Kitchen Sink No. 7
The ash was under my left thumbnail when I woke. I noticed it before I noticed anything else—before the grey light coming through the curtain, before the cold, before the particular silence of early morning that the building produced when it was trying to pass as uninhabited. I lay still and held my hand up […]
Green Shoots in Red Soil: The Texas Primary Race
Money is the engine of politics. It fuels campaigns and elections, and, by extension, our politicians. Each dollar purchases yet another 15-second campaign advertisement or a canvasser to knock on undecided voters’ doors. Currency and power are synonymous in a game that systematically rewards the highest spender. The hopeless cycle in which money determines political […]
Iranian Women Weep Too
In February 1998, Tony Benn, then over 40 years into his career as a Member of Parliament, rose in the House of Commons and delivered a legendary speech in opposition to the proposed bombing of Iraq. His words that day left no shortage of memorable lines: one in particular has never left me. “Are not […]
The Green Line
Every March, Boston slips into shades of green. The city’s color palette, usually a winter wash of red brick and slate, takes on an unmistakable hue. This green does not arrive with the weather, but rather a ceremonial cast on the 17th. It appears in flags hanging off of fire escapes, in the bunting draped […]
Luck is in the Yard
No matter what time one walks through Harvard Yard, there will undoubtedly be throngs of tourists surrounding the John Harvard Statue. Many will be snapping photos of them touching John Harvard’s foot, now polished bronze after years of wear. Whether it should be touched or not is another question, but the fact remains that rubbing […]
Are You In a “Chinese Time of Your Life”?
All over social media, being Chinese has become the new trend. Over the past year, Americans have begun “Chinamaxxing,” imitating Chinese culture in all aspects of their lives. From adopting Chinese wellness practices like traditional medicine and tai chi, to discovering a newfound passion for Popmart figurines, the year of the horse, and dim sum, […]
Where Are You Really From?
“Where are you from?” I gave my answer, as one does, and they looked at me, confused. I looked back at them, also confused (I was only a child; I hadn’t realised that this was a canonical “living while Black” moment). Like two dueling cowboys who both missed their first shot, we stood feet from […]
New World, Same Indy
What’s the use of a college newspaper if it doesn’t actually represent the student body? Discourse in a democratic society can rarely survive with only one source of news, and the microcosm of the world that is Harvard’s campus is no exception. In 1969, Morris Abram, Jr. ’71, Roland Cole ’70, Richard Paisner ’70, and […]
Harvard: Not Your Mother’s School
If you think your mother went to Harvard, that likely isn’t the full story. If she graduated before 1999, her diploma bears the seals of both Harvard University and Radcliffe College and the signatures of both schools’ presidents. While it is easy to overlook this detail, it points to a chapter of Harvard’s history when […]
Kitchen Sink No. 6
The weeks accumulated like dust on the library’s upper shelves—fine at first, then enough to blur the edge of the wood, dulling the days until it was unclear where one ended, and the next began. At first, I had mistaken this for stability—an order upheld gently by schedule and certainty, the comforting tyranny of bells […]
Kitchen Sink No. 5
The ward was quieter than it should have been. Not silent—the ward was never silent, there were always pipes rumbling in the walls, footsteps somewhere above and the low moaning of a man three doors down who had not stopped since Tuesday—but the particular stillness of Edward’s bunk sat in the room like a new […]
When Your Artistic Side Needs a Résumé
It is almost impossible to spend time at Harvard without feeling the gravitational pull toward consulting, banking, or law school. It can feel like ambition has a uniform, calling undergraduates to join the sea of interns wearing the Aritzia ‘Effortless Pant,’ J. Crew quarter-zips, and lunching at Sweetgreen between coffee chats. Some flock to consulting […]
My Love Language is Clementines
On every door hangs the symbol for fortune, “福.” Under every pillow, red envelopes rest. Aromas of oyster and soy sauce fill the air. These are the indicators of the Lunar New Year’s arrival. For me, this holiday is bittersweet, filled with celebration, but also a reminder of loss. I grew up looking forward to […]
Bring Back Boy Bands
