More White Girl Problems

Continuing this theme of college admissions and White Girl Problems (we still love you, Maddy!) is today’s post about Abigail Fischer, a white 22-year-old who didn’t get into the school of her dreams (University of Texas) and is now taking her case to the ...Read More

Maddy’s Struggles

My dear roommate Maddy was cleaning out her things yesterday when she stumbled upon her college application essays. After thirty minutes of my begging her to let me read them, she finally capitulated. This little gem appeared in her “additional comments” section: “I have ...Read More

Lost in Translation: An Odd Shop

In Granada, and in Spanish-speaking places in general, they have lots of “rías.” There’s the panadería, the bread shop. The frutería, the fruit shop. The carnicería, the meat shop. The ferretería, the hardware shop. The peluquería, the barber shop. But the most famous neighborhood ...Read More

First Day of School

Yesterday was my last first day of school (hypothetical grad school excluded) and the first time in a UCSB classroom in 15 months. The highlight of the day was German 1, where I learned such phrases as “My name is Jenny. What is yours?” ...Read More

Yelp Reviews

Yelp restaurant reviews absolutely crack me up. Many people bust out SAT words that most of us don’t apply to college essays, let alone a critique of a drive-thru. It seems like saying, “I would recommend the chicken; it was moist and delicious,” no ...Read More

The Great Typo Hunt

I just finished reading the book “The Great Typo Hunt,” in which two guys take a three-month road trip all over the U.S. in order to correct any typo they saw, both on public and private property. The book shouldn’t win a Pulitzer Prize ...Read More

The Ultimate Linguistic Challenge

This past June while visiting my friend Kaila in Germany, we played a fun linguistic challenge–an experiment of sorts–while cooking dinner. Kaila is half German and half Norwegian; Miles, her roommate, is half German and half Greek; and I am full American but a ...Read More