By David Agoha
New York City, NY
College Republicans living on the majority-liberal Princeton University campus in the era of President Trump say it is difficult to state their beliefs without receiving backlash from people.
By Daren Braithwaite and Erianis Perez
New York City, NY and Milwaukee, WI
“Don’t even talk to me about Trump. He shouldn’t even be president,” said a woman in passing. Although this encounter lasted a fraction of a minute, it encapsulated what most people in Princeton, NJ, felt on August 4.
By Jorge Gomez-Kobayashi
Jersey City, NJ
Before he ran for office, Andrew Zwicker had more experience with plasma physics than he did with politics.
The Democratic Assemblyman from New Jersey thinks his atypical background as a fusion researcher at Princeton helped him win a Republican-leaning district in 2015 — a huge upset — and will help get him re-elected this fall.
By Kiana Hunter
Chicago, IL
Based on the clash of traditional and modern Pakistani culture in American society, ‘The Big Sick,’ directed by Michael Showalter, touches on the themes of love, tradition, and stereotypes. The movie begins with the protagonist, Kumail Nanjiani, and his love interest, Emily, meeting at his stand-up comedy show. The pair starts dating, but Kumail’s family, strongly rooted in Pakistani cultural traditions, pressures him to marry a Pakistani woman.
By Kimberly Gray
Martinsburg, WV
Waking up, I got dressed for school in a new outfit I had bought the day before, a black-and-white striped shirt with black distressed jean shorts. I felt cute.
At school, my friends complimented me on my outfit. It wasn’t everyday that I tried to dress nicely.
By Analaura Amezquita
Whittier, CA
A 17-year-old girl is browsing through social media when she sees a picture on a boy’s feed with a caption that reads “What a savage.” The image? A girl laying on her stomach facing away from the camera and a friend who says, “Rape her.”
By Williams Mejia
New Brunswick, NJ
The National Football League is an American obsession. In 2016, more than 111 million people watched Super Bowl 50. Television networks pay the league billions of dollars to broadcast games. Americans are nearly united in their love of football. But it comes at a cost.
By Amina Diakite
New York City, NY
When President Trump enacted a travel ban during week of his inauguration, the controversial move shocked the world. Few places felt the impact more than Princeton.
Ten percent of the undergraduate population are international students. On January 27, a number of them found themselves in limbo, unsure whether they would be able to return to campus, let alone the United States. Immediately, Princeton pounced. Princeton and 30 other colleges joined a court brief challenging the travel ban and condemning the action.
By Aleksandra Wicko
Chicago, IL
Drifting away from traditional Hollywood romance, ‘The Big Sick’ takes a refreshing and hilarious approach to a conventional form and does justice to complicated real-life relationships. Based on the true story of Kumail Nanjiani and his wife Emily V. Gordon, the issue of interracial relationships provides a compelling narrative that includes a big secret and a medically-induced coma.
By Alana Burke
Detroit, MI
Initially, the idea sounds absurd. Of course black people can’t appropriate African culture, because that’s their heritage. Appropriation is defined as the act of taking or using things from a culture that is not your own, especially without showing that you understand or respect this culture. Now the question becomes whether black Americans have the right to wear traditional African garb and immerse themselves in African cultural practices.
The Princeton Summer Journal 