By: Joy Ofodu ‘18

I’m about to graduate from the University of Southern California with a B.A. in Communication and Minors in Spanish and Marketing. It’s a feeling that is equally unreal and the realest thing I can conceive. Freshman Me came in with a rough plan and a lot of hope. Senior Me is leaving as an employed graduate of three academic schools. If I could go back in time and give her some pointers, here’s what I’d offer:

By: Ellice Ellis ‘20

I came into college thinking I was all that in a bag of chips. Reading on point, essay writing skills on point, time management on point; but after a couple of weeks during my first semester of college…my academic confidence tanked.

By: Joy Ofodu ‘18

Last week saw the resurgence of not only the Alphas on USC’s campus, but also the Kappas! Officially recognized as Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. (Beta Omega Chapter), USC’s chapter, integrated with LMU and Pepperdine, gained five Trojan members.

By: Jamie Wu ‘18

It was November 25th, 2017 and the USC Women’s Volleyball team was against our blue and yellow crosstown rivals. This whole season, the valiant team lead USC into the Pac-12 conference with a score of 14-6. Earlier in the season, USC beat UCLA in a stunning 3-2 match on 9/21. Before the season’s final game at the Galen Center, USC ranked 13th with an overall score of 22-9.

By: Joy Ofodu ‘18

Kitwana is a Swahili word, meaning that one vows ‘to live.’ This is what Junior USC student Marcus Burke, an Animation and Digital Arts Major, roared into the cold air Wednesday as he ascended the steps of PED. He and senior Marquis Morris (USC Sociology major and All-American Track athlete) had just officially joined one of the most esteemed fraternities in the National Pan-Hellenic Council: Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

By: Joy Ofodu ‘18

One of our most mysterious rivalry traditions of our annual Troy Week is the ritualistic guarding of USC’s most prominent statues and icons on campus, namely Tommy Trojan, Traveler, George Tirebiter, and Hecuba (the newest addition to the USC Village and icon family).

By: Joy Ofodu ‘18

I remember dressing up in wacky costumes every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night as a freshman (yup, throwing it back to Fall 2014, folks) jumping from house to house, looking for adventure and hiding from trouble. 28th Street and I were new to each other then: I graciously tied hair, passed out water bottles and ushered giggling floormates away from the ragers, the comforting blue glow of DPS Emergency light-posts guiding us home. Over the next three semesters, visits to The Row came fewer and farther between. I found community, meaningful (audible) conversation and good vibes in so many other places on and off campus that I didn’t need to lean on The Row anymore. As a Sober Trojan and non-Greek, we simply grew apart. If you or someone you know is looking to get away from 28th Street, I have a few ideas.

By: Joy Ofodu ‘18

The flyest on-campus job you’ve never heard of? Think: watching every home game from the field, working with players like Iman Marshall and Velus Jones Jr. to host recruits and reporting back to one of the nation’s top university Athletics facilities every week. I had the chance to sit down with Taylor Lott (left) and Haley Coleman (right), two Recruiting & Operations Assistants for USC Athletics. Both are seniors in Marshall and Annenberg, respectively, and key-holders to an exclusive, fast-paced working world that changes the face of the USC football team each year. Let’s go behind the scenes of USC Football, through Taylor and Haley’s eyes!

By: Ayman Siraj ‘18

October is Cyber Security Awareness month in the United States. The news has been filled a plenty with cyber security news over the past weeks – Equifax got breached recently with the personally identifiable information of 143 million Americans leaked. Yahoo just revealed that all 3 billion of their user accounts were breached in an incident dating back a few years ago. As students, we often don’t step back to think about what personal information of ours might be out there. The first time you start paid work, you get your SSN, when you buy something online you use your personal credit card. With all of these breaches happening, what can you do to keep yourself safe online or find out how much of yourself is out there already? Here are five tips that I recommend.

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.

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: 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.