Author: Lauren Bollinger

This time last year, I, like many other Asian-American college applicants, faced the following dilemma: Check ‘Asian’ on the racial background section, or leave the box blank? This dilemma was motivated by my fear and distrust of affirmative action policies, which at the time I believed would unfairly discriminate against

A couple weeks ago, after a busy day full of last-minute homework assignments, classes and errands, I was catcalled in the Claremont Village.  I don’t need to go into the details about what happened; it was pretty generic: I was approached by an adult male stranger and received unsolicited comments

Three years ago, I chose to dress up as Pocahontas for Halloween. I enjoyed the exotic look of the costume, which included a faux-suede ‘Cherokee-style’ dress, a pair of leather moccasins, a feather headdress and red war paint. This outfit fit in well with those of my peers, who, among

“Is that your mom?!” I’ve been asked this question throughout my life by people ranging from childhood friends on the playground to complete strangers on public transportation. These four little words, often asked with a sort of well-meaning curiosity, never fail to unsettle me, the racially ambiguous daughter of a

“There is literally no need to discuss class. Once you arrive here, the college does everything it can to make you on equal grounds as other students. You don’t have it worse than me when you’re here, and that you keep falling back on your low-income crutch to describe your