BY OLIVIA MARBLE ’21
Towards the end of the add-drop period for this semester, I received a confusing email from the Office of the Registrar. It read: “you are close to reaching the Non-Liberal Arts limit at Mount Holyoke. This means that you are close to maximum amount (12 credits) of classes in the CUSP [curricular support] or non-liberal arts designation that you can count toward your 128 credit requirement.”
BY OLIVIA MARBLE ’21
At my high school in Massachusetts, most people perceived the University of Massachusetts, Amherst as the ultimate safety school. Almost everyone applied, and almost everyone assumed they would get in, due to its reputation as a somewhat “second-tier” institution — somewhere almost anyone could go.
BY OLIVIA MARBLE ’21]
The Democratic primary race for the 2020 election is already likely to be the largest in history, according to TIME Magazine. There are currently 12 Democrats who have declared their candidacy and, according to the New York Times, there are 14 more who may declare soon. I believe that the sheer number of candidates will split the Democratic party and allow Donald Trump to win another term as president.
BY OLIVIA MARBLE ’21
When I went to Spain right after my 18th birthday, I was so excited to drink for the first time. My friend group in high school wasn’t particularly reckless (the only illegal thing we ever did together was pirate “Frozen” the day after its release), so I had never even had a sip of alcohol before then. Lucky for me, I tried my first alcoholic beverage in a country with some of the best wine in the world. It tasted so good that I would have a glass almost every time we went out to dinner.
BY OLIVIA MARBLE ’21
The day before my friend and I planned to audition for a cappella, we decided to rehearse together. We went to Pratt to use one of the practice rooms, but when we got there, all of the rooms on the first floor were full. For most students, this would not be a problem because there are plenty of other practice rooms in the basement of the building. But my friend had ankle surgery, leaving him unable to use stairs — the only way to access the basement.
BY OLIVIA MARBLE ’21
As a bisexual woman, I often feel very torn about the negative perception of cis men on campus. On one hand, I feel very connected to the queer community and I empathize with the general feeling of wariness towards cis men. But on the other hand, I am in love with a cis man, and the fact that people on this campus judge him solely because of his gender identity feels wrong to me.
BY OLIVIA MARBLE ’21
President Trump shocked the nation when he suggested using the death penalty against drug dealers as part of his outlined plan to combat the growing opioid crisis in a summit last month. The death penalty is almost exclusively used for homicide in the United States, making his statement incredibly unprecedented. While Trump’s plan to deal with this national emergency does include plans for treatment, they are vague, which is problematic because treatment accessibility is key in preventing more overdoses.
BY OLIVIA MARBLE ’21
One day, while my friends and I were having dinner, a friend of mine who is in a relationship said, “Oh guys, guess what? I have a crush on this girl in my class!” Even though I already knew he was polyamorous, his simple comment struck me. Throughout my relationships, I have felt a crushing guilt whenever I even recognized that someone other than my partner was attractive. Every time I have developed crushes on people while in a relationship, I pushed that person away because the guilt became too much for me to deal with.
BY OLIVIA MARBLE ’21
On my first day in the dishroom, I was prepared to be completely destroyed by the work I was about to do. I’d heard people were dropping shifts because the work was non-stop. I’ve worked as a cashier and a dishwasher, so I’m not unfamiliar with fast-paced work environments that can drive someone insane if unprepared. I filled up my water bottle, put my phone in my back pocket in case I needed to take an emergency “bathroom break” and headed to SuperBlanch.
BY OLIVIA MARBLE ’21
When I was single, all I wanted to do was find someone with whom I could cuddle and go on cute dates. So I did what any desperate college student would do: I downloaded Tinder. While I’m bisexual, I figured I’d end up matching with more women than men since women’s colleges are notorious for being a hub for queer people.
