Published by the Students of Johns Hopkins since 1896
May 9, 2025 May 9, 2025 | 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 SARA KAUFMAN Kaufman describes the journey of finding her voice and developing her public speaking abilities.

To speak or not to speak? My journey from whispers to speeches

By SARA KAUFMAN | November 9, 2024

Last week, I caught a particularly annoying cold and lost my voice. As I showed up to class armed with masks and copious quantities of hand sanitizer, I noticed that I wasn’t raising my hand during lectures nearly as much as I usually do. I wasn’t asking my professors questions or answering theirs because of my voice; I didn’t bother trying to speak because I knew it wouldn’t work. Its silencing effect was annoying, and it was particularly irksome because this wasn't the first time my voice had held me back.

COURTESY OF RILEY STRAIT Strait shares his experience of voting (and getting called a “libtard”) for the first time.

Am I a f***ing libtard?

By RILEY STRAIT | November 5, 2024

Over fall break, I voted in my first election. But that wasn’t the biggest “first” I experienced. That week, I was also called something I had never been called before: a “fucking libtard.”

BLAKE BURKHART / CC BY 2.0 Swindle names the intangible obstacle standing in her way of connecting with others as a concrete wall and acknowledges its presence through her writing.

An insurmountable concrete wall

By LANA SWINDLE | November 3, 2024

I have a wall inside of me that I think is made of concrete. It has taken me 17 years to recognize it, 18 to acknowledge it, and 19 to write it all down in a Voices article for The News-Letter.

COURTESY OF BUSE KOLDAS Gonzalez describes how losing her childhood friends changed her for the better and allowed her to discover her true self.

Sometimes friendships can be A Nightmare on Elm Street

By ALYSSA GONZALEZ | October 31, 2024

I’ve never been good with change; in fact, it terrifies me. More specifically, I’ve never been good with letting people go. Throughout orientation week at Hopkins, I would wake up in my dorm wishing I could go back to my childhood bedroom and listen to my parents’ voices drifting in from the living room.

COURTESY OF AYDEN MIN Min explains her wish to explore the unexperienced yet questions if a one-way ticket is what she truly desires.

Airplanes are scary but not because of heights

By AYDEN MIN | October 29, 2024

Something about free-floating 35,000 feet in the air watching the sun come up or city lights sparkle down below is oddly calming. Sometimes, I wonder how much time I’ve spent untethered to anything except for whatever metal tube with wings I’m currently sitting in, and, coming from the opposite side of the country, it’s probably quite a lot.

COURTESY OF YANA MULANI Mulani ponders a future where she will no longer identify as a “student.”

Some disjointed thoughts on the fear of graduation

By YANA MULANI | October 27, 2024

As the end of my college experience draws closer, I’m forced to think about what comes next. And what does come next? I, for one, have no idea. I’m doing all the right things (I think): applying to jobs, reaching out to alumni, leveraging my experiences, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. But it’s really scary to leave academia. 

COURTESY OF AASHI MENDPARA Mendpara reflects on her changing relationship with her little brother.

Home in two halves

By AASHI MENDPARA | October 25, 2024

While I personally don’t recall the exact moment my parents told me I was going to have a younger brother, I laugh every time I watch the VHS tapes. I was so upset — almost in tears. At the time, I was deep in my Barbie era, and all I could think about was not having a sister to dress up and play with; though, to his dismay, my brother, Krish, did end up going through that phase with me anyway. 

COURTESY OF MOLLY GREEN Green reflects on the friendships she’s forged over the years while watching her roommate slice a peach.

White peaches

By MOLLY GREEN | October 21, 2024

After the clock ticked past midnight and my friends force-fed me cake and it was officially autumn and the beginning of my 22nd year, one of my roommates asked me to share what I was thinking of, being the first to turn 22 and therefore older and wiser than the rest of my friends.  

COURTESY OF KAITLIN TAN Tan shares her dilemmas about writing and attempts to make peace with their existence.

Why I don’t write about writing

By KAITLIN TAN | October 20, 2024

More often than not, I’m thinking about writing fiction. And, despite this column’s partial intention of being a way to document whatever’s been persistently floating around my mind, I realize that I’ve never written about writing. How odd.

COURTESY OF HAILEY FINKELSTEIN Finkelstein highlights the toxic struggle culture at Hopkins and points out that depriving yourself of your basic needs to succeed shouldn’t be normalized.

I hate struggle culture

By HAILEY FINKELSTEIN | October 20, 2024

There is nothing inherently dark or toxic about the girl who has signed up for too many student orgs, the boy who wins a new prestigious award every week, the person who consistently sets the curve in your most difficult class. What is dark and toxic  — and scarier than any horror movie you may watch this month — is how we talk about these hectic schedules in the language of prideful struggle.

