Self

Last First Day — First First Day

Last First Day — First First Day

Jasmine Lu

Fall semester classes used to kick off on a Wednesday. A wake-up slap after the four-day fever dream known as Frosh Week. Yet it's a Monday — which should usher in some sense of normalcy, since Monday is the start of the typical work week. But come on, it's Princeton. We fly in the face of everything “normal.”

THE PROSPECT | September 6

A small quandary

Arnav Joshi

This is a peek into my experience with dealing with medical and mental health issues in Princeton’s highly competitive environment. The biographical story form is used to represent my first-person perspective and is an attempt to convey the pressures, emotional struggles, and stresses the situation brought along with it.

THE PROSPECT | August 16

DISPATCH | Finding hope in a time of loss, mourning

Harsimran Makkad

Maintaining relationships, participating in activities with friends and family — even if they are virtual — and consciously making the effort to enjoy little bits of every day have become the cornerstone of my everyday life.

THE PROSPECT | August 16

Prospect Recipes: Welsh Cookies

Paige Allen

Today, we’re making Welsh cookies. I grew up eating Welsh cookies with Mam, and my parents and I have become somewhat addicted to them during this quarantine summer.

THE PROSPECT | August 16

Anti-Racist Reading Review: Between the World and Me

“The classroom was a jail of other people’s interests,” he says. “The library was open, unending, free.” Graphic by Harsimran Makkad / Daily Princetonian

Anti-Racist Reading Review: Between the World and Me

Alex Gjaja

In the first installment of The Prospect's Anti-Racist Reading Reviews, Alex Gjaja reads Ta-Nehisi Coates’s profound work Between the World and Me in the context of 2020, reflecting on the visceral violence of racism and the lessons Coates's text offers to universities and university students.

THE PROSPECT | July 30

Making peace with senior year

Siyang Liu

Though I can’t change the fact that senior year won’t play out how I wanted it to, for every memory I looked forward to creating, I have many more which I am fortunate to have already experienced.

THE PROSPECT | July 21

How lucky we are to be alive right now: Reflections on “Hamilton,” grief, and 2020

Anna McGee

Maybe the reason watching the filmed version of “Hamilton” brought to mind so many memories of James Luke was because he, too, is now part of history. And I guess I’m just here, listening to the songs that remind me of my brother and writing down old memories of us as if telling them again could change how they ended.

THE PROSPECT | July 15

Did Princeton make the best decision? A guide for those grieving, considering gap years, and (for the first time) wishing they could transfer to Cornell

Photo Credit: Jon Ort / The Daily Princetonian

Did Princeton make the best decision? A guide for those grieving, considering gap years, and (for the first time) wishing they could transfer to Cornell

Lillian Chen

Grief does not end in a day. Sometimes it doesn’t ever go away. I know it will surface again sometime in late August, and October during Halloween, and November in the weeks leading up to and during Thanksgiving. What will I be thankful for then?

THE PROSPECT | July 12

The two faces of Dayton police

Katie Heinzer

But in the face of peaceful Black protesters, officers took their Blackness as a signal of violence, disrespect, and “thuggishness.”

THE PROSPECT | June 30

Processing race: navigating social media activism as a NBPOC

Processing race: navigating social media activism as a NBPOC

Cameron Lee

Conceptualizing race and racism inherently creates a set of paradoxes. It asks us to recognize that racism impacts everyone, but that it impacts everyone differently; it asks us to disassociate from our own racial identity/ies to see the human in each other, but to also celebrate the individuality in our human experiences; it both unites and divides us, because the problem is divisive but the solution is unity.

THE PROSPECT | June 14

The STEM School shooting, one year later: a reflection

Rooya Rahin

On May 7, two students went into our high school, STEM School Highlands Ranch, and opened fire at our peers, killing one student, Kendrick Castillo. On May 7, our entire world shattered in mere moments.

THE PROSPECT | 05/07/2020

Memes and mobilization

Auhjanae McGee

In light of being prematurely sent home due to the coronavirus, never have I seen such complex, crafty, and community-minded memes be published at this quick of a pace. In memes and advocacy, I see conduits for empathy, for community building, and ways to make people feel better, in variant but parallel methods.

THE PROSPECT | 04/27/2020

Episode 1 of the Great Princeton Bake-Off (Quarantine Edition)

Episode 1 of the Great Princeton Bake-Off (Quarantine Edition)

Brigitte Harbers

Attending classes from the comfort of my bed is turning into my academic Achilles heel. When I’m not in class, I’ve found this time has given me plenty of opportunities to explore hobbies, both old and new. What have I spent all my free time doing? Baking.

THE PROSPECT | 04/19/2020

Tigers and TikTok

Jose Pablo Fernandez Garcia / The Daily Princetonian

Tigers and TikTok

José Pablo Fernández García

The world we live in is undoubtedly changing in various facets day by day, and how we socialize and connect with our communities is no exception. For at least some Princeton students, TikTok is taking on an increasingly prominent part of their social lives as our campus community is spread out across the world.

THE PROSPECT | 04/12/2020

Recipes for your social distancing needs

Riverview Homes, Inc. / Wikimedia Commons

Recipes for your social distancing needs

Annabelle Duval

No matter what you make, stress-baking is a productive, easy, and joyful way to take care of yourself and your family members. Food Network Star Giada de Laurentiis says, “Food brings people together on many different levels. It's nourishment of the soul and body; it's truly love.” I think that right now, we could all use a little extra nourishment, for our bodies and our souls.

THE PROSPECT | 04/05/2020

To the late meal California burger — oh, how I miss you

The Late Meal grill
Photo Credit: Zack Shevin / The Daily Princetonian

To the late meal California burger — oh, how I miss you

Caitlin Limestahl

Recently, my mother asked me what I miss most from my incomplete first year as a Princeton student. When remembering began to hurt just a little bit too much, I gave an answer that was true, just not entirely: I missed the California burger from late meal.

THE PROSPECT | 04/01/2020

To all the memories unmade, photos untaken

To all the memories unmade, photos untaken

Marie-Rose Sheinerman

These memories are ones we were promised, ones we were banking on, and ones our peers, just a year or two older, do bank on — for support, solace, and strength. Now, they’re like polaroids that got jammed and never came out: we came tantalizingly close to having them, but there’s nothing to be done about the simple fact that we won’t.

THE PROSPECT | 03/31/2020

Discovering Firestone

Discovering Firestone

José Pablo Fernández García

I had forgotten the joy of checking out books from the library, but I was reminded of it once again after arriving in Princeton. I was first reminded of it when I checked out three books for my writing seminar and felt weirdly excited about the fact that the oldest due date in any of the books was from approximately four decades ago.

THE PROSPECT | 03/26/2020

For all the frustrated Tigers

José Pablo Fernández García

As I write that, all I’m hoping for is that the saying “third time’s the charm” really holds come next fall.

THE PROSPECT | 03/12/2020

The five phases of going to an acclaimed history museum

Auhjanae McGee

As I try to summarize my thoughts on the museum and my overall impressions of the city, I realize that I took on five different personas in response to the bright new sights. Allow me to expand.

THE PROSPECT | 03/05/2020

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