Sparks Magazine Issue No. 27 | University of South Florida

ISSUE 27 | FALL ‘24 at the University of South Florida

Sparks Magazine is a collaborative project between students at the University of Central Florida, University of Florida, and the University of South Florida. Sparks Magazine at USFTM thanks the following student teams for their contributions to this issue.

UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Justin Fernandez

MANAGING EDITOR Sabrina LaVopa

FINANCIAL DIRECTOR Aize Hassan

LEAD COPY EDITOR Yeleeya Li

COPY EDITOR Mahima Kedlaya • Leila Wickliffe

Zainab Nawaz

DESIGN EDITOR Elyza Navarro • Elyza Navarro

Zarin Ismail • Madison Edwards

PHOTO EDITOR Kat Tran

PUBLIC RELATIONS DIRECTOR Michelle Tang • Ellie Uchida-Prebor

WRITERS Abby Renger • Ananya Pradhan • Morgan

Hurd • Sachi Shinde • Lauren Wong • Arissa Latif

Sasha Cumming • Nandini Patel Muyao Guan • Vicky Shi

DESIGNERS Ceyan Ang • Divya Somayaji

Jennifer Jia • Maya Rudo • Tina Mei

Joy Chen • Brynn Li • Julia Su

Enchang Fan • Katheri Almeda

PHOTOGRAPHERS Andrea Sison • Anushka

Raviprasad • Eddy Chen • Julia Lin • Gracie Lucas

Rayvin Velasco • Shirin Waheed • Aadithi Arjun

Jiro Ordonio • Andria Subhit

PUBLIC RELATIONS Brian Paz • Colin Strom

Emma Salcedo • Maika Huynh • Jennifer Lam

NATIONAL BOARD

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Jason Liu

CHAPTER DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Aleem Waris

CHAPTER MANAGERS Samia Alamgir

SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER Esther Zhan WEB DEVELOPER Chris Tam

PHOTO Sathwik Varma Munagapati • Mia Seng

MODELS Serena Bhaskar • Smyrna Davalath

Deeksha Sridher • Rysun Chu • Sahil Vemuri

DESIGN Shriya Punati • Khoi Vu COVER

PHOTOGRAPHY SPREADS

PHOTO Sathwik Varma Munagapati • Mia Seng

Serena Bhaskar

MODELS Serena Bhaskar • Smyrna Davalath

Deeksha Sridher • Rysun Chu • Sahil Vemuri

Hayley Reed • Mia Seng • Nuha Naveen

Huong Linh Vu • Ly Vu

DESIGN Vihthanou Chim • Serena Bhaskar

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Sparks Magazine at USF E-Board & Staff

E-Board:

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Quyen Tran • MANAGING EDITOR Rohit Veligeti • CONTENT EDITOR Shriya Punati

DESIGN EDITOR Dat Pham • PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR Serena Bhaskar

PROGRAMMING DIRECTOR Deeksha Sridher • FINANCE DIRECTOR Sanjana Nallapati

PROMOTIONS DIRECTOR Smyrna Davalath

Staff:

DESIGNER Daniela Kate Abaquita • WRITER Ramya Subramanian • WRITER Samhita Challa

WRITER Beatriz Gonzalez • WRITER Aditi Patel • PHOTOGRAPHER Hayley Reed

WRITER Aditi Ragothaman DESIGNER Dan Pham • WRITER Iman Cheferou

WRITER Huong Linh Vu • DESIGNER Khoi Vu • WRITER Jireh Sumalinog

Sparks Magazine at USF E-Board & Staff

Staff:

WRITER Ly Vu • DESIGNER Manushi Rathod • PHOTOGRAPHER Mia Seng • DESIGNER Nuha Naveen

DESIGNER Ngoc Mai Khanh Le • WRITER Purnata Subah • WRITER Rysun Chu

PHOTOGRAPHER Sahil Vemuri • DESIGNER Santoshi Gondhi • DESIGNER Skylar Welchman

DESIGNER Vihthanou Chim • WRITER Mohini Sharma • WRITER Sophia Han

PHOTOGRAPHER Sathwik Varma Munagapati

What was that word?

I used to remember the language of home. I remember the flowers that adorned the idols of our gods - their petals falling everytime we rang the bell to pray. I remember the way the wind blew into my house - it spoke my language. I remember my mother’s soft voice, my father’s steady footsteps down the stairs, the familiar scrape of my sister’s chair as she leaned in to whisper in my ears.

Home was a chorus of small sounds, a place where I woke up to my grandmother’s Telugu. I would like to believe that I used to understand her language flawlessly. That the rhythm of sounds flowed through me, seamlessly like water. But, somewhere, I lost that fluency. Now, I drift through places that don’t recognize me, in cities that speak a language I’ve never learned.

.

I sometimes hear the faint and distant echoes of the language that slips through my fingers like sand. I sit at my desk, my pen desperately clicking over a blank page, trying to remember the sounds I grew up with. I write down the letters in English, then try to twist them back into the language I’ve lost. My native tongue feels slippery, and it aches as it falls cutting through my fingers.

by Aditi

Ragothaman

Design/

Santoshi Gondhi