business Scholars’ trip:

One hundred and ten college freshman on a plane from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles—it sounds like the beginning of a joke, and despite my incredulity that it was happening, all the Business Scholars and the faculty were flying to L.A. to visit companies and have fun together.

The first day, I was fortunate enough to be in the group visiting Capitol Records and Deloitte. After reading about these companies beforehand, we went prepared with questions. First up: Capitol Records.

As the bus rolled into Hollywood, we could feel the distinctiveness of the district. The streets were lined with storefronts, and in the middle of the bustle of box-shaped buildings, Capitol Records assertively pointed up. Unintentionally looking like a records stacked on a needle, the main body of the building had a rectangular base with a jazz mural on one end visible from the street. The mural loomed over the parking lot next to the building, its sheer size impressing.

Once inside, we learned about how a recording studio was structured and used. After discussing the nature of the recording business, a representative of the company answered our questions, also taking time to share tasty tidbits about the company, including their hosting of Arcade Fire for a promotional performance of their new album, Reflektor. If only we had gone a few days later.

After visiting Capitol Records, we had lunch at Palms Thai and had some time to wander around Hollywood before going to Deloitte. The presentation given at Deloitte was informative, to say the least. Several speakers shared their time with us, providing excellent perspectives on professional services and accounting.

In the evening, we dined at Brian Webber’s $32 million mansion in Bel-Air Country Club, which almost felt like visiting a museum. Being lost in vast closets was a first for me, as was seeing an elevator in someone’s house.

In direct contrast to the white-collar comfort of the night before, a 6 a.m. beach workout was on the schedule for the next morning. The exercises not only trained our bodies, but also our team spirit. One activity, for example, was having two teams of students compete against each other to lift a heavy rope and haul it to the ocean’s edge and back faster than the other team. Sandy and wet, we returned to the hotel to meet with the alumni panel.

With barely enough time to grab breakfast and take a shower, I made it down to the conference room in a scattered state of mind. Thanks to the morning’s workout, however, I was able to lift the weight of my eyelids using my newfound muscles. As fascinating as the alumni panel was, it was hard to ignore the pre-game excitement in the room.

We attended the tailgate before the USC football game, where I inhaled the most meat thus far on the trip. Enough protein to beat down the Trojans, right? Enough Ute spirit to crumble the Coliseum, right? We were Achilles, and they were Hector, but Zeus just wasn’t feeling it. We lost 19-3. Really. No time to cry though, because it was off to Santa Monica Pier.

We had a great end to the trip: watching the sunset on Santa Monica beach and later dining and shopping in the district.

I won’t mention waking up at 3 a.m. the next morning to catch a flight, but I just did.