Kath of All Trades
When Professor Kathy DeMarco Van Cleve (C ’88, W ’89) attended Penn, she focused on rowing, boys, and her English classes—in that order.
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When Professor Kathy DeMarco Van Cleve (C ’88, W ’89) attended Penn, she focused on rowing, boys, and her English classes—in that order.
At the risk of sounding like Cosmo circa 2011, I recently decided to try a new self–care challenge. But unlike its twee–era predecessors, the TikTok–popularized “75 Soft Challenge” doesn’t hold you to unrealistic standards or punish you for being human.
Borscht Afficionado: "I'm so pro–beets my pee is red."
As you scroll through your Instagram feed, in the stream of pictures from sorority formals, aesthetic weekend excursions to South Street, club event notices, and perfectly manicured photos posted by official Penn accounts, you come across a long caption under a photoshopped image of Amy Gutmann. If you’re familiar with the content of @pennmemes, you know you’re about to be launched into the head of the anonymous person who graces your feed a few times a week with relevant memes—and occasionally, a long stream–of–consciousness caption.
Ask pretty much anybody what they’re most excited for when they go home for break, and you’ll hear the same few things: showering without shoes (something we’ve all come to realize is an indispensable luxury), their own bed (so long, egg–crate mattress pad—you’ll definitely not be missed), and the food.
“I can’t do it anymore. I’m sorry, I tried.”
From shows like Gossip Girl and Euphoria to Sex and the City and Friends, both high schoolers and late twenty–somethings get their fair share of media representation. By focusing on teenagers and adults trying to figure life out, Hollywood consistently overshadows the ups and downs of being a young adult or college student. Many young adults either have to base their lives on characters who are supposed to be younger than them or aspire to one day be the characters they see on TV that are way older than them.
Everything you are about to read in this article is completely true, except for all the parts that are totally made up.
When I meet Indigo De Souza for the first time through the lens of a brief but meaningful Zoom session, she lounges in a desk chair in her drummer’s house. In the room behind her sit piles of cardboard boxes, presumably filled with essentials for her upcoming tour. A week away from the start of a string of dates with indie rock princess Lucy Dacus, De Souza reflects on her childhood, the music that raised her, and the anxious excitement of life on the road.
"Once upon a time there was a railroad line / Don't ask where, brother, don't ask why / It was the road to Hell / It was hard times"—these seemingly unspirited lyrics are sung in an extremely cheerful, uplifting tone as those singing them clap and dance on the stage. It's a fascinating contradiction.
Since their 2006 self–titled debut, Baltimore duo Beach House has gained significant influence as an indie band, while always relying on the same mesmerizing vocals, synths, and distorted acoustics to create their distinct dream–pop sound. Given that, plus the fact that “nobody has any attention span” according to band member Alex Scally, Beach House worried an 18–song album released in four chapters would be far too much. But on their new sprawling and abundant record Once Twice Melody, every song has its place. The double LP is a blend of all of the band’s previous work, combining the drama of Teen Dream and Bloom, the dark edge of Depression Cherry, and the heaviness of 7. The album welcomes the listener into another world that transcends time and etherealizes the mundane. The 84–minute journey into the cosmos acts as a protest against rushing through life in a linear fashion by creating an introspective and surprisingly intimate experience.
Name: Daniel Ruiz de la Concha
When you think of Reese Witherspoon, chances are you think of her performance as the lovable Elle Woods, the Harvard Law student from the 2001 classic Legally Blonde. In many respects, Witherspoon is nothing like Woods; she never went to Harvard University (she dropped out of Stanford instead), attended law school, or chased a boyfriend across the country to get back together. But Witherspoon shares Woods’ ambition and drive to succeed and make change. For Witherspoon, this change has been found in the entertainment industry with her production company, Hello Sunshine, which sold for about $900 million in August 2021.
A lunch period has just ended at a school in Philadelphia, and students pour into class. The room is full of sweaty children, but the other things you would expect from a classroom seem limited: the shelves lay relatively bare, chipped walls surround a muggy environment, and the ceiling is leaking.
Most of women’s history is hidden in plain sight. From an unmarked painting in the background of your study session to the sidewalk you walk on to class, the souls of women linger throughout Penn. The art across campus tells a chronicle of women’s invention that has become invisible over the years. Explore these ten pieces from Woodland Walk to the Penn’s Women's Center – all either created by female artists and architects or honoring female figures in Philadelphia’s history.
I love going to the movie theater—I love queuing up for popcorn before the movie, I love the way audiences unanimously agree to give the screen their undivided attention, and I love hearing the excited murmurs before the lights dim. At the same time, there is something equally special about viewing a movie or TV show within the confines of your room or home, preferably wrapped up in a blanket and sprawled out in the most socially unacceptable posture possible.
The moment the backdrop showed the title card, “Dua Lipa Presents: Future Nostalgia in Stereocolor,” the audience at the Wells Fargo Center screamed in anticipation. The familiar synth intro of “Physical” began to loop, backed by a live band, as dancers came on the stage one by one. Then the lights turned on, with Dua Lipa at the center spotlight, decked out in a neon bodysuit. At that moment, the crowd went wild. Everyone stood up and jumped with pumped fists, and they wouldn’t be sitting down for the next hour and a half.
One line in a $30 million federal aid package for addiction treatment centers has wreaked havoc on conservative mass media. The outrage stems from a Fox News article that alleges the $30 million package approved by the Biden administration is funding distributions of glass pipes used to smoke crack cocaine. In reality, the package includes funding for rehabilitation centers and various treatment programs across the country. The specific line the article refers to includes funding for safe smoking kits that minimize the risk of disease transmission for drug users, which often contain sterile drug paraphernalia like glass pipes.
Penn has a storied history of activism on its campus—one that often sought to tackle major social issues extending far beyond the University grounds. In the late 1960s, for instance, students successfully shut down recruitment events by Dow Chemicals during the Vietnam War and led high–profile teach–ins and protests. For decades, students rallied for racial justice in university education with activists like Cathy Barlow (C, W ‘71, L ‘76) leading students to a sit–in at College Hall that led to the creation of the Afro–American Studies program and DuBois College House. Kate Lam (C ’92)and other Asian American organizers spearheaded a six–year campaign in the '90s to demand a program in Asian American Studies.
I have always been a very anxious person.
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