Julia Kozlov is a Valley College transfer student, a mother of two children and the owner of Let's Celebrate Entertainment. In this episode of “Going Back to College with Hengame Abassi,” Hengame talks to Kozlov about what it’s like balancing motherhood, school, and entrepreneurship in a pandemic.

Ep 8 Entrepreneur Julia Kozlov

Armenian Remembrance - Ani P

CSUN will be home to the Global Hispanic Serving Institution Innovation Hub, which is funded by funds from Apple and the state. The project’s goal is to boost internship and onsite recruitment opportunities for Latinx and other underrepresented science, technology, engineering and math students. CSUN President Erika D. Beck shares more on the project, such as the hub’s completion date and everything it will offer students.  
 
Music by https://www.purple-planet.com/
Photo courtesy of CSUN

Apple Gives $25 Million Gift To CSUN

Global Talks is a podcast series that talks to international students and discusses their adjustment to the United States’ educational system.

In episode two, Kamryn Martell talks with Yong Jian Ooi, a music performance student who moved to the U.S. from Malaysia in August 2018. Ooi discusses Malaysia's collectivist culture and the adjustments he has made when dealing with people in the U.S.

Hosted by Kamryn Martell
Produced by PJ Shahamat
Music by www.purple-planet.com/

Global Talks - Yong Jian Ooi

A crowd of CSUN students gathered on the University Lawn for AS Productions’ annual Big Show on March 12, 2022, four years after the concert was last held in person. 

Headlined by Blxst, the Los Angeles rapper and singer performed hits from his 2020 debut EP “No Love Lost,” as well as songs from past projects.

Three CSUN students had the opportunity to perform their own 45-minute sets on the Big Show stage before Blxst made his entrance. 

Opening up the event was student DJ Christian Mojica, otherwise known as MAC. The DJ duo of Andrew Cantu and Daniel Hurtado, also known as Can2 and LOST VI$UAL, followed and continued to hype up the crowd leading up to Blxst’s performance.

Despite Big Show not having as big of a turnout and or headliner this year, its in-person return may be a promising sign of what the AS Productions team will later be able to offer to students in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Big Show 2022 Recap

As humans, we tend to judge people. We make assumptions of who people are before they even talk. Beneath the Surface is a podcast that highlights CSUN students and who they are as people.  

In the second episode, Tarik “Nishwakie” Lord, a Saint Lucian musician, discusses how his mother let him DJ as a child and how his fellow peers inspired him to begin making music. He also explains why he feels parents need to be supportive of their children when it comes to chasing and fulfilling their dreams.

Beneath The Surface: Tarik Lord

Hello Matadors! This is Episode 1 of The Daily Sundial: News of the Week. In this episode we'll be talking about the CSU tuition increase, the CSUEU strike, Matador sports, clubs, healthy Latino food you can prepare for the week and more.

Photo by Trisha Anas

The Daily Sundial: News of the Week Ep.1

From upsetting nationally ranked teams on the road to dominant performances from standout players, CSUN’s athletics has given host Ryan Romero and Gabriel Duarte much to breakdown in the first episode of the Valley Boys sports podcast.

Valley Boys Sports Podcast Ep.1

Hello Matadors! This is Episode 2 of The Daily Sundial: News of the Week. In this episode we'll be talking about multiple programs offered at CSUN, a new museum exhibit that opened in Los Angeles, fashion, sports and more.

Photo by Edward Segal
Music by massobeats - taro swirl  https://on.soundcloud.com/ZEHAE

The Daily Sundial: News of the Week Ep.2

On September 28, the Republic of Artsakh’s President Samvel Shahramanyan signed a decree that agreed to dismantle all government institutions by Jan. 1, 2024. This comes after an assault on Nagorno Karabakh that displaced over 100,000 people. On this episode CSUN’s Armenian Studies Program Director Dr. Vahram Shemmassian explains the historical significance of Nagorno Karabakh to Armenians, and how recent events will go down in history.

What's Happening in Nagorno Karabakh

Faculty members from 23 CSU campuses went on strike Jan. 22, 2024. Despite the weather, Matadors and other members of the community showed their support alongside CFA. 

Photo: Abel Gutierrez
Audio Editor: Giselle Lomeli

The Student Perspective: CFA Strike

This week PJ interviewed CSUN American history professor Dr. Thomas Devine and explains why cheaper parking actually keeps students in school.

Produced by PJ Shahamat

Suggestion Box: Thomas Devine

Madison Parsley, The Sundial’s Editor-in-Chief, updates us on what’s happening in The Sundial’s issue on Gun Violence.

Editor-In-Chief Weekly Update: Gun Violence Issue

This week PJ talks to Logan Bik about his photo essay following the North Hills mosque that feeds over 300 homeless people a week.

Produced by PJ Shahamat

Dug Up: Feeding The Homeless

This week PJ interviewed CSUN CTVA professor Dr. Michael Johnson and talks about how class sizes influence a teacher’s ability to teach and how it can affect a student’s education.

Suggestion Box: Michael Johnson

How did David Grewe go from newsroom to newsroom across the country... to being a journalism professor at CSUN?

Join us this week for our most emotional Sunspotting episode yet, and check out any other episodes if you haven’t yet!

Sunspotting: David Grewe

Madison Parsley, The Sundial's Editor-in-Chief updates us on what's happening in The Sundial's Christianity issue.