When my mom was in college, she was obsessed with boy bands. A defining cultural phenomenon of the late 1990s and early 2000s, these groups dominated the pop landscape at the height of their influence, gathering cult-like followings. My mom was among the many young girls lured in by the intoxicating cocktail of heart-aching ballads, […]
Shaken Not Stirred
“The U.K. has been colonised by immigrants,” Sir Jim Ratcliffe, founder and Chief Executive Officer of the INEOS chemicals group and minority owner of Manchester United Football Club, said in a recent interview with Sky News on Feb. 12, 2026. Though Ratcliffe has since apologized for these comments, his sentiment reveals a rapidly growing, pervasive […]
Wellness in a Hopeless World
In 2021, just after the peak of COVID-19 had subsided, I started high school at a small boarding school in northern Massachusetts. Before leaving home, I didn’t have to think much about who I was, what was happening in the world, or what I owed to it. My first disorienting memory came the night of […]
At My Khala’s House, We Eat Banana Bread
Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024 I hear a rustle from outside our college dorm door, and I know that my roommates, Ella and Mia, are back from class. Together, they burst in, throw down their bags, and sprawl themselves on the couch. Ella complains about her upcoming sociology paper, and Mia gets started on her next […]
Emma Gray and the “Sober Party Girl”
“I’ll come out, but I’m not going to drink tonight” has become an increasingly familiar refrain as I find many of those around me falling in line with reported generational decreases in alcohol intake. While these words are not quite a commitment to full-fledged sober living, the physical and mental benefits of decreased drinking are […]
Selling Self-Care
When did wellness stop being a habit and start becoming a trend? When I was younger, it meant staying home with a mug of tea when I had a sore throat, or eating the fruits and vegetables my mom set out with dinner. Now, those small, quiet acts feel insufficient. Ever since the pandemic, it […]
The “New York Times” is Wrong About Cannabis Legalization
Since Colorado legalized recreational marijuana in 2012, cannabis dispensaries have multiplied nationwide, turning the once-distinct smell of weed into an everyday reality. But despite state policies, the American populace continues to question legalization. Some claim that the principles of liberalism and freedom—so fundamental to America’s identity—should apply to marijuana access and use. Others are concerned […]
Kitchen Sink No. 4
I had been watching her for six days. This was not unusual. I watch most things. But I had been watching her with a specificity that surprised me—the way she replaced books on the shelves, for instance, running two fingers along the spine before releasing it, as though verifying it was properly returned. The angle […]
What HKS Students Lose by Not Having Physical Newspapers and Magazines
Walk into any public library in Boston, Cambridge, or Somerville—or in most cities across the country—and you will find physical copies of the “New York Times,” “Washington Post,” and “Wall Street Journal,” alongside a few magazines. But walk into the Harvard Kennedy School of Government library, and you will not find any print periodicals—to access […]
We Should Love, Even When the World is Decaying.
“We accept the love we think we deserve.” I vividly remember the moment I heard those words while watching the television screen. I hated Stephen Chbosky’s “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” but that sentence stuck, even more than a big spoonful of honey when sick: slow, heavy, impossible to swallow. Those words dwelled because, […]
10 Things I “Love” About Harvard
Dear Harvard, Given that it’s Valentine’s Day and all, and we have this entire season devoted to love, I figured it was an appropriate time to write this letter to you. Others are writing love letters to crushes and situationships, but you—arguably my most intense relationship—deserve one too. After all, I’ve given you more time, […]
Boyfriend or Foe?
Some love it; some hate it. Either way, this time of year is unavoidable: shop windows become crowded with roses and chocolates, reservations are made in the blink of an eye, and couples and singles alike begin to prepare for the fated holiday of Valentine’s Day. As Feb. 14 creeps closer, the question on my […]
Point/Counterpoint: Club-cest
*Both of the long-term club-cest relationships referred to throughout the piece have (sort of) ended at the time of this publication. Homie Hopper: I’m a firm believer in club-cest. I’ve dabbled across most of my clubs, but one of the most egregious of my club-cest violations occurred within this very organization. Retired Rizzler: Unfortunately, Homie […]
“What Punishments of God Are Not Gifts?”
