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.

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How football brings my whole family together

By KATHERINE LOGAN | February 3, 2019

Whether or not I get the same rush that the rest of my family does out of watching sports (don’t even get me started on how long the NHL season is), I was born into the inescapable clutches of football fandom. Come Sunday, I’ll be ardently cheering on the Patriots, swearing and cheering alongside the best of them, and, while it’s taken me years to admit it, I wouldn’t have it any other way. 

Finding meaning through existential crises and loss

By MORGAN OME | January 31, 2019

I’m 22 years old, and I still think that one of the most heartbreaking sounds is hearing your parents cry. Last week, I was on the phone with my dad, and he started to choke up. He was calling to tell me that Jamie, our family friend, has about two weeks left until her organs fail. She has been struggling with terminal cancer for a few months now. 

aitchisons/cc by 2.0 Ted Danson plays Michael, an architect of afterlife neighborhoods, in The Good Place.
Courtesy of Rudy Malcom Malcom and sophomore Sabrina Sussman on a camel near the Kfar Hanokdim oasis.

After going on Birthright, reflecting on what makes me proud to be Jewish

By RUDY MALCOM | January 30, 2019

Have you had the distinct pleasure of making small talk with me recently? If so, you may recall (or you may not — what else is there to do during Intersession besides black out every night?) my joking, probably in poor taste, that going on Birthright Israel this winter converted me into an ultra-Orthodox rabbi. (Birthright is a free 10-day trip to the Holy Land for young Jewish adults around the world meant to strengthen their Jewish identities and relationship with the State and people of Israel.)

My fascination with Ian McEwan’s complex works

By LAURA OING | January 30, 2019

For as long as I can remember, I have loved reading. But, just like everyone else in my classes, I never really enjoyed the books we were required to read. I never understood why the only books we could supposedly learn something from were dusty pieces of literature that I found boring or irrelevant. That is, until I took AP Lit in my senior year of high school, when my teacher gave us all a summer reading assignment that I could not put down.

Courtesy of Luiz Munhoz/ CC BY-SA 2.0 Ian McEwan is the award-winning novelist behind The Children Act.
PUBLIC DOMAIN Among those sworn into the 166th Congress on January 3 was Andy Kim

Why Andy Kim’s election to Congress is so important to me

By KELVIN QIAN | January 31, 2019

I was sleeping in my car as we traveled through the town of Mount Laurel, N.J., going from the I-295 onto the New Jersey Turnpike. We made this transfer every time I traveled between home and Hopkins, and on the surface, nothing has changed. The same hotels and stores by the same roads basked in the glow of the same sun.

How The Graduate influenced me to embrace the unknown

By SARINA REDZINSKI | December 6, 2018

It is incredibly easy to feel trapped when you're a senior in college. With graduation looming, family members curiously prodding and the huge anxious cloud of the future hanging over everything, the sense of being boxed in is almost impossible to avoid. This is especially true when you’ve already chosen your post-graduation life plan. 

 PUBLIC DOMAIN Dustin Hoffman starred as Ben Braddock in the 1967 film The Graduate.
 COURTESY OF ROLLIN HU Hu, age 9 in the photograph, never imagined that he would attend Hopkins.

Reflecting on my time here before I graduate

By ROLLIN HU | December 5, 2018

About a year and a half ago, I had a column in this newspaper called Irrelevant History where I wrote about weird individuals or events from the past. I graduate this semester, so I thought I might revisit this column as my final article for The News-Letter. Out of a delusional sense of self-grandeur or an in ill-advised attempt at closure, this week’s Irrelevant History topic is me.

Finding gratitude and peace in familiar spaces

By KATHERINE LOGAN | December 5, 2018

There are certain places that offer tranquility and repose. I was reminded of one such location recently when my mom sent me a photo of Our Lady of Victory National Shrine & Basilica decorated for Christmas. This church, first opened in 1926, is stationed mere blocks away from the home my grandfather currently lives in, which also happens to be where he and his two sisters were raised. 

 COURTESY OF RON CORBO. The alter at Our Lady of Victory Basilica in Buffalo decorated for Christmas.

Why I'm vowing to support my female peers

By SANIYA RAMCHANDANI | December 5, 2018

We’ve all watched Mean Girls, and while it’s understandable that we would like to relate most to Cady Heron, even she did some pretty catty and immature things. In high school, for most of us girls, “gossip” was synonymous with “hanging out.” Seemingly harmless yet vindictive and downright bitchy comments were ubiquitous.

Beyond the stereotypes: dispelling myths about mental illness

By MEAGAN PEOPLES | November 29, 2018

Myth: People with mental illnesses tend to be violent Those being effectively treated for psychotic illnesses are no more likely to be violent. Still, a 2006 survey found that 60 percent of people thought that those with schizophrenia were likely to act violently. Emma McGinty, deputy director for the Center for Mental Health and Addiction Policy Research at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, wrote in an email to The News-Letter that this belief is not true.

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By ADDY PERLMAN | November 29, 2018

I wrote a piece. I was forced to throw it away, to delete it from my hard drive, to delete it from my mind.

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COURTESY OF ARIELLA SHUA

What we miss by classifying autism as a mental illness

By ARIELLA SHUA | November 29, 2018

Writing about mental health is a touchy subject for me. That’s not because I am dealing with anxiety, or depression or another form of mental illness myself. I am extremely fortunate in that I don’t, to my knowledge, have a mental health issue or disability.

Growing up and learning to live with my evolving OCD

By DIVA PAREKH | November 29, 2018

When most TV shows or movies portray a character with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), that character can usually be found washing their hands for 15 minutes straight or flipping a light switch on and off five times before leaving a room. And to most of the world, that’s what OCD is. 

PUBLIC DOMAIN

Finding relief in a cookie: How baking alleviates my stress

By KATHERINE LOGAN | November 29, 2018

The latest pop smash echoes through the room, shots of grapefruit-flavored vodka line the worn table and the scent of cinnamon wafts from a tray of snickerdoodles in the corner. One of these things is not like the others. What is a plate of freshly baked cookies doing at a college party? 

KIMBERLY VARDEMAN / CC BY 2.0

Being a bystander: How can I help someone I know who is struggling?

By GABI SWISTARA | November 29, 2018

The quick answer: It depends. It depends on the struggle. The enormity of this question paired with the spectrum of mental health issues, possibilities and struggles, makes this answer near impossible to tackle in a mere 1,000 words. My experiences as an A Place to Talk (APTT) trainer, QPR-certified member, Sexual Assault Resource Unit (SARU) hotline respondent, psychology major and hospice volunteer will hopefully prove useful, though.

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Why I’m not going to forgive my abusers, and that’s okay

By ZUBIA HASAN | December 3, 2018

Forgiveness is a complicated thing. It is touted as the one path to inner peace. Bitter people are never happy; angry people are never at peace. Accepting this was hard for me, because I am angry, and I am bitter, and I don’t think I want to let go of that. I think my anger is what drives me, and some may say that is no way to live your life, but I think it has been the only way to live mine.