SCpotlight
April is Earth Month – the one month of the year dedicated to education and awareness around environmental sustainability. With the numerous Earth ecosystems that rely on one another, we need to focus on conservation efforts and cultivating planet-positive habits.
What do Tessa Thompson, America Ferrera, Matthew Lillard, Will Ferrell, and Jason Bateman have in common? They’ve all been visiting artists at Spotlight@SDA. Spotlight@SDA is a hidden gem that all USC students should take advantage of, whether you are studying theatre, screenwriting, communications, business, or anything else.
If you’re looking for a good laugh, USC’s got you covered. Our institution’s ever-expanding comedy scene is one of the standout parts of the university, which hosts a plethora of sketch comedy, improv, and stand-up groups. Among these is the brand-new 3/5 Comedy, founded by Black students as an effort to uplift and promote underrepresented voices in comedy circles.
“We meet every Sunday to create whatever it is that makes us feel alive.”
One rainy Sunday, I stumbled across a new Instagram page called Sundays@USC. A few USC students were featured, including someone building an AI gardening tool, a student creating a card game, and someone researching quantum computing. I quickly fell in love with the idea of Sundays@USC: a place for anyone to work on passions that excite them.
Every semester, the USC School of Dramatic Arts puts on a variety of performances. During the first two weeks of November, they ran a production of Hit the Wall, which I was lucky enough to attend. The play follows multiple perspectives during the night of the Stonewall Uprising in the summer of 1969. Anthony Guerrise, a sophomore who played Newbie during the second week of performances, sat down with me to talk about his experience.
One of my favorite music-discovery easter eggs is finding out an artist whose work I love is a USC alum. Here are some of my favorites, straight from my playlist.
By: Tamanna Sood ‘24
Annenberg is and will always be my home here at USC. I love the school, and I will forever be grateful for the fact I’m able to attend this institution. However, throughout my time here, I’ve uncovered plenty of cracks in the program. Hopefully, one day, Annenberg can make changes to become even better.
By: Tamanna Sood ‘24
Founded in 2010 by the United Nations Foundation, Girl Up is a girl-centered leadership development initiative focusing on equity for girls and women in underrepresented spaces. I first learned about Girl Up through my friend Rumaisa Islam, who coincidentally happens to be the president of the USC chapter this year. I recently got the chance to sit down with Islam to learn more about the organization:
By: Lauren Liang ‘23
Los Angeles is home to an incredible community of creatives, and USC’s student population is no exception. With 22 schools across the university, there is no shortage of talent. Enter Ally Wei: USC senior, photographer, creative director, multi-hyphenate extraordinaire, and founder of Fellows Collective. The Collective’s latest project is a short film titled ALL OF MY FEELINGS, and it needs your help to be produced!
By: Amy Argueta ‘25 (USC Student Life Guest Blogger)
Anya Ball is the next rising DJ you need to check out. After feeling uninspired and unmotivated during her first semester in college, Ball turned to DJing as a new creative outlet. Just eight months after buying her first mixer, she already has 25 venues nation-wide under her belt, and a whole lot of future to look forward to.
By: Ngai Yeung ‘23
Like many people, I’ve never been to an observatory before, nor did I have any plans to do so. But when I saw the Thematic Option honors program’s latest field trip to Mount Wilson Observatory in the San Gabriel Mountains, I suddenly had a new bucket list item to cross off.
By: Chia Okwaraibekwe ‘26 (USC Student Life Guest Blogger)
Every time I found myself at a hospital or clinic, I desperately searched for people who looked like me. As I grew older and started to become more knowledgeable about the hidden truths in life, I began to realize that being both Black and a woman would make navigating the medical field more difficult than I anticipated.
By: Ngai Yeung ‘23
Being a massive school, USC has plenty of opportunities for students hoping to publish their writing. Here’s 25 student publications to get you started.
By: Nancy Aguilar Sanchez ’22
Once you tap into the community and get to know more people at SCA, the inquiries will never stop. Regardless of your major or experience on a set, you’re needed!
By: Sanaa Alam ‘25
Longing to find cultural organizations that embraced my South Asian culture, I turned to USC’s premier South Asian fusion acapella organization, Asli Baat’s semester showcase called Asli Baat (AB) SCendoff.
By: Kelsey Cheng ‘25
USC dedicates Tribute Rock Garden and posthumously awards degrees to Japanese American students who were forced into internment camps.
