Published by the Students of Johns Hopkins since 1896
November 21, 2024

Voices

Hopkins is a diverse university where an incredible mix of cultures, academic interests and personalities coexist and thrive. Here is the section where you can publish your unique thoughts, ideas and perspectives on life at Hopkins and beyond.

COURTESY OF KYARIE SHELTON Shelton tells her experience at Hopkins as a Black student and criticizes the reversal of affirmative action.

In the space between acceptance and belonging

22 hours ago

I’ll never forget the moment I saw “You’re Admitted” flash across my screen. I was sitting criss-cross applesauce on my bedroom floor, working on an AP European History project when I received an email notification saying there was an update to my portal. I set my phone up to capture my reaction. I tried to tame my excitement by muttering, “Who cares if I get into Johns Hopkins,” but inside, I craved the validation of an acceptance. As the screen lagged, my anxiety built and I covered my computer, shielding myself from the possibility of rejection. Finally, the page loaded, and there it was: a banner of acceptance. I laughed, clapped and immediately shared the news with my family.

COURTESY OF KAYLEE NGUYEN Nguyen pens a letter to everyone and everything she has ever loved and ponders about this complex emotion.

A non-anonymous anonymous love letter

By KAYLEE NGUYEN | 2 days ago

“Love” is one of the most — if not the most — elusive emotions for a person to experience. Whether you’re an artist or a scholar, defining “love” is a nearly impossible task. Perhaps due to its abstractness or broad definition, conveying this emotion is an intricate skill that takes years to perfect.

COURTESY OF ANNE LI Li celebrates her new age and a shifting perspective toward birthdays.

20: A moment of self-celebration and growth

By ANNE LI | 6 days ago

Recently, I turned 20. While starting another decade of my life felt heavy in its own right, I had been anxiously anticipating this moment for so long that reaching the milestone brought an unexpected sense of calm clarity. For the first time, too, I didn’t shy away from celebrating myself. And for the first time, I didn’t wait for others to notice or wish me happy birthday first.

COURTESY OF KAITLIN TAN Tan overhears a conversation about burnout while studying at an outdoor cafe.

Beast of burden

By KAITLIN TAN | November 14, 2024

I haven’t yet met anyone on this campus who hasn’t been exhausted, at some point, by the time November rolls around. Still, every other day I trick myself into thinking that burnout is an isolated experience. 

COURTESY OF JOHNALYS FERRER Ferrer depicts an evening with the monster of academic validation.

The haunting weight of my future on my chest

By JOHNALYS FERRER | November 14, 2024

Sometimes, as I walk towards my dorm and look for my keys to open the door, I can feel his presence, creeping behind me as an overwhelming void of disapproval trails the steps I have taken. I can hear him grunt and scoff at me looking for the right key, as if he expects more. 

COURTESY OF ARWA MAREDIA Nguyen challenges her poetry skills through the courses she takes at Hopkins and grows to like this genre.

Sensationalizing my poetic sentiments

By KAYLEE NGUYEN | November 13, 2024

First Year Seminars (FYS) seem to be one of the most defining features of the “Hopkins First-Year Experience.” From uncovering the secrets of “Why We Science?” to snacking in “The Literature of Food,” there seems to be an endless supply of knowledge ready to be unveiled by the next unsuspecting freshmen.

COURTESY OF LINDA HUANG Huang reflects on her first time voting in the 2024 election. 

More than a sticker: where my first vote took me

By LINDA HUANG | November 11, 2024

Politics always felt distant, like an endless noise I wasn’t supposed to question. I had always treated politics as something I chose not to participate in or educate myself in. To me, it represented polarity, difference, argument, conflict — nothing of a good connotation.

TIM EVANSON / CC BY-SA 2.0 Finkelstein criticizes the politicization of transgender rights and shares her sibling’s story.

Trans kids need you

By HAILEY FINKELSTEIN | November 10, 2024

This year, my younger sibling Ellis was finally able to start receiving gender-affirming care to support their journey as a transgender individual. Ellis has always been their own fiercest advocate, using their voice to fight for their right to existence in a society that has extended unspeakable amounts of hate to children who just want the basic right to live authentically as themselves. 

COURTESY OF GABRIEL LESSER Lesser finds himself distant from his loved ones following graduation, yet manages to keep them close to him.

Pieces of home everywhere I go

By GABRIEL LESSER | November 10, 2024

A few weeks ago, I walked into CVS and printed out 114 4x6 photos. My intent was to make a photo wall in my apartment, but given that I am indecisive, I decided to just print a huge chunk of my favorites folder without truly thinking about the sheer quantity that I had selected.

JIYUN GUO / DESIGN AND LAYOUT EDITOR Koldas writes her farewell to the Milton S. Eisenhower Library and reminisces about the last time she was there.

