List of 20 news stories.

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  Hot Takes: Are They Getting Chilly?

  Lewis Meyers '29
  As a freshman this year with many more opportunities to meet people and as someone who has been in a lot of new group settings, a common icebreaker I have been given is: what’s your hot take? This question doesn’t only allow kids to meet new people, but also to gauge the person’s overall views and personality. Given the nature of the bubbling political climate, hot takes are increasingly taken out of context or seen as offensive. Recently, when I was in DC with Hopkins for the Civic Leadership Summit in my seminar group, I presented my hot take “Hot dogs are a taco.” One of the kids in my group immediately responded with a gasp and a “What?!” followed by a bunch of shouting and kids were raising their voices. Even though “Hot dogs are a taco” is not very serious, and fortunately for me, did not become a full-scale debate, sometimes a more serious take will blow up and be taken a step too far. But, hot takes aren’t the problem; our inability to disagree lightly is.
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  Reconciling a Private School Education with Public Responsibility

  Winter Szarabajka '27 Op-Ed Editor
  It was eight AM on a Friday morning, and seven hundred sleepy-eyed Hilltoppers filled the Athletic Center as Mayor Justin Elicker settled into one of the school’s nicer armchairs. While some may have looked up from their phones only when he balanced a chair on his chin, and some may not have even been in attendance at all, those who were paying attention will likely remember one of his most direct claims about civic involvement: “Private schools shouldn’t exist.” For that line alone, I would like to nominate this assembly as one of the most memorable of the year.
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  Self-Maxxing: Skip the Mogging Craze

  Zachary Cohen '29
  None of us would be surprised at a new social media trend centered around people trying to look better. Some may find it surprising, however, just how astronomically self-sabotaging some of the strategies are. An offshoot of looksmaxxing, mogging is the act of improving one's appearance purely for the sake of outshining others and being perceived as “superior." The history of this word began in the early 2000s with AMOG, an abbreviation for Alpha Male of the Group. “Mog” gained traction in 2016 and has become more popular since.
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  To Pod or Not to Pod?

  Beatrice Lundberg '27 Assistant Op/Ed Editor
  Over this past summer, you could usually find me and my sister cruising ten miles over the speed limit, melted iced lattes in hand, laughing hysterically at the witty stories and jokes told on Mary Beth Barone and Benito Skinner’s Ride Pod. Although many people would have preferred to be bumping Zach Bryan or some “wind in your hair” driving music, we—like many other people—decided to hop on the podcast trend.
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  Beyond the Grade: Homework's Unwritten Curriculum

  Gitanjali Navaratnam-Tomayko '28 Assistant Op Ed Editor
  Over my past four years at Hopkins, I have been given homework assignments in every form imaginable, all of which influenced not just how I study, but why I study in the first place. My teachers have followed a number of different strategies to teach responsibility through homework. I have had classes where homework is a small “buffer” grade, compose the majority of my grade, be ungraded,or entirely optional, or even be a where test questions are directly pulled from. While many differ, each of these approaches have taught me something different about how to learn. 

• To be Cringe is to be Free: Why Embarrassment is Embarrassing

  Miri Levin '26 Managing Editor
  Growing up, especially as a kid in the arts (I prefer that term to theatre-kid because it has negative connotations these days), I was always aware of the fact that I was taking up space. Physically, I was a pretty small kid, but I had a personality the size of half my second grade class. I knew that when I talked, people laughed, but when I talked at the wrong times, I would get sent to “the office,” which was where the principal told you to behave and asked you not to get your parents involved. As I have grown older, however, my perspective on taking up space has shifted. It has taken countless hours of overthinking, years of embarrassing myself for a good laugh, and many periods of being the only person talking in my English class to make me realize that there is one thing that makes people sacrifice the space they should be taking up: Embarrassment. I have felt an abundance of embarrassment in my life, but I am now coming to you, as a person who is a pro at making a fool of themselves, to say that, in the big 26, being embarrassed is embarrassing.
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  We Need a Playground: Bring Back Recess in 2026

  Anjali Van Bladel '27 Lead Op/Ed Editor
  As I begin the second term of my junior year, it’s hard to believe that I still have a year left of high school. Hopkins students are frequently described as ‘driven’, which is often just a synonym for ‘always busy’. It feels like for as long as I can remember, I’ve spent my nights doing homework and my weekends studying. When in a particularly difficult stretch of the school year—like right now—it feels like I would do anything to go back to elementary school, when my biggest concern was the amount of time until recess. Hopkins recently announced that after a historic fifty million dollar donation, they will begin construction on the Gibbs Innovation Center. This new building will have new and improved lab, robotics, and student life facilities, which are all exciting additions to our campus. However, I’d like to propose a new project that I think would be just as beneficial for the student community at Hopkins: our very own playground. 
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  Why Intelligence Shouldn’t be Measured in Math Classes: Hopkins’ Devaluation of the Humanities

  Beatrice Lundberg ' 27 Assistant Op Ed Editor
  Throughout the course of my eighth grade year I called my mom at least three times a month begging to come home from school. It wasn’t because of friend drama or bad test grades, but from a constant fear of being looked down upon by my classmates who excelled in science and math. 
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  Free Candy, Fake Commitments: The Activities Scene at Hopkins

