Hey there, Reader! 

For one of the first times in my life, when I sat down to write this letter, no ideas sprang to mind. I mean, it’s a letter from me to you, but I don’t know who you are, where you are, when you are, or who you’re reading this with. So instead of trying to guess any of those things, I’ll share some of the things that the month of August has brought for me, in the hopes that some of it may be pertinent to you. 

Books from August; Three Sentence Reviews: 

Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand

Yes, the prose is clever and beautiful and yes, Cyrano’s unrequited love is gut wrenching, especially considering that it stems mostly from his own self doubt. But. Did it have to be his cousin? 6/10, would be higher if not for incest.

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

(Warning: This one is 18+. Read with discretion) I’ve read a lot of dystopian novels and I have to admit, this was one of my least favourite. Maybe I’m just not capable of coping with the realities of gender-imbalance, but this speculative fiction didn’t feel anywhere near as prophetic as other dystopias such as the World State from Huxley’s Brave New World. 5/10. 

48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene

“Amoral, cunning, ruthless, and instructive” says the book’s official blurb. It’s right. If you’d like to be a Machivellian dictator (or more importantly, spot the signs of one so as to prevent their ascension to power), then this is the book for you. 9/10, certainly delivers on the things it promises. 

Sophia’s Random Food for Thought:

• If an opaque portal suddenly opened in front of you, would you jump through it?

• Can you respect someone you don’t like? Like someone you don’t respect?

• What does the moon taste like? (abstractly, don’t you dare say “dusty”)

• And finally, if everyone in the world were a little more like you, do you think the world would be a better or worse place? 

Things I’ve Learned:

• I’ve gotten this advice about a hundred times but I never realized how true it was until I began writing my college essays: the only way to get better at writing is to do it more often. In just one month of writing daily, both my writing speed and quality have doubled. Seriously, if you want to get better, faster, and more efficient, just write often. 

• Another simple piece of advice that bears repeating is that you will invariably become more like the people you spend time around. I have always associated ‘influence’ with being a bad thing, even though that often isn’t the case. If you’re looking to develop a quality in yourself, find someone who exemplifies it and spend your time with them; eventually, they will rub off on you. 

• Don’t overcommit, and furthermore, don’t offer your time to something you can’t give adequate attention to. I’m definitely not done learning this lesson, but I hope that writing it out will help it sink into my stubborn, spongy brain. 

Overall, I’m glad to be back on campus, and I’m excited to see where this year goes. Thank you for joining us for this month’s edition of the Woodward Post, and enjoy the variety of articles our wonderful writers have curated for you! 

May the wind always be in your favor, and may you never get stuck in traffic behind a painfully slow driver. 

Best Wishes,

Sophia