Seoyeon Claudia Kim '28 Billie Eilish began as a quintessential bedroom pop artist, creating music that is intimate, raw, and emotionally resonant. Her early work (2015–2017) was largely home-recorded, minimalist, and centered on personal emotion. Her early songs showcase the core of her style before she expanded into a wider spectrum, establishing an unique voice that blends pain with emotional depth. Born into a music-oriented family, Billie and her brother Finneas were enc

Emily Cho '27 “Shipwreck” by Eugène Isabey ( Wikimedia Commons ) Stephen Crane’s “The Open Boat” captures the crucial role of collective strength in survival when faced with nature’s indifference through the four crew members, including the captain, the oiler, the cook, and the correspondent, enduring through a harsh journey on a boat to eventual reaching of the shore. Through their shared purpose and struggle, unspoken dependence, and mutual sacrifice, Crane illustrates how

By Jaesun Yang ’27 Every June, a peculiar silence falls over the bustling cities of China. The deafening roar of construction sites vanishes, and even the flight paths of major airlines are rerouted to ensure quiet skies. This nationwide stillness is for the "Gaokao," China’s grueling National College Entrance Examination. For more than 13 million candidates, this single test is not just an evaluation; it is a lifeline—a definitive moment that can illuminate their future or l

Emily Cho '27 Catch Me If You Can is a 2002 biographical crime film directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Frank Abagnale Jr. and Tom Hanks as FBI agent Carl Hanratty. The film is based on the real-life exploits of Abagnale, a teenage fraudster who impersonates a Pan Am pilot, a doctor, and a lawyer while forging millions of dollars in checks - all prior to his twenty-first birthday. As the FBI relentlessly pursues him throughout the entire narrative, it

By Seoyeon (Claudia) Kim  ‘28 Olivia Rodrigo is an artist who distills teenage emotions into their most condensed, unvarnished form. Her music is marked by emotional honesty and blunt lyricism. Rather than illustrating an embellished teenage dream, Olivia exposes the underlying truth. Across her discography, the idea of a ‘teenage dream’ evolves alongside her own coming of age. The growth is most evident in brutal  and teenage dream  — two songs that mirror one another reveal

By Jaesun Yang ’27 Fig. 1: Pre-1979 Iran: women’s everyday fashion before the revolution Today, the most prominent image of Iranian women is often tied to the mandatory hijab and strict dress codes. However, just a few decades ago, the landscape of Iran was remarkably different. Women once chose their own attire and held influential roles in society as independent agents. What historical turning point caused such a drastic shift in such a short time? Let’s explore how the nat