While fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy, the industry itself is more than just a creative outlet. Today, questions of ethics, working conditions, animal rights, and sustainability permeate the field. According to an article by the VOU, “Globally, there’s one garbage truck of textile waste dumped at a landfill or burnt every second.” This enormous amount of waste—brought on primarily by fast-fashion companies—will only increase if we continue to feed into consumerist culture. Such waste is combated by sustainable fashion lines, which work toward a world of greater ecological integrity and social justice. Designers ensure that their clothing is manufactured, distributed, and used in ways that value social welfare, workers’ rights, and the environment.

Ramadan may symbolize and represent many things in a Muslim’s life, spanning from the deeply personal to the expansively communal. It may represent family-wide dinners and endless glasses of Vimto, or staying up until sunrise embracing the gentle slowness of navigating your day through the night. It can represent stuffing yourself with pakoras, Chips Oman, or so much harees that you don’t know what to do with yourself. Or, it can mean participating in prayers with your community in the masjid and slow duaas before eating that first date.

During the idyllic summer before my trek through Columbia started, my expectations for the year were concrete: late nights walking in Manhattan, rides on the intricate subway system, and picnics at Central Park among the cherry blossoms. The one thing I hadn’t been expecting at all was physically shaking in class when speaking.

Slowly, quietly, seamlessly, the leaves on the bare trees around campus are starting to grow. Before leaving my dorm room, I replace my oversized winter coat with a lighter cardigan. Last week, I sat down to have lunch on Butler lawn for the first time in many months. The sun is making its debut back into each of our lives, and you might be able to get away with wearing shorter pants than usual. Nature is healing. Springtime is upon us, and this moment marks the blossoming of so many different things: the start of a new season, the commencement of Aries month, and the midpoint of our spring semester. These moments in time—moments that mark a beginning or rebirth—can be an especially meaningful time to bring out your journal, diary, or notebook and self-reflect on it all.

The words “housing registration” elicit a wide range of emotions for all Columbia students, falling somewhere on the spectrum from excitement to agony. In any case, we’re neck-deep in what we believe is the most common response of all: confusion. Together, let’s work to unravel the ins and outs of the housing registration process.

The day before this article was due, I was sitting on the floor of my bedroom with my brother, utterly overwhelmed by the sheer amount of things I needed to get through. My 15-hour flight to New York City was scheduled to leave in just a few hours, and I desperately needed to finish packing. I still hadn’t started the week’s Literature Humanities readings, fleshed out what I wanted to say in this piece, or begun to consider the fact that application deadlines for internships I wanted to apply for were just a few days away. Then, my brother stopped me in my tracks with a questioning look in his eye. “Isn’t your article about how you don’t need to overwhelm yourself this semester?”

When you travel to a different country for your education—whether it’s across the pond or the globe—you probably have certain expectations about what your international education will look like. Perhaps shaped by Hollywood films or by a wild imagination, the idea of a fresh start in a new place and community, as a new person, sounds exciting. Romantic. Exhilarating. But the reality that follows these colorful expectations can’t always be anticipated.

Spooky season is upon us, and deciding how you want to spend the fateful Halloween weekend is often harder than it seems. You may have heard about parties or events and have been planning your costume for weeks. With so much to do, your social battery may get drained at some point during the weekend. Without further ado, here’s Spectrum’s guide to finding things to do as an introvert: