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 […]
“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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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” […]
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 […]
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 […]