10.01.26: Oktoberfest
A Win Is a Win
Imagine yourself as an athlete on the starting line. Perhaps you’re envisioning a track star or a gymnast mid-competition. Put yourself in that athlete’s shoes. You stand in an arena of coaches, family, and competitors. There’s a buzz in the air and … human feces on the track? This may sound implausible for any athlete […]
What the Lindsay Clancy Case Reveals About Perinatal Mental Health
On Jan. 24, 2023, in Duxbury, Massachusetts, Lindsay Clancy allegedly killed her three children and then attempted suicide by jumping out of a second-story window. More than three years later, her case has drawn national attention to the severity of postpartum depression and questions of accountability in mental health. “Maybe one of the reasons why […]
Tourists, Toes and Teachings
Most warning signs appear in neon; John Harvard’s right foot is no exception. When you see the shiny, worn-down, urine-yellow shoe, your first instinct should not be to rub your hand all over it. Yet evidently, it is. A gaggle of tourists, holding various devices, stops daily to pose in front of the statue. And […]
Local Unicorns Encourage Dropping Out of School
Harvard is filled with unicorns—not the traditional kind (bearing sparkly horns and colorful manes); instead, these individuals have founded privately held start-up companies with valuations of over $1 billion. Harvard ranks third among top U.S. universities for such peculiarities, boasting 76 start-up founders between 2017 and 2025. This number trails only Massachusetts Institute of Technology […]
An Ode to the Pub
I once saw an old man in the pub. He had sad eyes: that’s what I remember most about him. Sad, slightly glazed eyes that stared into the frothy foam of an undrunk Guinness, waiting to be met with kindness. I pulled up a chair to talk to him, but he didn’t seem interested: “Waiting […]
Smells Like School Spirit
Back home in Nashville, crisp fall air always signaled that football season was coming. But the game itself was never the important part. Tailgates, homecoming parades, and student section cheers became the backdrop to every conversation and hangout. Seas of high school students, families, and alumni alike, decked out in bright red and glittery gold, […]
You Said They’re How Much?
In October 2016, about 700 Harvard University Dining Hall Services members began striking for fair wages and adequate health insurance—a dissent that has persisted even a decade later. Harvard is no stranger to the divide between workers and administration. Earlier this year, faculty layoffs and department funding cuts exacerbated existing tensions between staff and the […]
Uninformed Disunity
By late September, things have become routine. We’ve settled into our new dorms, reacquainted ourselves with our term-time friends, and counted down the days as the add/drop period creeps toward its end; as these habits sink in, a couple of changes occur on campus. The 100-degree heat that Cambridge felt in our absence departs, and […]
Behind the Booze
The drinks that we choose can say a lot about us. Do you like lemons? Cranberries? Sweet or sour? Often, what we choose to consume reflects who we are or are trying to be. Maybe you pick something fresh to feel like a “clean girl”; maybe you choose a bitter, serious drink to pretend that […]