“Ms. Miah, it’s nice to be ambitious, but you shouldn’t get your hopes up about getting into Harvard. It’s a really competitive school and having a felony might make your chances of gaining acceptance unlikely.” I shifted in my seat and adjusted my hijab, unsure how to respond. I gritted my teeth and half-smiled. Were […]
QC Voices 18-19
Travel Protection Plan
Upon discussion with a very kind human working for an airline ticket agency about what we each had for breakfast, I was transferred to a robotic representative. I was told this transfer would provide me with “quality assistance” regarding the importance of considering a purchase of Travel Protection Insurance. The voice spoke to me about […]
Two-day Shipping is Destroying the Environment
The holiday season means many of us bought gifts online and had them delivered right to us. In 2020, with more and more things being made accessible from the comfort of our own homes, it seems as though we’re moving further into the future. However, the popularization of shipping, especially expedited shipping, is having a […]
New Year, Same Me: On Getting Comfortable with Yourself
This year, I’ve decided not to change myself at all. Every single year before this one, for as long as I could remember, I would write down requests from normal to insane for my new year: Write a poem, ace your classes, lose a hundred pounds. Sometimes, resolutions can be excuses to escape yourself. This […]
How Much Language Means, and, Yet, How Little
There are times when syntax functions like the Powerball operated by a discombobulated robot-arm. The mind feels hollowed out, the tongue is an idle instrument. Moments like this, we face a terrifying reality—words only mean as much as their sounds. The times I truly feel that language is insufficient are during the quiet exchanges between […]
This One’s For All The Expired Library Cards Out There
I happen to live right down the block from a Queens Public Library. That being said, I have only recently, at the age of 20, decided to get a library card. I mean, I had one when I was younger for the purposes of middle school summer reading lists, but the time for that has […]
Banning Ads Is A Band-Aid
After watching Mark Zuckerberg get scolded in front of Congress by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for his lackadaisical attitude towards political ads, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced that Twitter will ban all political ads. We’ve made the decision to stop all political advertising on Twitter globally. We believe political message reach should be earned, not bought. […]
Hidden History: Tulsa Race Massacre
Imagine this, you’re on Jeopardy, you select the $2000 dollar question in the category named Lost In History, and Alex Trebec gives you this clue: “One of the United State’s most gruesome race riots, occurring in 1921 Oklahoma.” If you answered something along the lines of “What is the Tulsa Race Riot or What is […]
And so, We Suffer In Silence: For the Overachievers
I fainted for the first time in my life last summer. I was working out, without fail, at 5:30 every single morning. Some days I felt as if my legs were crying for help, but I got up anyway. I probably should have rested, at some point. The morning I fainted, I skipped out on […]
Education as Rehabilitation in Corrections
I recently read that “you are not free the day you walk out of prison; you are free the day you walk out of ignorance.” The statement resonates with me deeply. Yet, I know a lot of opposition exists against giving people who committed crimes an education at little to no cost. I was released […]