A goodbye to Milton S. Eisenhower Library

By BUSE KOLDAS | November 10, 2024

Recently, I’ve been thinking about the things that I’d done for the last time without knowing it. My dad put my hair into a ponytail for the last time on one random school morning in 2014. I played my final solitaire game on our crusty computer in 2016 right before it shut down for good, never to be opened again.

COURTESY OF SARA KAUFMAN Kaufman describes the journey of finding her voice and developing her public speaking abilities.

To speak or not to speak? My journey from whispers to speeches

By SARA KAUFMAN | November 9, 2024

Last week, I caught a particularly annoying cold and lost my voice. As I showed up to class armed with masks and copious quantities of hand sanitizer, I noticed that I wasn’t raising my hand during lectures nearly as much as I usually do. I wasn’t asking my professors questions or answering theirs because of my voice; I didn’t bother trying to speak because I knew it wouldn’t work. Its silencing effect was annoying, and it was particularly irksome because this wasn't the first time my voice had held me back.

COURTESY OF RILEY STRAIT Strait shares his experience of voting (and getting called a “libtard”) for the first time.

Am I a f***ing libtard?

By RILEY STRAIT | November 5, 2024

Over fall break, I voted in my first election. But that wasn’t the biggest “first” I experienced. That week, I was also called something I had never been called before: a “fucking libtard.”

BLAKE BURKHART / CC BY 2.0 Swindle names the intangible obstacle standing in her way of connecting with others as a concrete wall and acknowledges its presence through her writing.

An insurmountable concrete wall

By LANA SWINDLE | November 3, 2024

I have a wall inside of me that I think is made of concrete. It has taken me 17 years to recognize it, 18 to acknowledge it, and 19 to write it all down in a Voices article for The News-Letter.

COURTESY OF BUSE KOLDAS Gonzalez describes how losing her childhood friends changed her for the better and allowed her to discover her true self.

Sometimes friendships can be A Nightmare on Elm Street

By ALYSSA GONZALEZ | October 31, 2024

I’ve never been good with change; in fact, it terrifies me. More specifically, I’ve never been good with letting people go. Throughout orientation week at Hopkins, I would wake up in my dorm wishing I could go back to my childhood bedroom and listen to my parents’ voices drifting in from the living room.

COURTESY OF AYDEN MIN Min explains her wish to explore the unexperienced yet questions if a one-way ticket is what she truly desires.

Airplanes are scary but not because of heights

By AYDEN MIN | October 29, 2024

Something about free-floating 35,000 feet in the air watching the sun come up or city lights sparkle down below is oddly calming. Sometimes, I wonder how much time I’ve spent untethered to anything except for whatever metal tube with wings I’m currently sitting in, and, coming from the opposite side of the country, it’s probably quite a lot.

COURTESY OF YANA MULANI Mulani ponders a future where she will no longer identify as a “student.”

Some disjointed thoughts on the fear of graduation

By YANA MULANI | October 27, 2024

As the end of my college experience draws closer, I’m forced to think about what comes next. And what does come next? I, for one, have no idea. I’m doing all the right things (I think): applying to jobs, reaching out to alumni, leveraging my experiences, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. But it’s really scary to leave academia. 

COURTESY OF AASHI MENDPARA Mendpara reflects on her changing relationship with her little brother.

Home in two halves

By AASHI MENDPARA | October 25, 2024

While I personally don’t recall the exact moment my parents told me I was going to have a younger brother, I laugh every time I watch the VHS tapes. I was so upset — almost in tears. At the time, I was deep in my Barbie era, and all I could think about was not having a sister to dress up and play with; though, to his dismay, my brother, Krish, did end up going through that phase with me anyway. 

COURTESY OF MOLLY GREEN Green reflects on the friendships she’s forged over the years while watching her roommate slice a peach.

White peaches

By MOLLY GREEN | October 21, 2024

After the clock ticked past midnight and my friends force-fed me cake and it was officially autumn and the beginning of my 22nd year, one of my roommates asked me to share what I was thinking of, being the first to turn 22 and therefore older and wiser than the rest of my friends.  

COURTESY OF KAITLIN TAN Tan shares her dilemmas about writing and attempts to make peace with their existence.

Why I don’t write about writing

By KAITLIN TAN | October 20, 2024

More often than not, I’m thinking about writing fiction. And, despite this column’s partial intention of being a way to document whatever’s been persistently floating around my mind, I realize that I’ve never written about writing. How odd.

COURTESY OF HAILEY FINKELSTEIN Finkelstein highlights the toxic struggle culture at Hopkins and points out that depriving yourself of your basic needs to succeed shouldn’t be normalized.

I hate struggle culture

By HAILEY FINKELSTEIN | October 20, 2024

There is nothing inherently dark or toxic about the girl who has signed up for too many student orgs, the boy who wins a new prestigious award every week, the person who consistently sets the curve in your most difficult class. What is dark and toxic  — and scarier than any horror movie you may watch this month — is how we talk about these hectic schedules in the language of prideful struggle.

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