Rejection is common at Princeton – and that’s a good thing
At Princeton, we don’t only learn in the classroom, we also learn life skills — like how to deal with rejection. And that’s just as important as anything we learn in our courses.
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At Princeton, we don’t only learn in the classroom, we also learn life skills — like how to deal with rejection. And that’s just as important as anything we learn in our courses.
The expiration of Section 568 of the Improving America’s Schools Act of 1994 has raised one question: what is the fate of athletic scholarships in the Ivy League, especially here at Princeton? Proponents of compensating student-athletes generally cite the immense difficulty of performing well physically, academically, and mentally, and argue that it is exploitative to withhold fair compensation from the very students generating national attention and revenue for their universities.
The field of the upcoming Young Alumni Trustee (YAT) election was culled to three spirited and devoted candidates last Friday. Although Caroline Kirby ’23’s commitment to school spirit is impressive, and Mayu Takeuchi ’23 showed admirable leadership in her role as USG President, we believe that Mutemwa Raphael Masheke ’23 has demonstrated a willingness to undertake the most pertinent University issues and reforms.
Welcome to Princeton! This fall, if you so choose, you will walk through FitzRandolph Gate and join an intellectually vibrant community united by a desire to pursue knowledge, test ideas, and be challenged. As you prepare to join our academic community and engage in meaningful, open-minded inquiry, those of us committed to the liberal arts character and spirited truth-seeking mission of our university will be cheering you on.
Let’s be honest, Princeton students are stressed about their grades. And there’s an easy fix that could help alleviate this stress: Princeton should extend the current three-week-long window to elect the pass/D/fail (PDF) option to allow students to PDF a class at any point in the semester. This change would help to reduce grading and GPA pressure, as well as relieve some student stress.
Welcome to Princeton! Next Fall, if you so choose, you will walk through FitzRandolph Gate with hundreds of new friends and classmates and become a Princeton Tiger. As you enter this new phase of your life, my fellow classmates and I, who walked through those same gates just a year before, will be there cheering you on. But now that you’ve won the admissions game, it’s time to leave otherwise pointless resume-building activities behind, including individualistic, ineffective activism.
One of the biggest surprises I found upon arriving on Princeton’s campus was the lack of composting on campus. Growing up in San Francisco, I had access to a world-class composting system, and sorting leftover food into its own bin was just the norm. When done right, composting is not a lefty gimmick from California: it has the power to reduce waste, lower carbon emissions, and reduce landfill waste. Since coming to campus, it has pained me to not have an adequate and accessible composting option; every time I see a trash can, I think there should be a compost bin next to it. If the University genuinely wants to reduce its carbon footprint, composting needs to be taken seriously.
For the unprecedented clean energy transition before us, the world will need to build an unfathomable amount of infrastructure at extraordinary speeds. Over the next three decades in America, we will witness wind turbines being erected at a breakneck pace, solar farms cropping up seemingly out of nowhere, and transmission lines shooting across the country as we muster every available resource to decarbonize as soon as possible. The United States will be a country under construction like never before – impacting our lives in potentially disruptive ways.
During the first two weeks of every Princeton semester, students have the opportunity to toy with their schedules freely. Over this period, referred to as add/drop, students are afforded flexibility in changing the schedule they created during course registration by adding or dropping any number of courses. Many students take great advantage of this, as initial schedules are often only reflective of whatever classes are still open during registration. After the add/drop period, as per the Office of the Registrar, students can no longer add courses and will incur a $45 fee for each course dropped. The reality of add/drop does not always allow students the opportunity to optimize their schedules, which is why I am calling on the University to reform and restructure this two week period, as well as drop the inequitable $45 fee.
When Princeton’s administration decided to send students home permanently, on March 13, 2020, instead of temporarily, for spring break, the news engulfed the campus in a wave of shock and sorrow. Students packed their things and clung to one another on Prospect Avenue, saying their goodbyes (and prompting an early wave of COVID-19 among our undergraduate population).
Who wouldn’t love to work on a beach? In his recent column, Technology Columnist Christopher Lidard ’25 describes the time he actually did, arguing for work that is virtual, and subsequently more “temporally and geographically flexible”; powered through Zoom; and via the disintegration of the standard workday.
In July 2021, I took a trip to the vacation paradise of Ocean City, Md. in the middle of the work week. My internship at the time was hybrid, with optional in-person reporting and almost all business conducted online. As I took phone calls from the beach, did research on the boardwalk after lunch, and finished a report while relaxing after dinner, I felt oddly freed — though I was working all day, it also felt like another day on vacation. My experience represents a possible better future for work — one that is enabled by platforms like Zoom, and if achieved, can be a path towards securing better work-life balance for all employees through the flexibility and integration afforded by virtual work.
Nothing is as permanent as a temporary solution. Columbia University displayed the truth of that adage last Wednesday when it announced it would go test-optional for all future application cycles, codifying the test-optional policy it first adopted in June 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly all of Columbia’s peer institutions, including Princeton, implemented similar test-optional policies which have also been subsequently extended. Columbia, however, is the first in the Ivy League to scrap standardized testing for good.
The COVID-19 pandemic completely transformed the college application process. Members of the class of 2025 applied, on average, to more schools likely due to the uncertain conditions caused by the pandemic. Students’ anxieties increased regarding distance from home in the event that family members got COVID-19. In-person campus tours became virtual videos. Individual financial and learning circumstances drastically changed. Yet one of the biggest and most positive changes to arise from the pandemic has been the decision by most colleges and universities to become test optional, which means that students are not required to submit SAT or ACT test results as a part of their application. Colleges and universities, including Princeton, should continue to remain test optional as we leave the pandemic era, as such policies allow for a more equitable admissions process for first-generation, low-income (FGLI) applicants.
Last semester, I got the dreaded text from a friend: “so sorry, but I just tested positive for covid.” Instantly, my stomach sank. My likelihood of having gotten COVID-19 from this friend was low — we only had one class together, and we had worn masks during most of our interactions. Nevertheless, the worry persisted. In the Spring 2022 semester, I had been sick with COVID-19 before during midterms week. At that time, Princeton still had many of its strict COVID-19 policies in place. Though mask mandates and weekly testing had been eliminated, the University provided isolation housing for students as well as clear support for obtaining meals during and after the isolation period. Furthermore, many lectures posted recordings of classes or provided Zoom links. COVID-19 still was not easy to deal with — it’s difficult to stay on top of Princeton’s demanding workload while ill — but it was more manageable. Just one semester later, however, with fewer accommodations but the same moral requirements to isolate, it’s near impossible for students with COVID-19 to keep up with their academics while isolating.
Are far-right conservative viewpoints nothing more than an emotional reaction to progressivism? Yes, suggests Adam Hoffman ’23 in a recent New York Times guest essay. More importantly, through his much-discussed contribution, Hoffman entirely gives up on arguing for conservative values. Instead, he threatens academia, arguing that it must shift its viewpoints, or else it will be met with the virulent anger of the “conservative firebrands” it is apparently producing in bulk.
Last semester, I took on the daunting task of writing my first junior paper (JP). This was an incredibly significant moment in my academic career, not only for its importance within the Princeton community, but also due to its grueling nature. Despite the demanding process — or maybe because of it — I found the depth of exploration I achieved to be rewarding, as I ultimately proved to myself that I was capable of such intense work. What was not rewarding, however, was the meager feedback I received, revealing the inadequacies of Princeton's systems for giving students feedback and how they fail to promote student learning.
Tragedy struck East Palestine, Ohio last month when a Norfolk Southern freight train carrying 115,580 gallons of vinyl chloride derailed. Although the derailment resulted in no direct injuries, it has evolved into one of the largest ecological disasters on the rails in recent memory. In an attempt to prevent greater environmental damage and to quickly restore the railroad, Norfolk Southern intentionally burned the chemicals in the derailed cars in what officials called a “controlled release.” Unfortunately for East Palestine, a village of roughly 4,700 residents, vinyl chloride has been classified as a carcinogen by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Returning to campus as a Butlerite this winter, I was particularly disappointed by the closure of our adopted center of residential life, Wilcox Hall. We had made fun of Wilcox Hall with its 60’s style, too-colorful interior and the funky smell that never went away. It was tacky. It was ugly. But it was our home. In its upstairs J Street Library, we rushed to finish our readings before precept. In its basement, I weathered a hurricane on the first day of freshman-year classes. And in 1968, a group of students known as the Woodrow Wilson Society shared meals in the dining hall when Princeton’s residential college system was first born. With the demolition of Wilcox Hall at the end of the semester, these memories will fade as the physical building in which they were made ceases to exist.
The University strives to produce scholars “in the Nation’s Service, and the Service of Humanity,” but refuses to substantially support undergraduates exploring service through their academic work. Despite programming at the Pace Center for Civic Engagement and the Learning and Education through Service (LENS) initiative, the University doesn’t truly prioritize service because it’s not integrated into its core academic goals. One critical step towards making service a real priority for the University, rather than a performative addition, is offering course credit.