  Winter Szarabajka ’27 Op-Ed Editor
  Imagine it’s early September. The leaves are starting to change, and everyone has that fresh, back-to-school glow, naive to the burnout most of us face later in the school year. On Thompson Quad, you’re met with an onslaught of sticker-covered poster boards and plastic bowls filled with snickers. Upperclassmen shout to be heard above the chaos as they pitch their ideas, droning on far longer than anyone is actually listening. Freshmen race to put their names on as many sign up sheets as possible while seniors steal candy from their friends’ tables. Yep, you guessed it, you’re at the activities fair. But although this day is supposed to be inspiring, most of us are left with one question: Are these students really invested in the activities they sign up for?
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  The Razor’s Edge: The Government Shutdown and Partisan Media

  Lilliana Dumas ’26 Editor-in-Chief
  Forty-three days of a shuttered federal government didn’t just expose a budget crisis. It exposed something deeper: a media ecosystem so polarized that it helped cause and sustain the longest shutdown in American history, whose effects continue to linger.
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  Social Comment or Simple Joy? Food as a Status Symbol

  Anjali van Bladel '27 Lead Op-Ed Editor
  While food insecurity only grows across America, food has increasingly become a status symbol, glamorized by social media culture through fridge restock TikToks or “what I eat in a day” videos, even as food grows less and less accessible for the average shopper.
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  Vegetarian Lunch Options: What's on the Menu?

  Gitanjali Navaratnam-Tomayko '28 Assistant Op Ed Editor
  I have a variety of allergies, my most limiting one being milk. I also avoid beef and pork for a combination of ethical, environmental, and health purposes. When I was in J-school, I would regularly get the “allergy plate”; a special meal designed to fit a range of food sensitivities and dietary restrictions.The Hopkins dining hall staff always served me with kindness and care. These lunches avoided red meat, something that should be limited in Hopkins lunches overall due to the environmental, economic, and social benefits of doing so. The problem of meat in school lunches doesn’t lie in the hands of the Hopkins dining hall staff, but with school lunch culture overall. 
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  Labubu and the Illusion of Individuality

  Beatrice Lundberg ' 27 Assistant Op Ed Editor
  In 2025 there are three things that are unavoidable: death, taxes, and Labubus.
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  Programmed for Perfection: How Hopkins Culture Drives AI Dependence

  Mary-Winter Szarabajka '27 Op Ed Editor
  Whether you’re new to Hopkins or months away from graduation, I’d like you to reflect on how many times you’ve heard the phrase “I just care about the grade,” in the last month.
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  Woke is not a joke: taxing effects of performative feminism  

  Gitanjali Navaratnam-Tomayko '28 Assistant Op Ed Editor
  Recently, social media has been filled with mocking content about performative males: matcha drinking posers who pretend to care about women's rights.
  
  
  
  
  
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  Claire’s Closing: the End of the Tween Era

  Anjali van Bladel '27 Op/Ed Editor
  Picture this: you enter a shopping mall in 2012. Tween girls swarm around you like a colony of bees, each wearing a rainbow choker and shimmering fake nails. The air smells like chemicals and cupcakes. That’s when you know you must be approaching one fragrant, glittery, purple store: Claire’s.
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  Camp Ivy League: Are Pre-College Programs Worth It?

  Anjali van Bladel ’27 Op-Ed Editor and Bea Lundberg ’27 Assistant Op-Ed Editor
  With summer finally here, we’re all excited to enjoy the warm weather, spend time with friends, and above all, get out of the classroom. However, for many high schoolers who are looking to impress top colleges, it's not yet time to relax. With growing pressure to keep busy over the summer, the question remains: are pre-college summer programs worth it?
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  To Tan or Not to Tan: Beauty Standards and Complexion

  Winter Szarabajka Op/Ed Editor and Gitanjali Navaratnam-Tomayko ’28 Assistant Op/Ed Editor
  As the school year comes to an end and warm weather eases its way into our daily routines, our FYPs have become flooded with tanning hacks and “base tan” recommendations to ring in the summer season. As a redhead, I (Winter) have always wished I could achieve a perfect tan. To be honest, it’s not fun watching everyone show off their beautiful summer skin while I’ve got a red-and-white candy cane look going on. 
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  How to Achieve the Perfect Summer Body

  Rain Zeng '26, Lead Op-Ed Editor
  “I need to lose weight.” It’s a phrase we hear more often than we should, many have often groaned in front of mirrors examining  a body part that isn’t lean or small enough . Of course, context matters; anyone can decide to lose weight for a variety of reasons. But as summer approaches and showing skin becomes unavoidable, I hear friends and family express the desire to lose weight more often. For many, weight loss is a way to feel more beautiful and worthy of being seen in the summer months. But this mentality only reinforces insecurities and diminishes the value of the bodies we already have.
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  April Fools’: Has Humor Turned Dark?

  Bea Lundberg '27 Assistant Op/Ed Editor
  April Fools’ Day is a holiday celebrated around the world, known for its traditions of playing lighthearted tricks on the people in our communities. Although the holiday sets a specific date for people to participate in comedic acts, humor is a prominent part of society no matter the time of year. The innocent nature of April Fools’ Day is the very thing that gives it its charm, but with the current social and political climate, why have jokes on the internet become particularly cruel in recent years?