In a 2019 interview, Anderson Cooper asked Stephen Colbert if he really believed a statement he had previously quoted from a letter by J.R.R. Tolkien: “What punishments of God are not gifts?” Colbert, after a brief pause, replied “Yes” with a smile on his face. The interview between the two is heartbreaking, wholesome, and everything […]
Dear Harvard Administration,
My name is Hayden Brackeen. I am a junior at Harvard College writing to register my staunch opposition to the new grading policies as proposed in Dean of Undergraduate Education Amanda Claybaugh’s recent email. I will not mince words in the interest of brevity. It is ridiculous for a school that primarily admits undergraduates based […]
Kitchen Sink No. 3
Professor Hendricks didn’t introduce himself in the usual way. He walked into the lecture hall five minutes past ten, late enough that all but the last few students had taken their seats, yet early enough that none had debated leaving. He strode down the aisle, a gauche gait with a limp in his left leg—noticeable […]
Modern Media Selling Shock
When it comes to recent blockbuster television and cinema, it feels like we are all going to the proverbial cottage. Every time I reach for the remote or head to the movies, I seem to be unknowingly subscribing to a porno-violence screening, often, and unfortunately, with my family. Sex and blood have always been central […]
“I’m From the Government, and I’m Here to Help.”
Perhaps Ronald Reagan was right all along when he jokingly said, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.” ICU nurse Alex Pretti, as well as writer and poet Renee Good, were killed in the streets of Minneapolis in Jan. by ICE and United […]
The Next Chapter
Anyone who knows the two of us knows the Harvard Independent. They know where we are every Monday night, how we start our Thursday mornings, and what we are texting, calling, and brainstorming about at all hours of the day. To say that the Indy is woven into the fabric of our college experiences would […]
The Nature of Change
When I landed at Los Angeles International Airport this past December, I immediately noticed the way that Southern California smelled. As the automatic doors slid open with a hiss, I was hit with a wave of nostalgia—as well as a literal wave of hot, dry air. Growing up in the Greater Los Angeles area, I […]
The New 2016?
While many spent their winter break watching home videos on DVD players or sorting through old photo albums, this private nostalgia transitioned to public social media this new year. On Jan. 1, 2026, Instagram feeds were suddenly filled with the long-forgotten dog-ear Snapchat filter, quirky poses in front of Los Angeles’ iconic pink wings, and […]
The Rot and Guilt of Winter Break
As the fall semester came to a close last December and exams piled up, it felt as though the world was crashing down. But there was one light at the end of the tunnel: Harvard’s January Term. Better known as J-Term, this period consisted of a luxurious six-week break with no homework, tests, or student […]
Kitchen Sink No. 1
I woke up, and my shoulder was sore. Not sore—throbbing. A deep ache in the muscle where they’d injected the medication yesterday. Or was it this morning? Time moves strangely here. Above me, I could hear Thomas breathing. He was already awake. He’s always awake before me, which he mentions constantly, as if being awake […]
Redefining “New Year” Energy
Hard work is constantly redefined at Harvard as the student body perpetually sets new milestones, surmounts challenges, and beats records once thought impossible. The vein of ambition running through our Cambridge campus confirms that many students undoubtedly have even more personal, extravagant, and demanding targets for the new year. Whether this looks like taking on […]
The End of the Old Order
In a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney ’87 proclaimed that the “old order is not coming back.” In the face of President Donald Trump’s consistent challenges to multilateralism, trade threats to allies, and the more recent open questioning of European sovereignty—as it pertains to Greenland—truer words […]
Our Renewed Commitment
The Salient was founded in 1981 in pursuit of truth and to restore Harvard’s tradition of thoughtful, balanced discourse. Over the past months, the Salient has strayed from that purpose. The forefathers of conservatism, from Edmund Burke to Abraham Lincoln, understood that the moral equality of all human beings must underpin any discussion of their […]
