By: Jonathon Xue ‘19 and Jamie Wu ‘18

What a time to be a freshman.

By: Ellice Ellis ‘20

It’s said college is the best time of your life. When else can you party on Thursday, have 24-hour access to a library and, if you have a meal plan, eat unlimited food with one swipe of a card? Despite the luxuries and freedoms of being a full-time college student, there is nothing quite like being ‘college broke.’

By: Joy Ofodu ‘18

Every Fall, Black undergraduate students and friends of BSA don super-fly fits and bust out summer dance moves at the highly-anticipated Labor Day BBQ. It’s a prime opportunity chow down on prime rib and watch as our peers are communally roasted for their line-ups, kicks and dastardly UNO moves. 2017′s BBQ did not disappoint, uniting freshman and alumna of Somerville Place, staff from the Center for Black Culture and Student Affairs, officers from DPS (with some mean Cupid Shuffle moves) and students from the Brothers Breaking Bread and SC’s Finest Melanin Queens social groups. I have the guilty pleasure of capturing the attendees with my DSLR annually.

By: Jonathon Xue ‘19

You wouldn’t believe how hot it was that day.

By: Jamie Wu ‘18

One of the biggest regrets that college seniors always have is not studying abroad. I didn’t truly understand why until I studied abroad at the National University of Singapore in the Spring of 2017. Living abroad for 4 months was the best decision of my college career. I know that puts a lot of weight to my words but I genuinely cannot recommend studying abroad enough (and especially in Singapore). And these are the top 5 reasons why.

By: Lilly Kate Diaz ‘20

As the school year is rollin’ by, some of you might already be in need of some stress relief (like moi). And fortunately for USC students, we have some special companions that’ll be just the right being to help us. And yes – I’m talking about therapy dogs (or puppies, as I like to call all dogs).

By: Joy Ofodu ‘18

We all want to get out of here with our limbs intact. That was an odd way to start, but you know what I mean. Leaving Troy can be intense and stressful, but these hacks may help you manage the madness:

By: Ellice Ellis ‘20

Did you take a foreign language this semester? Maybe it was Spanish, Korean, or French, like myself? Well, that’s great! Kudos to you. Personally, learning languages has been a huge challenge for me over the years. I’ve taken French since the 4th grade and I have always had problems retaining what I’ve learned after the school year ended. And as you may know, summer is typically the time that most of what you have learned during the semester wears away. So I’ve decided to pull from my failures and tell you the best ways to stay fluent, or close to it, over the summer.

By: Adriana Bernal Martinez ‘20

I remember the day I got this little red and yellow box in the mail. It was in late March of my Senior year of high school. I was coming back home from Debate practice at around 6 and at the sight of two little boxes just chillin’ on my doorstep, my breath caught in my throat. I wasn’t really sure what they were about whatsoever, but they seemed rather important and they had the colors of the school I had just committed to on them, so. I was anxious and excited and maybe a little teensy bitsy sweaty but upon opening them, I learned one thing and one thing only: I was going to China.

By: Lilly Kate Diaz ‘20

I can probably spend hours, days, and even years (as I’m sure many other musicians and educators of jazz have spent) describing and defining what “Jazz” is. I found this really great clip and the people who are interviewed describe jazz and what it is to them (and its origins). All of their definitions, in my opinion, are correct!

By: Ellice Ellis ‘20

Anyway you frame it, preparing for finals can be stressful. Whether they come in the form of your normal tests, essays or other types of projects; these assessments are of the utmost importance because they reflect the hard work you’ve put in all semester and play a major role in your final grade. Personally, I’ve found myself stacked with studying, finishing projects, writing essays and completing other important personal tasks during this time. In addition to the stress there seems to be an attitude amongst many professors that their class assignments are the most important. Despite these tensions, here are five pieces of advice you can take into the next few weeks in order to reduce your stress and get your stuff together during this stressful time.

By: Joy Ofodu ‘18

I have delayed writing this for at least two years for fear of doing it wrong; I don’t want my relayed sobriety experience to be pedantic or preachy, or stuffy, or polished or dishonest. Having survived another 4/20 in Los Angeles, it seems High Time to publicly answer questions that have plagued and amused me since I made the decision that I’d go through college without a drop of alcohol (or any other substance, for that matter).