Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the world has been on edge. Whether it’s the suspected outbreaks of Hantavirus, Monkeypox, or bird flu, every couple of months something new to fear appears, a new reason to stock up on an unreasonable amount of toilet paper and canned goods. But are any of our fears justified? On Oct. […]
AI-generated fruit videos. Scroll. “What I eat in a day.” Scroll. Brutal, unflinching disaster in Nepal as hundreds die from floods. Scroll. “Get ready with me to try out a new nail salon!” Scroll. Reading this routine may feel unnerving, but nearly all of us have experienced this sequence of content. Social media has taught […]
In kindergarten, one of my closest male friends shoved a banana into my crotch at lunch. Uncomfortable with the sensation, I told my teacher and asked to be moved away from him in the seating assignment. The next thing I knew, I was dragged into the principal’s office and asked to report it. I was […]
On Oct. 8, the 2026 Nobel Prize in Literature was announced, and classicists around the world celebrated: Anne Carson—acclaimed poet and translator of many Ancient Greek works—had won at last. Although I root for Haruki Murakami every year like a middle-aged father cheering on his favorite football team (next year I swear Murakami is going […]
On my way back from my Econometrics section, a classmate told me that a good approach to women is to pick the one that minimizes costs and maximizes utility. In plain language: pick the woman who gives you the most while you give the least. I thought of Arabic music, specifically Umm Kulthum, the Egyptian […]
I know very little about François-Marie Arouet, better known as Voltaire, beyond reading “Candide,” a book I remember disliking thoroughly at age 15. However, throughout college, Voltaire has crept back into my consciousness (albeit in a much more palatable form). Despite having a complicated relationship with religion, Voltaire spoke of it often, writing on a […]
I recently read an article in the “Washington Post” that covered the war in Ukraine. It detailed the devastating reality of war and the depth of the collective grief and suffering in Pryluky, Ukraine, following the killing of the civilian Ivanchenko family. Oleksandr Ivanchenko, his wife Yuliia, and their two young children, Iryna and Maksym, […]
In the weeks before my first year at Harvard, I got my annual back-to-school haircut. I await this tradition with excitement, for it physically marks the changes ahead: it shears away the dead weight of split ends and existential anxieties for the coming year, and implicitly prepares me for, and embraces, the growth that awaits. […]
When the Smith Campus Center was renovated in 2018, the team in charge claimed the renovation was part of a wider, ongoing “Common Space” initiative by the University to support the wider community. They stated that the Smith Center was intended to create a “360,000-square-foot open door” for Harvard. However, while Harvard provides many different […]
Sitting in my dorm, staring out the window at the rain pouring down and the trees swaying back and forth, I grieved my wasted weekend. I would spend it locked inside, avoiding the torrential nor’easter. In that kind of weather, nothing would keep me dry. Sideways rain could soak even the best umbrella or raincoat. […]