Saint Joan Of Arc And The Modern Transgender Liberation Movement,
2026
University of Massachusetts Boston
Saint Joan Of Arc And The Modern Transgender Liberation Movement, Nick King
Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition
Nick King is a Classical Languages and History major from Haverhill, MA. For Nick, this essay became a source of both comfort and empowerment, particularly within the context of our current political climate. He explains that “being a trans person is hard, and we need more role models of resilience,” and this writing project allowed him to give voice to those complexities. Written during his second semester of college, Nick notes that the atmosphere of political strife pushed him to pour even more passion and conviction into his work. This essay is especially meaningful to Nick because it reflects the …
Unraveling Labor: Crafting Between Hobby And Work,
2026
University of Massachusetts Boston
Unraveling Labor: Crafting Between Hobby And Work, Samriddhi Khemka
Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition
Samriddhi Khemka is a Nursing major from Natick, MA. Samriddhi explains that her essay was inspired by memories of crafting with her mom on the living room floor. “Whether it was making flowers out of pencil shavings, flower pressing without proper kits, or painting rocks, my mom undeniably taught me the art of creativity,” she recalls. More importantly, her mother taught her how to see possibility in scraps and to turn what others might throw away into something meaningful. She reflects: “Nothing was ever wasted if it could be remade.” One thing that stood out to Samriddhi while writing this …
Compelled By Darkness: Batman, Mental Instability, And The Blurred Line Of Heroism,
2026
University of Massachusetts Boston
Compelled By Darkness: Batman, Mental Instability, And The Blurred Line Of Heroism, Chloë Lucien
Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition
Chloë Lucien is a Music major with a Dance minor from Mattapan, MA. Chloë explains that this essay was deeply personal because Batman’s story has always been more than a comic book origin to her. “Batman himself has become a mirror I could look into, a reflection of my own journey from pain to purpose,” she shares. Writing about Bruce Wayne allowed her to explore how mental wounds can coexist with, and even fuel, acts of courage, challenging the simplistic “hero-versus-villain” narrative while bringing self-acceptance to her own ongoing work of healing. For Chloë, the essay became more than an …
Comforts With The "S",
2026
University of Massachusetts Boston
Comforts With The "S", Reese Smith
Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition
Reese Smith is a nursing major from Quincy, MA. She says that she has come to realize how as a society we have very little comfort in our everyday lives and “often live a robotic lifestyle day in and day out, without taking much time to appreciate what is around us and incorporating comforts into our daily routines.” When writing this essay, Reese felt that she was able to take her own research and apply it to her daily life by taking time to infiltrate comforts (with an “s”) into her own routines. Her research is special to her since …
Femininity On Social Media,
2026
University of Massachusetts Boston
Femininity On Social Media, Allison Peguero
Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition
Allison Peguero is a biology major from Malden, MA. The inspiration for her research is having often “witnessed the hate women receive when sharing their interests and passions online.” Allison feels that this conduct has been “normalized” online and in social media. She also finds it interesting to witness the way people conduct themselves online versus the way they truly are offline. This juxtaposition inspired her essay “to not only explore this topic further, but to analyze how this connects with the misogyny that I and many other women have experienced online.” The freedom to pursue her interest in this …
Film's Depictions Of Mental Illness,
2026
University of Massachusetts Boston
Film's Depictions Of Mental Illness, Mandy May
Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition
Mandy May is a psychology major from Canton, CT. Mandy’s purpose for writing her essay was to spread awareness of the impact that negative portrayals of mental illnesses in the media have on audiences. She shares that, as a psychology major, she has always been “hyper-aware of the way films exaggerate and emphasize unrealistic stereotypes surrounding mental illness.” Mandy feels that this essay gave her the opportunity to “finally research more about the reality of these depictions, and to hear about how people with mental disorders are affected by negative portrayals.” With a growing interest in child psychology, fueled by …
Music And Mental Health,
2026
University of Massachusetts Boston
Music And Mental Health, Yelena Hernandez Bonilla
Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition
Yelena Hernandez Bonilla is a public health major from Chelsea, MA. As an undergraduate student, Yelena began reflecting on her school experience and noticed how much music has helped her “whether feeling happy, stressed, overwhelmed, or just needing a moment to unwind.” She decided to write this essay because she sees how important music is for many students. Apart from just listening to music, Yelena has played the piano and guitar for many years. Her music has served as a crucial outlet and has become “a major part of who I am because it is something I love and enjoy …
Writing Is Really Really Scary,
2026
University of Massachusetts Boston
Writing Is Really Really Scary, Brian Coughlin
Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition
Brian Coughlin is a biology major from Melrose, MA. He believes that “everyone has the capacity to write something beautiful, but so many people are turned off of it because they think of some boring English essay they had to write about The Catcher in the Rye in eleventh grade.” Brian’s goal in this essay is to show that writing is “so much more than cracking open a thesaurus to impress your teacher.” This piece of writing is important to Brian because it was one of the first essays he wrote while trying to break away from the conventional writing …
Leaving Brushstrokes On The Page: Writing That Grabs You And Demands Attention,
2026
University of Massachusetts Boston
Leaving Brushstrokes On The Page: Writing That Grabs You And Demands Attention, Lauren Brown
Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition
Lauren Brown is a biology major and film minor from Firestone, Colorado. She “adores writing” and enjoyed the freedom in experimentation with voice in this essay. She says, “I loved being exposed to different forms of writing a paper that all fell under analysis or research. There are so many ways to be flexible with style and incorporate your own voice that I was able to see, analyze, and try myself.” Lauren also wanted to explore “how education often sucks the joy out of writing as an artform and makes it into something easily replicated by a site like ChatGPT.” …
A Conversation Amongst Trees,
2026
University of Massachusetts Boston
A Conversation Amongst Trees, Bella Brown
Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition
Bella Brown is an environmental science major and a biology minor from Glastonbury, CT. Bella says that she is “super passionate about nature and finding new ways to preserve and understand it” and when she was presented with the task of writing a research paper she knew that she wanted to further explore a podcast episode about trees communicating through fungi, or “talking trees.” She says it “seemed like a huge breakthrough on understanding how our forests function as complex ecosystems.” Bella also notes that one thing she loved about writing this paper was the freedom to choose whatever topic …
2024 Editor's Introduction,
2026
University of Massachusetts Boston
2024 Editor's Introduction, Lauren M. Bowen
Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition
No abstract provided.
The Case Against The Five-Paragraph Essay,
2026
University of Massachusetts Boston
The Case Against The Five-Paragraph Essay, An Tran
Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition
An Tran is a double major in finance and psychology from Boston, MA. An notes that she came from an “underfunded elementary school” where “the curriculum has been rooted in standardized tests, and preparing for them in order to bring in funding.” Given that, she argues that “our value, as students, has become less about the investment of an upcoming generation and more about how much money we could bring in from our test scores.” An notes that the five-paragraph essay “is a core component of this pattern, and it hinders students from truly learning the craft of writing.” She …
Neurodiverse Authority,
2026
University of Massachusetts Boston
Neurodiverse Authority, Gavin Pereira Scoccia
Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition
Gavin Pereira Scoccia is a biology major and anthropology minor from Brookline, MA. While writing this essay Gavin says, “I was so upset at the education system for not giving me, or my neurodivergent peers, a chance.” Gavin shares that he was diagnosed with ADHD at a young age but “never got accommodations despite needing them, leading me to fail in school.” Gavin often believed that he was lazy, did not try hard, and was simply not good enough, and he believes that schools often let students down because they have preconceived notions about what makes a “good student.” He …
Life's A Fashion Show (If You're A Teenage Girl),
2026
University of Massachusetts Boston
Life's A Fashion Show (If You're A Teenage Girl), Madeline Murphy
Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition
Madeline Murphy is a double major in physics and art from Dorchester, MA. Fashion is a hobby of Madeline’s, she felt it was important to look back and “explore the role of fashion in the world of middle and high school, to help myself and others better understand our outfit choices: a task we complete every day, yet maybe don’t analyze enough.” Madeline considers fashion to be an art form and often compares fashion trends to art movements. She enjoys sewing and has been working on enhancing her garment-making skills. Madeline enjoys painting portraits and reading books, particularly those related …
