A look into a healthier Berkeley with HOPS
Karissa Ho/Staff
The Healthy Checkout Ordinance is a monumental stride toward the health and well-being of the future — and it is only the beginning.
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Northside balcony thoughts, starring me and an Ikea Tärnö table
When I moved in one week ago, I put a cheap Ikea patio table on the balcony to feel more like an adult. Sometimes I sit there and drink coffee, pretending to be in Paris. Ah yes, the Campanile, my own little Eiffel Tower — although Berkeley is more magical to me than Paris.
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Berkeley biking bliss
I forgot why I bought a $79 bike at Walmart in spring 2018. Nobody knows what prompted that decision, but something in my heart just said, “Let’s give it a try.”
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Editors’ note: Reintroducing The Soapbox
The Soapbox will now be a place for Berkeley residents, UC Berkeley students and Daily Cal staff, past and present, to write 600-800 word essays about experiences or encounters they’ve had in the city of Berkeley.
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Forcing kids into STEM
Cracking the Code Ceiling
I hope that they will not be coerced into STEM just because their parents feel the need to “start early.” Instead, they should be able to ignite and pursue their own curiosity, whether it’s through putting mentos in coke or trying to burn something using a flashlight. More than anything, I wish for young girls around the world to have the freedom to do what they want.
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Capitalist STEM culture
Cracking the Code Ceiling
I’m tired of filling out identity charts at Women in STEM events. I no longer want to try to commodify myself into an object that companies like Amazon want. And I no longer want to see STEM as a mere stepping stone to a stable life. I want to be driven toward pursuing technology to create an impact, not amass more wealth.
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Not sorry for all of my lesbian sins
Unsettled Settler
After my family learned I was a lesbian, I separated myself from church because of their homophobic treatment toward me. But now that I’ve become aware of its true history and purposes in Latin America, not only do I not want to be associated with it for its homophobic rhetoric, but also for its undeniable role as colonizers.
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Dress to impress
A Greek Tragedy
If I decide to show no skin, or if I want to wear the smallest skimpiest dress in the world, that is my decision. A community full of young women shouldn’t treat each other differently depending on their outfit choices. A sorority should be a space in which women are uplifted through sisterhood, and by regulating their dress code and enforcing the concept that a woman’s worth is correlated to her modesty, a sorority is failing to do so.
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Impostor syndrome in STEM
Cracking the Code Ceiling
It’s taken a lot of energy and effort to try to combat my impostor syndrome and stop comparing myself within STEM. Whether it’s taking the time to write or calling an old friend in between classes, I try to remember the things outside of academia that make me who I am.
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I’m not Mestiza
Unsettled settler
“You know, us Mexicans are indigenous, too,” I told my sister once while talking about ethnicity and Mexicanidad—Mexicaness. While living in Mexico, I never thought of people in terms of race, we were all just mestizos—of mixed race with indigenous descent––despite our skin color or physical traits. I grew up
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