For many Los Angeles residents, the best part of the weekend is often a leisurely midday gathering featuring an amalgamation of food and drinks and socialization with loved ones.

Bruins, it might be time to say goodbye to one of your favorite quarantine pastimes.
No, I’m not talking about Dalgona coffee or Animal Crossing. I’m talking about TikTok.

When Frank Ocean sang, “You don’t know how little you matter until you’re all alone/ In the middle of Arkansas,” I felt that.
OK, I’m not actually all that alone – I’m just in quarantine – and I’m not actually in Arkansas, I’m back in my hometown in southern California.

My friend and I were getting breakfast one Tuesday morning before our lecture. We were munching on bagels, when, out of nowhere, he said:
“You know what’s funny?

It’s hardly a secret that people everywhere are hurting from COVID-19.
From health care workers running out of proper medical supplies to students faced with quarantine boredom and isolation, the effects of COVID-19 are hitting everyone in ways we may not immediately think of.

The lights were blindingly neon, and all we could hear was the tick-tick-tick of the wheel spinning.
Before we sat down, people we had never seen before were surrounding us and telling us what to do.

“Want to go get some boba later?”
It’s a common question to ask, and the answer almost always seems to be “yes” – at least within the hip LA culture.

The sun set and the breeze made its way through the night market, carrying with it sweet and savory scents as conversations with friends bloom over shared plates of take-out food.

Amid the hustle and bustle of an expansive metropolis like Los Angeles, finding places to sit back, recharge and be at one with nature may seem impossible – but it doesn’t need to be.

“What is your star sign?”
This question comes up often, and it’s not just an icebreaker question a TA might ask on the first day of discussion.