By: Antonia Le ‘22

The general housing lottery has come and gone, and cancellation/reassignment time is nearly upon us. For many Trojans who were lucky enough to get into the housing of their dreams, it’s a time to step away and think about what’s really important: buying new decorations for next year’s digs. However, some Trojans are faced with much different tasks: trying to get reassigned to any room other than a loft or figuring out how to downsize their lives so that everything fits into a dorm room the size of a shoebox.

By: Jordan Bucknor ‘22

You can stop avoiding Trousdale now. Election season is over! You no longer have to rack your brain thinking about polite ways to decline informational handouts or feverishly avoid eye contact. No more poster boards and no more free food (kinda bummed I never got my In-N-Out) because the results are (unofficially) in!

By: Alexandria Frank ‘21

It is, of course, that magical time of year – Black History Month. And even though February never lasts long enough (like can we please get a do-over BHM in March, please), USC churns out wonderful alumni all year long. Still, the Black alumni of this university can be overlooked at times in favor of Steven Whatshisname. No more! This February, we’re looking at some of USC’s notable Black alumni and letting them have their day in the sun. Of course, there are plenty more wonderful folks that can be found through USC’s Black Alumni Association. But for now, I’ll just give you a little taste.

By: Sophia Pei ‘22

We’ve all heard how sleep deprivation can cause short-term consequences like poor judgement, weakened immune system, and poor concentration and is also correlated with detrimental long-term effects like heart disease and neurological degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s. Unfortunately in an age of instant gratification and ever more invasive technology, maintaining healthy sleep habits is becoming more difficult. Sleep difficulty has been cited as the leading factors affecting USC students’ academic performance (along with stress and anxiety which also cause further lack of sleep, leading to an awful positive feedback cycle). As a diagnosed insomniac, I’m definitely guilty of not getting as much sleep as my body needs. The following are some tips that have helped me obtain a more consistent, healthy sleep schedule.

By: Ann Nguyen ‘22

A martial arts master, a ninja warrior, a mystical and wise old mentor, an annoying know-it-all, the main character’s shy friend, the second person to die in a horror movie… These are just some of the stereotypical representations of the Asian community in film. (You know what I’m talking about!) Though Hollywood definitely isn’t perfect in regards to representation and diversity, it has gotten much better for the Asian-American community with the great strides of improvement that were made thanks to the success of Crazy Rich Asians in 2018. Not to be forgotten in its shadow, however, are works like Japanese drama Shoplifters, which is nominated for an Academy Award, and Sundance-hit Searching, which was made, in part, by USC alumni. And let’s definitely not overlook the great works that Asian Pacific and Asian American filmmakers are continuing to produce about Asians that also feature Asian actors.

By: Jordan Bucknor ‘22

“There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” - William Shakespeare

Imagine this: It’s Monday morning, you’re about to walk into a discussion which you are already late for, and then, you realize you forgot your bag. Later, someone bumps into you and spills hot coffee all over you. Or maybe, you hear about a bad grade, instead? Whatever it is, you feel your mood getting worse and worse and in the end, you end up sulking the entire day because of a couple of bad events. Do not get me wrong, sometimes things happen which completely deserve time to grieve and process, but others are trivial matters that we tend to inflate in our own heads. If this is your case and you feel yourself increasingly getting bothered throughout the day, maybe these tips will help you feel a little bit better.

By: Alexis M Peters ‘20

Maybe you’ve heard this term thrown around before: zero waste. Maybe you think it’s impossible. There’s just no way that a person can make absolutely no trash or waste in life, let alone in college. And I will admit to you, it is very, very difficult. When you’re trying to live a zero waste or a minimal waste lifestyle, you have to be conscious of every purchase and every event, and every meal.

By: Jordan Bucknor ‘22

If you don’t know about the Tuskegee Airmen, you should. The Tuskegee Airmen were the first Black military aviators in the U.S. Army Air Corps. They’re best known for the extraordinary efforts in the aerial warfare of World War II and for challenging the stereotypes that had kept Black Americans from serving as pilots. Together, they encouraged the eventual integration of the U.S. Armed Forces. If what they’ve done already wasn’t amazing enough, to this day, they continue to give back to the world with the Tuskegee Airmen Scholarship Foundation.

By: Sumaya Hussaini ‘22

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was honored by the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism with the 2019 Everett M. Rogers Award, being recognized for her impeccable talent for storytelling and for working towards changing the discourse on gender, race, and identity. The award was named in honor of the late USC Annenberg professor Everett M. Rogers, and is presented each year by the Norman Lear Center on behalf of the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.

By: Alexis M Peters ‘20

Before this week, I had never been to a career fair, I had never visited the career center, and I wasn’t doing internships that were even remotely related to my major or career interests. Oh. And I’m a first-semester junior. Watching my friends look for internships and jobs to boost their resume made me happy for them, but also a little scared for myself. Was I behind? Did I need to be networking my butt off in the way all my friends were?

By: Sophia Pei ‘22

It’s now the third week of the second semester and honestly, the first semester really flew by. To be fair, everything seems to fly by when looking back on it – I highly doubt that the Sophia trying to finish my WRIT 150 essay while studying for biology midterm 3 and a chemistry midterm felt that way.

By: Camila Grases ‘21

So I got to talking to a few international students about what it’s like to be far away from home; for Los Angeles to be a foreign city as opposed to some of us who grew up here. Part of what is most inherent in people’s culture tends to be the food, something you may not even realize is fundamental to your daily life until you are thrown into a place entirely out of your comfort zone. So what is it that these students miss the most, food-wise? The answer from every single one of them was “my mom’s cooking.” No doubt, your mother’s cooking holds a very special place in your heart. But what food exactly? Lets find out.