In response to a January article published by the Seattle Collegian titled “Seattle Central to close its doors in 2023?” The Capitol Hill Seattle Blog quoted Roberto Bonaccorso, director of communications for Seattle Central, who said, “In my 24 years in the state of Washington, no community college in the system has closed its doors.” A striking example of normalcy bias, this makes us feel that the answer is certain. But fallacies like this don’t change the fact that we are facing uncertainty at Seattle Central College.

I am a hopeless romantic. I love love. Not only the concept, but also the feeling of it. And if you were my roommate, you would be tired of hearing the stories I had with guys that I’ve recently seen. But I’m not here to talk about these guys, so don’t worry. I’m here to explain the hope and beauty of being a hopeless romantic.

I remember my childhood the way a Monarch butterfly remembers the warm air of Central Mexico. The afternoons I spent perched upon my neighbor’s guava tree; pecking on its fruit was my only occupation. I remember the rolling beads of sweat on my back induced by the mid-afternoon tropical sun, the thrill of playing Tumbang Preso with my playmates, guarding a tin can from being toppled by the other players. The laughter imprinted in my mind as I watched my friend who had fallen off the tire swing because I had pushed a little too hard.

In 2020, during the wake of international unrest about systematic racial injustice — sparked from police brutality and the killing of multiple Black individuals by law enforcement — Github, Google, and other tech companies began pushing to remove allegedly “racially charged language” in the workplace in an attempt to make a more welcoming environment for customers and employees of color.

Euphoria follows a group of high school students as they navigate through different aspects of their teenage life. Topics tackled on the show includes drug, sex, gender identity, and love. The show is critically acclaimed, scoring 88% on rotten tomatoes. It is also praised for its brutally honest depiction of drug addiction and for its diverse cast. NRP described the show as “thrilling, daring, disquieting and compelling – a triumph at a time when truly unique storytelling remains unsettlingly rare.”