After the nonstop stress and anxious anticipation of high school graduation, college is supposed to be the reward. As your parents and commencement speakers have reminded you, your arrival at Virginia Tech is the product of over 12 years of hard work, the light at the end of a tunnel filled …

Crouched in the grass behind an apartment complex hosting far too many parties to keep track of, one of which I had run out of crying, I stare face-to-face with a slug. As I observed the small creature, I couldn’t help but wonder how fragile it was in this big world. One speck of salt from o…

What is Home? Home is where the heart is, where the people you love are or wherever you make it. Home is where one feels a comfort beyond any other. It’s where one can breathe easy and be themselves entirely, never second guessing. Home is where the best memories are made and the stories of …

Have you ever sat around perusing your Facebook feed — snickering at cat videos, scrolling through meme pages, stalking your ex — when you come across someone’s post and think: Wait, how exactly do I know this person?

I loved my roommate during the fall semester of my freshman year. We got along great. We both hated cleaning and went to bed late and loved riding horses. She would talk about all of the interesting science stuff she was studying and I would pretend to understand her.

Work, fulfilling the dream, the promise of a better life on liberty’s shores; everyday, millions of Americans wake up and go to work. Simultaneously, millions more college students drag themselves out of bed and go to class after spending countless hours in the library the night before. Work…

“For my entire life, I just knew Virginia Tech was home,” junior Juan Pacheco described his family’s long history with Virginia Tech, stating that his mom and most of her sisters are all Hokies. “As long as I’ve had an understanding of words, I knew I was a Hokie and I knew I was going to go…

Some students at Virginia Tech like to think that their major or college prove that they are smarter than someone else. Simply put, that logic is wrong. While most attribute this train of thought to people they view as overly-arrogant Pamplin or STEM majors, this applies to students of all m…

At Virginia Tech, we are encouraged as students to uphold some of the University’s Principles of Community values. These values include the well-known concept of “Ut Prosim,”or that I may serve, but also the lesser-known concept of civility. On Virginia Tech’s platform, InclusiveVT, it is st…

Masculinity — some call it toxic. Others consider it one of the greatest virtues. For centuries,  both men and women have formed opinions about what masculinity truly is and is not. That cycle continues to this day, but for most of my life, I had no idea what it entailed. What it meant to re…

We need to talk about Ahsoka Tano.

Virginia Tech often highlights its commitment to diversity and promise of a level playing field for all students. Religious minorities looking to celebrate their holidays have struggled to reconcile this with their lived experiences at Virginia Tech. The Faculty Handbook and Hokie Handbook l…

Everyone seems to believe that the United States is more divided now than it has ever been. Whether this is true or not — it’s not — it is clear that America needs a method of solving conflicts quickly and indisputably. Arguments on Twitter haven’t been working, so there is only one good alt…

It’s almost considered sacrilege to express any form of criticism toward members of the military. Sure, saying that the military as a whole could use some work is perfectly fine — especially in light of the public’s current view of the war in Iraq — but the individual soldiers are never to blame.

Virginia Tech is losing money because of its investments in fossil fuels. The university’s endowment is operated by the Virginia Tech Foundation (VTF) and holds $1.15 billion in assets as of last year. Approximately 10% of this amount is invested in fossil fuels, which includes the productio…

After 49 faithful years of service to the Blacksburg community, beloved retailer Mish Mish will be closing later this year. High costs of rent and declining health were among the reasons cited for the architectural supply store’s untimely closing. As more shopping is done online, Main Street…

Take one look at my room and it’s not hard to guess my favorite flower. Hydrangeas dominate my decor —  they’re painted across the cover of my planner, stuck onto the back of my laptop case and wrapped around my bedpost. Hydrangeas were also my grandmother’s favorite flowers. They’re the one…

I remember four years ago, when I came to visit Blacksburg for the very first time — it was gorgeous. There were rolling green hills with red barns dispersed throughout, and heavily forested mountains. The drive alone nearly won me over, and the campus and its endless possibilities did the r…

I have vivid memories of listening to “The Phantom of the Opera” soundtrack with my mother as a child, and I started playing piano when I was 4 years old. Singing pulled me in soon after that, and my passion for music has never wavered — my roommate has walked in on me belting out Broadway s…

Sitting inside a Korean barbecue restaurant with my family, I received a notification from our editor-in-chief congratulating me on a piece. Too caught up in the beef brisket and beats of the K-Pop music playing in the background, I replied with a quick “thank you” and returned my attention …