Sarah Cortina

My name is Sarah Cortina and I’m from the Chicago suburbs. I am a sophomore transfer student. I spent my freshman year abroad in Paris, studying at the American University of Paris. As I was part of the Trojan Transfer Plan, I decided to sign an apartment lease early at University Gateway in winter of 2019. Thus, as I remained tied to my lease, I decided to move to L.A. and take classes remotely from Gateway. This photo essay shows my weekly routine. During the weekdays, I take my classes, run on campus, go to Trader Joes and make dinner with my roommates, three girls I met in Paris. On the weekends, I typically do outdoor activities around Los Angeles, such as going to the beach or the outdoor Silverlake Flea Market. It may not be the first semester at USC I pictured, but I’m incredibly grateful to be in Los Angeles and be living with my friends again.

Charlie McCollum

I’m Charlie McCollum, a sophomore studying film & television production with an English minor. This fall, I’m currently living alone near campus. I came here to continue finding ways to practice my major and find film opportunities outside of school. Though I knew this semester would be different, it certainly has challenged me in ways I didn’t realize back in August. Feelings of repetition and isolation in particular have been the hardest. However, that's not to say the experience has been a negative one. Through the time I’ve spent alone at my place, I’ve learned far more about myself and the world around me. I take far less for granted than I used to. I’ve picked up meditation and prioritized my mental health. I'm improving day by day in the kitchen. I hope my photos capture the feeling of being in a surreal universe during an unprecedented time, along with a glimpse of how I’ve managed to function in this world myself.

Sarah Hendartono

My name is Sarah Hendartono and I am a freshman majoring in journalism! I’m from around Dallas, but I moved out to Los Angeles this semester to get out of my small Texas suburb and have a little bit of independence. With this being my first semester at USC, my college experience looks a lot different than I thought it would. I never imagined that my first time stepping on campus as a student, it would be almost completely empty. My only perception of campus now is blocked off areas and signs reminding people to practice social distancing. All my classes are online so I usually spend most of my time in my little workspace and meeting with study groups over Zoom. I at least try not to stay completely cooped up in my apartment by going out to the Village to study, going on walks with my roommate or taking the occasional trip downtown with my friends.

Celine Vasquez

My name is Celine Vazquez and I’m currently a freshman studying biomedical engineering. Right now I am in Montebello, Calif. — the same place I’ve lived for the past 18 years. I’m here right now because this is where my family is, and it’s the place that makes the most sense for me to be financially. Ending my senior year of high school during the pandemic was extremely challenging. I had curated this idea of what I thought my senior year would be like — celebrating college acceptances, walking the graduation stage and saying goodbye to all of my classmates. Things didn’t work out the way I had planned, and I’m now going through my first semester of college online. It’s been an interesting experience, to say the least. Making friends and connections with professors has definitely looked different, but I’m so appreciative of the people I have met virtually so far. I’ve met a great group of friends that support me with chemistry labs and Zoom fatigue. I’m also super lucky my sister lives with me; she also goes to USC, and we’re in some of the same classes, which has been awesome. Although this whole experience has thrown a huge curveball into what I thought 2020 would look like, it has taught me to appreciate every day and every person that has come into my life. These pictures showcase the little memories I’ve experienced during this first semester. Although this point in time is “unprecedented,” capturing special moments like these is what gets me through. These photos are a subtle reminder that when something goes terribly wrong, the only thing left to do is face it and dive headfirst into what life has left to offer.

Mía Islas

My name is Mía Astrid Islas Marquez and I’m a junior in Annenberg. I’m virtually attending classes from my hometown in San Diego. My photos were taken in the space where I spend most of my time working, relaxing and studying: my room. I decided to clone myself in this photo series both for fun and to represent a day in my life over time. I’ve always liked the look of long exposure photographs, but I was reminiscing on my days in the Annenberg Digital Lounge where I learned more about editing, and I decided to try my hand at replicating that look digitally, like many things these days. My room is clearly decked out in ‘SC gear, but among my many hobbies of roller skating, knitting and doodling is creating a space where I can be comfortable both writing essays for hours on end and coming back home to relax after a long shift at work. I also have a lot of mirrors to help make 100 square feet feel bigger than it appears, so I used them to show parallels of my room, like my high school graduation cap and a behind the scenes peek at virtual band practice as a USC Silk.

Lily Tam

My name is Lily Tam and I'm a PDP student in my 9th (and final) semester at USC, finishing my B.S. Industrial & Systems Engineering from Viterbi and M.S. Global Supply Chain Management from Marshall. I recently moved to Pasadena, which is about 20 minutes from the UPC campus after I started my full time work with Southern California Edison. I wanted to portray what life was like these days. A few shots capture just how many screens we are using when multitasking, especially for someone like me who is both working and in school while trying to maintain the semblance of a social and personal life. There are also a few shots of a different workspace, where I spend my nights usually half-Netflixing in an attempt to relax but still doing some work; the wilting flowers act as a symbol of some of those days and nights. Additionally, while we often focus on the bad and the ugly and despite the crisis that we are in today, we cannot forget to celebrate the little things, and in this case, a pretty big thing — college graduation. In the photo from a grad shoot I did for a few friends, you'll see that it embodies a lot of what's happening in the world right now: diversity, higher education, power moves and poses, learning how to smize in the mask era and still showing off that Trojan pride.

James Wolfe

Hey! I’m James, a senior in my last semester at USC, studying computer science. I’ve been living in the Los Angeles area this semester while focusing on an internship and completing my degree. My life this fall has mostly been in front of a computer screen, but I wanted to show something different as a reprieve from the regular daily life that we’ve all grown accustomed to. For my photos in this series, I wanted to show something that has changed for me and many other Californians: the effects of the fires and climate change that have been ravaging our beautiful state. All photos were taken from Mammoth Lakes on a day where the area was filled with hazardous levels of smoke and devastation was evident. These photos show the mysticism that smoke can create on a landscape, what some of the forests that have been touched by the fires look like now and, with this being the fall semester, some of the beautiful colors of the season on display now that should be protected and preserved for future generations.

Michael Castellanos

I’m Michael Castellanos and I am currently a sophomore studying from Las Vegas. I had plans of moving to Los Angeles before learning of the campus’ shut down and decided to stay with my family in Las Vegas instead. The shut down has brought my family closer but also made it difficult to have a dedicated work space. Because of this, I set up a small work station in the corner of my living room. Las Vegas is most known for its nightlife, and since quarantine began, much of the activity has died down. The Las Vegas Strip has been picking up in volume, but downtown remains nearly lifeless despite its close proximity to the strip. The picture exhibits the quiet streets of Downtown Las Vegas. The closure of the city's businesses led to the solitude found at Mt. Charleston, a place that helps me ignore the city’s starry lights and offers a feeling of familiarity while also providing the unknown that has yet to be discovered.

Kellie Chen

Hello! I’m Kellie, a freshman at USC, currently spending my first semester at home in the Bay Area. I decided to stay home due to the coronavirus and convenience reasons. My photo essay documents my adjustment to an online atmosphere, allowing me to adapt to new creative routines and discovering new outlets. As someone who has the constant desire to translate the daydreams in my head into reality and physical, tangible images, I adapted to new methods of executing photoshoots and allowing my mind to filter endless thoughts out. From finally taking that daunting step in a new direction of self-portraits to socially distanced photoshoots to an increased dependence on bullet journaling, I found myself in a new routine. My desk became a space of emerging photoshoot concepts, but also a repetitively mundane, artistically numbing atmosphere. With school consuming the majority of my time, I found myself lacking in painting and sketching, things I used to do constantly. Instead, I channeled that energy into bullet journaling to create a simple, quick outlet to give structure to my days and clear my head of the overwhelming tasks that exhausted my mind. Although self-portraits may seem like a simple task, it was a big push out of my comfort zone that I would’ve never done if it weren’t for quarantine. Setting up makeshift studio spaces within a tight, confined room and also collaborating with other creatives in a safe, distanced environment allowed me to create some of my favorite photos and art pieces.

Vincent Leo

Hi! My name is Vincent Leo and I’m a junior taking class at home in the Bay Area. I chose to stay home this semester as all my classes are online and coronavirus cases were spiking in the L.A. area. My set of photos are focused on three key components: study space, social interactions and local community. As I started to settle into taking classes in a new environment at home, I chose to reconfigure our house’s guest bedroom instead of spending all day in the family dining room. My workspace has a cozy vibe and showcases various photos and artwork I’ve taken and collected over the years. A benefit of staying home, I now have more time to spend on the basketball court and outdoors with my high school friends. Our favorite spots have become the PODS box at my middle school, where we try to replicate social media trick shots, and various hiking trails in the Bay Area, as we stay socially distant when we hang out on the weekends. And when I’m not on Zoom for class or my internship, I’ve spent time in San Francisco documenting how the pandemic has affected the city’s inner workings. Important locations including the Ferry Building, Salesforce Park, Oracle Park and Union Square are part of my attempt to capture the effect of the coronavirus on the Bay Area.

Twesha Dikshit

Year/major: Junior, Journalism and Cinema & Media Studies

Current location: Panchkula, India

Locations shot: Panchkula, India and Moradabad, India

The pandemic has turned my life upside down. Doing classes with a 12-and-a-half time difference has meant staying up all night and sleeping all day, along with a weekly-shifting sleep cycle and days that turn into weeks of not stepping outdoors or seeing the people I live with.

I have captured within these photos the only constants of my daily life: family, nature walks, cake and TV. From weekly visits to my favorite bakery Nik Baker’s for garlic bread and chocolate cake to taking breaks from online classes by watching Masterchef Australia with my cousin to living at my grandparent’s place for a month and taking nature walks whenever we get the chance. These months have been unlike any other.

Being away from home for most of my life, quarantine has given me a chance to reconnect with family and spend time with my dog. Not being able to travel, eat outdoors or see my friends has taken a toll mentally but having family around has made me feel less alone.

Balancing online classes and living on pacific time has been challenging and lonely as I struggle with a harder course load than in-person classes and zoom fatigue.