This September, I watched the DNC catalyze debates and discussions on both sides of the political spectrum. Let’s bring some of that back to Princeton. After all, we don’t need to agree; we just need to talk.
If you probe your superstar friends and colleagues a bit, you will find that they often suffer from the impostor syndrome, too. It affects the newly arrived most of all, of course — new faculty members and especially new freshmen — but everyone has a twinge from time to time. So take pleasure in having amazing people as friends, and take solace from the fact that you’re not entirely an impostor either.
I’m confident that whoever is selected as our 20th president will be able to fulfill the presidential role with the University Board of Trustees, continue to break ground on new buildings and attract new faculty members. Finding someone with a rapport as personable and inspirational as Tilghman’s will perhaps be the greatest challenge, and accordingly the most important. Princeton is no doubt far more than the buildings, professors and research that outlast the Pre-Rade to P-Rade bounds of our time here — it would be a mistake if the memory of Tilghman — who possesses such a connection to students and a dedication to inspiring their growth — focused only on her contributions in those fields.
It is clear that her presidency was beneficial to the University community. As the search committee for a new president enters its initial stages, we hope its search will be guided by the principles that have sustained Princeton and by a commitment to ensuring the University grows to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
I intend to take a year’s leave, and return to the faculty and to my other passion — teaching — in the years to come. In the meantime, there is still a lot to do this year!
Campaign finance laws at a federal level have severely damaged civic discourse in the country, and the effects of this are felt here at Princeton. The money in politics has moved political access further away from the average American as our leaders increasingly turn their attention toward their donors and away from their constituents. The concerns of students in this environment are being ignored, as we have neither the political muscle nor financial resources to command attention.
Each of us decides for himself how he relates to the different facets of his identity, and for me the best way to be a Boy Scout is to uphold my own understanding of its Oath and Law and help those struggling with their sexuality see that it’s OK to be gay and a Scout, all the while respecting those whose views are different than mine.
While dropping the P-bomb might get us treated a bit differently sometimes, I find it necessary that we do everyone the favor of getting over ourselves. We are not some league of superhuman beings, and we do not need to protect others from our greatness.
I had always assumed that I accepted diverse people and experiences, but I had never been tested before coming to this campus. My roommate was my first friend who didn’t hold most of the same values that I did and didn’t have similar plans for her life. But exactly for these reasons, the relationship I have with my roommate is one that I treasure. I think that everyone on this campus, especially freshmen, should allow themselves the opportunity to strengthen a relationship that they originally thought might not last past freshman week, the first semester or the first year.
While many people were sleeping during the torrential rains of Hurricane Irene, Princeton First Aid & Rescue Squad EMT and rescue technician Michael Kenwood was swept into floodwaters while attempting a swiftwater rescue, and he drowned. Michael died in service to his community, trying to help those in need.
Auditioning for BAC was a bounding leap over the walls of my comfort zone and probably the best experience I’ve had this year. And it’s only week one. Consider this a PSA from someone who did it wrong the first time around. Do things you didn’t do before college! I spent freshman year trying out for (and getting rejected from, I might add) the exact same activities I did in high school. I didn’t even consider options outside the familiar. Put simply, I was stupid. Not only should you try new things simply for the experience, irrespective of the outcome, but you could also discover a talent you never even knew you had. This is not to say that I’ve suddenly realized my swag potential, bought myself a snapback and started breakdancing on Nassau Street for extra cash. But I certainly have discovered something that I enjoy, regardless of whether I’m any good.
Princeton should have more opportunities for underclassmen to design their own study abroad programs.
Whims. They have a fairly awful reputation. Capricious and sudden, unexpected and arbitrary, they are governed by fancy. To be whimsical is perhaps to be amusing, but usually passing, irrational and impulsive, too. Whims are bad.This is unfair.
Since my first exposure to ancient history as a child, I had dreamed of visiting Rome, but I little anticipated that life in the Eternal City would feel so much in itself like a dream. Princeton, with all its deadlines, gossip and artificial stress, seemed like ancient history amid the world’s most treasured relics.
In my experience, the most isolating, depressing moments of the first weeks of school came during or immediately following the loudest, busiest social events. In a room where everybody is talking and laughing at once, it is easy to buy into the fiction that you alone have not yet established a satisfying, reliable social life.
