Published by the Students of Johns Hopkins since 1896
December 9, 2025 December 9, 2025 | Published by the Students of Johns Hopkins since 1896

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.

BRIAN D’CRUZ HYPNO PLUS / CC0 1.0 Ji details how she’s come to know herself better through her Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.

Being an INFP

By JILL JI | October 10, 2021

I first came across the term Myers-Briggs Type Indicator when I was still in middle school. I took the test for the first time and got ESTJ, also known as the executive type. I didn’t give it much thought and forgot about the result shortly after. 

COURTESY OF ABIGAIL TUSCHMAN Tuschman learns that her tendency to procrastinate stems from a fear of failure.

Redefining my worth

By ABIGAIL TUSCHMAN | October 3, 2021

When I was 5 years old, I wished upon a shooting star. I was swimming in my backyard at night and saw a flash in the sky. Now that I’m older, I’m pretty sure it was just the blinking lights of a commercial airplane, but that possibility didn’t occur to me then. I had watched enough Disney Channel to be convinced my life was about to change.

FILE PHOTO Salem and Iyer describe the beginning of their friendship.

Expect the unexpected

By DIKSHA IYER and LAURA SALEM | October 2, 2021

Honestly, we met in the most curious of ways. Neither one of us could have imagined meeting such a close friend in the way that we did. Coming into Hopkins as newbies — and just barely making it through Orientation with all of the walking that we had to do — we were terrified of the workload that was soon awaiting us... thus, a night of Drag Bingo. 

PHOTO EDITOR/NEHA SANGANA Rittenhouse contemplates the label of bisexuality in the context of her identity.

On the journey of self-discovery

By JACKIE RITTENHOUSE | October 1, 2021

If you’re in college and you haven't learned something new about yourself, you're doing it wrong. These discoveries might not always be profound — maybe you find out you actually do like pesto (after frequently touting your dislike for it, despite never trying it.)

HOWCHENG/CC BY 4.0 Lim looks back on her experiences with American holidays over the past eight years.

American traditions in an Asian household

By JINA LIM | September 27, 2021

At my first Thanksgiving dinner, I didn’t have turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, gravy or any type of pie. Instead, there was rice, kimchi, guk and various other Korean side dishes. In fact, at my first Thanksgiving dinner, I had no clue why I didn’t have school that week. I was just happy that I wouldn’t have to do more homework.

COURTESY OF GABRIEL LESSER Lesser reflects on the role his grandfather’s breakfast traditions have played in his life.

My grandpa’s breakfast table, then and now

By GABRIEL LESSER | September 27, 2021

Sitting at my grandparents’ breakfast table as a little kid, I once had the brilliant idea of taking one of the die from a board game and stuffing it up my ear. When I tried to take the die out, I counterintuitively pushed it farther and farther into my ear canal. Worried but embarrassed, I hesitated to tell anyone about what I had done, until my parents finally noticed hours later. 

COURTESY OF MADELYN KYE Kye processes the news that her cousin Thomas has leukemia. 

My cousin’s diagnosis

By MADELYN KYE | September 25, 2021

There’s a sick dichotomy between Sept. 2, 2021 being my 19th birthday and Sept. 2, 2021 being the day my 20-year-old cousin, Thomas, was diagnosed with leukemia.

SCOTT/CC BY 2.0 Li realizes the importance of being honest with her friends, even when it hurts.

The honest truth

By ALIZA LI | September 23, 2021

A friend of mine once told me that the health of one’s relationships with others is often the strongest indicator of one’s personal happiness at that moment. Regardless of the truth of this statement, it’s been very relevant to my life, especially recently.

COURTESY OF SUDHA YADAV Yadav overcomes loneliness as an international grad student.

Believe me, you will sail through

By SUDHA YADAV | September 21, 2021

Before starting grad school, people often told me this would be a difficult phase of my life in many ways. I didn’t know at that point what they were talking about. But when I moved to the U.S. six months back, the main thing that hit me was loneliness. 

COURTESY OF SOPHIA PARK Park, previously a Peabody student, begins her first semester on the Homewood campus.

