A letter to my freshman self: Isabella Madruga
(05/21/24 4:39pm)
Dear Isabella,
Published by the Students of Johns Hopkins since 1896
November 23, 2024
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Dear Isabella,
Much like the last day of a vacation, my excessive awareness of the fact that my time at Hopkins is coming to a close has made it difficult to fully enjoy myself. Instead, whenever I check my calendar, I find myself counting the number of weeks left until graduation — and, six days later, my flight home.
APRIL FOOL’S: This article was published as part of The News-Letter’s annual April Fool’s edition, an attempt at adding some humor to a newspaper that is normally very serious about its reporting.
APRIL FOOL’S: This article was published as part of The News-Letter’s annual April Fool’s edition, an attempt at adding some humor to a newspaper that is normally very serious about its reporting.
APRIL FOOL’S: This article was published as part of The News-Letter’s annual April Fool’s edition, an attempt at adding some humor to a newspaper that is normally very serious about its reporting.
APRIL FOOL’S: This article was published as part of The News-Letter’s annual April Fool’s edition, an attempt at adding some humor to a newspaper that is normally very serious about its reporting.
During and following the pandemic, reading has been on the rise. This has been evident among online communities, like and including TikTok’s “BookTok.” There, readers share book reviews, talk about their reading habits and recommend books to other TikTok users.
91 felony counts.
National and regional elections are taking place in more than 50 countries around the world in 2024, including 7 of the 10 most populous countries. The presidential and legislative elections put to test human rights, economies, international relations, and prospects for peace in at least 64 countries. Among these, the spotlight is placed on five nations standing at critical crossroads: Taiwan, facing an existential threat from Beijing; the United States, navigating a divided nation; Russia, under the unrelenting grip of Putin; and India and Pakistan, enduring democratic hurdles amid regional pressures.
The global political order is seeing an unprecedented level of conflict with the United States being a key actor in most of them. If you think of most prominent conflicts or humanitarian crises going on today, our country, for better or for worse, has played a role. Given the current tumultuous nature of U.S. policy, both foreign and domestic, understanding why and how these policies came about is crucial and a key factor in this year’s upcoming elections.
TikTok, which started as a platform to share dance and lip-sync videos, has now become a hotbed for political and social movements, subcultures and ideologies — one of which is the “tradwife” movement. Tradwife videos often show conventionally attractive white women in picture-perfect homes (or aesthetically “messy” farmhouses) wearing ironed sundresses covered with an apron, tending to their brood of children, making food from scratch and speaking in a feminine lilt. These social media posts have spread like wildfire and have been utilized by the authoritarian right to push misogynistic narratives and legislation.
From animal print to baby tees and low-rise jeans, fashion styles from the early 2000s are trending amongst Gen Z. Many people know this as “Y2K” style, giving new meaning to the shorthand term for “the year 2000” which was used to describe a number of potential programming errors that were anticipated when computer systems switched from the year 1999 to 2000.
Nowadays, it seems like politics is absolutely everywhere (we are in an election year, after all), but one of the most controversial collaborations often comes when our elected leaders leave the swamp and step into the turf; or vice versa, when our favorite athletes exit the court and stand at the pulpit.
I don’t remember the first time I ever watched a sports game. I think it might have been Minor League Baseball when my family trekked to a local stadium when we lived in Pennsylvania. Or, it might have been watching the World Cup with my dad and my sister.
As we scroll through TikTok, our screen is littered with the words “mob wife,” “coquette,” “office siren,” “clean girl,” “quiet luxury,” “rockstar girlfriend” — just to name a few. I think I can ask the question that we are all wondering: What do any of these words even mean? What do they look like? Why can I not escape them?
News has evolved into increasingly shorter formats, shrinking from newspapers to newsletters, and, now, you can pretty much stay updated with just a few quick scrolls through your social media feeds. From the latest OpenAI breakthroughs to the chaos of recent elections, it’s all there. Social media has made it ridiculously easy. I mean, I can zip through about 10 posts on Instagram and X in just 15 minutes before dashing off to class rather than slogging through a single article. The speed and convenience are unbeatable compared to the old-school news cycle.
The Barbie movie was one of the biggest Hollywood successes of 2023, grossing over $1 billion worldwide, receiving nominations for eight Oscars and winning 167 awards.
Following the Queen’s passing in Sept. 2022, the official announcement on the royal family’s Twitter account became the most popular tweet of the week, receiving millions of likes. With over thirteen million Instagram followers, the Royal Family has accumulated a serious social media following. Multitudes of movies and television shows scramble to mimic life under the crown for the public’s eyes, with Bridgerton receiving over six hundred million viewing hours in the first few weeks of the second season’s release. Time and time again, the public’s fascination with the British monarchy has proven to be a force to be reckoned with.
The "alt-right" or "alternative right" encompasses a collection of far-right ideologies with strong associations to nativism and populism. The leader of the white supremacist National Policy Institute describes the alt-right movement as one that rejects egalitarianism and advocates for the preservation of traditional Western civilization along with a return to libertarian-style governance. While its origins in the U.S. can be traced back to the 1964 presidential nomination of Barry Goldwater, this distinct strain of conservative thought has deeper historical roots within smaller fringe groups.
Between coursework and extracurriculars, it can be difficult to keep up with the dizzying pace of the news cycle as a college student. Despite the way current events can feel overwhelming, being an informed citizen is a crucial individual responsibility and essential to being an active member of a democratic society.