The Olympian of Canaday A
A cold wind cuts across your nose as you skate down the ice. The colors of the audience—red, white, blue—blur into a muted shade of purple as your heartbeat makes its presence known in your throat. In what feels like the blink of an eye, you look down. Gloves and helmets are scattered across the […]
Restrained But Not Restricted: International Students’ Free Speech On Campus
A Harvard College international student—who chose to remain anonymous due to security concerns—was playing frisbee in the Harvard Yard when a man approached her, introducing himself as a reporter for CNN. He asked if she felt scared or threatened. “I didn’t want to just say yes, because of course I’m scared and of course I’m […]
Celebrating Your Roots
Every September, a new class of Harvard students arrives on campus with a beaming smile and an ambitious look in their eyes. Yet between academic pressures and unfamiliar environments, one challenge many students do not realize awaits them: staying connected to their cultural identity when home is now a college dorm. Language, for many students, […]
Are You In a “Chinese Time of Your Life”?
All over social media, being Chinese has become the new trend. Over the past year, Americans have begun “Chinamaxxing,” imitating Chinese culture in all aspects of their lives. From adopting Chinese wellness practices like traditional medicine and tai chi, to discovering a newfound passion for Popmart figurines, the year of the horse, and dim sum, […]
Where Are You Really From?
“Where are you from?” I gave my answer, as one does, and they looked at me, confused. I looked back at them, also confused (I was only a child; I hadn’t realised that this was a canonical “living while Black” moment). Like two dueling cowboys who both missed their first shot, we stood feet from […]
New World, Same Indy
What’s the use of a college newspaper if it doesn’t actually represent the student body? Discourse in a democratic society can rarely survive with only one source of news, and the microcosm of the world that is Harvard’s campus is no exception. In 1969, Morris Abram, Jr. ’71, Roland Cole ’70, Richard Paisner ’70, and […]
Harvard: Not Your Mother’s School
If you think your mother went to Harvard, that likely isn’t the full story. If she graduated before 1999, her diploma bears the seals of both Harvard University and Radcliffe College and the signatures of both schools’ presidents. While it is easy to overlook this detail, it points to a chapter of Harvard’s history when […]
wood & would’ve-beens
Today I learned the history of my people. Of how their story survived in blocks of wood I now hold—how, in times of strife, they turned toward nature to be understood. Today I learned that history can be as small as a weaver’s pin or an old bottle filled with life or a bracelet of […]
“Truth or Illusion?”: A Review of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”
From Feb. 26 to March 1, the Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club performed Edward Albee’s 1962 play “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” in the Loeb Experimental Theater. The play contains dark themes and explores the deepest recesses of human behavior, including multiple screaming matches, copious drinking, glass smashing, profanity, and violence. Though it takes three acts and […]
Exploring American Hometowns: Brentwood, California
When I introduce myself, I say I’m from “the Bay” to be strategically vague. If I’m lucky, someone mentions a cousin in San Jose or an internship in San Francisco, and we nod at each other in mutual recognition of tech-adjacent geography. If I’m less lucky, they ask the question: “Where in the Bay?” There’s […]
Point/Counterpoint: Should Eileen Gu Have Represented China?
Eileen Gu and Alysa Liu are two of the most prominent young athletes in international winter sports, whose lives seem to run in parallel. Both were born in the United States to Chinese single parents who had their children by surrogacy with white American donors, and both rose quickly to the top of their respective […]
Oars and Origins: The History Behind Harvard Crew
One often overlooked part of Harvard College’s identity is its enduring connection to the Charles River. Though it may go unnoticed, the College’s rhythm and structure are shaped by this neighboring waterway. On one side of the river lies the hub of student life—bustling classrooms, historic houses, and academic excellence. On the other side stands […]
Kitchen Sink No. 6
The weeks accumulated like dust on the library’s upper shelves—fine at first, then enough to blur the edge of the wood, dulling the days until it was unclear where one ended, and the next began. At first, I had mistaken this for stability—an order upheld gently by schedule and certainty, the comforting tyranny of bells […]
A New Normal for Taiwan
On Dec. 30, 2025, the People’s Liberation Army launched what it called “Justice Mission 2025”—a two-day operation during which PLA artillery units fired 27 rockets into the waters surrounding Taiwan while Chinese ships and aircraft reportedly practiced repelling an approaching enemy force. The operation marked a sharp escalation in a long-standing trend of aggression from […]
A Satirical College Essay: Furikake on my Avocado Toast
Harvard values building a diverse student population and asks applicants to reflect on their roots and how their backgrounds shape them as students today. In exactly 893 words, describe your roots and their impact on your personal growth. I am a vessel of my ancestors during the most unexpected of times. They do not visit […]