Published by the Students of Johns Hopkins since 1896
December 2, 2021

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.

PUBLIC DOMAIN In one version of Sleeping Beauty, the prince waltzes into the castle with no dragon to slay.

Changing and staying the same

By RYAN AGHAMOHAMMADI | November 7, 2020

I point to the blue moon. It’s snowing, and I invent reasons to believe that I haven’t changed. It’s pointless, though; I’ve changed, and it’s snowing, and it’s Halloween, and I can count on one hand the things that have stayed the same. On my other hand, I count the amount of people I have spoken to in person since March. I peel open a tangerine, and the wedges of fruit look like little crescent moons. The lamp behind me casts a moon-like shadow against the wall. I look at my hands, and they, too, are moons. It’s late, and I am so, so tired.

COURTESY OF JAE CHOI  Choi traces humankind’s relationship to laundry back to antiquity.

Discovering the strange joy of laundry

By JAE CHOI | November 7, 2020

For two whole days, our apartment was filled with the deafening racket of drills and hammers. A few weeks before, we had decided to get our own washer and dryer units to avoid using the communal laundry room a couple floors down.  

COURTESY OF ISABEL RIOS-PULGAR Rios-Pulgar reflects on the power of music in her life.

Music is my safe space

By ISABEL RIOS-PULGAR | November 7, 2020

If you ever saw me on campus, you saw me with my headphones on. It’s just a law of nature, like gravity. I’m always listening to music. I can’t help it. The headphones come on and everything else in the world goes silent. No more incoming texts, no more assignments, no more stress, and no more worries. 

COURTESY OF SANIYA RAMCHANDANI Ramchandani discusses the importance of taking a break from social media.

Liberating myself by deleting social media

By SANIYA RAMCHANDANI | November 7, 2020

On Tuesday I deleted all of my social media. There were many factors behind this sudden decision, but the overarching one was that I felt like I had to pretend to be something I wasn’t always: I had to pretend to be okay. 

COURTESY OF MUHAMMAD ABIDI  Abidi emphasizes how much one can learn from reading.

Reading is a powerful tool for self-actualization

By MUHAMMAD ABIDI | October 31, 2020

If you are reading this piece, then you are already on the path to self-actualization. This is not necessarily because reading it will create newfound value in your life but because reading it reflects your willingness to learn from the experiences of others. 

COURTESY OF ADDY PERLMAN  For fall break Perlman took a trip to Philadelphia with her roommate Kinsey Tyler.

Spending fall break in Philadelphia

By ADDY PERLMAN | October 31, 2020

My roommate Kinsey and I had been counting the days until fall break. For the first time, we had two days off school, and we had an increasing desperation to escape from the four walls we live and work in. As the semester neared its midpoint, our work ethic declined so rapidly that it was practically a resident of the Underworld. We decided we needed to get away, and we picked Philadelphia as our destination.

Setting goals during a pandemic

By AMELIA ISAACS | October 31, 2020

 I turned 22 on Monday, and a friend casually asked me what my three goals are for the next year. This probably shouldn’t have caught me so off guard — Jan. 1, the first day of school and your birthday are the only three acceptable times in the year to set goals, after all. But eight months into the pandemic, I haven’t thought about long-term goals all that much.

COURTESY OF GABRIEL LESSER Lesser reflects on a favorite childhood activity.

When life gives you apples, make apple pie

By GABRIEL LESSER | October 31, 2020

I loved apple picking as a child. Whether it was juggling the apples, playing hide-and-seek between the bushes or just spending quality time with family and friends, it was always an activity near and dear to my heart. However, my family sadly stopped going after one year when three of my family friends, my sister and I all got severe poison ivy from an apple tree we had climbed. 

PUBLIC DOMAIN  Aghamohammadi considers representations of vampires through the lens of the pandemic.

In the company of vampires

By RYAN AGHAMOHAMMADI | October 24, 2020

There are vampires at this party — plastered in black garments, hair spiked with gel, mascara running down their cheeks like black tears. No one wanted them here, but they are, so someone must have invited them. By this point, it’s too late to kick them out, and I know better than to be rude to party guests, so I am letting them stay for now. And yet, they’re taking up all the space on the sofa and eating all the raspberry tarts and finishing what’s left of the sparkling apple cider, and I am getting sick of it.

