Op-Eds
accents
Living with a foreign accent
Accepting that people sound different and embracing them for that reason is important. We are a generation of different languages, dialects, and accents with code-switching as our way of life.
gender
Frat parties aren’t free
Ah, I love the smell of female objectification in the morning! Or the afternoon, or the nighttime, (because it happens all the time, after all).
bush
Dealing with a political death
Why was it now, when Bush had just died, that we all decided to voice our opinions about the man’s politics?
irony
Irony fails
It’s much easier to hide behind a shell of reflexive irony than to actually confront the often insurmountable problems we encounter growing up.
smartphones
Generation smartphone
Imagine yourself in a small class, fewer than 10 students. You arrive several minutes early, and the professor, along with a few students, is already there.
city
Get off campus!
Like a lot of people reading this, I came to UR with the impression that I was somehow going to a “good school” in a “bad location.”
Debate
Facilitating difficult conversations through debate
When I first joined debate, it didn't seem anything more than a senseless word crossfire for people who love to win arguments so much that they created a sport out of it.
college
Recovering from a mental cold
My demons grew a lot louder when the sun went away. Since I wasn’t partying as frequently anymore, I had the time to feel everything I’d ignored before.
college
A diet cherry Mountain Dew experience
The international mixture at my school made its community embrace our differences. There was neither isolation nor judgment.
college
Letter to a first-year
It is imperative that you focus on what is important, and refuse to allow less important activities to distract you. Ensure there is a hierarchy for what you do, and work from top to bottom.