Opinion Columns
Alex Silberzweig | Don’t let your parents determine your career path
There's a balance you need to strike: don't completely dismiss what your loved ones have to say, but don't change simply to fit their needs.
Alexa Rybicki | Penn students spend too much time staring at screens
At Penn, technology is so difficult to escape and comes with many risks and long-term effects on the eyes.
Ilyse Reisman | Penn dining’s conversion policy scams its students
While it is clear that the administration is trying to incentivize students to purchase a dining plan, there ways to do so without scamming them into losing money.
Maeve Masterson | Why metal straws are not enough to fight climate change
How long the sustainability trend will last is open to discretion and debate, and it is reasonable to believe that green consumption, which tricks us into thinking that buying or acting green is the full extent to which we can “do our part,” is holding back the sociocultural transformation that we need to move the needle.
James Morrison | Penn students deserve a break this summer
Summer break is the time where we are liberated to pursue that project that has no clear payoff, but is something we are passionate about, to read that book we’ve been putting off for months, or even just to curl up in bed and binge Netflix all day.
Ilyse Reisman | Incoming freshmen, please stop worrying about requirements
Now, as a rising sophomore, I have more certainty and security than I would have had if I had just focused on fulfilling every requirement for the College.
Senior Column by Camille Rapay | Making peace with my unknown
Sure, I have been cracking unemployment jokes all year to hide how embarrassed I am and to hopefully divert people from feeling any ounce of pity.
Senior Column by Alex Graves | A balancing act
Although the DP helped me avoid my problems, it also provided me with the resources to start acknowledging them.
Senior Column by Ananya Chandra | Embracing the awkwardness
Replaying the images from the last four years in my mind, there are many moments at Penn I don’t think I’ll ever forget (and many that are already forgotten). And for the most part, these moments aren’t the planned ones.
Senior Column by Alessandro Consuelos | On Class clownism
Class clownism goes beyond evoking a reaction.
Senior Column by William Snow | Why I never belonged at Penn
I just wish I had come here once these issues were addressed.
Senior Column by Cole Jacobson | Learn to embrace the tough times
When you think about why you’re upset about something, the bigger picture comes into play.
Senior Column by David Figurelli | A reflection
But as I come to the end of my college career, I’m hesitant to allow my perception of the past four years to be colored so negatively.
Senior Column by Sabrina Qiao | The “ What if” conundrum: leaving that mentality behind at graduation
I can’t live my life thinking that I’ll soon die. At a certain point I’m willing to suspend disbelief: to let myself think I have the capacity to live a healthy and ordinary — maybe, even, an extraordinary — life.
Senior Column by Ally Johnson | Stories worth retelling
The DP taught me how deeply fulfilling it can be to devote yourself to something important, even without the dangling carrot of external validation from grades and other “objective” measures of success we obsess over on this campus.
Senior Column by Sophie Trotto | It’s good to be weak
I didn’t know this was going to be the case, but my time on the 134th board of The Daily Pennsylvanian was without a doubt the worst year of my life. Or, more precisely, it coincided with the worst year of my life.
Senior Column by Rebecca Tan | Take a big swing
Now though, for what feels like the first time, I’m not dragging my feet. I’m ready, heck, I’m excited to move on because I feel like I took a mighty swing at this college thing.
Editorial | Penn students deserve more Reading Days
As much as The Daily Pennsylvanian Editorial Board believes our Quaker peers are the brightest in the Ivy League, we don’t think we’re that much smarter, and we’d appreciate some more time off.
Christy Qiu | Every Penn student should build their own time capsule
The process of reflecting was valuable in that it was a cognizant deliberation and analysis of my mentality and actions. It helped me break out of habit and identity my faults, my ways of responding to situations, and the methods I can take to improve my lifestyle. It also helped raise self-acceptance as I pinpointed victories that I’ve achieved through hard work and compassion.