By: Esther Cho ‘23
It’s Thursday Night and all you’ve got in the fridge is a piece of stale bread and a banana. You can’t go grocery shopping until tomorrow, earliest— and in all honesty, you’ve been subsisting off instant ramen for the past week…
By: Kelsey Cheng ‘25
Interested in social justice issues? Need a GE-C class? Try taking a gender and sexuality studies class next semester!
By: Kelsey Cheng ‘25
For its annual Culture Night, USC’s Nikkei Student Union showcased an event in celebration of Japanese culture! On March 11, Culture Night took the form of an Obon-style night market at the TCC Grand Ballroom, featuring game booths, performances, and dancing.
By: Lanie Brice ‘24
Yesterday, I had the chance to sit down over Zoom with Nikhilesh Kumar, the founder of Southern California Healthcare Outreach. This USC organization was created in 2019 with an mission to educate the people of Los Angeles and beyond about healthcare and health insurance from how they can enroll in lower cost options and take advantage of policies to how they become more active in the policy choices around the issues. The club is currently open to applications for the spring term until Saturday February 12th. Here’s my conversation with Nikhilesh on his experience founding this organization, what club members can expect when they join, and the initiatives that he’s most proud of.
By: Dara Udobong ‘23
Media depictions of college tell us that we’ll be having sleepovers every other day, party-hopping on Thursday nights, and having the best time of our twenties surrounded by our new built-in best friends. For some of you, this might already be your life. For others, none of this might feel familiar at all. If this is you, you’re not alone: a lot of USC students have shared their stories (of their successes and failures) at making meaningful friendships during this very peculiar semester.
By: Ngai Yeung ‘23
Everyone breezes right past the sleek, austere storefront that almost looks like a mini Apple store on Jefferson—that is, until they’re in trouble. For where else can a student with two essays and a presentation due the next day go when smoke starts wafting out of their laptop?
By: Hannah Skinner ‘23
Monday, September 20th will be the start of USC Green Week: a week of sustainability-focused projects and events to engage in. Students can take this time not only to participate in the events and sign the USC Sustainability Pledge, but think about the ways we are mindful of our planet. Read on for some sustainability tips and helpful actions you can do too!
By: Antonia Le ‘22
For students both newly arriving at USC or returning for another semester, finding a new organization to join can be overwhelming. On campus, tables used to line Trousdale as clubs competed for the attention of students just trying to get from one class to another. Over the course of the pandemic, the process of recruitment has shifted to Zoom meetings, where clubs not only had to compete with one another but also the feeling of Zoom fatigue.
By: Claire Wong ‘23
Jackie Faye is an Asian American rapper from Dallas, Texas. She graduated USC with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Business Administration. Although she works as a data engineer during the day, she works in her free time to continuously grow her craft in the music industry.
By: Sophia Pei ‘22
It’s that time of year: college applications. SATs and ACTs may be canceled by the Common App essays are not. Keep reading for my college essay and my reflections on it, the college application process and time at USC.
By: Claire Wong ‘23
Director, screenwriter, and producer Adele Biraghi, a graduate student at SCA, speaks on the struggles of production design within the film industry. Adele works to shed some light on the art of production design, which is often overlooked at USC.
By: Ann Nguyen ‘22
Quarantining has left us with a little extra time on our hands. If, like me, you are looking for new reads to add to your list, I have the perfect book for you: Third Culture Teen: In Between Cultures, In Between Life Stages — written by USC student, Jiwon Lee.
By: Sophia Pei ‘22
Science Outreach (SCout) is a USC club that brings fun science experiments to 2nd and 3rd-grade classes. The goal is to get the junior scientists excited about science before their science curriculum officially begins in 4th grade. Teaching the kids through experiments, SCout aims to share our passion for science and inspire life-long learners in junior scientists. Keep reading to find out more about Science Outreach!
Have you ever dreamed of bringing creative marketing campaigns to life for real companies? At Trojan Marketing Group (TMG), you’ll do exactly that and so much more! TMG is USC’s very own full-service, student-run, pro-bono marketing agency, where passionate members work together to create impactful, story-driven campaigns for businesses and non-profits across Los Angeles. Want to know what it’s really like behind the scenes? During this club spotlight, I’ll give you the insider’s scoop on all things TMG.