COURTESY OF KAYLEE NGUYEN Nguyen tells the story of how she found the balance between imagery and purpose in her writing.

Making peace with improving my writing

By KAYLEE NGUYEN | October 17, 2024

When I first began writing, I had an unfathomable obsession with imagery. For hours, I would park myself at my favorite table at Barnes and Noble with my latte in hand and write pages upon pages of descriptions. Taking in the senses around me, I’d let my mind wander to places that I could only dream of.

COURTESY OF RILEY STRAIT Strait composes an ode for his second-hand car and commemorates their history together.

Ode to a 2001 Buick LeSabre Limited

By RILEY STRAIT | October 13, 2024

Used 2001 Buick LeSabre Limited 4dr Sedan For Sale $5,000 cars.com. I guess you would call that our meet cute. My family tried to keep us apart: “A smoker’s car, really? You can’t get the smell of smoke out, you know.” I never had a keen sense of smell. 

COURTESY OF ANNA NIKISHINA Nikishina explores the privilege of worrying about physical insecurities and recognizes that women of previous generations had more serious troubles.

We think too much about ourselves

By ANNA NIKISHINA | October 11, 2024

I often try to imagine what my grandma’s teenage years were like. I myself will turn twenty soon, and in my final year of being a teenager, I have been given the grace to do what she never could when she was my age: worry about something as frivolous and fleeting as my appearance. 

COURTESY OF LINDA HUANG Huang writes about how her perspective changed on sharing her emotions with others after reading an emotional wellbeing book.

Permission to feel

By LINDA HUANG | October 10, 2024

I’d mastered it: pretending that I was fine. Because the general expectation from us humans is quite straightforward: We cannot display sadness. We shall not reveal our vulnerabilities and weaknesses. No, we must present ourselves to others as optimistic, happy and motivated: always driven, always okay.

COURTESY OF RILEY STRAIT Strait describes the experience of leaving Kansas and reflects on his changing feelings towards his home state.

We're not in Kansas anymore

By RILEY STRAIT | October 8, 2024

I did not learn to love the land that raised me until I had already left. In every introduction during my first week of college, that land haunted me. Like a scar, it was irrefutable proof of where I had been, and it clung to every artifact of my life: my area code, my driver’s license and (most regrettably) my introduction.

COURTESY OF GABRIEL LESSER Lesser celebrates his return to Hopkins as a graduate student while discussing the unexpectedness of life.

Baltimore, I’m not done yet!

By GABRIEL LESSER | October 6, 2024

While I hadn’t planned to do so during my undergrad, I’m now beyond thrilled to be pursuing a Master’s at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, and I’m loving my current program and classes. It’s a testament to expect the unexpected and to make room for new and exciting opportunities, even if they aren’t what I had initially planned.

COURTESY OF YANA MULANI Mulani reflects on her journey making friends, from kindergarten to Hopkins, and what she’s learned.

Finding my place amongst strangers

By YANA MULANI | October 2, 2024

I desperately wanted friends, both back in kindergarten and as a freshman at college. I’ve always been the quiet kid — the kid who would rather get lost in books than go outside. At college, I was determined to reinvent myself, to be someone everyone wanted to hang out with, to be “fun.”

COURTESY OF SUDHA YADAV Yadav expresses her gratitude to the friends she met during her Hopkins journey as a graduate student.

To my Hopkins friends

By SUDHA YADAV | October 2, 2024

As I was eating my lunch near the lily pond in the Decker Garden while writing my research paper and watching the new students explore the campus, it suddenly hit me that now I am closer to finishing graduate school than the day I started it. When I first came to Hopkins in 2021, the thought of surviving and thriving in graduate school felt both exciting and terrifying.

COURTESY OF KAIYUAN DU Du tells the story of how her passion for rap music transformed her insecurity about her stutter. 

Let my voice out (and drop the beat, please)

By KAIYUAN DU | September 28, 2024

There was something about the structure of rap (its rhythm and cadence) that allowed me to speak fluidly, even rapidly. It felt like I had found a loophole in my speech disorder. From then on, I dove into the world of rap. For me, it wasn’t just a hobby but a safe space where I could express myself freely without letting self-consciousness trip up my speech.

COURTESY OF SARA KAUFMAN Kaufman describes the experience of studying at a college in a city she never visited before and how she has grown to love Baltimore.

Maryland and Florida: Is the grass always greener on the other side?

By SARA KAUFMAN | September 26, 2024

I go to school in Maryland and come from Florida, but on a recent flight, I sat next to someone who is in the opposite situation: Her family lives near Baltimore, and she just graduated from a college around 10 minutes from my childhood home. As soon as I realized we drove to the airport from the same neighborhood, I became curious about why she chose to live there. 

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