Op-Eds
coffee
Looking towards Starbucks for my gender
I am genderfluid. On days when Emmely becomes an ill-fitting hat, Starbucks is there to save the day.
body image
The worst weight-loss advice
You shouldn’t need to go on an extreme diet just to lose weight or feel good about yourself, and a lot of weight-loss advice on the Internet can actually be really toxic — or just flat-out stupid.
beauty
Confronting colorism is more complicated than we think
Even now, I remember thinking if such an extreme degree of caution was worth it, if paleness truly was enough to sacrifice the plain, irreplaceable pleasure of sunlight on bare skin.
family
Learning to say “I love you”
Grief is a fickle thing. One second, you feel fine, and the next it pierces the fibers of your soul with such precision you don’t know if you’re terrified or grateful of the feelings it elicits.
gaming
Hard work can’t beat talent… or can it?
Talent is not what most people think it is. The good news is that most of the people we think are talented are actually just really well-disciplined, and we can learn to do the same.
family
How to survive Thanksgiving with your family
At family gatherings, chaos is not a question of if but when. So how can you survive it?
academics
To all the overachievers out there
If you’re wasting the most amazing years of your life stressing about the future and always working, you’re ruining yourself.
academics
We’re all just hamsters on the wheel of academic validation
Never mind. All the grades were just posted to Blackboard and there is not a single A in sight.
academics
Enough is enough — when to call quits
It seems ludicrous to think that any decision made in your freshman year of high school can have any bearing on your future, let alone dictate the rest of your life, but the reality is that it’s a slippery slope.
beauty
I don’t feel beautiful
I love the idea of body positivity. However, it’s almost impossible to love every part of your body all the time.