Noah Kulick

We’ve all been there. It’s the morning after Thanksgiving, we feel like we ate a whole turkey, and are beginning to regret that fourth piece of pie. (There were so many pies! I had to try to the bourbon pecan and the wild blueberry!) With shame and regret, we do a quick search online to see how many calories the average American consumes on Thanksgiving and cringe at the result. It looks like we might actually have to start burning off the turkey fat. There’s only one problem: Exercising on campus sucks.

In high school, my daily commute started with a half-mile walk down Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to St. Nicholas Avenue. As I passed the Grant Housing projects, bodegas, churches, and all of the other early risers bustling off to work, I began to realize how little I knew about the neighborhood that I’d lived next to for half of my life. Despite having lived only a couple blocks away from Harlem, I had always gone to school and made most of my friends outside of it. Sadly, the greatest contact I had with the community was my walk to the D train station.

A couple weeks ago during an icebreaker, I asked one of my classmates to share a fun fact about themselves. They responded, “Well, I don’t really have a fun fact … but I only get four hours of sleep a night.” I remember thinking to myself, “What about that is a ‘fun’ fact?” If anything, my classmate’s confession was a frightening fact—one that was made all the more concerning when I realized that this student is far from alone.

I know what you’re thinking: “Oh God, no, please, not another piece on the Core.” I hear you. What more can be said that hasn’t been said before?

As the school year began, I looked over Spectator’s year in review of campus headlines, hoping to re-familiarize myself with campus life and the current debates. I quickly found myself drawn back into the conflict over how to respond to Columbia University College Republicans’ controversial speakers like Mike Cernovich and Tommy Robinson—both known for peddling blatant lies and hate against minorities represented on campus. Once more, I felt the desire to stand for the principles of free speech and the desire to stand with the protesters. Yet, my pain turned to frustration over the poor quality of conversation between activist groups and supporters of free speech, who seemed to talk at each other and not with each other.

Victoria Hou is a sophomore in Columbia College attempting to study political science and economics (like every other student at this school). Her claim to fame includes a few posts that reached over 1,000 likes on columbia buy sell memes and her being the reason why the class of 2021 got T-shirts at the New Student Orientation Program. To all sophomores: You’re welcome. H Mart keeps her sane, but trips down to Koreatown and Chinatown keep her happy. You can find her pretending to study in Ref, likely on Facebook and ranting about Asian American issues. You can also send questions, secret admirer notes, and hate mail at vh2279@columbia.edu. Chop Suey runs alternate Mondays.