Entries by Valerie Yu

Five things only peanut butter lovers will understand

A wise person once told me that for college students, food falls into only two categories: 1) peanut butter and 2) foods to put peanut butter on. So if you love peanut butter as much as I do, you’ll feel me on this. When you get that late night craving and the only thing you […]

Love U: A labor of love

Relationships are hard. That’s an easy lesson to learn. What makes a relationship worth all of the labor that goes into building it? That’s a much more difficult question to answer. I didn’t have an answer to that question when I came to college. In high school, I was always guarded. I kept my emotions […]

Four music festivals to look forward to this spring

As spring draws near, Southern California will be playing host to many music festivals. Here’s a list of the top few you should be looking forward to in the coming months! Crush SoCal This festival will be the highlight of Valentine’s Day for EDM fans. Insomniac is bringing in a stellar lineup for this one-night […]

Air + Style: A new kind of festival

Air + Style is kicking off its second annual two-day festival in Los Angeles on Feb. 20 and 21 at EXPO Park at the L.A. Coliseum. The event, hosted by snowboarding Olympian Shaun White. Along with the festival’s live music, Air + Style features a 16-story high skateboard ramp, professional athlete appearances and local art […]

This February, show your heart some love

The month of February is often associated with the glamorization of Valentine’s Day, adorned with pink and red hearts as couples celebrate their love for one another. But it’s about more than just cutout shapes and fluttering hearts — February is also American Heart Month. Heart disease, the nation’s leading cause of death, kills about 610,000 […]

War of the Words: Creative writing and news journalism

During my first semester as an editor at the Daily Trojan, I remember writing a last-minute feature for the news section in order to fill space. It was the first time I had ever written a feature. After I had finished it, my co-editor Sebastian read it over and asked me, “Jack, does being a […]

Five snacks that need to be at your Super Bowl party

This Sunday, millions will be watching the nation’s biggest sports event of the year: Super Bowl 50. Whether you’re an avid football fan or don’t know the difference between a touchdown and a home run, these snacks will surely be the best part of the big game. Classic Guacamole Guac and chips go together like […]

Nine songs to help you celebrate Chinese New Year

Happy Chinese New Year! In honor of the new Lunar Year on Feb. 8, here’s a list of Chinese songs for Trojans to ring in the Year of the Monkey.The words are in a different language, but music is all about connection. This playlist is dedicated to my Chinese professors I have had the pleasure […]

Spudnuts sweetens the college experience

★★★★☆ Once again, I have found a donut shop that is open 24 hours, and through my experiences, I have found that they are just as delicious at every hour of the day. You never know when a donut craving will strike, and a donut craving is not something you can simply ignore. Lucky for […]