By: Terry Nguyen, ‘20

As a dorm-residing freshman, it is easy to complain about the culinary scene of the dining halls: The food is too bland, they serve the same options weekly, the cooked meat sometimes looks suspicious, they added cheese into your omelette again — you get the point — the list can go on and on. Nevertheless, as your days at the dining halls are coming to an end, you realize that you have developed some clever food hacks over the past months dining at EVK, Parkside, or McCarthy. It is an acquired skill, and dining hall food is also an acquired taste, especially after months and months of the same salad bar with the same offered options of condiments. You learn to look past EVK’s strange-looking edamame, and un-avocado-like “avocado” sandwich spread. The period of super salty kale and sauteed greens are also fading into the memories of first semester. As a soon-to-be sophomore, here are a few easy food hacks to make the most of your time at a dining hall before that all-you-can-eat privilege is replaced by an apartment meal plan — or, no meal plan at all.

By: Terry Nguyen ‘20

What originated as a snowboarding competition 21 years ago in Innsbruck, Austria has grown to be a global event that merges the latest music and the sport into an unforgettable two-day experience. From Feb. 18 to Feb. 19, Air + Style brought the world’s best snowboarders to downtown Los Angeles’ Exposition Park and rising artists, like Grammy-award winning DJ Flume and USC alumnus ZHU. Despite rain or shine, the festival went on for both days from 2 p.m. to 11 p.m., and crowds gathered enthusiastically between the Winter and Summer stages throughout the course of the afternoon into late evening. Their energy did not quell between the sets, as hundreds of people bunched towards the front of the stage, anxiously awaiting their favorite artists.

By: Adriana Bernal Martinez ‘20

Hi there! I’m Adriana, Adri for short, and I’m a First-Year student studying Business Administration at the Marshall School of Business and minoring in French.

By: Brandon Le ‘18

For the past 6 years, El Centro Chicano has been holding an annual conference to help empower Latinx students, and help them find their individual paths to success.

By: Anna Lipscomb

It’s 2017! New year, new you. Do you want to live a healthier lifestyle this year? Learn a new language? Save more money? Stop procrastinating? Here’s how you can keep up your New Year’s resolution at USC:

By: Edwin Saucedo ‘17

Wow, I can’t believe we are already on week seven of school. Over the last couple of weeks our student government has been busy advocating for student needs and looking into how we can make the student experience better. This year, we are also looking at how we can empower students to be engaged off campus. This is why I was so appalled when I learned that only 42 percent of 18-24 year olds registered to vote. The lowest figure in over forty years.

By: Grace Carballo ‘17

If you still have space for 2 more units in your schedule, look no further. The department chairs of a number of programs make a list every semester of “Courses of Interest” for students who aren’t majoring in the field but might find them enjoyable and beneficial for one reason or another. I myself have already taken 3 off this list, all in the film school, and promptly realized I wanted to minor in Screenwriting as a result. So maybe this will help shape your major/minor decision making process or future career goals or maybe you’ll just have a really interesting 2 unit course this semester and that’s perfectly valid, too! Whatever the case may be, I’ve taken the liberty of choosing the FIVE COOLEST 2-UNIT COURSES this fall and have listed the rest below, as well, if you don’t trust me or your tastes differ.

By: Grace Carballo ‘17

Moving in with someone is a big step in any relationship, so not matter how well you know your soon-to-be roommate, it’s perfectly natural to be a little nervous. Whether you met through mutual friends, knew each other in high school, found common ground in your generic posts in the USC Class of 2020 facebook group, or both opted for the “random roommate” in an admirable leap of faith, there’s no way you know what it will be like to live with them until you actually do.

By: Samantha Romero ‘16

With Spring in full effect here is an updated checklist for must-try brunches. So grab your friends and brunch away at some of the newest and trending restaurant. Don‘t forget to bring along that Instax camera to capture that Instagram worthy #foodporn.

By: Samantha Romero ‘16

When it’s that time of the year again and it’s crunch time for finals…

By: Samantha Romero ‘16

It’s that time of the semester again where after a sweet long break the end of the semester workload and finals pressure approaches. Here are some tips on how to turn that stress into success!

By: Samantha Romero ‘16

With the summer heat settling in, here’s an LA guide to 8 must-try ice cream shops. They’ll help you survive the heat waves one scoop at a time.