In his Magnum Opus The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway describes the disillusioning, misguided, and ultimately self-fulfilling story of young adults in postwar France and Spain. He narrates their exorbitant lives filled with drinking, surface-level relationships, and the unsatiated pursuit of wealth. Residue from World War I—in both the gross disregard for human life for […]
Dear Taybah, I have been dating my boyfriend seriously for a few months now. However, I consider myself to be a religious and spiritual person, whereas he is completely non-religious. I thought that as long as my partner had a strong moral framework from which he lived his life, then I would be content. Basically, […]
Your midterm is in 24 hours and you haven’t studied. Panic swells as the weight of unread chapters, unwatched lectures, and unreviewed notes begins to sink in. Having put off your preparation for weeks, you now exemplify the procrastination and present bias described to you in Ec10. David Laibson was right. Worse, the once comforting […]
Wake up West Cambridge-siders. It’s that time of year again. Lamont’s air is thick with the scent of coffee and desperation, Cabot social hour is no longer an option, and Kettle Cooked Pop Corners are nowhere to be found in the Science Center vending machines. That’s right. It’s midterm season, and I, a (very experienced) […]
Dear President Claudine Gay, I write to you today with a heavy but hopeful heart. My heart is heavy as a result of the tragedies that have unfolded, and are continuing to unfold, in southern Israel and Gaza. My heart is also heavy because of the hateful rhetoric employed by some of my fellow Harvard […]
We’re tired, we’re hungry, and we want food. To respond to these classic urges, female social media creators artistically craft their combination of leftover chicken, carrots, and bread and posting it on TikTok under #girldinner. The Girl Dinner trend, in showcasing nontraditional and arguably incoherent dinners, has unveiled a fine line between promoting disordered eating […]
I am haunted by a lineage of four words: You are your trauma. My mom died a week into my senior year of high school. As I approached and navigated the chaos of the college admissions process, my whole world was fractured. Between drafts and drafts of varying personal statements, everyone around me seemed to […]
During our time serving as archivists for the Independent, we have had the opportunity to read and reflect on many past pieces. The Indy continues to serve as a place where counterculture opinions are not only accepted, but encouraged. While there are no longer half-page advertisements, entire sections of jokes, or numerous local news stories, […]
Being Hispanic and Mexican, I do not celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month. Through its materialization at Harvard, the month of September—filled with themed HUDS recipes, house community events, and cultural showcases—prompts contemplation on the interplay of race, culture, and linguistic identity from its Latino students. To me, the month-long attribution feels violently reminiscent of the Spanish […]
Nothing is better than the quintessential feeling of relief from the sweltering summer sun—stumbling into a building’s cold air, sweat evaporating and replaced by an army of goosebumps, life surging back through your veins. Though while much of America may experience such wonders, Harvard students certainly do not The week of September 4th was seven […]