Meerabelle Jesuthasan

Student suicides feel strangely distinctive on campus. AP journalism guidelines state that generally, suicides are not newsworthy “unless the person involved is a well-known figure or the circumstances are particularly unusual or publicly disruptive.” In this university bubble, however, each suicide resonates.

Politics are finding their home online nowadays. Facebook groups, Tumblr communities and Reddit threads provide virtually unlimited space for people to be immersed in political utopias from Bernie Bro-ism to revolutionary anarchy to white supremacy.  “Social justice” is one particularly strong platform which has grown infamous online and in real life.

If you’re ever abroad and feeling homesick, here is how to tell where the Americans are: close your eyes and listen for the loudest voice with the harshest “r”s that sounds like it’s complaining about something.

Imagine coming here from a country where you, a well-off expat, were used to a lifestyle that was pretty exorbitant and exceptional by most standards.

Remember when you stopped watching Pretty Little Liars, because the repetitive subplots and twists, no matter how exciting initially, just seemed to slow the whole thing down? The United States presidential election, too, seems to elicit a feverish intensity lasting so long that its quality is compromised. At this point, the long-lasting sensationalism of the American electoral process is taken for granted.

Exorbitant lifestyle. Infamous interviews. A wealthy family who funded his debut as an entrepreneur.

The contemporary tropes of International Baccalaureate scores and Radian apartments, of Western-tinted accents and Castle rushees, point to some kind of unspoken acceptance of the fact that nowadays, international Penn students just tend to be wealthier.