Published by the Students of Johns Hopkins since 1896
January 12, 2026
January 12, 2026 | Published by the Students of Johns Hopkins since 1896

Voices

Hopkins is a diverse university where an incredible mix of cultures, academic interests and personalities coexist and thrive. Here is the section where you can publish your unique thoughts, ideas and perspectives on life at Hopkins and beyond.



COURTESY OF KAITLIN TAN
Tan observes the variety of emotions that come with Christmas, with fall and with seasons of change.

Christmas: On joy and fear

All my life, there has been so much joy tangled up with Christmas. It only made sense that, when joy became difficult for me, Christmas was hit the hardest. It’s hard to forget the years I spent fighting to feel anything in December.



COURTESY OF GABRIELLE CHAVEZ
Chavez reflects on how her perception of the Baltimorean sky has shifted.

The sky isn't always grey

When I came to Baltimore my freshman year, I was surprised by how different the sky was — sunny days felt like a cage and cloudy days were only dreary. I felt as though I was caged up by an unseen force that prevented me from being able to relax and take in my environment.


COURTESY OF JOHNALYS FERRER
Ferrer reflects on how her sense of "home" has shifted since arriving at Hopkins.

My home away from home

Our apartment is more than a place with three beds, a sofa and a kitchen; it is the small home we have created for ourselves. Where our hearts beat easier, where the word “home” finally stretches enough to include me. The quiet miracle of finding people who make the simplest moments, pink sunsets, airplane rides and laughter, feel like something holy.


COURTESY OF HITARTHEE TANK
Tank writes an open letter to her mother.

My wings to fly: My mom

The person I am today was beautifully woven and built piece by piece by my mother; she built my wings to fly. The transition from having my mom right beside me to being 8,000 miles away from her is tough.


COURTESY OF CATHERINE CHAN
Chan thinks on her shifting relationship to light.

Looking for the light

I have overcome my childhood fear of the dark and now rather appreciate it because only in darkness are you able to witness how brightly light can shine, whether it's the darkness outside or inside of you. 


AARON BURDEN / PUBLIC DOMAIN
Leiberman is prompted to consider identity and bias after an insightful conversation.

The Weight of "We"

As expected, my first semester at Hopkins yielded a welcome amount of intellectually stimulating conversations. Yet one that occurred recently has stuck in my mind. It prompted a thorough self-examination of my beliefs, which is a place I didn’t think I would reach after only a few months on campus.


COURTESY OF VIDHI BANSAL
Bansal shares her experience as a student tour guide at the BMA.

The slow work of seeing

I may not be an artist, but I’ve become a translator of attention, a facilitator of curiosity, a witness to the moment a roomful of strangers begins to see together.


COURTESY OF KATHRYN JUNG
Jung contemplates art, thinking and creation.

On thinking and not thinking

There’s a poem I keep thinking about: “Replica of the Thinker.” In it, a copy of Rodin’s famous statue sits at a museum, hunched over that familiar pose of “deep thought.” But he isn’t thinking. “His head is filled with iron and bronze,” the poet writes, “not neurons and God.” He looks like a thinker, but is he actually thinking?


COURTESY OF LINDA HUANG
Huang contemplates a shift in her MBTI results.

ISTJ-T: Making sense of the turbulence

Yesterday I took the MBTI test again for the first time in eight months: ISTJ-T. I didn’t think much of the four letters themselves — I’ve seen them enough times by now. What caught my attention was the last letter, a subtle change from A (assertive) to T (turbulent).


COURTESY OF ALYSSA GONZALEZ
Gonzalez considers the broader implications of how social media has impacted this season of Dancing with the Stars.

And the Mirrorball goes to… the algorithm

While I am not one to lecture people on the dangers of obsessing over Reality TV or developing a black-and-white form of thinking, I had never quite seen how social media could be wielded as a destructive tool in real time.


COURTESY OF ANGEL WANG
Wang reflects on summers with her grandmother in her hometown, Jinchuanyuan.

Midsummer in Jinchuanyuan

Apart from a single location pin on the map, Google knows little else of my home village. Tucked away in a cluster of villages surrounded by farmland, Jinchuanyuan remains a secret only the locals can tell. On a map, it’s unclear where the village starts or ends.



COURTESY OF SYDNOR DUFFY
Tim Kahoe pens his legacy letter with the help of Omkar Katkade.

Letters Without Limits: Tim Kahoe

Sitting across from Tim Kahoe has been an absolute privilege and a joy. The sarcasm in his wisdom is something special. Tim’s a special type of go-getter. He wasn’t born with a vision to conquer the world. He’s just a man who recognized opportunities when they came and seized them with both hands.


COURTESY OF SAFFRON HALLETT
Hallett considers careers, ambitions and endless choices.

Finding your path (featuring Dr. Seuss)

But at the end of the day, the core question is the same one we were given as children for icebreaker worksheets. “What do you want to be when you grow up?” My question in return, stated or not, was often “Can I pick more than one?”


COURTESY OF CRYSTAL WANG
Wang reflects on how natural and built environments speak.

Crown shyness and kind objects

There is a natural phenomenon where trees in dense areas avoid clashing with each other by tending their canopies at a respectful distance so that each woodland resident may have a fair bid at sunlight. From a utilitarian perspective, it seems strange.


COURTESY OF SAMIKA JAIN
Jain writes, post-course registration, on overthinking.

Emotional first aid: In honor of overthinking and SIS registration

It is 6 a.m. and my roommates and I have had a total of eight alarms go off from 6:00 to 6:40 a.m. for the Freshman Cohort’s Spring Semester Registration. (Can be read as: none of the alarms actually got anyone out of bed, but all of them successfully jump-started the kind of frenzy that feels like work even though it accomplishes absolutely nothing).


COURTESY OF RILEY STRAIT
Strait contemplates the language arts, their constraints and his decision to stand by writing despite (or rather because of) this.

Do you get what I'm saying?

Nowhere on my list do I remember seeing writer. Perhaps I didn’t earn it, or maybe the quiz makers didn’t want to encourage that behavior — like those signs in parks, “please don’t feed the geese.”


COURTESY OF STEVE WANG
Wang writes an open letter to his younger brother, Alan.

On freshman year: how to get hit by a train

Hey Alan, I hope sophomore year is treating you well. I know my sophomore year of high school was the eye of a hurricane. It felt a little bit like a calm, trial period of being a pseudo-adult before you get hit by junior year lock-in and college applications.


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