Victoria Hou

By all accounts, I am a typical success story.

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.

I did not want to spend Chinese New Year thinking about the belittlement of Asian women in Western culture. But on February 16—this year’s Lunar New Year—Tyga released a new album titled Kyoto. Upon listening, most of the tracks seemed like nothing unusual; it featured songs like “I Need a Girl, Pt. 3” that discuss, as the title suggests, the desire for a partner. However, when I listened to “Hot Soup,” the first lyrics were in a language I know like the back of my hand—Mandarin Chinese.

For better or for worse, the Tree Lighting Ceremony is one of Columbia’s only school traditions that people attend. And the only reason people even show up is because of the T-shirt giveaways at the event. School spirit? Who is she? Apparently, Columbia students just want free stuff for the sake of hoarding, not because we actually love our school. The event ran out of T-shirts—fast—and many students walked away empty-handed and bitter. I’d be a hypocrite if I didn’t admit to feeling the same.