The great balancing act of a college student is weighing the obligations we commit ourselves to against the perceived importance of these duties. Especially at USC, we convince ourselves that everything matters. We must work hard on that next assignment, because the grade we receive becomes our barometer of self-confidence. We strive hard to get that internship, because it could be the first step toward our aspirational futures. The friends we make, we make because they’ll become good connections to have down the line. And then, for at least the reasonable ones among us, we consider the fallibility of it all, the futileness of our ambitions of upward mobility. Let’s just enjoy our time here, with our friends because we appreciate them, bask in the picturesqueness of our campus and luxuriate beneath the Los Angeles sunshine. If only for a second, we believe that’s all that matters.

Within this balance, is there room to work towards the things we love? After we’ve checked off all our obligations, and given ourselves the necessary time to decompress, we find that the hours are few and far between to toil away at our passions. Capsule grew out of a love for literary storytelling, and we asked our writers to kindle this flame with us, to get the vertical off the ground, and to sustain it for its second issue. The work that went into this issue from all of us at Capsule –– the editors, writers, artists and much more –– emanated from a space of love. Amid the scramble of college life, we crafted something to be proud of, something that mattered deeply to us.

Countless amazing people in our newsroom contributed their time, art, insights, in-depth reporting and deeply personal work to make Capsule what it is now. We are aided by Annenberg Media’s web development and art teams, who worked with us from the jump to lay the groundwork for our endeavor. Most importantly, we’ve worked with an incredibly sharp and thoughtful group of writers, who shared editorials, personal essays and long form reporting exploring an array of themes. This semester, these ranged from grappling with childhood loss, preserving memories passed on in the midst of migration, finding community where one least expects it, embracing the complexities of mixed race identity, a hard look at LinkedIn culture — and more.

Looking back at this past year, we’re immensely proud of what we’ve accomplished, piecing together the time and effort to build Capsule as a labor of love. We are graduating in a week, and are excited to hand the vertical off to Capsule’s next editors, Jasmine Kwok and Shane Dimapanat. We can’t wait to see it flourish.

From the Editors In Chief,

Amina Niasse & Eddie Sun