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.
This year’s Hispanic Heritage Month feels different. It is filled with not only the joy and orgullo of celebrating our culture, but also the weight of fear, this fear of being othered, of being silenced, of being chased.
As it turns out, good things are supposed to come in pairs. That’s what they tell you. Two sweet cherries sharing a stem. Two shoes that make a set. Two sides of an argument. Or, as Dr. Greenberg recently educated us in Introduction to Organic Chemistry I, even molecules seem to prefer balance in pairs: enantiomers, mirror images that only make sense alongside each other.
This summer, I had the wonderful opportunity to study abroad in Shanghai. And while my mind was preoccupied with the exciting prospect of being in a new city, learning and growing from this month of exploration, there was still a nagging hesitation in my heart.
She sees her classmates quietly reading and writing while listening to the random classical music the teacher left playing from her Pandora playlist. But what about her? She just sits there, eyes on the gray page. She can barely make out a word on that dull piece of paper.
Unpopular opinion: I don’t like warm drinks — whether that’s tea, coffee or the like. They never feel soothing, and if I have a sore throat, I would prefer to down a glass of ice water, letting the coldness spread throughout me and numb the pain. When I came to Hopkins, that didn’t change about me.
Just like that complex Ikea shelf, the final product (no pun intended) wasn’t ideal but by the end of the month, I had constructed something that held together, learned to appreciate the process and even discovered a new perspective to enjoy the madness along the way.
I’m living The Simple Life. You read that right. I don’t mean to mistype, and I don’t mean to be artistic or pretentious, pulling proper, italicized nouns with definite articles out from where they don’t belong.
It’s been about a week since I packed up my suitcase and flew across the Atlantic to start my study abroad journey in St Andrews, Scotland. In the few days that I’ve been here, I’ve met a good bunch of American students who are studying something related to politics or diplomacy, and lots of English students who wouldn’t dare touch politics with a ten-foot pole.
The first time I felt void of meaning was in my bedroom, hidden somewhere between the third and 86th pages of my sloppily written stanzas. A blank document that had brimmed with possibility was now filled but shapeless; I was a writer with nothing to say.
There are too many conversations that start with hostility and the need to reach a consensus. But why do we have to give up our beliefs or push our beliefs onto others? Is there a way we can have conversations which start from a place of understanding and listening, rather than rushing to prove a point?
Over the summer, I read Tess Gunty’s novel The Rabbit Hutch, which was a wonderfully weird and captivating read that left me heartbroken at the abuse of a teenage girl at one moment and giggling at the concept of a man drenching his entire body in glow-stick juice the next.
College has started, and with it comes the never-ending cycle of assignments, quizzes and events that tug at me from every direction. On paper, this is what I wanted: a new chapter, a place to grow and a chance to shape my future.
As the semester progressed and the end of my tenure as Editor-in-Chief got closer, I expected to feel grief, dread and the desire to prolong my time at Hopkins. Instead, I’ve surprised myself by feeling the opposite and being at peace with the changes to come.
The News-Letter has taught me how to think critically, ask difficult questions, write carefully and listen to those who are often not listened to. It taught me how to hold those in power accountable and gave me a space to grow into my own voice — and, importantly, it helped others find their own.
I have meant to write for the Voices section for a very long time. It’s supposed to be the section where you can say anything and everything: no headaches over finding solid evidence or getting interviews with good quotes. And yet, I have never written a single piece until now — less than a month away from graduation.
It is warm again. Trees flower and shed like snow, dandelions sprout up in sidewalk cracks and, even though people say they are weeds, I am struck again by their undeniable beauty. Their white seeds twist into the wind. I make a wish.
I’m no longer a freshman. Fuck. How do I even begin to voice this dread? I’m haunted by the hollow pit of knowing that time actively slipped through my hands. It feels like I stepped into this new life only yesterday, yet already, I find myself called a second-year college student.
When the sky is pouring with a certain degree of violence, everything smells sharper. One explanation for this is logic: Other senses blur — the thunderous noise of a downpour muffles our hearing, water gathers in the way of vision, touch is overwhelmed beneath cold wet clothes; the sense of smell gains clarity.
They called me Mr. Riley. No matter what it sounds like, this isn’t the beginning of a movie where the “cool,” “hip” English teacher breaks through to the kids by sitting backward in a chair and rapping Shakespeare. The truth is closer than I’d like: This semester, I was an Ignite Fellow with Teach for America.
I was told it’s time to start saying my goodbyes in Baltimore. Every ounce of me is pleading not to.
