Sometimes school can get overwhelming, especially with end of the year projects and finals coming around the corner. One method that I use to help me decompress is meditation.

By: Star McCown ‘21

What is Meal Prep? Meal prep is when you plan your meals and snacks for the week ahead of time, preparing your meals early on, and portioning them out for convenient meals-to-go throughout the week. Why should you try meal prepping? Well, meal prepping can help you eat balanced and nutritious meals, and exercise good portion control. You can also save money planning and making your meals ahead of time rather than eating out when you’re too busy to cook, or wasting money on groceries that end up going bad before you remember to use them. Don’t know how to cook? That’s okay! Your meal prep journey can begin with simple beginner recipes, and over time, you can level up your meal prep once you feel more confident in your cooking abilities. If meal prep sounds like something you want to try, then this blog post will help you get started on your meal prep journey.

By: Sophia Pei ‘22

Everytable provides fresh, nutritious food at equitable prices for Los Angeles neighborhoods. Their unique business model fixes prices for their meals at different prices based on the average household income of the community. For example, an EveryTable location in West LA may sell bowls for $8 while the South LA location may have the same bowls for $5 to promote equity and provide food at an affordable cost in LA’s food deserts. Keep reading to learn more!

By: Sophia Pei ‘22

Within the first week of classes, there was an incidence of 104 new cases of COVID-19 amongst students living on or near the USC campus. Awareness of proper hygienic practices like washing your hands for 20 seconds (or more) and social distancing has increased during this pandemic, but it wasn’t sufficient to prevent the parties and gatherings resulting in overall a hundred students now being quarantined at the USC Hotel. If you’re staying in or near USC and living with others, it is strongly recommended that you get tested for COVID every week. Here’s a quick guide on how to get tested.

By: Sophia Pei ‘22

Gyms, hiking trails, and beaches might be closed but that’s not an excuse to not exercise. Chances are, the nation-wide shelter-in-place initiative has made your lifestyle more sedentary. Nevertheless, healthcare experts recommend getting approximately 20 minutes of moderate exercise daily to maintain health and immunity. It’s advised you do try to get outside for sunshine, be it a power walk to the convenience store or a bike ride around your neighborhood. But whether it is out of concern for your own health or your loved ones, you may not be able to go out for that breath of fresh air. Try some of my favorite equipment-free at-home exercise videos to help you stay healthy!

By: Sophia Pei ‘22

The new guidelines ramping up nationwide have shut down restaurants, public spaces, and gatherings of any kind. Just because you need to keep 6 ft of physical space between you and the person next to you, doesn’t mean you need to grow apart from your friends. Keep reading for some fun ways to still “hang out” with your pals!

By: Sophia Pei ‘22

The recent string of nightly emails from the Provost’s office has caused an uproar not only on campus-wide, but nationwide. COVID-19 is having a larger societal impact than anyone had anticipated. Everyday, researchers are finding out more about this strain of the coronavirus and along with more knowledge comes more questions. Keep reading to find out more about the coronavirus, its impacts, and some tips to stay healthy.

By: Antonia Le ‘22

On October 28, actress and activist Jameela Jamil came to USC and spoke at Bovard Auditorium in a discussion moderated by Dr. Stacy Smith, of USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. Jamil’s talk at USC was sponsored by USC’s very own SAGE (Student Assembly for Gender Empowerment), working with USG, USC Speakers Committee, ISA, and SCIA. During the event, Jamil spoke about self-love, being an activist, and staying strong in the face of criticism and adversity. If you had to miss the event, here are some bits of wisdom from Jamil that should be heard by everyone.

By: Sophia Pei ‘22

Transitioning into college is a journey, and one of the greatest obstacles is developing a growth mindset. It can be challenging going from being top of your high school class to “average” in a USC curved class. Nevertheless, it’s vital that college students all learn to dissociate self-esteem and self-worth from grades and prevent a fixed mindset from holding them back. The following is a very personal account of my own slow development to having a healthier mindset about not only grades, but about myself.

By: Antonia Le ‘22

We’ve all been there. You tell yourself that you’ll stay up a little bit to study for your midterm, but when it comes time to actually take the test, you find yourself wanting to doze off halfway through. Or maybe you had a great night’s sleep, but there’s that one professor whose voice just puts you to sleep. However, you might not want to reach for that cup of coffee just yet. Drinking too much caffeine (or caffeine at the wrong time of day) can mess up your sleep schedule and send you into an infinite loop of feeling tired, reaching for a cup of coffee, and not getting enough sleep. Instead, try these tricks for staying awake in class!

By: Lindsey Hamilton ‘22

Let me begin by addressing a few misconceptions. Yoga, as a practice, is neither about form-fitting Lululemon pants, nor turning yourself into a human pretzel. You don’t need a Hydroflask or even much flexibility. Yoga has been practiced for thousands of years by people of all skill levels and backgrounds with universal results: drastically increased mental and physical benefits. Kundalini yoga in particular focuses on maximizing mental health benefits through special yoga practice combined with mantras, a kind of chant and music intended to help direct and focus the mind. For a taste of these mantras, be sure to check out the Grammy Award-winning band White Sun, a group famous for their musical interpretation of yogic mantras. The FREE concert will be held on Monday, April 22nd at 6PM in Founders Park on campus. For a better idea of what this type of yoga is all about, keep on reading!

By: Karla Leung ‘22

Accidents are a part of life, and in a pinch, it’s good to know where to find emergency contraceptives. Purchasing Plan B, a pregnancy test, or any other sexual health item can sometimes be embarrassing or nerve-wracking. Luckily, there are a variety of places around and off campus that provide discrete and convenient access.