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Many things over my life have sparked periods of personal growth, but one in particular stands out. Starting in December 2011, I started tagging along with my dad on his international business trips. My dad is an economist whose focus is food insecurity, so in addition to the typical places people visit, he also travels to more impoverished areas. On my first trip with him in 2011 we went to India, specifically Delhi, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Jaipur, and Bangalore. Going to the other side of the world in a place so foreign at age 11 was definitely the biggest culture shock of my life. The cities were much more crowded and busy than any U.S. city I’d been in and poverty was more visible than here in the states. The traffic was a whole other story, with seemingly no order and a constant blaring of horns. But what made this trip especially meaningful was getting to see my dad do his work. Because I was just 11 years old, I had to stay with him at all times (besides once while he was...
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Kanye To The

Kanye. Yeezy. Mr. West. ‘Mari. Kan The Louis Vuitton Don. The LeBron of Rhyme. Whatever you want to call him, Kanye West is the greatest*. I wish I still remembered the first time I heard Kanye West as it’d make a good intro, but I don’t and it’s fine. Since around 7th grade I have listened to and loved Kanye West with all my heart. I first listened to sprinkles of his singles, just the a hit song or two from each of his albums, never delving further. At this time to me Kanye was a great, but just as good as my other favorite rappers I listened to, it wasn’t until I dug into his albums and listened to them front to back over and over did I realize his true greatness and began my fandom. Kanye is the greatest musician of all time* for his variability and range. Nearly every one of his albums have a completely unique sound. College Dropout sampled soul and R&B hits in his now distinct high pitch sped up fashion. Late Registration took on more orchestral themes, being able to afford a...
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What word is un-translatable to you?

I’m not a native Japanese speaker, but I studied it for four years in high school and there is one word my teacher mentioned that has always stuck with me. Wabi-sabi. Simply put, wabi-sabi is the acceptance, often in the context of aesthetics, of both the imperfect and the impermanent. The etymology of wabi-sabi is difficult to translate. Wabi originally described the loneliness of living in nature but over timed has changed positively to describe freshness or quietness. Sabi, too, changed from negative to positive, originally meaning “withered” but now the word illustrates a certain serenity that comes with aging. Wabi-sabi can apply to the aesthetics of human-crafted objects, such as teacups or doors, or it can serve as a viewpoint for life overall. I don’t believe the word is completely translatable because of its ties to concepts deeply intertwined with Buddhism, which is itself based upon tenants that cannot be simply translated into English. Buddhism is centered around dukkha, of...
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