Letter from the Editor: Doing the Things That Scare You
Every semester, the Harvard Independent holds a meeting with our Graduate Board—a group of alumni from the newspaper who provide guidance, support, and help steer Indy operations. This fall marked my seventh one, and last as Editor-in-Chief. The feeling I experienced during those three hours, surrounded by the leaders who have inspired me to dedicate […]
Au Revoir: A Tale of Growing Pains
As November swiftly passes and December takes her place, the coming of the new year awaits me. Every year, I vow to make one significant change in my life, with promises like cutting out sugar, exercising daily, stopping myself from procrastinating on assignments until four hours before they are due, and, finally, addressing the wounds […]
A Sweet Escape: Reading Period Reflection
Full from Thanksgiving’s feast, Harvard students return to campus in early December ready for a palate cleanser. Only three days of classes stand between us and reading period, which arrives just in time for relaxation, preparation for finals, and a moment of pause from the academic feast we’ve consumed. But what if reading period were […]
No Place Like Home
“Why do I love this place / That’s never loved me?” These are the opening lines from “No Place Like Home,” a song written by composer Stephen Schwartz for the box-office triumph: “Wicked: For Good.” For many, it was just another song in the movie, but for me, it resonated on a much deeper level. […]
A Tale of Two Presidents
Let there be no mistake: Claudine Gay made mistakes. Her 2023 Congressional hearing on antisemitism was, by all intents and purposes, a catastrophe, and her subsequent plagiarism scandal, though more accurately described, in my view, as a political witch hunt, was a low point for the University. That much we can all agree on. Billionaires […]
Thoughts from New Quincy: The Last Frontier
Conquest used to be geographic. Power was measured in acreage and borders—how many people you could uproot or how many maps you could redraw. For centuries, empires expanded outward: seizing land, minerals, bodies, and entire cultures. Colonialism was an economic project disguised as destiny. Europe treated the world as inventory: gold in the Caribbean, rubber […]
An Ode to the Penny
“This is a 1956 Pennsylvanian minted wheat penny,” Grandpa remarked as he showed me the tiny reddish-brown coin. 10-year-old me grinned with pride. The almost 70-year-old coin was an incredible find; the average coin’s lifespan is only 25 years, and most collectors had grabbed up all the wheat pennies when they ended their production. But, […]
Thoughts from New Quincy: Leaving, Falling, Letting
By the time leaves begin to fall in the courtyard outside of New Quincy, the semester is already racing by—too fast for anyone to notice. They gather first in the tight corners of the brick path—wedged beneath bikes, pressed against the base of the lamppost, scattered along the entryway like an afterthought. In the mornings, […]
The Game: A Storied Legacy of Pranking
Last year, I got my first chance to see “The Game.” There are really only two football rivalries that share this name. Growing up in Michigan, I had often watched Ohio State face Michigan, but this was my first time experiencing the storied Harvard-Yale match-up. The atmosphere was unlike any other Harvard athletics game I […]
The Art of Sexting
There are few things I appreciate more in life than a well-crafted sext. I have always, and will always, be a firm believer in the positive power of sexting. Truly good sexting requires a level of intimacy and understanding of your partner that a purely physical hookup often does not. To arouse someone through a […]
Sex and Salary Transparency
There are a few subjects that you just don’t bring up at the dinner table; sex and salary are at the top of the list. Not exactly what you want to unpack with your grandparents over pie. Yet it isn’t just among relatives that people hold back on discussing these “taboo” topics. Sex and salary […]
Make Harvard Fuck Again
