Published by the Students of Johns Hopkins since 1896
October 11, 2026 October 11, 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 ANGEL WANG Wang reflects on the significance of Xiao Mai Pu in her hometown of Tangshan, China.

Vanishing markets, Xiao Mai Pu, the keepers of my hometown

By ANGEL WANG | October 20, 2025

Scattered amongst the alleys of my hometown’s characteristic brick houses are its numerous hole-in-the-wall convenience stores. Finding them requires a good eye and a lot of patience. With their rusted storefronts and yellowing strip curtains, they’re often built as extensions of family homes, and even referring to them as “stores'' is rather generous. Instead, we affectionately call them “Xiao Mai Pu,” which translates to “small concession stand.”

COURTESY OF ESTELLE CHEN Chen describes her theory on hobbies; pictured is her felted frog, a work in progress.

The hobbyist

By ESTELLE CHEN | October 19, 2025

It seems like most everyone tried out new hobbies during the pandemic to fill up their time, and many left them behind once “real life” started back up again. But as someone with a creative streak and an overconfidence in trying new things, I’ve stuck onto my various useless activities, and I fashion myself into a bit of a hobby veteran.

SYDNOR DUFFY / DESIGN & LAYOUT EDITORLinda McDaniel's legacy letter describes her love toward her late husband, and was written with Hopkins student Max Siauw.

Letters Without Limits: Linda McDaniel

By MAX SIAUW and LINDA MCDANIEL | October 18, 2025

Linda McDaniel is a giver. As she puts it, the day she had her firstborn, she set her own needs down on a chair and devoted the rest of her life to making her children happy. In my first few hours with her, I already felt welcomed like her own grandson.

COURTESY OF JASON CHANG Chang reflects on his perception of the everyday and how it's shifted with his move from Minneapolis to Baltimore.

What I didn’t know to miss

By JASON CHANG | October 9, 2025

In biology, a key method for determining the function of an element in a complex biological system is, perhaps counterintuitively, to inhibit it. See, when an element is working as normal, it is near impossible to separate it out amidst the jumbled and interconnected cocktail of life. Yet when once inhibited, its absence is unmistakable and only then does its longtime role clearly emerge.

COURTESY OF SAMIKA JAIN Jain sings her ode to dorm life in her new triple.

Three’s a crowd: An ode to living in a triple

By SAMIKA JAIN | October 1, 2025

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.

COURTESY OF HARMONY LIU Liu writes thank-you letters to the girls she met in Shanghai.

A thank-you letter to the girls I met in Shanghai

By HARMONY LIU | September 30, 2025

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.

COURTESY OF KRISTIN MILBURN To this day, Milburn wonders, “Of all the thoughts that’ve raced in my mind, I’ve worried: What if I become that same six-year-old girl who couldn’t finish any of her work on time?”

She just sits there

By KRISTIN MILBURN | September 28, 2025

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.

COURTESY OF SAREENA NAGANAND A photo Naganand took during a relaxing walk around campus over the summer, going on walks and appreciating what’s around her has helped with keeping her grounded in the present.

Slowing down in a fast world

By SAREENA NAGANAND | September 28, 2025

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.

COURTESY OF GRACE WANG Wang describes her experience in the fast-paced summer course, Organic Chemistry.

Organic chaos: My summer in Organic Chemistry

By GRACE WANG | September 24, 2025

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.

COURTESY OF RILEY STRAIT Strait lets readers in on his own version of The Simple Life.

The Simple Life

By RILEY STRAIT | September 21, 2025

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.

COURTESY OF ALYSSA GONZALEZ Gonzalez contemplates the difference in how politics is perceived in everyday America versus in Scotland, where she is currently studying abroad.

Political detox

By ALYSSA GONZALEZ | September 21, 2025

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.

TOMMY KWAK / PUBLIC DOMAIN Leiberman reflects on his journey as a writer and as a new freshman.

The book that taught me nothing (and everything)

By BRYCE LEIBERMAN | September 16, 2025

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.  

COURTESY OF LINDA HUANG Huang reflects on learning to let go of winning and the importance of focusing on understanding.

Nothing left to prove, except that I’m listening

By LINDA HUANG | September 14, 2025

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?

COURTESY OF HAILEY FINKELSTEIN A very miraculous text from Finkelstein’s dad.

Human tenderness is the last real thing

By HAILEY FINKELSTEIN | September 14, 2025

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.

STEVEN SIMPSON | PHOTO EDITOR  Boppana reflects on her tenure as Editor-in-Chief as her time with The News-Letter comes to a close.

Goodbye from a retiring Editor-in-Chief

By SAMHI BOPPANA | May 18, 2025

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.

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