Published by the Students of Johns Hopkins since 1896
May 30, 2026
May 30, 2026 | 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.



COURTESY OF AMELIA TAYLOR
Taylor explores her new hobby of taking long walks.

Long walks

I’ve spent too many years huffing and puffing up small flights of stairs. I wouldn’t know my way around a gym, so to spare myself some embarrassment and get in shape, I’ve decided to start taking long walks instead.


COURTESY OF SAREENA NAGAGAND
To answer the ubiquitous question of how to make friends in college, Naganand breaks it down into five steps.

Friendship 101: College edition

Yet, as the semester went on, all these initial promises of friendship began to fade. I’ve always heard that college is a chance to “find our people” and cultivate “lifelong friendships,” but I wasn’t sure how that happened. 


COURTESY OF JASON CHANG
Chang makes his case for digital dieting.

Going on a (media) diet

Recently, however, I came to a realization: if I am so careful about what feeds into my body, why don’t I exercise the same selectivity for what feeds into my mind?


COURTESY OF HAILEY FINKELSTEIN
Finkelstein reflects on her time in APTT, the peer listening group for the undergraduate community.

Fourteen hours: A reflection on time spent outside of myself

For those who aren’t familiar with the term, giving a “lifeline” refers to telling someone your entire life story, from beginning to end, and it is how we kick off every semester of APTT training: by sharing whatever feels important to us about our lives with the members of our small training group.


COURTESY OF HAILEY FINKELSTEIN
In Paris, Finkelstein contemplates the many different shapes of love.

Renoir in Paris: On love and friendship

After a very busy half-semester of rewatching all of Bridgerton and Emily in Paris while studying for my organic chemistry midterms (I am only half-kidding), I got to spend a glorious nine-and-a-half days frolicking around London and Paris with two of my best friends and my mom.


COURTESY OF KAITLIN TAN
Tan thinks on what it means to be present.

On presence

Presence is such an elusive thing. It should be there under any circumstance, except we know that it isn’t.


COURTESY OF SYDNOR DUFFY
Jean Henry pens his legacy letter with the help of Omkar Katkade.

Letters Without Limits: Jean Henry

It was a pleasure speaking to Mrs. Henry. She has a unique message to tell, because she wanted to teach the world about some of the harder parts of the past, not just the good. When you think about it, we really have come a long way. Even when times seem hard now, her message gives me hope for a better future.



COURTESY OF LINDA HUANG
Huang reflects on aging as she stands on the cusp of 20.

What it feels like being stuck between 18 and 20

19 is such a “middle child.” You’re past that initial excitement you had at 18 of technically being an adult, but you’re also still mentally a teen because your age doesn’t start with a 2. Yes, I’m turning 20 in about three months, and it feels very strange, but let this piece be something I can look back on years into the future.


COURTESY OF KAITLIN TAN
Tan tries to find the words for what her mother means to her.

Where words will fail me

I’ve been wanting to write an article for my mom, but never know where to start. An anecdote would be reductionist. A compliment would feel flattening. Any rendering would be static — and maybe that’s at the heart of it, that writing commits something to paper and necessarily asks us to draw pieces together into a neat picture.



COURTESY OF KATHRYN JUNG
Jung reflects on ads, relationships and other things that change with the seasons.

Algorithms of spring: ads, love and language

In early spring, advertisements for dating apps start appearing everywhere. They promise efficiency. Compatibility percentages. Personality models. They reassure you that somewhere inside a black-box algorithm, someone has already calculated who could love you best.


COURTESY OF VIDHI BANSAL
Bansal writes an update to her first Voices piece "Between doubt and doing."

Between doubt and doing: an updated edition

While brainstorming for my first Voices article this semester, I found myself rereading the pieces I wrote when college was still new enough to feel like something from a movie. One line from the first article I ever wrote stopped me: “I entered college believing in my ability to create and reinvent myself.”


COURTESY OF CRYSTAL WANG
Wang reflects on her relationship with the piano.

Plastic keyboards and different kinds of farewell

Twenty is a decidedly consequential number by convention. It marks two decades of time on earth, which means that by now, I must have collected a lot of important things that offer me instructions on how to live, and that these things must make me more differentiated, more intelligent and more sensible.


COURTESY OF NAOMI MAO
Mao reports on her findings from asking the Hopkins community: What does love mean to you?

What is love?

Take a look at this laundry list of notes on love. Sit back and enjoy the ride.



COURTESY OF AMELIA TAYLOR
Taylor highlights the subtle beauty of snow days.

Snow days

To raise this younger generation to see snow only as a source of wet socks and chapped faces would be something of a tragedy.


COURTESY OF JASON CHANG
Chang contemplates the privilege of strangership.

The beauty of strangers

Last weekend, I was convinced (read: dragged) to go out by a high school friend who was in town. So I left the comfort of my stuffed-animal-filled bed and put aside my sacred 9 p.m. bedtime to go out on the town and relive my undergraduate days for one night only.


COURTESY OF CATHERINE CHAN
Chan reflects on the importance of swimming in her life.

The pool is where I breathe

In the midst of the crowded Rec Center, there is one place that contrasts the noise of running treadmills, shoes squeaking on the court and weights clanging together: the pool.


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