As Harvard students, we are constantly under the pressure of rigorous coursework, demanding extracurriculars, and the struggle to succeed at the high level that this institution expects. Our schedules are busy at best and all-consuming at worst. The sheer effort it takes to manage it all leads many of us to deal with near-constant stress, […]
Thoughts from New Quincy: Presence, Lost
Americans are having less sex than at any point in the modern era. The share of U.S. adults ages 18-64 who report having sex weekly has fallen from 55% in 1990 to 37% in 2024. Among young adults, the shift is sharper: the share of 18-29-year-olds who reported no sex in the past year doubled […]
God Doesn’t Care If You’re Gay, and Neither Should the Law
On Oct. 24, the Texas Supreme Court unanimously voted to amend the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct to allow judges in the state to refuse same-sex marriage ceremonies, if doing so would be contrary to their “sincerely held religious beliefs.” To be clear, judges are not required to perform marriages, but are now legally allowed […]
It’s Time to Deconsumerize Sex
Buying condoms for the first time was a confusing experience. I was at DM-drogerie markt, the European analog of CVS, surrounded by a sea of products I could neither interpret nor distinguish from each other. At the time, I was a student at an international boarding school in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and my Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian skills […]
Sex Ed as an Asian in the South
Education has been an integral part of human history, allowing each generation to develop beyond what is currently known. Sciences build upon what is already understood to discover the next innovation. History hopes to avoid previous mistakes. English courses foster an appreciation for the stories of different cultures. But one type of education is dedicated […]
He Thinks, She Thinks: the Nine Stages of a Hookup
The “hookup” embodies one of our most basic impulses. The term has been diluted over time, used to describe anything from making out to simply meeting up. This analysis, however, focuses on the traditional interpretation: sex. While we have evolved from our cave-roaming days, the custom persists. Frat parties have replaced balls, flowers have replaced […]
Roommate Roulette
The moment that defined my freshman year was not move-in day—it was a late July sweaty afternoon. Arriving at a babysitting gig drenched in sweat from my 30-block walk to Union Square, I had known that it was the day our freshman rooming assignments were supposed to be released. But it was already 3:50 p.m., […]
Falling Back, Falling Apart
It’s time we fix the time. Each year, on the first Sunday of November, most Americans turn back the clock and relish an extra hour of sleep as we “fall back” to Standard Time, marking the end of Daylight Saving Time until March rolls around. Though our Halloweekends were blessed with an extra hour of […]
A Love Letter to Bedrotting
In the midst of late-night Lamont sessions and 9 a.m. lectures, I find myself returning more and more to the one thing that is always there for me when I need it the most: the longest and most stable relationship I have ever had—bedrotting. A phrase popularized through TikTok, bedrotting involves spending extended periods of […]
Equally Scary: Halloween as Liberation in Fashion
Every year on October 31, the world dresses up. From oozing blood to plush fur, gleaming armor to inflatable suits, there is no limit to what people wear. For a single day, sidewalks turn into public runways. We stride through the night as designers, performers, and works of art. Halloween may be the most democratic […]
Keep Us Out of the Media
If you believe everything you read in the news, Harvard students are either future billionaires, political masterminds, or villains in a culture war. This narrative is making Harvard, a pinnacle of higher education, seem as if it’s plotting to undermine the country from within. The truth is, as always, less dramatic: most of us are […]
Remembering Setti Warren
Our late Director, Setti Warren, was a cherished mayor, pillar of the Harvard community, loving father and husband. He brought service to life at the IOP, and led with curiosity, humility, and an endlessly generous spirit that touched everyone who had the honor of knowing him. Setti kindled in generations of students the passion and […]
Academic Rigor or Institutional Anxiety?
