Confessions of a Logophile

  Word of the week: Liminal (adj.) - On the border of two things, usually two abstract things.      The usual ambience of an art museum is filled with whispers of “what do you think this one means?” and the weight of the unspoken rule that pieces are solely present to be admired from afar– meaning absolutely no touching. This is told to us by various warning signs and winding black stanchions that are forbidden to cross. Even though art supposedly has no boundaries, there is no room for sticky fingerprints and accidental food stains in the presence of million dollar canvases.       Very rarely, you may stumble upon a piece that requires the participation of onlookers to become a piece of art. One of these few and far between pieces resides in the Art Institute of Chicago, and at first glance, resembles a regular pile of candy.  Something you’d find on discount on a Sunday Costco trip, or a child's halloween spoils. “Untitled (Portrait of Ross...

Word of the week: Psithurism (noun) - The sound of wind blowing through trees and rustling their leaves. Every Saturday morning, when dawn has just begun to show herself and the world takes on a soft, muted quality, I put on my wool socks and my favorite worn hoodie to venture out into the biting air. Right in the middle of my street, there is a secret dirt path that seems to lead straight into thick greenery. Eventually, when the houses fade away, and I'm among the willows and honey locusts, and the light flows through the leaves in a way that makes me thankful that I feel the sun on my face, I am no longer a suburban teenager; but a weathered explorer on a quiet quest for hidden treasure. But truly, real treasure is the feeling my walks evoke within me.

Word of the week: Abecedarian (noun) - A person who is learning the alphabet.  Bet you’ve never heard that word before. Did you know that the average 20 year old American knows around 42,000 words on average ? Okay, that does seem like a lot. But do you know how many words exist in the English language? It’s actually such a vast, ever-changing and expanding amount that no one really knows. Not even experts. So for this blog, every word of the week will eventually connect back to the topic at hand. I was actually originally going to name this blog ‘The Lazy Logophile’, so that should tell you more than enough. But back to the topic at hand… College essays. Squeezing 16 years of life into a 650 word (shoe)box. Every single time I try to sit down and write anything , I find myself second-guessing everything . Could it be better? Cooler? Funnier? Show more of my ‘personality’ (whatever that means)?  It has me feeling much like an abecedarian , in the sense that everywhere I step s...

Wouldn’t be a thank you letter for English without Valentino! To the one and only Ms. Valentino,   Whenever I talk to adults about teachers, they always share the sentiment that there is one teacher from their entire academic career who  “did it”.  And by “ it ”, I mean genuinely change their life for the better. And you, Ms. Valentino, have done it. The love that you have for the English language runs so deep that it was impossible not to get immersed into this way of viewing the world from the very beginning. From finding hidden meanings, to unpacking symbolism, to understanding clever uses of irony and satire, there have been so many laughs, so much learning, and a  lot  of inspiration— and all of the credit goes to you. You may not realize it, but I hope that after reading all of these thank you letters from you students that you understand the profound impact that you’ve had on me and all of the people you have taught in the past. I can’t even put it into w...

 This week in class, we talked about the existence of honor codes and their impact on student bodies, whether positive or negative. But cheating scandals have unfortunately plagued even the most prestigious academic institutions, and one of the most notorious incidents occurred at Harvard University in 2012. The scandal took place during a government class's take-home final exam, where suspicions arose due to a high percentage of similarities in essay responses submitted by nearly half of the 279 enrolled students. The scale of the alleged cheating shocked both the university administration and the wider academic community, because Harvard University, as well as other Ivy Leagues, are supposed to be held at a high standard. Following a very thorough investigation and hearings by Harvard's administration, about 70 students were forced to withdraw from the university. However, they were offered the opportunity to re-enroll after serving a disciplinary hiatus ranging from two to f...

 The year is 1984. On a quiet Sunday morning in Wasco County, Oregon, two Wasco County sheriffs have breakfast at Taco Time. Big mistake. Not even 6 hours later, both would be hospitalized in the ICU with severe symptoms such as abdominal chills, nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting. In the following days, more than 750 Wasco residents will have reported the same symptoms, later determined as Salmonella. The culprit? The Rajneesh political party, a very unpopular candidate for the Wasco county elections.  3 years before the incident, Rajneesh, who had started a cult for ‘sexual liberation and enlightenment’ back in Pune, India, came to America with his followers to spread his beliefs, hoping to gain political power. He chose Wasco, Oregon as it seemed like an easy place to grow his influence. His followers moved to an abandoned ranch on the outskirts of the county and tried to convince the residents to vote for Rajneesh in the upcoming elections, but the residents were adamant that ...

To those who aren’t familiar with the term, Mukbang quite literally means ‘eating show’ in Korean. This genre of entertainment first originated in South Korea in the early 2010s, but since has grown into a global phenomenon with mukbang creators gaining millions upon millions of views for eating food and live streaming or videotaping themselves. But there is a separation between normal mukbangs and those that cause public concern. A specific subgenre of mukbangs entail creators eating overly excessive amounts of food. Instead of a normal amount of chicken tenders, a normal mukbang video in this subgenre might entail a creator eating hundreds, like the videos of popular youtube star Nikocado Avocado. Studies have shown that viewing creators gorging themselves on insane amounts of food can have destructive effects on one’s nutritional diet. Another pressing concern is the food waste that this subgenre promotes in additions to severely unhealthy eating habits. Sustainable eating is someth...