My beloved family member graduated from the University of Ivy League Prestige in 1790. Their love for said Ivy League institution is why I had expensive college sweatshirts on before I could walk, why they would drag us back to campus to ‘network’ at reunions, and why getting into said Ivy League institution was one…
The Art of Laying Down Baby Hairs
Ironically, I held no childhood compulsions to lay down my baby hairs. My hands were not trained with gel stiffened toothbrushes and precision, but with bright brittle crayons and youthful ease. You begin to notice that being so carefree isn’t inconsequential. You’re swept into swirls at the edges of western beauty. I was never good…
Urgent Call to Disarm Yale Police Department in wake of 4/16 shooting
April 20, 2019 Dear President Peter Salovey, Chief of Police Ronnell Higgins, and senior members of the Yale administration: We, Black Students for Disarmament at Yale, unite to demand that Peter Salovey and the Yale Police Department implement immediate and lasting policies to address the injustice of the April 16th shooting of Stephanie Washington and…
What Whiteness Is
Whiteness is sitting on the bus at the age of six, on your way to kindergarten, and being called “that weird chink kid” from a fifth grader sitting in the back. It’s the collective stares that all the kids give you, the American kids who come from big, loving homes full of families who speak…
A Response to Varsity Blues
I scroll through my Facebook newsfeed, but my thumb stops moving across the screen when I see it: an FBI investigation about admissions fraud at Yale University. The “Yale Memes for Special Snowflake Teens” page fills with memes on photoshopping students into athletic photos and paying $400,000 for admission. Friends, former teachers, and classmates share…