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Tuesday, October 21, 2025

Opinion | Columns

Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

It’s dangerous to think Democrats are immune to sexual misconduct

Roy Moore. Al Franken. John Conyers. Bill Clinton. Harvey Weinstein. Bill O’Reilly. The list goes on. The past year has brought an onslaught of sexual harassment and assault allegations from Hollywood and Washington, D.C. It’s sad and telling that this is at least the second time this semester I’ve written about this topic, but it’s not going away anytime soon.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Listen to those you disagree with, but not all of them

In this political climate, it can be tempting to surround yourself with like-minded folks and call it a day — online and offline. On our social media, it would be easy (and, let’s face it, understandable) to unfollow every user who posted a status update or wrote a tweet decrying a politician you admire or denouncing a policy you believe would help people. You could even replace the lost profiles with more accounts of people who agree with and amplify your views. But is this the right thing to do?


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Take a moment this week to find something to be thankful for

As I’m sure you're aware, Thursday is Thanksgiving. As I’ve wished friends and classmates a happy holiday, I’ve gotten mixed reactions. Some wish me the same. Some gush about family traditions and Thanksgiving foods. Some talk about seeing their families for the first time in four months. Some talk about partying with high school friends. Some, however, scoff at the well wishes. They say they hate Thanksgiving because it celebrates colonialism and the abuse of Native Americans. They hate it because they can’t stand their families (or their families’ political beliefs). They hate it because they don’t like the food or are the only vegan or vegetarian at the table. Or, they hate it because they find it hard to give thanks in that environment.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Literature stands the test of time — in ourselves and in the world

When I first read Tom Stoppard’s play, “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead,” I was in what I like to dub the first great existential crisis of my life. It was my senior year of high school and the only thing that gave me any sense of purpose in my life was focusing on college applications. Getting into college — my top choice, specifically — was the only goal I had. After that, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to study or what I wanted to do. I was beginning to realize the be-all and end-all of my high school life was not the be-all and end-all of life.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

True art and artists are not limited to just one medium

The saying “Jack of all trades, master of none” might apply to most areas of life, but I don’t believe art is one of them. Out of all the types of skills to have, artistic competency has to be one of the most malleable because of its inclusion of more than simply technical ability. Making broad generalizations about anything creatively done is something worth straying away from, but I think there is something to be said about what makes truly great art.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

College students deserve a hands-on education to prepare them for careers

Up until recently, I thought most classes in college weren’t composed of multiple choice tests. I figured college was a place you got your hands dirty and learned how to deal with real-life material, as you would in your professional field. While my major (journalism) and some others actually do this, I feel most of the majors offered at UF are lacking when it comes to providing students with real world experiences. It’s time we start talking about this.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

We have constructed a culture of “L’s”

I’m prone to losing. Just this week, I walked right into a table in Midtown, which left me with a fist-sized bruise on my hip and a drink spilled all over me. I also accidentally texted a screenshot of a conversation to the person I was having that conversation with. I started uncontrollably crying at a Bon Iver concert and, like all of you, watched the Gators lose.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Reframing the race conversation

I don’t think the only problem with Richard Spencer is that he is a white supremacist. The problem with Spencer is that he provides a bogus answer to a legitimate and enigmatic question academia has left unexplored: What does it mean to be white in 21st century America?


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

In search of an understanding of prejudice

Last Wednesday, I was at my usual weekly Undergraduate Philosophy Society meeting (shameless plug, check us out on Facebook). That evening, the discussion centered around how we should attempt to understand bullying and how to prevent kids from doing it. Quickly, the group of us recognized the ways in which bullying mirrors — and frequently reflects — different phobias and other bad “-isms” like homophobia, racism, sexism and transphobia.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Take it from me, just wear the helmet

It’s been more than a week since a car hit my scooter while I was driving, but I can’t stop replaying the moment in my head. I can still hear the car’s brakes screeching futily. I can still feel the road scraping my hands and my back as I tried to catch myself. I remember looking at one of my best friends, who was riding on the back, with tears and shock in both of our eyes. Gasoline was spewing from the scooter — which my helmet was resting safely inside of.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

It’s OK if you’re not ready to get married in your early 20s

I don’t know if it’s because the holidays are coming up, or if there’s something in the air, but a large portion of my friends have recently gotten engaged. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s fantastic. Really. I am so happy they found and picked the person they want to be with for the rest of their lives. But at the same time, it has left a lot of my single friends feeling like they don’t have their lives together.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Diversity for the sake of diversity has hit a damaging extreme in the U.S.

Last week I was applying to an internship at a well-known financial institution when I came across a bizarre portion of the application. Titled “self-identification,” I was asked a series of questions that you’d typically expect on a job application. There was nothing abnormal about the self-identification section until I reached the very bottom of the page where, in my opinion, I was asked an extremely invasive and inappropriate question: “Please indicate your sexual orientation.”


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

The need (and struggle) to make time for yourself

A quick note before we begin: I am by no means a professional in self-help practices nor do I consider myself an expert in mindfulness. Heck, I’m writing this column during my “me time” in between doing my laundry, mentally organizing tomorrow’s agenda and trying to remember the date of my next exam. That aside, I’m going to write this as a message to myself — and anyone else who might need this reminder — about the importance of carving out space and time for oneself each week.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Circumstance and decision: We can only change the future

Our lives are based around two things: circumstance and decisions. Circumstance is everything you can’t control. This is your privilege or your lack thereof. This is the stuff that just happens to you. Were you in the right place at the right time? Circumstance. Then, the rest of your life is made up of decisions. This is everything you actively do. Did you work really hard or not hard enough? Did you take that risk or let it slip through your fingers? These are both decisions.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Your purpose in life will constantly change, summarizing it isn't easy

I am supposed to write about my purpose. That is an odd task, at least in my opinion, to reduce my purpose to one or two single-spaced pages. This implies a multitude of things: one, that I do have a purpose and, two, my purpose is applicable to the exact program and exact situation so I could sum it all up in one or two single-spaced pages.


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