Category Archives: Advice

How TV Gets Me Through the School Year

By Megan Dang


A couple of weeks ago, I finished watching HBO’s dark dramedy Succession after what felt like an eternity of being the only person with a pulse who hadn’t seen it. I immediately texted my parents to encourage them to watch it. Seconds after, I turned back to HBO and hit play on the latest episode of The Last of Us. My mom’s response to my text was full of judgment: “Aren’t you a college student? How do you have the time to watch all that TV?”

Photo by Mollie Sivaram on Unsplash


At first I felt defensive, like I needed to have some reason to justify my (yes, possibly a bit concerning) TV-binging habits. My mom had a point, after all; in the past few months alone, I had serially binged Succession, The White Lotus, The Last of Us, Breaking Bad, and Better Call Saul, interspersed with a few revisits to some long-time favorite shows. All this added up to a copious amount of hours that, for my own peace of mind, I’d prefer not to calculate. Eventually the excuse I came up with to preserve my dignity was, “I’m a screenwriting major, watching TV is part of my education!.” This is partially true. In all of my film classes, our professors encourage us to watch as much TV as possible in our own time for the sake of studying the writing behind it. How was this plot point set up? How was this backstory established? When you watch TV critically, that can absolutely be a learning experience.


But if I’m being honest with myself, I can’t say that I always watch TV with my writing cap on. As I watched Breaking Bad, I wasn’t thinking about act breaks or story structure; I was so immersed in the on-screen world that I felt like I was living in it. Watching Succession, I wasn’t analyzing the characters and their dialogue; they were simply people I knew, people I could laugh with. The reason for this is simple: it’s hard to look at something you’re experiencing so profoundly through an objective, scholarly lens, especially when you’re in the thick of it.
However, I know I’m not the only college student who spends a little too much time on streaming services—and a lot of those other students don’t even have being a film major as an excuse. But when I thought about it more, I realized that there was no need for an excuse, anyway. Television is more than just a way of passing time that you don’t have. Television is escapism.

Photo by Praveen Gupta on Unsplash


College students are certainly a demographic in need of escapism. In my first few months at USC, I grappled with crippling homesickness. I missed my home, the sense of familiarity and comfort, the feeling of sprawling out on my couch and being surrounded by family. Even now it’s a feeling I experience regularly. Here on campus, TV has become a way to combat that feeling. The screen serves as a universal safe space, an indication that work time is over. The characters become family, keeping you company when you’re holed up alone in your dorm.


There’s no reason college students should feel guilty for our late night Netflix binges, regardless of whether we have the time for it or not. College is possibly one of the most transitional periods of our lives. Things are constantly changing around us: classes, professors, people, homes, friends. Television provides a source of stability and consistency throughout all of that. Often it’s as close to a constant sense of home as you can get on campus. Treat yourself to a binge sometime—you deserve it.

Featured Image by Adrian Swancar on Unsplash

Megan is a sophomore studying screenwriting at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts. Born and raised in Southern California, she’s very familiar with the L.A. lifestyle and culture. When she’s not writing movies and TV, she loves to watch movies and TV. Her other hobbies include reading, art, playing ukulele, listening to rock music, and playing video games. Most importantly, she loves being around people and making new friends. 

The Greatest Experiences are Born from Fear

By Anahi Terrazas

Terror was all I felt in the days leading up to my flight to Paris. I started to get racing, anxious thoughts questioning what my life abroad would look like—what if I didn’t like my host family? Since I knew nothing about the Paris metro, how would I survive getting around the city? What was I going to do by myself in a foreign country? As embarrassing as it is to admit, the fear paralyzed me. I started to doubt whether studying abroad was the right choice. Despite my angst, I boarded my flight to Paris. 

The day after landing in Paris, I started to feel at ease. I got along well with the people in my study abroad program, and the metro was easy to use. But, the aspect that terrified me the most—living with a host family—had yet to be resolved. We learned who our host family would be our second day in Paris, and we didn’t move in with our host family until our fourth day in the city (we stayed in a hotel together our first 3 nights). All I knew before getting into the taxi that would take me to my host family was that I would live in the 13th arrondissement with a lady who worked for the Paris museums and had a 17 year-old daughter and a 15 year-old son. 

Photo by J C on Unsplash

The taxi driver dropped me off with my two large suitcases and backpack on the wrong street corner. I looked down at the address I had written down on my phone, and looked at the Haussmanian buildings in front of me. They all looked the same, I wasn’t sure where to go, and my bags were incredibly difficult to move around. I crossed the street, in hopes of getting closer to where I needed to be, when suddenly I heard “Anahi!”. I looked up and a very French woman approached me, introducing herself and signaling to the apartment complex opposite of me. She grabbed one of my bags and started to guide me. 

 Her apartment was up the stairs on the first floor, with a beautiful living room that looked out into the busy Parisian street. Colorful art decorated the walls, and the old wooden floors creaked constantly. Her daughter and son greeted me excitedly, giving me a tour of the quaint and traditional Parisian apartment. I was left to unpack while my host family set the table and finished preparing our dinner. At dinner, they were patient with my stuttering around in French, and they did everything in their power to help me feel included. I went to bed that first night with a feeling of warmth, recognizing that I would enjoy my time with my host family. 

