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Tianyi Xu
Orient Staff — Class of 2023
Number of articles: 38
First Article: September 27, 2019
Latest Article: May 5, 2023
6 photos by Tianyi Xu
Tianyi XuWORKING AROUND THE WORLD: ISA Board members smile at the camera after a meeting. They note the challenges of working away from their home country amidst complicated federal policies.
For many Bowdoin students, the number of options for on- and off-campus employment is extensive. From summer internships and research assistantships to volunteer positions, these opportunities offer invaluable experience and often promise post-graduation offers.
This situation is infinitely more complicated for international students, who make up almost seven percent of Bowdoin’s student body and generally need a visa to study at Bowdoin.
On October 31, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two cases that will decide the fate of race-based affirmative action. Presented by Students for Fair Admissions, an organization run by conservative legal activist Edward Blum, the cases were against Harvard University and the University of North Carolina (UNC).
Moulton Hall resumed service on Tuesday for dinner, ending a 13-day power outage associated with a faulty main breaker. The outage halted the dining hall’s operations, leaving Thorne Hall as the only dining option leading up to fall break.
On Monday morning, an art installation was exhibited on the Chapel lawn facing the Polar Bear statue. The piece sparked controversy, and despite security presence around the piece on Monday, it was vandalized on Tuesday night.
On Thursday, the College announced that it will move to include international students in its need-blind admissions policy beginning with the Class of 2027. Doing so, it will become the seventh institution of higher education in the country to enact the policy.
At the end of the fifth semester impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, the College has had to adapt to various waves of infection on campus. Following the April 2022 outbreak, in which the College saw record numbers of positive cases on campus, restrictions have been mostly relaxed compared to previous semesters.
In Yang Ya-che’s 2017 masterpiece “The Bold, the Corrupt, and the Beautiful” there is an impulse for meticulous perfection rarely seen in the industry. Presenting an elaborate labyrinth of a storyline sometimes just as captivating as it is enigmatic, the film’s Chinese title is more telling of its ruthlessness: “The Bloody Bodhisattva.” Unlike other films in the crime drama genre, “The Bold” eschews the ubiquitous themes of guns, exile and intimidating masculinity for a far more understated, yet just as potent, evil, presented with an appetizing elegance and style.
When Donald Trump ascended to the White House in 2017, the creators of CBS’s “The Good Fight” found themselves unable to continue its feel-good vision of an “optimistic” second season. “The current administration was infecting so much of the culture, it felt like people were tired of it,” creators Robert and Michelle King told Variety.
For Mason Daugherty ’25 and Phillip Spyrou ’25, rummaging for a OneCard while in line for Thorne is a distant memory. Instead of grabbing their wallet, phone or lanyard, these students have everything they need right in the palm of their hand—literally.
Following a closely-held tradition, the Chinese Language and Culture Club (CLCC) held the annual Lunar New Year dinner at the Multicultural Center at 30 College Street on February 17.
Celebrating the 15th day of the first month of the lunisolar calendar—known as the Lantern Festival in China, which transposes to February 15 in the Gregorian calendar this year—the day marks the conclusion of Spring Festival celebrations in many East Asian cultures.
“‘A million years’ means: When he wants to be ‘normal’ one day and leaves you—after that day, every day is a million years.” — Chieh.
It is almost callous to describe the central tension in “Dear Ex,” the 2018 Taiwanese film, as a “premise.” Titled (more aptly, in my opinion) in Chinese as “Who Loved Him First,” the story, unfolding in the unassuming streets of Taipei adorned with folk temples and vendors of fried chicken chop, is told with such passion and humanity that its otherwise politically-charged theme of gay romance drew widespread critical acclaim on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
After a fifty-one-year tenure at Bowdoin, DeAlva Stanwood Alexander Professor of Government Christian Potholm ’62 retired from the College at the end of last semester. A prolific scholar in the field of warfare, as well as both African and Maine politics, Potholm’s teaching career at Bowdoin started in 1970, just as the College first admitted women, and concluded during a tumultuous era for the college caused by a global pandemic.
Content warning: The following contains discussions of sex, nudity and addiction; as well as spoilers for the season two premiere of “Euphoria.”
The premiere of the second season of “Euphoria” finally hit television over winter break, at a similarly unhinged juncture in real life—quickly depleting stocks, COVID tests, soaring case loads and declining public trust.
The Office of Inclusion and Diversity is spearheading a new program this semester designed to educate student leaders in promoting social justice and equity. The eight-session Social Justice Leadership Institute incorporates elements of past student workshops and campus-wide dialogue initiatives.
Federal officials announced late Monday that international students from Brazil, China, Iran and South Africa will join students from Europe in being exempt from the nation’s COVID-19 travel bans in the fall—a long-anticipated move that will clear a significant roadblock in the return of many international students who left for their home countries at the start of the pandemic.
