When Studio Music and Jazz department chair John Daversa asked me to photograph his “American Dreamers” recording session last March, I thought I was signing up for a fly-on-the-wall kind of job.
Columnists, Here's That Rainy Day, Opinion
How kids teach us the meaning of mindfulness
Lately I’ve been wondering if it’s possible to reconcile childishness and adulthood.
Here's That Rainy Day, Opinion
Forgoing time with friends to study? You may be doing more harm than good
The relationships we have, and the love we give and receive, are the most important aspects of our existence. We shouldn’t abandon those priorities when our schedules get hectic.
Here's That Rainy Day, Opinion
Bring back the value of the individual voice in politics
“Splitting” from something – a relationship, a place or even an ideological bloc – usually evokes feelings of reduction or defeat, but it can also be a chance for regeneration.
Columnists, Here's That Rainy Day, Opinion
Running from hurricanes in the age of incuriousness
Since ancient times, man has forged explanations for the inexplicable. The ancient Mongolians claimed Earth rested on the back of a giant frog whose movements caused earthquakes. The Igorot people of the Philippines believed the eldest son of Lumawig, the Great Spirit, formed mountains when he sent water flooding over all of Earth, forcing the…
Columnists, Here's That Rainy Day, Opinion
Expect, accept discomfort in a society of differing perspectives
This summer, I spent a month working as the office coordinator at a music camp I attended as a child. I was excited to learn that we were presenting a class called Social Justice in Jazz, in which students discussed stereotypes in the context of jazz music (women don’t like long solos; white people over-intellectualize…
Columnists, Here's That Rainy Day, Opinion
Twenty years of wisdom on the small things, the big ideas and everything in between
Last weekend was my 20th birthday. It also happened to be my deadline for this article. So while crouching over my laptop and getting an intellectual hard-on for politics is still one of my favorite pastimes, I wasn’t about to make that the highlight of my weekend. Instead, here’s a list of some of the…
Columnists, Here's That Rainy Day, Opinion
The rise of modern sophism in the Trump era
Update, March 6, 2017: The conclusion of this column has been updated to reflect a more recent draft of the version published in the March 2 issue. In ancient Athens, there were two prominent schools of intellectual thought. Philosophers, such as Plato and Aristotle, made up one school characterized by a devotion to serving justice and…
Columnists, Here's That Rainy Day, Opinion
Sí se Puede? Where the Women’s March movement falls short
When I returned home from the Women’s March in Miami I felt invincible. I carried my optimism in feet aching from hours of marching and in a raspy voice from hollering dozens of liberal aphorisms through the downtown streets. My exuberance lasted until the next day when my ears stopped ringing and I was again…
Columnists, Here's That Rainy Day, Opinion
Left employs identity politics in same divisive way as the right
The result of the 2016 presidential election has, among many things, underscored the necessity of self-reflection among Americans, especially liberals. Perhaps President-elect Trump’s boisterous and unprecedented campaign served as a distraction from that process – after all, it is easy to justify one’s opinions when the opposition appears to be shamelessly bigoted. Donald Trump holds…
Columnists, Election 2016, Here's That Rainy Day, Opinion
Retain empathy after divisive year
The rhetoric that has surfaced over the course of the 2016 presidential race, primarily due to the vile, widely incoherent assertions made by Republican nominee Donald Trump, has integrated seamlessly into national discourse. The effects of his language can be seen within our communities everyday, in the form of third graders threatening their non-white classmates…
Columnists, Election 2016, Here's That Rainy Day, Opinion
Decisive win for Hillary, but continued uphill battle for women
Sept. 26 was a critical evening for the seemingly interminable 2016 presidential race, which, to the delight of world leaders and the American public alike, appears to be inching toward a cease-fire. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump stood before the American people and provided illuminating insights into complex topics such as race relations, macroeconomics, foreign…