A letter to my fellow graduating seniors.
By: Ellice Ellis ‘20
It’s senior year y’all! And whether you transferred to this beautiful school at some time during your colligate journey or have been here since year one… the lessons we’ve learned and our growth deserve to not only be celebrated but to be reflected upon.
A Recap of USC FIA’s 15th Annual Fashion Show: Made in LA
By: Karla Leung ‘22
Fashion Industry Association, most often abbreviated as FIA, is a Marshall School of Business based club and is the only fashion focused club on USC’s campus. Hosting a fashion show for the past fifteen years, this year’s theme was Made in LA, meaning every brand and designer featured is based and made in Los Angeles. Not only is it supporting local brands (including USC student designers), but also ensuring that the clothing is ethically sourced. Los Angeles is known for being one of the fashion capitals of the world for its innovation and fashion startups, and the USC fashion show highlighted some of the great talent coming out of LA.
How Catholic Trojans Do Easter
By: Maddie Walsh ‘20
If you know anything about Catholic families, you know that we don’t mess around when it comes to Easter, and my family is no different. Not only do we attend mass throughout Holy Week and invite my entire extended family over for The Big Day, but we go hard for the forty days leading up to Easter, also known as the holy period “Lent.” For as long as I can remember, my father and I have given up all processed sugar during Lent as part of a symbolic fast intended to strengthen our relationship with God. For someone who eats as much ice cream as I do, that is NOT an easy sacrifice (I guess that’s the point) but it makes me appreciate Easter that much more. Fortunately, there’s always plenty of sugar available to make up for lost time. After Easter mass in the morning, my family makes a ceremonious trip to Dairy Queen for extra large blizzards, soon followed by a buffet of desserts courtesy of my talented aunts and cousins. I look forward to this day all year long. This year, however, I dreaded it.
Latinx Student Empowerment Conference
By: Lilly Kate Diaz ‘20
Hi, all! I hope these first three weeks have been going well for you all and I wish you the best throughout the next several weeks! I wanted to write this post about a great experience I had this past weekend with El Centro Chicano. This past Sunday, on January 21st, 2018, I went to El Centro Chicano’s Latinx Student Empowerment Conference. This conference aimed to support the research, academic success, and social justice activism of USC students. Conferences such as these, and the overall organization, are open to current USC students - both undergraduate and graduate - and welcome new spring admits! They welcome & encourage USC Alumni to attend these conferences! And if I’m being completely honest…It was the best thing I have ever attended. The conference started off with a special guest speaker, Cristela Alonzo, comedian, actress, writer, and overall amazing human being.
USC Capture the Flag Recap
By: Ayman Siraj ‘18 and Nathaniel Diakun
On the weekend of the 15th – 17th September, the Cyber Security & Forensics Organization at USC hosted its first Cyber Security Awareness Week Capture the Flag (CSAW CTF) event. CSAW is the largest student-run cyber security event in the world, featuring international competitions, workshops, and industry events. It was founded by the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at New York University. A CTF is an ethical hacking competition where players solve cyber security challenges of various difficulties with the harder challenges assigned more points. The challenges are segmented by Binary Exploitation, Cryptography, Forensics, Reverse Engineering & Web Hacking.
Celebrating Feminist Accomplishments in Music: FemFest 2017
By: Terry Nguyen ‘20
On Friday, April 5, USC hosted its fifth annual FemFest, a festival dedicated to celebrating the accomplishments and promoting women within the music industry. The event was made possible through the joined efforts of various feminist organizations on campus, including the Undergraduate Student Government, USC’s Student Assembly for Gender Empowerment, and MUSE at USC. On the Facebook page, USG Program Board and USC FemFest also contributed to hosting the event. FemFest 2017 was a six-and-a-half hour event that took place in Founder’s Park, starting at 5 p.m. with a variety of female musicians headlining the show. The event was free and open to the public, featuring local community vendors, musicians, and even members of the Trojan family.
USC’s First Feminist Media Festival
By: Terry Nguyen ‘20
On Sunday, April 2, the Women in Cinematic Arts hosted its first ever Feminist Media Festival. Although this was an inaugural event, the organization hopes to host more festivals in future years to improve inclusivity and diversity within an industry predominantly represented by cisgender white men. The USC School of Cinematic Arts is diverse in its student demographics — the school’s demographics reveal that it is 50% female. Unfortunately, the film industry does not reflect these numbers, as only 3% of women direct the top films of the field. Such events like the Feminist Media Festival aim to create and build a network of feminist filmmakers to pave the way for the film future.
USC Alternative Winter Break in French Polynesia
By: Rachel Bennett ‘18 and Ayman Siraj ‘18
As the sun set at the heart of the island, we were welcomed to a feast. In the middle of the Tahitian jungles, local men and women pulled colorful foods from a traditional earth oven set deep into the ground.
