Editor’s Note

Nostalgia is a paradox like no other — it tinges memories with joy and melancholy all at once. Like reminiscing about playing pretend on the playground, when you could truly be anything you imagined. Or recalling how you’d ride shotgun belting your favorite songs with a friend from whom you’ve since grown apart. I remember the lunch periods I keeled over laughing at an inside joke, the nights I cried over world-ending heartaches that I now tell as party stories. There is no happiness as warm as bursts of nostalgia, no sadness that lingers as long.

Coming of age can feel like a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it era of life. Blink once, and you’re suddenly off to college. Blink twice, and you’re receiving your diploma. For the inaugural issue of the new nuAZN , we want to press pause and sit with our nostalgia to commemorate the culture, art and stories that have shaped the way we’ve grown up.

Cover Design by Ilise Angel & Wendy Zhu

On page 10, following Sailor Moon’s 31st anniversary, reflect on growing up with protagonist Usagi. Experience nuAZN’s reinvention of the coming-of-age film on page 20, and read about how distance has improved some students’ relationships with their parents on page 25. On page 31, learn about how students access cultural ingredients and snacks from their youth.

What makes the past so sentimental is its novelty: We will never be the people we were in those exact moments again, because we are constantly learning, evolving and using our histories to pave our futures. I hope this issue captures the jubilance, sorrow and thrill of coming into your own and envisioning all the directions you can grow from here.

Brendan Le Editor in Chief