Hopkins School Op-Ed The Razor

Is Sydney Sweeney stupid, or is she a Financial Mastermind?

Rebecca Li '27 Lead Op/Ed Editor

Sydney Sweeney made headlines once more: “In a new one-minute ad for the sports betting site Novig, the actress Sydney Sweeney is dressed for about eight seconds. … As the lights come up, viewers see Sweeney wearing nothing except two footballs held against her chest” (NY Times, Gupta). Many view the ad as an affront to female athletes that devalues their athleticism and retreats from feminism. Others will have you believe the sex appeal is empowering, an exercise in freedom of wear and feminism.

Killing with Niceness

Ellie Luo '28 Op/Ed Editor

You’ve probably heard the phrase “honesty is the best policy” countless times. First appearing in 1599 in an English work by Sir Edwin Sandys and later popularized by Benjamin Franklin, the phrase has engraved itself in the ears of little kids for centuries. While it used to be a moral law, in the social lives of many today, honesty is more like a calculation. Society is now prioritizing social comfort over hard truths, leading to performative politeness for personal gain. This shift is seen especially in two words that used to be synonymous but now have a crucial difference in meaning: nice and kind.

Out With the Old and In With the New: Halloween after COVID

Leila Chaar '29 Assistant Op/Ed Editor

Halloween is one of the most anticipated nights of the year for children and families across the United States, with everyone looking forward to the sugar rush and colorful costumes. The tradition of walking door‑to‑door in costume, collecting candy, and enjoying the excitement of the neighborhood has been a cultural staple. It should be more than just a holiday — it is an event that encourages face‑to‑face interaction, creativity, and a sense of shared celebration. But in recent years, I have noticed a decline in the classic Halloween spirit. Why does Halloween feel so empty now? As COVID isolated the world, it accelerated social customs that changed the way we celebrate Halloween,making it more scripted and less spontaneous. As soon as COVID hit, everyone, myself included, turned to our devices and the internet to stay connected. Ever since then, I’ve noticed a huge cultural shift regarding phones and social media. For a lot of people our age, those in-between years where you aren’t necessarily a kid, but not yet a young adult, were spent inside on zoom calls instead of outside, experiencing things and becoming teenagers the way previous generations have. As a result, several old traditions ended abruptly without a proper goodbye. People adapted to celebrate Halloween with what they saw around them, which were all these new “trends” popularized by social media.

The Ozempidemic: The weight of losing weight in society

Anya Huang '29 Assistant Op/Ed Editor

“Has anyone else noticed how strikingly thin Ariana Grande has gotten?” That was the opening line of an Instagram post showing Ariana Grande’s figure, followed by comments accusing her of drug use. Although this post was just one of many discussing her weight loss, numerous other celebrities are in the same situation of losing weight and having their bodies up for discussion. The new number of alarmingly skinny celebrities are all a part of the “Ozempedemic,” a term coined by social media, referring to the dramatically increased usage of certain medications for weight loss purposes.

Drowning in Our Own Reflections

Beatrice Lundberg ’27 Op/Ed Editor

In his youth, Narcissus was admired by countless men, women, and nymphs for his dazzling beauty. And although they showered him with affection, he maintained indifference, rejecting them with unwarranted cruelty.

A Battle of Pencils Against Algorithms: Our In-Class Essays

Ellie Luo '28 Op/Ed Editor

It’s late at night, and you’re about to go to bed. You click through your assignment sheets one last time to make sure that you’ve completed all your homework, and something catches your eye. On your English assignment sheet, bolded in the classwork section, are two words that are becoming increasingly common: in-class essay.

Diplomacy through DM’s: Politicians in the media

Leila Chaar '29 Assistant Op/Ed Editor

In seventh grade, my parents agreed to let me get TikTok on one condition: no posting, especially nothing controversial. It seemed like a reasonable compromise, and sure enough, I agreed and installed TikTok on my phone. As I have gotten older and earned my parents' trust, they have naturally become more lenient. I occasionally post, but nothing too public or permanent.

The New Versailles: Influencers, Luxury, and Consumer Culture

Beatrice Lundberg ' 27 Assistant Op Ed Editor

In 18th-century France, the Palace of Versailles was a hub of luxury and authority that thrived in an era when common people could barely afford to eat.

What You’re Really Buying is Insecurity

Anya Huang '29 Assistant Op/Ed Editor

For decades, the beauty industry has sold more than just makeup to women; it has also sold the idea that beauty is ephemeral. With every new product, the same message is conveyed: that there is something needing to be fixed. By exaggerating traits deemed “flaws” and pushing beauty standards, makeup companies benefit from women’s insecurities by offering their products as a way to be more conventionally attractive.

Feasting For Fame

Ellie Luo '28 Op/Ed Editor and Leila Chaar '29 Assistant Op/Ed Editor

It’s 6 pm after a tiring school day. You lie on your bed, phone hovering above your face as you scroll on TikTok. In one video, you’re greeted by bright, colorful foods flashing past, as if painted just to catch your eye. The camera pans across the tray, revealing more Raising Cane’s and Crumbl Cookies than you have ever seen, with a single person sitting behind it. The person takes one bite. Then another. And another — and now you can’t look away.

Live Dissections on the Hopkins Campus

Rebecca Li '27 Lead Op/Ed Editor and Anya Huang '29 Assistant Op/Ed Editor

Princess Tiana's prince goes missing. He hops all the way to the Hopkins campus, looking for a kiss, and ends up on a dissection tray.

The Price of Elusiveness: Carolyn Bessette in "Love Story"

Beatrice Lundberg '27 Op/Ed Editor

If you haven't been living under a rock for the past couple of months (and are lucky enough to own a Hulu subscription), then it is impossible to have missed the newest hit limited series "Love Story." The show follows the relationship between a young John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette as their lives intertwine and they eventually fall for one another.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Why Intelligence Shouldn’t be Measured in Math Classes: Hopkins’ Devaluation of the Humanities