The “smoke-filled” rooms of Loeb House— home to the University’s governing bodies and their administrative offices—have more in common with the crowded newsroom of the New York Times than you might expect: both are filled with people talking about Harvard, though hardly any of them actually go here. The University and its students remain under […]
College Students Need to Reprioritize Their Sleep, and Here’s Why
When I thought my sleep schedule in high school couldn’t get worse, I was wrong. As a junior, I could easily run on five hours of sleep like a champ. My average day in high school looked something like this… 7:45 a.m.: get ready 9 a.m.-4 p.m.: school 4:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m.: sports practice 7:30 a.m.-12:30 […]
Harvard Ghost Stories
Students in Hollis Hall once received a chilling ultimatum: they had 36 hours to evacuate their rooms, or face a supernatural punishment. The message, purportedly from the ghost of a Revolutionary War soldier, appeared in the winter of 1940 and claimed that the spirit was tired of living in the attic and wanted the entire […]
When Halloween Grows Up
I imagine the first Halloween night in college feels different. You pass clusters of students covered in glitter and fake blood, music spilling from a random location, and for a moment, you can’t help but think of the years spent running through quiet neighborhoods with a pillowcase full of candy. Among college students, there’s an […]
Channeling Capone
In third grade, I strutted through hallways and across the playground on the most exciting day of the school year, dressed in a pinstripe suit, bowler hat, and sunglasses —finished off with a bright red lip. In my full ensemble, I was more than ready for the Halloween parade as 1920s gangster Al Capone. My […]
Thoughts from New Quincy: Seamless Surfaces
Each morning this summer, I passed the same wall on my way to work. Behind me, the brakes of a bus hissed, and a gust of warm air carried the smell of exhaust and garbage. The wall changed constantly—first a movie poster, then a perfume ad, then a mural commissioned by a sneaker brand. Each […]
Harvard’s Haunted House
At Harvard, you don’t need ghosts to make the place feel haunted—stress is enough to fill the halls with the unease of ambition that never sleeps. It’s hiding within busy comp schedules and crowded day-to-day schedules, breathing through the walls of dorms that never quite feel “homey” enough, and slipping into the quiet. It’s a […]
Transcending Borders: International Students Are a Cornerstone of Harvard
Every Sunday night, my suitemates and I crowd onto one of our twin XL beds, blankets in hand and worries from the week forgotten, to watch the latest episode of “The Summer I Turned Pretty.” The snacks laid out on the bed perfectly encapsulate Harvard’s global community: maple sea salt popcorn from Trader Joe’s, licorice […]
The Class of 2028 Makes it Official
On Friday, Oct. 10, Widener’s steps were packed with sophomores posing with concentration banners beneath the cloudy sky, trying to get a photo before their flag disappeared into the crowd. Along with most life sciences concentrators, I went straight from Chem 17 lecture to snap a photo with my roommates holding the “Concentration Declaration Day” […]
अद्वैत
“Do I look Indian?” I interject into our conversation with a hint of eagerness. It’s the middle of June, and my friends and I are sitting around the kitchen table, eating the dinner we had just cooked together. The stove is a mess with dishes out everywhere, as penne alla vodka and steak elegantly rest […]
Harvard Engineering: You Can’t Buy Your Way to the Top
“Today’s gift will help continue that legacy by making SEAS a 21st-century engineering leader. It provides a solid endowment for faculty development, research, scholarships, and financial aid.” That was John A. Paulson’s—Harvard Business School Class of 1980—objective when he donated $400 million to the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences—now named in his honor—in […]
Thoughts from New Quincy: After Innovation
The world runs on updates. Phones, cars, sneakers—everything has a version number now. Each season promises an upgrade: a faster processor, a lighter fabric, a “new and improved” formula. You buy one, even when last year’s still works, and the changes are almost imperceptible. That’s beside the point. What matters is not the object, but […]
We Do Not Need to Generate a New Reality
Michael Jackson moonwalking away after pilfering your KFC order. SpongeBob SquarePants getting pulled over by highway patrol. Peter Griffin duking it out with anime characters. These absurd scenarios, once confined to dreams or fanfiction, can now be conjured in seconds through OpenAI’s new video-generation model, Sora 2. All it takes is a few keystrokes and […]