Being the new junior on campus

By SOPHIA PARK | September 21, 2021

The night before the first day of classes, my roommate asked me if I would be able to find my way around campus. The next day came, and once I arrived, I immediately realized that I had absolutely no idea where I was going.

COURTESY OF CHRISTIAN PAULISICH Paulisich finds comfort in poetry as he copes with the pandemic and the loss of his grandmother.

What a poem can do

By CHRISTIAN PAULISICH | September 20, 2021

When my grandmother passed away last fall, I thought my world had ended. Honestly, I still do. She shared the fate of many unfortunate people during this pandemic. She died alone. She was in a nursing home and luckily, she had a window, so we could see her and wave for a bit, but it’s not the same.

COURTESY OF DIKSHA IYER Iyer struggles to find food at the Fresh Food Cafe that accommodates her dietary needs.

Plant-based meat doesn’t cut it

By DIKSHA IYER | September 20, 2021

Just like every other person, I have several substantial aspects to my personality that I make sure to mention on a daily basis. For example, every person on my floor is now very much aware that the state of Michigan obtained the Upper Peninsula after the Battle of Toledo. 

FILE PHOTO York reflects on her previously rushed approach to life, and how she’ll begin to take her time with life.

I need to stop rushing the future

By SHELBY YORK | September 12, 2021

Few things about sixth grade stand out as particularly memorable to me, but I do remember something my band director used to say to me when I meandered into his room complaining that I couldn’t wait for the day, the week, the year to end. He’d always say, “Don’t go wishing your life away.”

COURTESY OF MICHELLE LIMPE After having laser eye surgery, Limpe considers how glasses shaped her identity throughout childhood.

A rose-tinted view

By MICHELLE LIMPE | September 12, 2021

When I was in elementary school, I was always known as the girl with glasses. Due to an unfortunate mix of poor genetics and playing Wii and Nintendo DS during my childhood, I was forced to don wired spectacles by six years old. 

FILE PHOTO Lola returns to campus as a senior after more than a year of online classes.

On feeling like a fourth-year freshman

By SOPHIA LOLA | September 12, 2021

One of my friends keeps joking that Hopkins has three classes of freshmen this year. And while I don’t want to make light of the serious loss we’ve all suffered in our education (and other areas of life), he’s not exactly wrong. 

COURTESY OF MOLLY GAHAGEN Gahagen reflects on the pleasant surprises Baltimore has provided her.

Baltimore Syndrome

By MOLLY GAHAGEN | September 11, 2021

I walked along N. Charles Street this morning, Taylor Swift’s album Red playing in my ears and the crisp, 63-degree air necessitating a cardigan to keep me from shivering. The feeling of the cool air, complemented by the warmth of the sun’s rays, made me feel excited to see the turning of the seasons, the likes of which I had never seen.

COURTESY OF ELIZABETH IM Im looks forward to being there for her younger sister who is beginning her freshman year at Hopkins.

My freshman sister

By ELIZABETH IM | September 10, 2021

As the end of August drew near, I began to spot more and more cars filled with boxes and suitcases parked outside the AMRs and CharMar. After a semester and a summer of online everything — whether it be a class, movie watch party or an internship — seeing people walking around on campus was surreal. 

FILE PHOTO Tuschman adjusts to her first semester on campus.

Feeling like a fraud

By ABIGAIL TUSCHMAN | September 5, 2021

You can’t go to Hopkins without hearing about impostor syndrome. As soon as I accepted my admissions offer from the University, it was like a specter waving at me from the semester to come. The phrase continuously popped up in Reddit threads and prospective student group chats. Upperclassmen warned me that I would sometimes (or often) feel inferior to my classmates, doubt my intelligence and wonder how I ever got accepted in the first place.

COURTESY OF ALIZA LI Li reflects on her experience joining a campus ministry at Hopkins.

Navigating friendship during a virtual semester

By ALIZA LI | September 5, 2021

For most people, the COVID-19 pandemic constituted an upheaval of regular social order and a reworking of existing patterns and habits. While this manifested in my life in many ways, it was especially distinct in its effect on my relationships, considering the important transitionary period I was entering during the pandemic. 

Trending
Weekly Rundown
News-Letter Magazine