Photo by Resi Kling on Unsplash

I had dinner with them four to five times a week, had movie nights with them, attended their birthday parties, went to the movie theater and park with them, and spent a weekend at their vacation home in Normandy. We went from complete and utter strangers to an integral part of each other’s lives. I felt at ease with them, chatting with them while I helped prep dinner, sharing stories about the trips I had taken the previous weekend (I believe I spent a total of five weekends in Paris out of the four months I was there). What once was the most frightening aspect of my study abroad experience quickly became one of my favorite parts. As the end of my program approached, the more I realized it would not only be difficult to leave Paris and all my experiences behind, but also leaving the family that had so warmly welcomed me into their home would prove to be a very difficult challenge. 

I stayed a few extra days in Paris after my program ended with a friend from back home who came to visit me. We stayed in an Airbnb in the 5th arrondissement, and the night before I left Paris my host family invited me and my friend for dinner. At the end of dinner, I gave them all a hug and I fought tears back as my friend and I walked to the bus station. As soon as I sat on the bus, I started to cry uncontrollably—I would miss them, I would miss Paris, I would miss the freedom of living in a walkable city, I would miss who I became while living abroad. 

Photo by Pablo Merchán Montes on Unsplash

The scariest experiences are often the most valuable ones. I am thankful that I was forced to live with a host family and step out of my comfort zone while living abroad. As cheesy at it sounds, I returned from Paris a completely different person and I recognize that all the terror I felt was actually a sign that I was about to embark on a journey that was good for me. Great life experiences, relationships and cherished memories come from discomfort. 

Featured Image by Ross Parmly on Unsplash

Anahi is a Political Science major and a French minor. She is a sophomore and is from El Paso, Texas. She is currently involved with Trojan Herstory as a Content Creator and is an active member of Phi Alpha Delta, a pre-law organization. Anahi is a transfer student and prior to attending USC she attended Florida Atlantic University. Anahi is dedicated to political organizing and has been a part of various organizations such as Students for Bernie and the Florida Immigrant Coalition. In her free time Anahi enjoys yoga, reading, and musical theatre.

Travel to The Windy City – Chicago

By Kamila Dautnokova

New York, San Francisco, Las Vegas…there are so many exciting cities to visit in America that sometimes others get overlooked by international students looking for somewhere new to travel. Yes, all of the above cities are amazing, and I have enjoyed visiting them very much, but the city of Chicago also made an unforgettable impression on me. In some ways it is similar to Manhattan, but in my opinion is somehow more spacious, more clean, and more comfortable. The architecture in Chicago is amazing, and isn’t quite as overwhelming as some of the skyscrapers in New York can be. Chicago is an amazing city that I hope to return to soon, and here are some reasons why you should visit!

Located on the southwest coast of Lake Michigan in Illinois, Chicago is the third largest city in the United States (after New York and Los Angeles), the second most important financial center of the country (after New York), and the largest transport hub in North America. Being the largest city in the entire Midwest, it is also the largest transportation, industrial, economic, and cultural center in North America. As a stronghold of the Democrats, many well-known politicians have come out of Chicago, including Barack Obama (senator from Illinois). The unofficial name of the city is the Windy City and speaking from personal experience, this is accurate–the Chicago winter is freezing.

Photo by Cole Parsons on Unsplash

Chicago is a “city of skyscrapers”, and is home to lots of interesting sites to see and places for hiking. There are many parks, recreation areas, beaches, museums, theaters, and restaurants. In my opinion, the first thing to do in Chicago once you arrive is to wander aimlessly. The city itself is one giant landmark, where the streets are narrow, and the skyscrapers are so tall that you need to tilt your head fully to see the top of them.

Millennium Park is a green park in downtown Chicago the size of fourteen football fields. There are bizarre sculptures, concert zones, and benches to sit and relax. The famous Crown Fountain is also located there – two fifteen-meter glass blocks, on which video images of Chicagoans are broadcast. Millennium Park is the center of Chicago’s social life. Entrance is free everywhere. Volunteers lead tours of the park, tourists watch spiders through microscopes, and actors give free theatrical performances. Cloud Gate is also located in Millennium Park. This is the most recognizable monument in Chicago and, perhaps, America – a hundred-ton metal sculpture of a bizarre shape. However, the locals came up with a more spunky nickname for the sculpture: The Bean. The scultpure really looks like a giant bean from above, and is an iconic place to visit if you have the chance.

Photo by Christopher Alvarenga on Unsplash

One of the most famous eateries in the city is the restaurant “Jordan’s”. This is a Chicago pizzeria with a forty-year history, which was founded by immigrants from Italy. The New York Times and dozens of other influential media wrote that they served the best pizza in Chicago.

Art museums are also very popular in Chicago. Some of the best include the Art Institute of Chicago, where you can view classical art for tickets priced at $27, or the Museum of Contemporary Art, where adult admission costs $15. Among the historical museums, the one that was the most memorable for me was the Chicago History Museum where adult tickets sell for $19.

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