Produced by PJ Shahamat

Editor-In-Chief Update: Christianity

How does one go from being homeless... to being a respected scientist? This is Richard Rachman’s story. For more info on Rachman, or on entering the field of science, you can follow him on Instagram @a_wandering_ecologist.

Sunspotting: Richard Rachman

Ivey Mellem, the Sundial's Chief Copy Editor, fills in for Madison Parsley this week and updates us on what’s happening in The Sundial’s issue on wildfires.

Produced by PJ Shahamat

Editor-In-Chief Update: Fire Issue

How did a midwestern girl that hated sororities end up at CSUN... IN a sorority? Find out now on Sunspotting.

Sunspotting: Danielle Tranter

Kobe Bryant's sudden death from a helicopter crash that killed eight other people, including his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, on Sunday shook Los Angeles to its core and brought the world to a standstill. Almost one week later, fans have come together outside the Staples Center to mourn the loss of an icon.

Audio by Andres Soto, assistant sports editor for the Sundial

Thumbnail image by Alyssa Durant

Laker Fans Reflect on the Impact of Kobe Bryant

In the first episode of “Going Back to College with Hengame Abassi,’’ Hengame talked to fellow Iranian American and classically-trained musician and multi-instrumentalist, Edris Foroughi.

Foroughi is currently a graduate student in the vocal arts program at CSUN’s music department and is the president of CSUN Iranian Student Association.

Foroughi, 35, went back to college because he did not pursue his passion for his first bachelor’s degree. He got a degree in accounting in Iran, as he thought a career in music would not be accepted in his home country. 

Even after immigrating to the United States in 2014 and deciding to follow his musical dreams, Foroughi hesitated at first and enrolled in the computer engineering program, but dropped three weeks later.

Ep. 1 -  Musician Edris Foroughi

In the second episode of “Going Back to College with Hengame Abassi,’’ Hengame talks to James Hutton, a multi-talented 65-year-old veteran currently in the screenwriting undergraduate program at CSUN.

Hutton joined the workforce right after high school, worked many jobs — including aircraft mechanic for the military — and raised his son after his divorce.

Ten years ago, he took an Spanish class at a local community college and really enjoyed being back at school. Hutton, who is also a musician, decided to take up filmmaking after observing the making of one of his music videos. 

Hutton and his son, who goes to Cal State LA, are set to graduate together next spring.

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Hengame Abassi is going back to college. She is non-traditional student: a student at the end of her 60s. Originally from Iran, Abassi was a nurse and reporter who had to flee political persecution while pregnant and lived in Germany for over 20 years before immigrating to the United States. She has hosted Iranian TV and radio shows in the U.S. and is currently a senior at CSUN, double majoring in linguistics and journalism. In “Going Back to College,” Hengame talks to other non-traditional students like herself.

Ep. 2: Filmmaker and musician James Hutton

In the fourth episode of “Going Back to College with Hengame Abassi,’’ Hengame talks to Nico Grierson, a 46-year old musician in the music education program at CSUN, who is also a French-English interpreter and yoga teacher.

It has taken Grierson a long time to pursue her degree in music.

Even though she played music as a child, Grierson did not know what she wanted to do when she was in high school and felt out of place.

Grierson’s parents are Canadians, so she always identified more with her Canuck side and was friends with international students, so she spent a year in a foreign exchange program in France.

When she returned to the U.S., Grierson experienced reverse culture shock and wanted to go back to Europe, so she dropped out of CSUN before the start of her sophomore year in 1993.

Grierson was worried about coming back to CSUN. She initially felt maybe they would not take her back but soon found the university to be a safe place for her to be reintegrated into academic life and to explore her talents.

She credits the professors with her academic success because of how accommodating they have been. Grierson was having problems with organization and the steep learning curve of going back to college later in life, so her professors suggested she visited the Disability Resources and Educational Center where she got tested and discovered she was on the Autism spectrum. She has received help from the center even since.

Grierson plans to apply for a master’s degree in library and information science at UCLA so she can become a music librarian.

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Hengame Abassi is going back to college. She is a non-traditional student: a student at the end of her 60s. Originally from Iran, Abassi was a nurse and reporter who had to flee political persecution while pregnant and lived in Germany for over 20 years before immigrating to the United States. She has hosted Iranian TV and radio shows in the U.S. and is currently a senior at CSUN, double majoring in linguistics and journalism. In “Going Back to College,” Hengame talks to other non-traditional students like herself.

Ep. 4: Musician Nico Grierson

In this season’s fifth and final episode of “Going Back to College with Hengame Abassi,’’ Hengame talks to Persian Jafari, a 52-year-old retired journalist originally from Iran.

Jafari started her work as an international journalist in 1993 and had the opportunity to work with all major networks through Worldwide Television News, now known as Associated Press Television News. The highlight of her career was covering the United Nations’ special session in 2000, “Women 2000: Gender Equality, Development, and Peace for the 21st Century,” in which most world leaders were present and committed to addressing women’s rights issues in the new millennium.

Jafari has gone back to college, including James Madison University near Washington, D.C.,  multiple times. She says everytime she goes back she realizes there is still so much more she could learn. For that reason, she has changed her major several times: from biology, to journalism and business. She intends to use the business knowledge she gains from CSUN to manage her nonprofit organization, which has a solution journalism approach.

Ep. 5: Journalist Persian Jafari

The Sundial is the student newspaper for California State University Northridge, available on campus, and in the app.

Popular tracks by The Daily Sundial