Who Are The "Chronically Online" And What Can They Teach Us About Public Discourse?,
2026
University of Massachusetts Boston
Who Are The "Chronically Online" And What Can They Teach Us About Public Discourse?, Avery Knott
Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition
Avery Knott is a management major with a concentration in marketing from Sturbridge, MA. Avery writes that, “as someone who has grown up with social media as a constant throughout my life, I’ve begun to feel more and more distaste towards the apps and websites that have partially defined my social experience.” She has noticed that “particularly since COVID, interacting with people in person did not reflect the interactions she was having and seeing online.” She enjoyed the freedom that this paper allowed, and shares that “being able to explore a topic in depth that interests me was a freeing …
Do You Know Who You Are When You Write?,
2026
University of Massachusetts Boston
Do You Know Who You Are When You Write?, Lynn-Sarah Georges
Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition
Lynn-sarah Georges is a business management major with a concentration in finance. She is Haitian-American and was raised in Medford, MA. Lynn-sarah says that this essay was important to her “because I had never felt like it was accepted or okay to write in my true voice in an academic setting. I feel passionate about ‘knowing who you are when you write’ because that feels like activism in the classroom.” As a student who speaks English, Haitian Creole, and French, it is important to her that she is “not only writing in my own voice but also being able to …
Teachers Are Encouraging Bullshit: A Response To Kylie Medieros,
2026
University of Massachusetts Boston
Teachers Are Encouraging Bullshit: A Response To Kylie Medieros, Maxine Freda
Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition
Maxine Freda is a computer science major from Plympton, MA. She states that this essay—a response to Kylie Medeiros’s Undercurrents essay from last year—”was a way for me to air my grievances with the rigidly structured way the school system teaches writing in high school.” Maxine notes that this is the first essay she ever wrote where she cared so strongly about the topic. She shares that this type of writing process was “far more enjoyable and resulted in something I could be proud of.” The freedom to write about “what I want in the way that I want” was …
The Practicalities Of Code-Switching,
2026
University of Massachusetts Boston
The Practicalities Of Code-Switching, Armani Dure
Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition
Armani Dure is a labor studies major from Malden, MA. After reading previously published Undercurrents essays, specifically Aneika Robinson’s essay on marginalization through race and language, Armani was inspired to reflect on his own interactions with academic spaces. He says that “This semester was one of the first times I really experimented using ‘I’ in my academic writing.” He adds that using “I” in his writing “allowed me to not only connect more to my writing but also get more personal. I think that ability gave this essay its flair.” Armani’s major indicates his passion for social and economic justice, …
The Future Of Ai In The Classroom,
2026
University of Massachusetts Boston
The Future Of Ai In The Classroom, Mahdi Almosawi
Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition
Mahdi Almosawi is a computer science major from Hingham, MA. Mahdi says that “as a person with ADHD, education was a challenge for me at times, and I often used AI to create a learning process for me that worked. I believe that it can help others do the same.” Madhi believes that there is strong resistance to using AI in school because of the limited exposure we have had to it so far, and he “hopes that this essay takes away some of the stigma” associated with it. Mahdi loves to learn new things and hopes to inspire others …
Who Is Getting Left Out?: Breaking Down Language Barriers In Healthcare,
2026
University of Massachusetts Boston
Who Is Getting Left Out?: Breaking Down Language Barriers In Healthcare, Jackelyne Abranches
Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition
Jackelyne Abranches is an exercise and health sciences major from Everett, MA. She says that this essay was inspired by her firm belief that language should never hinder someone’s access to quality healthcare. Jackelyne’s career goals revolve around “breaking down these language barriers and many others to ensure equal health opportunities for everyone.” As a first-generation American, she grew up observing various health challenges faced by her Brazilian family members. She says that “witnessing their struggles has deeply impacted me, and it is this first-hand experience that fuels my passion for ensuring equitable access to healthcare for all immigrants.” Jackelyne’s …