Will46and2 / CC BY-SA 3.0  Li shares her favorite Greek myths, including the one of Eros and Psyche.

Greek myths offer captivating and moving stories

By ALIZA LI | October 24, 2020

I finished The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller yesterday. I began the book unsure of what to expect from a Greek myth adaptation, but by the end, I was in tears. In addition to evoking a sense of sadness, this beautiful and poignant story has reawakened my long term interest in Greek mythology. 

Keeping up with the online timeline

By ELIZABETH IM | October 24, 2020

“Sometimes, when you've a very long street ahead of you, you think how terribly long it is and feel sure you'll never get it swept.” I am drowning in the virtual world. 

Struggling in my search for silver linings

By ABIGAIL TUSCHMAN | October 24, 2020

I have been trying to practice gratitude. Throughout the day I tick off on my fingers all the benefits of being home and taking college classes remotely. I don’t have to be away from my family or pets for months at a time. I get to have my mom’s cooking. I can attend all my classes while wearing pajama pants. Tick, tick, tick. 

COURTESY OF SANIYA RAMCHANDANI Ramchandani highlights what she values in a friendship.

What makes a true friend

By SANIYA RAMCHANDANI | October 17, 2020

 What makes you feel at home? I’ve been asking myself this question a lot. I’ve never felt as homesick as I do now, and I couldn’t put my finger on what exactly changed to make me feel this way.

COURTESY OF JAE CHOI Choi finds a unique balance of necessity and pleasure in cooking.

Cooking as a labor of love

By JAE CHOI | October 17, 2020

As soon as the canola oil and butter begin to sizzle at the bottom of the pot, I add half a cup of flour and feverishly stir the mixture with a wooden spatula. I keep the flame on high and wrestle with the resulting roux to keep it from burning. As it begins to change hue from bright blonde to dark chocolate, the green pepper, onion, celery and garlic — all finely diced — make their triumphant entrance. I then add the chicken and sausage, which I preemptively cooked brown on a neighboring stove with salt and pepper. This is followed by cajun seasoning, paprika, thyme and a few bay leaves. 

COURTESY OF ZUBIA HASAN Hasan details the beauty she sees in physics, specifically in Maxwell’s equation.

The beauty in physics

By ZUBIA HASAN | October 17, 2020

In pop culture, we see a physicist surrounded by boards, with a handful of integrals scattered everywhere and math operations we have never seen in our entire life. Perhaps this is true of some physicists but certainly not all. I think a major reason why physics seems like an unapproachable subject, studied only by a few presumed to be smart(er?), is precisely because of this pop culture approach to physics. Physics is not a subject that only a few should enjoy. Physics is certainly not a subject that only a few should understand. Instead, physics should be for everyone.

COURTESY OF SOPHIA LOLA Lola expresses her feelings of homesickness. 

Missing my other home

By SOPHIA LOLA | October 17, 2020

According to my mother, I was not a very difficult child, but I had my moments of being difficult. The story she always gives as an example of one of those moments is from when I was two years old and spent the night away from my parents for the first time.

We must prioritize our mental health

By AASHNA SUNDESHA | October 10, 2020

On Sunday I attended an event hosted by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) called “Hear Our Voices: Personal Stories of Mental Health.” The event was part of NAMI’s campaign, #IWillListen, for Mental Health Awareness Week. I wanted to share my experience to hopefully encourage you to attend a future event like this and get involved in the conversation around mental health awareness, a topic very close to my heart. 

John Mathew Smith / CC BY-SA Perlman honors Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and her commitment to gender equality.

To my hero

By ADDY PERLMAN | October 10, 2020

On Thursday, Sept. 24, my alarm blared at 5:30 a.m. Today I was going to pay my respects to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

PUBLIC DOMAIN Li discusses her love of riddles.

A love letter to riddles

By ALIZA LI | October 10, 2020

From an early age, I have always loved riddles. I used to come home from elementary school and go straight to the family computer where I would spend hours searching for puzzles.

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