Nobel Prize Winners at USC
By: Ayman Siraj ‘18
The Nobel prize is a set of six international prize awards in the fields of chemistry, physics, literature, economics, physiology and medicine. They have been awarded annually since 1901 in honor of the will of Alfred Nobel – the inventor of the dynamite. The winner receives approximately 8 million Swedish Krona ($1 million USD) and an 18-karat gold medal. Over the years many University of Southern California professors have won the Nobel Prize. Let us take a look at what research led them to winning the Nobel Prize.
The Weekender!
By: Ayman Siraj ‘18
Last weekend, I and a few friends headed up North to the San Francisco Bay Area to what is the annual pilgrimage for many USC students – The Weekender. This year it was Stanford’s turn to host the USC Trojans for a PAC-12 footballing showdown.
The Young Turks films at USC!
By: Ayman Siraj ‘18
The Young Turks, a progressive left-leaning political commentary web show filmed live on campus this last Monday, the 12th of September. Filming occurred at the new Annenberg building atrium. The show has erupted online over the years as they address issues not given airtime by the mainstream news media. The panel featured Cenk Uygur (the founder of TYT), Nando Vila (Vice President of Programming of Fusion TV). The show was hosted by Ana Kasparian along John Iadarola.
Let’s Talk Culture: Who’s paying the bill?
By: Ayman Siraj ‘18
The biggest fear for any international student coming to the U.S. for the first time is not being able to adapt to U.S. culture. It’s true that cultures are different as you transgress borders. When I was learning English, I was at a British School in Saudi Arabia and it led to a few funny encounters with my friends here in America. One such instance: My friend Tim and I went grocery shopping and I was like, ‘Tim, should I grab a trolley?’ Tim burst out laughing, and I didn’t understand why. He responded that it’s called a shopping cart here. While I wasn’t wrong, Tim and I at that moment realized that even though we speak the same language, there are subtle differences in word usage between different countries.
If USC Dorms Were People
By: Judy Lee ‘17
I’m going to preface this post by saying that I don’t mean to generalize in a derogatory way! Just some fun and games regarding our building stereotypes on campus. FRESHMAN: take this as you may.
5 Nostalgic #JustFreshmanThings
By: Judy Lee ‘17
To be quite honest, I was a very lame freshman. But even looking back, I wish I could relive some of the moments from those days. When it comes down to it, we may all have been pretty derpy kids, but we were carefree kids nonetheless. Here’s some things I miss.
New Blogger Introduction: Ayman Siraj
By: Ayman Siraj ‘18
It’s funny that in my native mother tongue of Bangla there is no word for ‘Hello!’ When I’m writing in English, my brain is thinking in Bangla while my hands translate to English. On that note, Hello! My name is Ayman and I’m a sophomore majoring in Chemical Engineering with a Nanotechnology emphasis and Cyber Security specialization (I know that is a mouthful). I’m stoked to be blogging for Trojans 360 and would like to thank Andrea & Felicia for giving me the opportunity to do so.
The Truth About Being “That Annoying Person Studying Abroad”
By: Judy Lee ‘17
I’ve definitely been there. My older sister studied abroad in France when I was in high school and I remember her returning from her trip and complaining about the disgustingly large food portions America has. “There they go again,” we all collectively say, “just another study abroad student bragging about their trip that somehow makes them so much more special now.” Not gonna pretend that isn’t the attitude most people have, and the person I have come to sympathize with.
The NCAA Volleyball Tournament, Just Like the Hunger Games Movies
By: Emily Young MA ‘16
Everyone knows that the new “Hunger Games movie: Mockingjay Part 2” is killing it at box offices, but that’s not this week’s top release or box-office smash for volleyball fans across the country. For them (myself included), it’s the NCAA Division I volleyball championships!
Make Your NCAA Volleyball Bracket...Because USC is Seeded #1!
By: Emily Young MA ‘16
Hey sports fans! Do your Fantasy Football picks have you down this season? Can’t wait for March Madness? Need something to brag about during the holidays? I bring you NCAA Women’s Volleyball Bracketology. Why? Because USC is seeded #1 in the entire tournament!
“LGBTQ History Month” Ends, The True History Should Not
By: Paul Samaha ’17
I began this post as I embarked on the annual USC “Weekender”– a weekend-long trip where Trojans travel to the Bay Area for either the Stanford or UC Berkeley football game. This year we play Berkeley, and I’ll be staying in the heart of Downtown San Francisco: a beautiful metropolis in Northern California filled with free spirits and views of the sparkling San Francisco Bay. This same city is also where my past LGBTQ community members shed their blood, sweat, tears and in the worst case, their lives for the sake of basic human rights. Let’s dive in.
4 People You Will Run Into At Halloween Parties This Weekend
By: Judy Lee ‘17
Halloween is always a blast–especially in college. Turning up is just different when you have a cool costume on. But sometimes, shit gets weird (or awesome, depending on your tastes). Here are some of the people you’ll be running into this weekend: