Self

Music and my identities: Learning from Jorge Drexler’s visit to Princeton

Jorge Drexler and band - Courtesy of Pedro Monteiro.jpeg

Music and my identities: Learning from Jorge Drexler’s visit to Princeton

Ian Fridman

“I belong to all my intersecting identities: a little to them all, but to none of them entirely. It is in these shades of gray that identity can be so wonderful.”

THE PROSPECT | 6 days ago

The year of a heart cracked open

The year of a heart cracked open

José Pablo Fernández García

“This is why I consider this my year of a heart cracked open: because that shell has finally come off.”

THE PROSPECT | November 20

My rural community and the stories we tell

Noelle Carpenter

Contributing writer for The Prospect Noelle Carpenter reflects on coming to Princeton from a rural community. She writes that, upon encountering stereotypes, “I’ve found myself an unlikely champion, frequently arguing on behalf of a community I too had to learn to love.”

THE PROSPECT | November 17

The Cause: the days are long, but the months are short

Joshua Yang

“I love the cause. Yet I can’t help but feel that loving the cause means I have little space left for loving streaky sunsets, or the wind whipping through my hair, or autumn fading to winter.”

THE PROSPECT | November 14

Extinguishing the poet with my tears

Kyung Eun Lee

“Suddenly, I’ve lost any and all sense of trust in the poet. How would I know if there were secret truths hidden in details invisible to the human eye?”

THE PROSPECT | November 13

Triangle Traces

Triangle Traces

José Pablo Fernández García

“All this makes my last few nights in McCarter for my last Triangle premiere this weekend just that much more special. And with light, one thing that makes it so magical is how ephemeral it is.”

THE PROSPECT | November 3

An ode to Halloweekend

An ode to Halloweekend

Eric Fenno

“Getting ready is the most essential part of a Halloween party. Whether you just throw on an oversized shirt and boxers for a low effort but utterly classic “the guy from Risky Business” or you don full-fledged face makeup, green hair, and purple suit for the Joker, getting ready is the time to get into character. You are no longer you.”

THE PROSPECT | November 3

From hidden to happy: On not fitting in, being myself, and Season 1, Episode 5 of ‘Modern Family’

From hidden to happy: On not fitting in, being myself, and Season 1, Episode 5 of ‘Modern Family’

Avery Danae Williams

Avery Danae Williams, contributing writer for The Prospect, frames a self-essay about fitting in with an episode of “Modern Family.”

THE PROSPECT | October 30

I see you and learn how to be

Ina Aram

“I want to know how people do it. How do people wake up and put their feet on the ground and do what they do like it’s nothing at all? How are people doing this thing that is living? I look out my window and see.”

THE PROSPECT | October 26

First-year imposter syndrome, rejection cycles, and living in the moment

Russell Fan

“Success is not limited to current achievements; it also encompasses future endeavors that I can build for myself.” Contributing writer Russell Fan comes to terms with rejection in a self essay about trying to find an extracurricular to join.

THE PROSPECT | October 13

In anticipation of love

Kyung Eun Lee

“From the distance we see in each other, love emerges.” Contributing writer Kyung Eun Lee reflects on finding love and community through solitude and struggle.

THE PROSPECT | October 11

Tierra y memoria

Rodrigo Córdova Rosado

“To see land and memory intertwined, the physical world and our experience of it, is perhaps one of the greatest lessons my communities have taught me.”

THE PROSPECT | October 9

Back to the B floor

Junior Year Firestone Locker - JPFG.jpeg

Back to the B floor

José Pablo Fernández García

Head Prospect Editor José Pablo Fernández García reflects on the calm and stability that Firestone Library’s B floor brings him, after all these years.

THE PROSPECT | October 6

Existence, in theory and in practice

Existence, in theory and in practice

Joshua Yang

“What I do on my Fridays has little bearing on my Tuesdays, and vice versa, yet I’ve found that it’s only through the dichotomy of these dual existences that I can be all of myself.” Contributing Prospect writer Joshua Yang reflects on balancing the theoretical, abstract world of philosophy and the concreteness of reality.

“What I do on my Fridays has little bearing on my Tuesdays, and vice versa, yet I’ve found that it’s only through the dichotomy of these dual existences that I can be all of myself.” Contributing Prospect writer Joshua Yang reflects on balancing the theoretical, abstract world of philosophy and concreteness of reality.

THE PROSPECT | October 6

Graduate student in an undergraduate world

Emily Miller

“We straddle a line between being an employee and a student. We are independent adults, but also part of a residential community and subject to the whims of university policy.”

THE PROSPECT | October 4

An ode to Dunkin’

An ode to Dunkin’

Lauren Fromkin

“For the first-years who never even knew this Dunkin’ once existed, let me enlighten you: This Dunkin’ did not have particularly good coffee or stellar customer service. It wasn’t always tasty or pleasant. It didn’t have the local charm of Small World or the customizability of Starbucks. But it was always there for you. And it was always the cheapest option.”

“For those first-years who never even knew this Dunkin’ existed, let me enlighten you: This Dunkin’ did not have particularly good coffee or stellar customer service. It wasn’t always tasty or pleasant. It didn’t have the local charm of Small World or the customizability of Starbucks. But it was always there for you. And it was always the cheapest option.”

THE PROSPECT | October 3

In love I trust

In love I trust

Abby Yuexi Lu

“Yet, suddenly, I didn’t want to just pass these moments by anymore. I wanted to feel the sentimentality exalted in the song and to one day be able to claim thoughts like these as my own.”

“Yet, suddenly, I didn’t want to just pass these moments by anymore. I wanted to feel the sentimentality exalted in the song and, one day, be able to claim these thoughts as my own.”

THE PROSPECT | September 28

The mysterious case of a Persian polymath in the Princeton University Chapel

The mysterious case of a Persian polymath in the Princeton University Chapel

David Chmielewski

“How can we wrap our heads around this singular place for Islam in the overwhelmingly Christian imagery of the Chapel?” Guest contributor David Chmielewski reflects on the significance of a stained glass window depicting the Muslim Abu Bakr al-Razi in the Princeton University Chapel.

THE PROSPECT | September 25

One tree over a changing campus

One tree over a changing campus

José Pablo Fernández García

“Somehow, already, the Princeton I applied to and the one I first came to know feel a world apart from the Princeton slowly being built around us.”

THE PROSPECT | September 22

At the solitary table

José Pablo Fernández García

“It felt like too perfect a contrast to my situation, enjoying a day of my own design and full of what I favored in life, but still on my own.”

THE PROSPECT | September 18

Most Popular