“It’s time to put on hand sanitizer, Beth*,” I say as we get back in the car after visiting the park to see the ducks, or as she calls them, “QUACK QUACKS.” I reach for her hand and when the sanitizer touches her skin, she recoils. “Don’t you try! Don’t you try!” Beth exclaims, pulling… Read more →
Category: Undergraduate Writing Series
Saving the Children: Is International Adoption Really the Answer?
The year 2021 marks thirty years since the United States first issued immigrant visas to Chinese orphans, signaling the beginning of international adoptions between the United States and China. As a 21-year-old Chinese adoptee, I have encountered plenty of people telling me how lucky and grateful I should feel regarding my adoption. But despite the… Read more →
The Fifth Vital Sign: How the Pain Scale Fails Us
Last October, I slumped in a chair at the doctor’s office while a nurse asked me if I felt any pain on a scale of 1 to 10. I wrinkled my forehead, and responded, “Is exhaustion painful?” I, like most others, often experience less than ideal sensations. From a broken arm when I was three… Read more →
Post-Pandemic Architecture Needs to Be Healthier
As an architecture student, I’d normally be building a model in my studio on campus right now. Instead, six months into quarantine, I’m still sitting in my makeshift home office worrying about my friends and family. The death toll climbs every day and my mom, who has an autoimmune disorder, is in the high-risk population…. Read more →
Tracing the Red in “Redbone”: Colorism and Misogyny in Black History
“My peanut butter chocolate cake with Kool-Aid” – this line from the 2016 song “Redbone” by Childish Gambino (aka Donald Glover) describes the appearance of a light-skinned Black woman with a bright red undertone to her skin and hair: a “redbone.” The figure of the untrustworthy “redbone” woman is a common theme in contemporary rap… Read more →
¡Escúchanos! Immigration and Reproductive Politics
Two years ago, the case of a 17-year-old undocumented immigrant catalyzed the creation of a class action suit from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) against the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). Jane Doe, the name given to maintain her anonymity and safety as a pregnant minor, and her story of struggle and success captivated… Read more →
How Perceived Racial Differences Created a Crisis in Black Women’s Healthcare
In 2016, a black baby born in Charlottesville, Virginia, was almost ten times more likely than a white baby to die in their first year of life.1 That same year, researchers from the University of Virginia revealed that nearly 21% of first-year medical students at the school believed that black patients had stronger immune systems… Read more →
Hijabophobia: An Unseen but Entirely Visible Force
In August 2017, a burqa-clad woman stepped into the chambers of the Australian parliament and sat down. To the individuals behind the cameras, she was entirely unknown. But for the members of Parliament, it was all too obvious who she was and what she was trying to do. The black cloth came off to reveal… Read more →
More than Accomplices: The Crimes of Hitler’s Female SS
The names most commonly associated with the Holocaust are undoubtedly Heinrich Himmler, Joseph Goebbels, Adolph Eichmann, and, of course, Adolph Hitler himself. Modern society tends to attribute the worst crimes of Nazi Germany to the murderous SS and their collaborators. The notoriety of these famous faces makes it seem that men were solely responsible for… Read more →
Mujeres Libres: Women, Anarchy, and the Fragility of Democracy in Spain
Prime Minister of Spain Pedro Sanchez decided to call a snap election in April 2019 following the withdrawal of support by the Catalan separatists who were propping up his government. The short-term implications of another general election in Spain were great, as the lack of a stable government in recent years has impacted Spain’s social… Read more →