Spring 2021 Magazine

Dear readers,

It has been a year of loss and deprivation, but also a year of resistance and resilience. As in every quarter, we fought to put the activities, struggles, and triumphs of the Northwestern and Evanston community into words. For yet another quarter, the North by Northwestern staff has pulled together a magazine that peers deep into the heart of our community while remaining in our dorm rooms, our apartments, or our homes. We participated in the social distancing that keeps us all safe while making our jobs harder than ever.

The reason I and so many of my fellow staff members joined the magazine is that we believe wholeheartedly in the power of words seamlessly incorporated into beautiful design. The power of layouts, graphics, or HTML code to bring writing to life is indescribable. We do it all to better share what we ourselves have spent countless hours learning about.

Thanks to the amazing work of our designers, editors, writers, and photographers, we are able to produce the magazine you're currently reading. In Pregame, we discuss the negative impact the pandemic has had on our social skills. We talk to Asian students who find a taste of home and culture in their local barbershops. In Dance Floor, we look outward toward the Evanston community, from the independent bookshop leading the fight against Amazon to long-time residents exposing the flaws in the city’s supposed “reparations” plan.

In Features, we take a hard look at how this university treats its students. We explored the ways fat-identifying students on campus face discrimination and find acceptance within themselves. We hear the stories of female student-athletes and students struggling to meet their work-study allotments. And no NBN magazine would be complete without that final dash of humor in Hangover where we sample the finest chocolate chip cookies in Evanston (high, of course), and tell you definitively which Lakefill hammocking stereotype you embody.

This magazine is truly a reflection of this moment in time when everything is in transition, and we all need to take a hard look at where we want to be on the other side of this pandemic and point in history.

- Sylvia Goodman

Pregame

Springing into action

Warm weather welcomes a budding number of outdoor activities for on-campus students.

BY OLIVIA ALEXANDER

I forgot how to talk to people

How the pandemic changed the way we socialize

BY JULIETTA THRON

Northwestern in three words

Students reflect on the highs and lows of their Northwestern experience.

BY STEPHANIE ZHU

The culture behind the cut

Asian students find cultural connections and affordable haircuts at Evanston and Chicago salons.

BY JULIANNE SUN

All the world’s a stage

Performers take their stage outdoors in the pursuit of live audiences.

BY SYLVIA GOODMAN

Dance Floor

Vaxxed vacation

As vaccination rates go up and masks come off, students look forward to summer.

BY ROSE NEWMARK

RE: Morty's legacy

Three students on how they will remember our outgoing president Morton Schapiro — in 250 words or less.

BY IZZY MOKOTOFF, ANNIE HOWARD & RUSSELL LEUNG

The consulting craze

Why Northwestern students are drawn into consulting jobs year after year

BY JOSEPH RAMOS

Serving from afar

What volunteer-based clubs did to navigate a virtual year

BY FELIX BEILIN

Dating Despite Distance / Q&A with Prof. Alexandra Solomon

How love has sparked and survived during the pandemic

BY GABRIELLE NADLER & MARIA CAAMAÑO

Paging Doctor Zoom

Students reflect on how the pandemic has impacted their experience on the pre-med track.

BY MIA WALVOORD

One step forward, two steps back

Evanston residents grapple with a reparations bill that does little to repair more than a century of harm.

BY TESSA PAUL

Bezos v. Bookends & Beginnings

Bookends & Beginnings fights for the survival of the independent bookstore in court.

BY ANNIE CAO

Features

Uneven playing field

Amid reports of sexism in the NCAA, Northwestern’s female athletes weigh in on their treatment at home.

BY JENNA ANDERSON

Let's talk about fatness.

Students discuss fatphobia on campus and reclaim the word “fat” as their own.

BY MAGGIE GALLOWAY

All work & no play?

Some students find that work-study jobs interfere with a full-time education and college experience.

BY MADDY RUBIN

Teaching on shaky ground

Over the past year, the rift between Northwestern faculty and administration has only grown.

BY RAYNA SONG

Photo Story

La Cocinita is rolling your way

The Venezuelan-style restaurant’s food truck drives business during the pandemic and helps serve the community.

BY MAREN KRANKING & CARLY MENKER

Hangover

Fake it till you make it

McLovin’ it or McLeavin’ it? Fake IDs and their real consequences

BY JULIA LUCAS

Freshly baked

A (high) trip through Evanston’s chocolate chip cookies

BY JACQUE O’LETCHIPPE

Bringing sexy SPAC

NBN's guide to working out (kind of).

BY JULIA LUCAS

School spirits

A curated cocktail menu for each and every Northwestern school

BY TABOR BREWSTER

Swingers!

Which Lakefill hammocking stereotype are you?

BY ELISE HANNUM

north by northwestern

spring 2021 magazine

PRINT STAFF

EDITORIAL

CREATIVE

MAG-TO-WEB

FREELANCE

WEB STAFF

MANAGING

SECTION EDITORS

SOCIAL MEDIA

CORPORATE

Pregame

Dance Floor

Features

Photo Story

Hangover