As a writer, despite the hardships I have encountered within my own life, I have always found solace in weaving words into tapestries, and even more so in being able to share those words with the world. If I never had anything, at least I had that.

I have always felt thankful for being a student in a university that allows me to stretch my wings and talk about what I feel passionate about through the healthy outlets the school offers. CSUN has been a wonderful resource that has allowed me to grow through my writing by giving me the opportunities to do so.

Certain programs at CSUN allow students to express themselves during these trying political times and to have a voice in a world that would otherwise not give them one. This is especially true for students dealing with the outcome of the reversal of DACA, as well as minority groups who feel threatened by America’s new political climate that thrives on trying to undermine the voices of minority groups and the youth.

Throughout the darkness, the political turmoil, the moments in which the world has felt as if it were against us, CSUN still manages to instill within me a sense of welcoming and homecoming when it comes to voicing these opinions, allowing my words to be read and heard in ways I never expected when first enrolling to this university.

I have had the privilege of allowing my voice to be heard through the The Sundial and now I have the privilege of curating this semester’s Northridge Review.

The Northridge Review, a biannual literary magazine produced by CSUN students, features poetry, prose, plays as well as fiction and strives to break this stagnant and malicious political climate by giving students a chance to tell their stories through this publication.

The aim of the magazine is to publish works that are relevant today, that are meaningful, poignant and confront what it means to exist in our time now in whichever way the artist/writer chooses to embody their work. Through the mediums of art and writing, it is an exploration of the human condition and the way in which we see and feel the world around us in the context of the point of view of a CSUN student.

Through the Northridge Review, CSUN is once again providing its students with another positive outlet to create and submit their writing and art in a safe space that allows them to flesh out their voice in a meaningful way and get published at the same time.

As mentioned on the Northridge Review‘s submissions page, it was “[f]ounded in 1962 as a campus publication of student work, [and] is now open for submissions of prose, poetry, drama, art, and hybrid texts from across all disciplines that test the boundaries of form, content, and genre by exploring the current literary and cultural climate in thoughtful and challenging ways.” It is through the existence of this magazine that we are actively combating the negativity of the world around us. It is an entity grown, through the means by which it is created, by people coming together to quilt their creative efforts into one colorful, vibrant body of compelling and influential art.

Contrary to the lack of diversity embodied by the people who lead this country, CSUN strives to promote diversity within its programs. What makes the team behind the Northridge Review unique is that the students creating the publication seem almost representative of the school itself. It is a conglomerate of people of different backgrounds, experiences, talent and expertise coming together to cultivate and curate something great, for the sake of creating something meaningful in a bleak world that would rather stand by and allow.

I am excited to be a part of this journey to help create a welcoming space for students to share their writing and art for the world to see. I feel privileged and honored to be allowed to make and give a hand to something that, I know, will be great and meaningful during such tumultuous times in which the young and oppressed may feel that they do not have a place in which they can place their thoughts, voices and opinions.

Through the curation of this literary magazine I feel I am doing my part in making this world a better place, by paving the way for others to do the same thing by having their voices heard. Students and other members of the CSUN community are welcome and encouraged to submit pieces for The Northridge Review. Art is merely a voice that aims to be heard, and the Northridge Review is a place where students can shout from CSUN’s rooftops in the middle of this vociferous, billowy storm.