By: Ellice Ellis ‘20

The first round of College Football Playoff rankings released Tuesday, USC debuted at No. 17. Our nationally recognized team and school spirit, although very popular and high ranking, has yet to see any national anthem protests.

By: Ellice Ellis ‘20

Los Angeles is known for film. Hopeful actresses and actors flock to the city in hopes of making it big and seeing their name in bright lights. Not only is it home to historic sets and studios- it also lays claim to one of the most highly ranked and prestigious film schools in the world, USC School of Cinematic Arts (SCA). Here at USC not only do we have an amazing film school but classes and programs at the school which are open to more than just SCA students. If you’re a journalism major like myself who watches movies to stay sane or a fan of the Spike Lees, Tarintinos, and Kubricks of the world; you can live out your wildest dreams at SCA.

By: Ellice Ellis ‘18

Amber Rose rose to fame as Kanye West’s girlfriend in 2008, but just shy of 10 years later, she is now known for her efforts in the world of feminism. This past weekend in Los Angeles, men, and women who identify as feminists came together for Rose’s inaugural OPENed Women’s Conference and the Amber Rose SlutWalk. The weekend kicked off with Saturday’s OPENed conference, hosted by the Amber Rose Foundation and the USC Dornsife Center for Feminist Research in Ronald Tutor Campus Center.

By: Ellice Ellis ‘20

Lauren Jones will be the first to tell you she doesn’t have it all figured out. Founder and face of LoJo Media started her career right here at USC as a journalism student. LoJo Media is a Los Angeles based media company providing sports fans with a behind-the-scenes perspective on their favorite athletes and trending sports stories. Her biggest client is the Nike sponsored ‘Drew League. “ known for attracting LA streetball legends, collegiate athletes, and several NBA stars. Her company’s goal is to shed light on the positive impact athletes have had historically and continue to have on our society. Jones, only 24 has had many successes in her post-graduate life; including landing her dream job at ESPN and starting her own company. In my interview with her, she offered some advice for college students, specifically those with an entrepreneurial mindset.

By: Ellice Ellis ‘20

There is no surprise that college is stressful. Between balancing work, friendships, internships and your financial life, these formative years teach us a lot about ourselves and the way we handle stress. In the event that something tragic happens, it can be hard to cope and balance it with the already strenuous college experience. In April as I was preparing for finals, my father passed suddenly. My world was flipped upside down. I talked to my dad twice everyday about anything from my lectures in my law class to Colin Kaepernick to drama with my friends. Suddenly not having him there to talk to for advice threw off daily life. No day felt complete. I was depressed - unable to focus and constantly feeling empty. Loss and subsequent grief can come in many forms. Whether it is being rejected from your dream internship (it’s happened to me), experiencing a heart-wrenching breakup, or losing a loved one, there are healthy and effective ways deal with the pain.

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: 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: 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: Ellice Ellis ‘20

Between midterms, jobs, internships, homework, and relationships taking time for yourself can be the last thing on a student’s mind. Taking on too many tasks, overbooking yourself, and never slowing down can put a student in a diminished physical, emotional, and mental state.

By: Terry Nguyen ‘20

What do you meme you haven’t heard of USC’s meme page? For the latest college trend this past semester, students are turning to a new fascination within internet culture: college-related memes featured on Facebook meme “pages” within a university subculture. As meme culture continues to grow in popularity, college campuses are adopting their own, specific brands of humor. USC is no exception. USC’s page, titled USC Memes for Spoiled Pre-Teens, takes its name inspiration from UC Berkeley’s — UC Berkeley Memes for Edgy Teens. UCLA consequently named its group UCLA Memes for Sick AF Tweens, but the Trojan meme-makers would like to believe pre-teens are arguably cooler than “sick af” tweens. But the real question is: what makes USC’s meme page so iconic? An average USC student’s humor consists of more than simply bagging on UCLA students; it’s a combination of poorly Photoshopped Nikias memes, the slow burn torture of rising tuition, and the strange neo-Gothic pointy structures that guard USC’s gates.

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: Ellice Ellis ‘20

This past Saturday, the Black Student Assembly (BSA) hosted Gearfest on McCarthy Quad - showcasing black artists, black-owned businesses and other local artists. After a very stressful week of midterms, Gearfest was the perfect pick-me-up and a fun-filled break from studying. As I walked around the festival, I saw that there was something different was offered at every booth. The running group, BlackListLA, had a booth set up promoting their various fitness activities around Los Angeles. I visited Ugly Betty Boy Crush: a jewelry store that sells stackable bracelets. Ugly Betty Boy Crush even had Mardi Gras-themed jewelry just in time for the revelry next week. The vendors at the festival were a great way to promote black business and introduce students to black entrepreneurs in the LA area.