Think of some addictive drugs. Cocaine may come to mind, along with maybe methamphetamine, alcohol, or nicotine. But if I had to guess, marijuana did not make your cut. It is easy to understand why marijuana isn’t generally thought of as a particularly dangerous drug. Its recreational usage has been legalized in most states, including […]
Prayer, fasting, almsgiving—the phrase Christians repeat over and over during the 40 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter. In the Christian tradition, across denominations, Lent is a time of “solemnity and self-reflection,” as described by the United Kingdom’s Christian Enquiry Agency. Christians use this time to repent for their wrongdoings and turn towards a more […]
I vividly remember my first time enrolling in college courses. It was the week before classes started—the week before my first semester of college—and I had no idea what I wanted to concentrate in. Dreams of Psychology, English, History, and Government all danced around in my head as I excitedly clicked through course reports and […]
There’s this idea that it is “‘beneath the dignity of an Ivy League school to train teachers,’” points out Walter Isaacson ’74, former CEO of CNN and graduate of Harvard College, quoted in an article by The Atlantic. It’s pretty normal to ask someone what their plans are after college. Most commonly, when I eavesdrop […]
Feeling unmotivated? Having trouble finishing your work? Experiencing difficulty getting out of bed or making plans with friends? Not able to enjoy reading Indy articles the way you did in the fall? You’re not alone. It’s that time of year again. Hands-too-frozen-to-send-a-text, leggings-under-jeans, gets-dark-before-class-ends time. Winter has descended upon Boston, and the weather has plunged […]
“I’m so organized! I’m so OCD.” You’ve heard it, I’ve heard it. You’ve probably said it. I’ve said it, too. Except I’m not exaggerating, because I have a mild and clinically diagnosed case of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. It’s never been life-threatening, nor has it caused me any sort of extremely disruptive pain (though it can […]
Purge. Oust. Eradicate. Dispose. You’ve heard the stress-inducing rhetoric of professed minimalists, arguing that non-essential items are wasteful and should be removed. You’ve heard the crazy stories of libertarian minimalists who own exactly one hundred things and live in remote locations. Minimalism might bring to mind a modest lifestyle, a beige interior, and an empty […]
A cure for Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases may have been hiding from neuroscientists for decades. As Harvard students prepared for back-to-school, researchers at the University of Lausanne were glued to the microscope as they discovered a new type of brain cell, glutamatergic astrocytes. As a hybrid of two well-studied cells—neurons and glial cells—these specialized astrocytes […]
Why did I get into Harvard? It’s the question that plagues every admitted high school senior and new Harvard first-year. Everyone remembers Ivy Day: every nerve in your body awake, hands shaking as you typed in your portal password, involuntarily screaming at the sight of confetti. But soon, the initial shock wears off, and you’re […]