How to celebrate Halloween without being problematic
Halloween is obviously the best holiday ever. This is an uncontested fact. This year, after a long (still ongoing) pandemic, it seems obvious that people are going to go extra hard on Halloween in order to make up for the holidays lost. I have three costumes planned and three nights of activities ahead of me […]
Hoot Recommends: Halloween edition
Stewart Huang: Try “Dark Deception,” a first-person horror twist on “Pac-Man” where you are chased by spooky monsters like giant monkeys in elaborate mazes while collecting purple shards. It’s an intense arcade experience that will have you on the edge of the seat the entire time. And it’s quite an addictive and challenging game, featuring […]
Surviving midterm season with Mia
Like most people, I haven’t taken an in-person exam since freshman year (two years ago now). This has increased my test-taking anxiety tenfold this midterm season despite the fact that I have only actually had one midterm exam out of my four classes… As a social sciences or humanities major one exam is still a […]
Disparities in justice for missing and murdered women
The spectacle of true crime has become a popular topic in recent years, particularly among women that I know. Even I am obsessed with true crime podcasts, documentaries and am excited about the claim that the Zodiac killer has potentially been found. But behind these stories are real people. There is real suffering within each […]
Tips on stress relief from someone who was always stressed
Admittedly, I would not consider myself the best person to share tips on how to relieve stress. Recently, though, I have acquired quite a few new skills that have helped me lower my baseline stress levels, so they have gone down from unbearable to slightly bearable. At Brandeis, a school where everyone is doing a […]
Gluten-free living at Brandeis
Living on campus as someone who cannot eat gluten has been my biggest struggle at Brandeis University. My freshman year—albeit it was literally three months because I was a midyear right before COVID-19 hit—I survived off of rice and vegetables. I ate like a rabbit because it was either that or being sick on top […]
Revolutionary in the wrong kind of way: “Texas Heartbeat Act” creates legal questions and incites fear
Like every other woman interested in politics at Brandeis University, I have been following the developments surrounding Texas’ SB 8, or the “Texas Heartbeat Act” that was put into place on Sep. 1. This act procedurally bans abortions after the sixth week of gestation, when a fetal heartbeat is typically picked up, hence its name. […]
Thoughts on the American “justice” system
It is common knowledge that the United States has the highest rate of incarceration in the world. Approximately two million people are incarcerated in the U.S., and yet most Americans ignore the simple fact that our prison system is continuously failing us and those it is meant to rehabilitate and reform. The U.S. justice system […]
Reflecting on my summer
This summer, I worked too hard. I allowed the guilt of working at an understaffed and poorly managed restaurant to get to me, and I picked up every open shift I could. At the time I thought I was doing something good for my coworkers and for my bank account. In retrospect though, the money […]
Professionalism norms are stupid
As someone who has dyed their hair unnatural colors, gotten piercings and tattoos, and who considers themself an intelligent and hardworking individual, I hate the usual spiel I am expected to give when I discuss my future career plans. “Oh, I want to go to law school.” “That’s so cool…” some people say suspiciously, eyeing […]
Shower orange part II: grappling with grapefruit?
This past week has been interesting, both because of housing assignment anxiety and my experiment regarding shower oranges. First and foremost, I feel the same (although possibly worse due to outside forces such as finals and the aforementioned housing anxiety). But that does not mean that eating an orange in the shower isn’t a fun […]
Shower orange part 1: B.C. (before citrus)
Senior year of high school my friend introduced me and a few others to something that has captured my thoughts every spring since. Each spring I get a craving for citrus unlike any other craving. This craving makes me feel as though the simple act of eating an orange can cure all of my worries: […]
Modern threats to US Supreme Court legitimacy
As a student pursuing legal studies here at Brandeis, I try to be somewhat up to date on cases that the Supreme Court has decided or that are in the system. (It also helps that my classes force me to look into these cases!) Recently, I was searching for information for a paper I have […]
Manufactured outrage and myths of cancel culture
If you are unlucky enough to be like me and have swaths of people you vaguely knew in high school sharing propaganda on Facebook, you likely have seen the outrage regarding Dr. Seuss’ “cancelation” and “Mx. Potatohead” recently. To any sane person, this seems unimportant. Decisions made by private companies and estates are not anything […]
Being a former band kid
Like many people, reminiscing on my high school days is nothing short of traumatizing. We all look back on our past selves with a certain judgement that we put onto no one else. We cringe and shudder at how we used to do our hair or what we used to wear, how we acted and […]
Women vs. the world
It is no secret that women and girls are the butt of modern society’s jokes. From day one we are put into some box: tomboy, girly-girl…Why can’t women just be women? For others that is simply not enough. I remember being told that if a boy is mean to you it is because he has […]
