Once again, it’s almost Taurus season, which is still my favorite time of year. This year, it’s starting off with a bang as Saturday brings the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, the spring football game, and the last weekend before classes end and the cramming for finals begins. 

The other day, my friend — a Taurus — said something I haven’t been able to stop thinking about: It’s so cruel that the world forces us to confront change during Taurus season, which is a sign related to comfort and stability. 

As a graduating senior, the reality of commencement is becoming clearer each day. By the time Taurus season ends, we seniors will be embarking on our summer adventures. I can’t even fathom how much work I have to do, goodbyes I’ll have to say, and tears I’ll shed between then and now, and I don’t know how we got here so quickly. 

If the last couple of months have also felt chaotic for you, it makes sense if you look at the stars. Two months ago was Pisces season, the end of the astrological year, which tends to encourage introspection and reflection on the previous 11 months. In Aries season, which we’re currently at the end of, it’s easy to want to take all of these reflections and put them into action, and, at least for me, the month usually flies by. 

After all of that, at least Taurus season clears the energy and invites us to pause again as we embark on the rest of the year. And in the spirit of reflection, and the last-ever installment of “Written in the Stars,” I want to take a moment to recognize how much of an impact astrology has had on my USC experience. 

I first came to USC in Spring 2021, when classes were still online because of the coronavirus pandemic. It was the largest leap I’ve taken in life by far: moving to the opposite corner of the country to a hotspot of the pandemic where I knew absolutely no one. 

My direct roommate and I realized we both liked astrology pretty early on, and it was something we instantly bonded over. We found out we were 100% compatible using the astrology app Co-Star and never stopped talking about it. We read the birth charts of our other roommates and even made a presentation for one of them arguing why she should believe her chart is real. They’re still some of my best friends to this day, and I can’t imagine life without them. 

Looking back, I think that’s when I started to realize astrology was slightly more than a silly hobby I picked up on TikTok. 

When I interviewed for USC Helenes the next semester, the e-board asked me what I could talk about for hours. My answer was astrology — that I love looking for patterns and learning more about the people I meet. Once I got into the organization, astrology became my favorite icebreaker, and I could feel myself come out of my shell as I talked to people about their charts. 

Flash forward a year or so later, and I was in the Daily Trojan newsroom with some other editors late one night. We were discussing what we would write a column about, given the opportunity. I threw out astrology as a joke, but as I dwelled on it, I realized there could be something there. Thus, “Written in the Stars” was born. 

Starting this column was one of the best things I ever did for myself at the Daily Trojan. Being so involved in news coverage, it’s easy to feel burnt out, but whenever I sat down to write “Written in the Stars,” that feeling subsided as I flexed my creative writing muscle. For the first time in forever, I was writing just for fun again. 

Talking and writing about astrology at USC was one of the first times I truly understood a lesson I was told in high school: One of the best things you can do for yourself is to make your passions and interests known because you never know the opportunities it can bring. 

So if you take anything away from “Written in the Stars” — aside from how to read your chart and that Scorpios and Tauruses are the best signs on the planet — let it be that you can always create a space to share your interests, no matter how niche or silly you think they are. You never know what friends you’ll make or where it’ll lead you. Plus, Mercury retrograde ends Wednesday, so it’s a perfect time to start. 

Jenna Peterson is a senior writing about anything and everything astrology related in her column, “Written in the Stars,” which runs every other Friday.