I have the above poster on the wall in my dorm room. It caught my eye in my grandmother’s resale shop this past summer, and I picked it up to bring to college. It’s a decoration that I’ve given some …
Thoughts on a Decoration
First Impressions
In college and during first days (and possibly up to your last days at Williams) you make a lot of first impressions. The first impressions you make partly depend on the context in which you meet, which can change the …
Adjusting the Zoom
What would you do if you only had 5 minutes to live?
It can be fun to play around with this question, something I’ve done several times with different people over the years. The answers are often split between the …
The Butterfly Effect
For anyone who isn’t familiar with the butterfly effect, it is the belief that even the smallest of actions can have a major impact later on down the line — for example, the flap of a butterfly’s wings in one …
SAMAR
From the book Lost in Translation, which features beautiful words without English equivalents. Here’s one of them I particularly like. Though, there’s one thing I wish could be different. I wish the next morning didn’t have the effect of …
The Holy Formula
Arguing about religion is hard. Even talking about it can be tough, because people’s religious beliefs are often very deeply held and tied directly or indirectly to their value structures, which then are tied in to the rest of their …
In Awe of the Scale
At the beginning of the bus ride home from our meet at Middlebury College last night, our team was treated to a magnificent sunset. The clouds and snowy fields created the perfect canvas for a multicolored celestial light show. I …
How Should We Navigate a World Where Physical Attractiveness Plays Such a Role?
Someone who’s a “looker,” “head turner,” or “easy on the eyes” might illicit a “double take” from an onlooker. A second chance. A do-over. Attention.
How is it fair that people who won the “genetic lottery” (something they have no …
Walking the Talk of “justliving&learning”
In high school, after my ice cream bowl had been put in the dishwasher and I finally found myself scooting my chair into my desk around 8:30 PM, only half my brain would actually be clocking in the hours on …