The Bowdoin experience can now be inscribed onto a digital space, dedicated to documenting memories and celebrating Bowdoin’s unique community. Created by Max Freeman ’22 and Camilo Pareja ’22, Bowdoin Moments is an online platform where anyone with Bowdoin memories—whether they be students, faculty, staff members, alumni and visitors—is invited to share their stories in geospatial tags accompanied with a few sentences of reflections.
On Thursday night, two days before the move-out deadline for most on-campus students, dining services served Thanksgiving dinner at both dining halls. This year, one of the College’s most extravagant meal traditions has been adapted to a smaller scale.
I was taught to appreciate distance on a small playground during a rainy day. Having attended a boarding school in suburban China since I was 12, I remember the compulsory military training that first confounded my idea of an inseparable family life, forever based in unconditional love, connectedness and rationality.
Over the course of this month, Masque and Gown, Bowdoin’s student theater group, will perform three virtual play readings. In the absence of access to on-campus spaces and equipment, the group has been innovating new ways to connect and bring out its members’ shared enthusiasm for performance.
In a reversal of the College’s previous policy, which imposed a strict November 21 deadline for all on-campus students to move out, a select group of students were informed last week that they have been approved to stay on campus beyond that date.
Historically, Bowdoin women who wished to enter the field of business faced increased hurdles in getting internship and career opportunities. Founded by Kayla Baker ’09, Bowdoin Women in Business (BWIB) serves as a community of peers with resources, solidarity and support.
A space known for its open doors to women and LGBTQ+ students on campus, the Sexuality, Women and Gender Center (SWAG) at 24 College Street offers warm conversations and friendly companionship over tea in the kitchen or around pizza in the garage.
The College announced July 27 that it is now able to host international first years on campus due to a recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) directive. The news walks back President Clayton Rose’s announcement on July 23 that first-year international students would be barred from campus in the fall.
The Trump administration announced Tuesday that it is rescinding its July 6 directive which would have barred international students taking entirely online classes from remaining in the United States, a measure embroiled in controversy since its announcement a week ago.
In a Zoom Town Hall for international students hosted Thursday morning, College administrators answered questions from international students adversely impacted by the new Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) guidance which would deny current student visa holders legal presence in the United States if their classes are held entirely online.
The summer of 2012 was an extraordinary one for me. The birch trees of Northern California stood out against the fiery sunsets. The kids in my host family and I shared “High School Musical” references while “Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen played in the background.
When President Clayton Rose first announced that the College would transition to remote learning on March 11, the news set off a firestorm of messages in “ISA Bowdoin,” a WhatsApp group chat for members of the International Students Association (ISA).
A silver lining during the pandemic quarantine: the unexpected joy of cooking for myself. From getting groceries to preparing the ingredients to putting them in the pan, cooking is not only a life-sustaining skill, but it is also a much needed reprieve from the world that allows one to indulge in the taste of memories and home.
The College announced on Sunday that course registration for the fall semester will be postponed from April 9 until mid-June, pending a decision about whether students will be able to return to campus in the fall.
One of the more interesting warnings about COVID-19 that I have heard from friends and family back home is this: don’t travel far—you never know when the government will shut down public transport and you’ll be stuck there.
I wake up, and I check the phone. Here’s a novel idea of the day: How’d you figure the world would end?
As it turns out, feeling like the world’s going to end creeps in unsuspectedly.
Underscoring the importance of healing, Associate Director of Gender Violence Prevention and Education Lisa Peterson facilitated “Talking about Trauma: Supporting Survivors of Sexual Violence,” at Baxter House Tuesday night. The workshop aimed to provide the skills to better prepare students to support friends who are survivors of sexual violence.
The earliest memories I have of America involve a slew of mystical reveries about how the nation on the other side of Earth works.
How did I even begin to explain America? It was immaculate. It had 50 states with so many different time zones.
A new hazing prevention survey was emailed to students on Sunday in order to gather data on campus hazing practices and improve the College’s prevention efforts. The last survey of this kind was conducted seven years ago.
After a 72-58 non-conference loss to Bates on Thursday, the men’s basketball team stands at 3-4 heading into its final game of the fall semester on Sunday at UMaine Farmington. Ahead of the beginning of conference play after winter break, the challenge for the team will be gaining momentum to start strong once it returns.
Bowdoin students and members of the greater Brunswick community exchanged ideas on the role of the American government and enjoyed live music on Tuesday in Morrell Lounge.
The event marked the third installment of the What Matters Community Crossover, a four-part program spearheaded by the Joseph McKeen Center for the Common Good.
This fall, five tenured or tenure track professors joined Bowdoin’s ranks, settling into the community and bringing new ideas to their departments. They specialize in a wide array of subjects, including religion, Asian and Africana studies, music, neuroscience, biology and chemistry.
Clad in red and blue colored top hats, student workers and volunteers congregated in David Saul Smith Union and Thorne Hall on Tuesday for National Voter Registration Day. Bowdoin Votes, a non-partisan voting advocacy initiative on campus, tabled at both sites to spread awareness and assist students with voter registration.