Thoughts from New Quincy: Two-Headed Boy
The beach stretches endlessly into the dark. It’s the early season, still too cold to go in the water. I can see boats with their lights on far in the distance. I scan across the water’s edge, catching glimpses of buoys bobbing up and down. The air pulls tight against my skin, cold enough that […]
“I Think”
“I think Confucius would critique Menzi’s emphasis on rewards and punishments.” “I think men have a higher social dominance orientation than women.” “I think the limbic system and prefrontal cortex are in a tug of war.” At Harvard, no class statement seems complete without an “I think.” It slips out unconsciously, often going unnoticed by […]
Ponderings on Pace
One of my closest friends recently experienced a Harvard student’s worst nightmare: a mid-semester concussion. What shocked me more than her text sharing the news was how it happened: a walking accident. My dear friend was speed-walking to class when she collided with another student, leaving her encounter with a new head injury. While this […]
Counterpoint: Defending Mandatory Attendance
At 10:30 a.m. last Wednesday, I turned to my friend and noticed that nearly half the usual students were missing from our linguistics lecture. “Where did everyone go?” I asked. As I later learned, most had gone home for the long weekend—it was, after all, ‘no big deal’ to skip an optional-attendance class. Since starting […]
Point: Against Mandatory Attendance
The classroom has evolved throughout the years. Handwritten notes and chalkboards have slowly changed to Google Doc tabs and PowerPoint slides. Lengthy textbooks are now available online and in condensed formats. And technologies like AI allow students to rapidly consume information. With the add/drop period behind us, most students have already learned which of their […]
Midterms Misery
At Harvard, midterm season sees students celebrating a 48% because it’s above the class average. Yes, Stat 110, I’m looking at you. Every semester, these midterm scores bring about an onslaught of headlines from news outlets that haven’t written about Gen Z’s “academic decline” in a while. It’s nothing new. But the question remains: is […]
Why I Hated My Name, Until Harvard
Laura. Pérez. Cremer. When I turned 14, I began to feel a visceral rejection towards my first surname: Pérez. In Spain, every citizen’s ID includes both surnames—usually the father’s first, the mother’s second. In most cases, it is that of the mother’s which is left in second place. And like most things placed second, it […]
Thoughts from New Quincy: The Ring, The Mirror
It starts with a story. Two teenage girls in a quiet suburban house whisper about a cursed videotape—one that kills anyone who watches it seven days after viewing. They laugh, half-believing, half-scared, until one admits she’s already seen it. That night, the curse keeps its promise. I first saw “The Ring” in high school and […]
We Can’t Read, and It’s Not Because of that Phone
“Do the readings.” I open Canvas to see what my assigned reading is for the week. A 35-page research paper, a chapter from a book written in 19th-century jargon, and a seemingly endless textbook excerpt on convoluted theory. Professors, TFs, upperclassmen, even Dean Amanda Claybaugh in the freshman training modules, repeat this mantra: “Do the […]
Memories of Oktoberfest
Once again, the time of the year has snuck up on me: it’s October—or, as it’s esoterically translated in German, Oktober—and that means it’s time for Oktoberfest (literally “October Festival,” another toughie to figure out). Now a college sophomore, it’s been two years since I’ve celebrated Oktoberfest in Germany with friends. While I haven’t shuffled […]
Thoughts from New Quincy: Getting Experimental
Sir Galahad: Growing up, my dad had one rule for tree-climbing: if you can get yourself up, you can get yourself back down. I would scurry up branches as they bent under my weight until I sat perched too high on limbs too thin; the ground looked impossibly far away. When it came time to […]
Who We Go to War For and Why It Matters
In response to the tragic assassination of Charlie Kirk, many prominent conservative voices have proclaimed that a state of “war” has befallen the nation. A war of ideology, left versus right, “our truth” versus “their truth.” Amidst the trigger words and headlines, we must take stock of where we are as a nation and ask […]
Thoughts from New Quincy: Residue of Rooms
