Follow us on Instagram
Try our daily mini crossword
Play our latest news quiz
Download our new app on iOS!

Self

IMG_4554.jpg

An ode to the return trip

“I will forever be grateful to this charming, underfunded public transportation system for creating a liminal space in which I could simply exist, explore, imagine, and dream. In those rocking, ugly train carriages, I existed in the in-between.”

“I will forever be grateful to this charming, underfunded public transportation system for creating a liminal space in which I could simply exist, explore, imagine, and dream. In those rocking, ugly train carriages, I existed in the in-between.”

THE PROSPECT | February 2

lunar new year.jpg

Clinging onto Lunar New Year

“Some part of me fears that once I graduate and no longer have an abnormally long winter break to spend at home, Lunar New Year will be consigned to the same scrap heap of obscurity that Thanksgiving and Christmas currently occupy in my mind.”

“Some part of me fears that once I graduate and no longer have an abnormally long winter break to spend at home, Lunar New Year will be consigned to the same scrap heap of obscurity that Thanksgiving and Christmas currently occupy in my mind.”

THE PROSPECT | January 22

48 U front door - JPFG.jpeg

Love in the ‘Prince’ newsroom

“If I had found some love and support and connection in our virtual newsroom while we persevered through those darkest months, then the return to our newsroom on University Place let me see all those things flourish. There are an endless number of vignettes I could write about love in this college newsroom.”

“If I had found some love and support and connection in our virtual newsroom while we persevered through those darkest months, then the return to our newsroom on University Place let me see all those things flourish. There are an endless number of vignettes I could write about love in this college newsroom.”

THE PROSPECT | December 21

Empty Niches - Photo 1.jpeg

Empty niches

All this from noticing an architectural quirk: these nine empty statuary niches led me along a year-long journey of observation and intrigued writes head editor José Pablo Fernández García in a visual journey through history and memory on campus.

“All this from noticing an architectural quirk: these nine empty statuary niches led me along a year-long journey of observation and intrigue,” writes head editor José Pablo Fernández García in a visual journey through history and memory on campus.

PROJECTS | December 18

IMG_3706 (1).jpeg

The exceptions

“Either way, the exception carries a double-edged sword — glory and pain. How, why, do such things, even in less extremes, coexist? This is what made my friend’s comment somewhat haunting. Being the exception is a distinction: it aggrandizes and alienates at once.”

“Either way, the exception carries a double-edged sword — glory and pain. How, why, do such things, even in less extremes, coexist? This is what made my friend’s comment somewhat haunting. Being the exception is a distinction: it aggrandizes and alienates at once.”

THE PROSPECT | December 13

ADVERTISEMENT
Light from the setting sun hits a gothic stone castle.

The Self essay

“But now, finally, in these essays I’ve found the binding together of my self. These disparate parts have been gathered and collected like a bundle of sticks — still precarious but at least momentarily unified.”

“But now, finally, in these essays I’ve found the binding together of my self. These disparate parts have been gathered and collected like a bundle of sticks — still precarious but at least momentarily unified.”

THE PROSPECT | December 8

lotus.jpeg

Growing up Buddhist during the holiday season

“To some students, Christmas decorations may spark excitement for the holiday season. For me, a second-generation immigrant who was raised Buddhist, they remind me of my complicated relationship with mainstream American culture.”

“To some students, Christmas decorations may spark excitement for the holiday season. For me, a second-generation immigrant who was raised Buddhist, they remind me of my complicated relationship with mainstream American culture.”

THE PROSPECT | December 8

Name accents - JPFG.jpeg

Hello, my name is...

“But in such a surrender, there is, at a deeper level, a certain surrender of dignity and identity as well. A name is so personal a matter; it should belong to no one but oneself.”

“But in such a surrender, there is, at a deeper level, a certain surrender of dignity and identity as well. A name is so personal a matter; it should belong to no one but oneself.”

THE PROSPECT | November 28

Arepas - Sophia Colmenares (Cropped).jpg

Arepas at Princeton: Reflections of a Colombian-American

“Just as I would shape the raw arepa dough into their circular shapes, Princeton, in a way, has helped shape my understanding of my own cultural identity as Colombian-American.”

“Just as I would shape the raw arepa dough into their circular shapes, Princeton, in a way, has helped shape my understanding of my own cultural identity as Colombian-American.”

THE PROSPECT | November 28

Jorge Drexler and band - Courtesy of Pedro Monteiro.jpeg

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

“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.”

“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 | November 21

A “No Trespassing” sign in Calvert County, Md.
Noelle Carpenter / The Daily Princetonian

My rural community and the stories we tell

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.”

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 - Joshua Yang.jpg

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

“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.”

“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

Triangle on McCarter - JPFG.jpeg

Triangle Traces

“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.”

“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

Eating clubs

An ode to Halloweekend

“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.”

“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

gloria from modern family.jpg

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

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

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