Jay Shah | Getting to know my professors as people

By Jay Shah · Feb. 2, 2018

My respect for a professor goes up exponentially if they can open up about their struggles because it shows perseverance and resilience.

Carlos Arias Vivas | Canada Goose: A symbol of status and animal cruelty

By Carlos Arias Vivas · Feb. 1, 2018

The price that you pay on a Canada Goose jacket is not just money, but also the life of an animal. 

Sara Merican | Reflecting on falling snow and passing time

By Sara Merican · Feb. 1, 2018

One day not too far away, Locust Walk, which I trek up and down every day in mundane familiarity, will become a path of memories I can only trace in my mind.

Jennifer Lee | How should the University Archives handle controversial — or even pornographic – materials?

By Jennifer Lee · Jan. 30, 2018

Some may argue that Muybridge’s female photographs fall under the umbrella of “human motion,” but do photos of women on the toilet really constitute representative human movement? 

Isabella Simonetti | Male students have a responsibility to combat rape culture at Penn

By Isabella Simonetti · Jan. 29, 2018

It’s becoming a rarity for me to meet a woman who hasn’t been sexually assaulted at Penn. I’ve only been a student here for six months; this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Lucy Hu | Home is not a place

By Lucy Hu · Jan. 29, 2018

Like my accent, my home is blended. Instead of a bundle of discrete experiences in one city, home subconsciously grew into a collection of dynamic nuances in multiple places.

Jessica Li | Stories can bring us together when we need each other most

By Jessica Li · Jan. 28, 2018

In our everyday lives, we underestimate how good it feels to recount our day to a friend, or even call our parents and laugh about something that happened at home.

Spencer Swanson | Last year was a bad one for Mother Nature

By Spencer Swanson · Jan. 28, 2018

In the United States alone the natural disasters associated with climate change, including hurricanes and wildfires, cost a record $306 billion in damages – making 2017 the costliest year ever.

Dylan Reim | Stress at Penn shouldn't be a competition

By Dylan Reim · Jan. 25, 2018

There is a performative component to stress culture which only compounds the problem. 

Rebecca Alifimoff | How Aziz Ansari made me rethink rape culture at Penn

By Rebecca Alifimoff · Jan. 24, 2018

Throughout my high school and college years, I’ve listened helplessly as friends and acquaintances have described encounters with their own Azizs, and I’ve cried to them when I had my own.

Alex Kuang | Why chasing excellence can be harmful

By Alex Kuang · Jan. 23, 2018

Too many of us made high achievement an identifying factor of who we are as people. After that part of us dissipated, we also lost some of our goals and were lured in by money and prestige.

Christine Olagun-Samuel | In defense of Du Bois College House: a place I call home

By Christine Olagun-Samuel · Jan. 22, 2018

Du Bois welcomes all cultures and all types of people to live in its building. It isn’t simply limited to those who are black, Hispanic, or Asian.

Jennifer Lee | Why are Penn Koreans speaking in Korean?

By Jennifer Lee · Jan. 18, 2018

Perhaps it is a way to connect with like-heritage students in a school teeming with people from every corner of the globe. Maybe, it is just a way to look cool.

Carlos Arias Vivas | Why Penn should offer accelerated intro classes

By Carlos Arias Vivas · Jan. 18, 2018

While I empathize with students who are just trying to get the highest grades possible, they should not do so at the expense of students who did not have access to these higher-level high school courses.

Mateen Tabatabaei | Penn is not to blame for your pessimistic perspective

By Mateen Tabatabaei · Jan. 18, 2018

As for Penn, it’s a safe bet that none of us students knew exactly what we were signing up for. Still, as with any new path, we signed up for possibility. 

Jay Shah | What I learned from taking a break from social media

By Jay Shah · Jan. 17, 2018

 The smartphone has gone from being used as a communication device to more of a crutch. We use our phones to avoid making eye contact with people on Locust Walk, in line at the grocery store, and in the elevator.

Amy Chan | One final reinvention before graduation

By Amy Chan · Jan. 14, 2018

Like editing an essay, reinventing doesn’t mean that we’re erasing everything we had before. We are tweaking it, refining it, uncovering the original spark hidden in the chaotic mind.