This summer in London, I visited the Tate to see Do Ho Suh’s installation. Entire apartments were remade in translucent fabric: doorframes, corridors, kitchens, even the seams and edges of walls rendered in color so thin it felt like memory given form. They are monuments to impermanence, preserving the memory of rooms that no longer […]
Point/Counterpoint: What to Wear to Class
On a warm September morning, the steps of Widener were crowded with students smiling for photos with friends. Their signs read “FDOC,” commemorating the First Day of Classes. Beyond the unusual pre-10:30 a.m. cheer, one thing stood out: their outfits. Every year, students don their finest polos and sundresses for the first week to impress […]
Learning the Words
Striped, terry-cloth towels hang flimsily from the ceiling beams as my cabin of 16 12-year-old campers scream about Taylor Swift, Sharks and Minnows, and what we’ll have for lunch. I make attempts to stay clued into their pop-culture discourse—teaching them the “Pitch Perfect” cup song at Camp dinner and the lyrics to Natasha Bedingfield’s “Unwritten” […]
Thoughts from New Quincy: The Notebook Reboot
Before the semester started, I argued in these pages that Harvard shouldn’t ban AI but instead teach students to use it critically, the way calculators or word processors were once absorbed into learning. That argument felt urgent then; it feels even more now. When I returned to campus this fall, I found classrooms not only […]
The Absolute Bane of My Existence
I hate texting. I’m a bad texter. Like, BAD. Anyone who knows me can vouch: I’m notoriously terrible at responding to messages. And it’s not because I don’t see them—that excuse doesn’t fly in a world where our phones are glued to our hands. The truth is, I just can’t take texting seriously as a […]
Who Owns Your Thoughts?
Brain-computer interfaces are no longer science fiction. For most, the idea brings to mind “Severance,” Apple’s unsettling series about surgically divided minds. Yet beyond television, companies like Neuralink are already conducting human trials, Chinese firms are investing heavily into neurotechnology, and research labs are learning to decode brain activity in real time. The question is […]
Thoughts from New Quincy: Metric Mindset
There’s a moment every shopping week when the choice isn’t between two classes you love, but between an easy A and a harder B+. You look at the syllabi side by side: one packed with weekly papers, late nights, and the risk of failure; the other promising generous curves, lighter reading, and a safer GPA. […]
“I Don’t Eat Before 1 p.m. Because I’m Better Than You”
“I don’t eat before 1 p.m. because I’m better than you. Eat 300 grams of protein, sleep 8 hours, drink 8 glasses of water, reduce stress, get 10,000 steps, lift heavy, and remain in a calorie deficit. For a high-protein afternoon shake, put a large steak and matcha powder into a blender.” Over the past […]
Out Of Your League: The Dying Art of Mundane Interaction
“But midst the crowd, the hurry, the shock of men, To hear, to see, to feel and to possess, And roam alone, the world’s tired denizen, With none who bless us, none whom we can bless…” Solitude, Lord Byron Solitude. As the youngest sibling of three and one of the younger grandchildren in a sprawling […]
Too Late or Too Soon? The Right Time to Think About Graduate School
At the start of high school, I set a simple, resolute goal: get into a top college. For me, that felt like the ultimate measure of success, the culmination of years of work. Many students share that mindset—the process is grueling, but in hindsight, the path looks fairly straightforward. The formula is not exactly a […]
Letter from the Editor: Be A Part of History
Dear Readers, This fall marks the 56th anniversary of the Harvard Independent. Born in 1969, at the height of the Vietnam War and a campus disrupted by protest, the Indy emerged from students who demanded unbiased, topical reporting and a space for counterculture writing. For over half a century, the Indy has chronicled Harvard at […]
How Stanford Has Escaped Trump’s War on Higher Ed
As the White House escalated its pressure campaign on Harvard and other Ivy League universities this past academic year, many of us at Stanford braced ourselves for similar scrutiny, wondering when our school would draw the Trump administration’s ire. So far, those anxieties have mostly gone unrealized. Stanford has remained outside the national spotlight, avoiding […]
Avoid the Building with My Family’s Name
The Riesman Center for Harvard Hillel was once my refuge. As a struggling undergraduate, I found comfort there, and not because my family’s name was chiseled into its edifice. I was welcomed at its dinners, warmed by its community, and guided by leaders who seemed to genuinely care about a better Jewish future. But today, […]