Introspection
Harvard in My Mind
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t imagine, pre-admission, what it’d be like. Racing to class, skipping a stone across the Charles, trudging up a narrow stairwell as the sun spilled over treetops. On some nights, after I finish my homework or exit a Zoom call, I still do. Now, in my childhood home, I still imagine what it would be like to be where you are, to breathe your city’s air. To see you.
The 2006 MIT Integration Bee: A Manifesto
If the entirely volunteer operation of the 2006 MIT Integration Bee has taught me anything, it is that we all have the ability to lead a much more memorable version of the lives we left behind.
Isabella B. Cho '24 Parents on Beach
Isabella B. Cho ’24’s father and mother wade in the water during a trip away from their studies.
Cho Twins as Babies at GSE Graduation
Isabella B. Cho ’24’s mother smiles for a photograph with her twin daughters after her graduation from the Graduate School of Education.
Finding Femininity in Quarantine
The irrational fear that I am becoming less of a woman began long before my period stopped. I was already indifferent to sophomoric forms of girl-power-girl-boss rhetoric; where I had once nursed feminist excitement, I was numb.
In the “Twilight” of Nostalgia
During November alone, I watched “Twilight” six times. I was too embarrassed to tell anyone, but it was the only thing that made me feel good. I couldn’t explain it.
Crisis Mode
In lockdown, I felt like I was better able to see some things for how they were, but I was not always happy with the realities I had to confront.
When the Curtain Comes Down
“Thank you, but it wasn’t that great. I fell off pointe here, lost my core in that last pirouette, and barely pointed my foot in the last jump.” He rolled his eyes, but he didn’t seem surprised that I failed to accept his praise. In the ballet world, no one can take a compliment.
Adventures on the Rift
We played as the sun set and the sky split into pink and yellow, the room awash in gold. We played as the lamps turned on and the rooms around us quieted down to rest. When I went to bed that night, still giddy, I saw the graphics imprinted behind my eyelids, just as vibrant and animated as they’d been on screen.
The Most Dramatic Religion Yet
The Bachelor is morphing into something its producers apparently did not foresee when they created the show: A fame factory. Contestants go on the show, leaving behind their jobs, phones, and families, and, in return, gain massive social media followings that they can turn into lucrative professions.
Disordered
I’m not alone in this. When I started talking about my recovery journey on Instagram, an astounding number of people reached out to me and told me about their own struggles with food and body image — people who were so gorgeous and kind and wonderful I had no idea they could ever be insecure.
Some Protest for Tuition. Incoming Baylor Students Dunk for It.
Should a 60 second video — especially one that privileges athletes and outgoing personalities — determine who deserves one fewer semester of student loan debt?
A Reel in Gray
I tell myself that film photography, through its materiality and delayed gratification, connects me more meaningfully to other people than digital communication can — as if I’m subversive because I can hold a moment in time in my hand, rather than degrade it on a screen.
Who Are the Impostors Among Us?
Amidst the frenzy on GroupMe to impress each other with our sophisticated opinions on obscure topics, I was struck by how frequently I saw mentions of the infamous ~impostor syndrome~, frequently written exactly that way, in the cutesy tilde that deliberately suggests a demure air of self-deprecation.
"The Bachelor" Column Graphic
"The Bachelor" is a reality television show about dating that since 2002 has engrossed American audiences.
Vision: “Sunset”
In the first installment of our new Vision content category, a digital illustration from Vicki Xu.