Digital Volume 8 Issue 4

Volume 8 | Issue 4

Migas Breakfast Tacos By Genevieve Ko

Normalize breakfast for dinner.

University of Michigan students now have access to New York Times Cooking — which means your normal food routine just became anything but.

Activate your free subscription at www.csg.umich.edu/subscriptions

Standford Lipsey Student Publications Building 420 Maynard St, Ann Arbor, MI 48109

ALEX ANDERSEN MACKENZIE FLEMING Editor-in-Chief

Publisher

Creative Director

Marketing Director

Operations Director

JACOB WARD

ALEX CHESSARE

JULIA NAPIEWOCKI

Design Editors

Print Fashion Editors

Print Features Editor

Print Photo Editors

GABI MECHABER EMMA PETERSON

JOSIE BURCK KARLY MADEY

MELINA SCHAEFER

KORRIN DERING ED TIAN

Video Editor

Digital Fashion Editor

Digital Features Editor

Print Beauty Editor

SAM RAO

SARAH ORY

LAUREN CHAMPLIN

YOUMNA KHAN

Finance Coordinators

Events Coordinator

Managing Photo Editor

Digital Photo Editor

MAGGIE CLARK MICHELLE TAO

CAROLINE MARTINO

GABRIELLE MACK

GABBY CERITANO

Human Resources Coordinator

Social Media Coordinators

Public Relations Coordinators

Street Style Editor

SENA KADDURAH

HANNAH TRIESTER APOORVA GAUTAM

DAPHNE PATTON RACHEL PORDY

SUREET SARAU

Digital Content Editor

ALEX STERCHELE

Design Team Andy Nakamura, Sandy Chang, Kai Huie, Christina Tan, Kimi Lillios, Rino Fujimoto, Kali Francisco, Olivia Ortiz, Camille Andrew, Taylor Silver, Nicole Kim, Margaret Laakso

Digital Content Team Neha Kotagiri, Allison He, Christina Tan, Helena Grobel, Sonali Pai

Finance Team Swetha Susarla, Michelle Tao, Emma Lewry, Margaret Clark, Elle Donakowski

Fashion Team Sophie Alphonso, Kailana Dejoie, Chloe Erdle, Isabelle Fisher, Tavleen Gill, Amanda Li, Peter Marcus, Courtney Mass, Noor Moughni, Olivia Mouradian, Natalia Nowicka, Madison Patel, Abby Rapoport, Dhruv Verma Anastasia Hernando, Ayanna Bell, Benjamin Michalsky, Emily Hayman, Gigi Kalabat, Janae Dyas, Jordan Wade, Kathryn Dorfman, Kelsea Chen Meredith Randall, Sarah Dettling, Sandy Chang, Sophie McKay, Victoria Vaz

Features Team Meera Kumar, Brooklyn Blevins, Annie Malek, Lucy Perrone, Ben Decker Cat Heher Neha Kotagiri, Melissa Dash, Patience Young, Janice Kang, Ava Shapiro, Hannah Triester, Heba Malik, Tiara Partsch, Natalia Szura, Jayde Emery, Sarah Stolar Nadia Judge, Katy Pentiuk, Peter Hummer, Christina Cincilla

Photography Team Anna Fuder, Brooke Dodderidge, Chrisitina Merrill, Emma West, Hannah Anderson, Margeaux Fortin, Nolan Lopez, Riley Kisser, Selena Sun, Sophie Hendrich, Tess Crowley, Zahria Jordan

Videography Team Grant Emmenheiser, Madeline Kim, Hannah Mutz, Lisa Ryou, Sara Cooper, Eaman Ali, Rachel Ienna, Samin Hassan, Hannah Hur, Emily Veguilla, Riley Kisser, Coco DelVecchio

Human Resources Team Mary Mack, Lillian Fakih, Jacqueline Choe, Izzy Tuchman

Public Relations Team Megan Eng, Mya Steir, Ava Ben David, Rachel Pordy, Katherine Lambert, Izzy Saunders, Celia Pagnucco, Kali Hightower

Events Team Alex McMullen, Molly Kennedy, Makenzie Kulczycki, Annie Cooper, Liza Miller, Julia Barge, Tiara Blonshine, Anastasia Hernando

Social Media Team Samedha Gorrai, Amanda Sachs, Anastasia Hernando, Makena Torrey, Julia Goldish, Charlotte Foley, Neha Kotagiri, Sandy Chang, Olivia Sun, Carolyn Soltz, Lauren Rosenberg, Megan Eng, Sofie Harb

Street Style Team Sophie Hendrich, Becca Mahon, Calin Firlit, Devon Kelly, Emmalyn Kukura, Emma Moss, Hanna Erhardt, Jenna Frieberg, Leonie Muno, Maggie Innis, Nicola Troschinet, Riley Kisser, Rosalie Comte, Tess Crowley, Victoria Vaz

IN THIS ISSUE 06

Letter from the Editors

08

Subsumed

14

Beauty is the Beast

18

Stuck in the Past

24

Pain is Timeless

28

Capital

34

Villainess

40

The Devil in the Details

42

Everything I Wanted

46

Express Your Yes Now Studios

52

The Grass is Always Greener

56

Eyeing Perfection

60

Streetstyle: Ajdin Sullivan

62

Streetstyle: Own the Night

LE ET TER FROM I

f you are familiar with The Great Gatsby, you’d know that at the heart of all the lavish, flashy parties and seemingly frivolous spending lies the melancholic and nostalgic yearning for love, a more profound yet unattainable desire fronting as an empty lust for celebrity. And what remained at the end of Gatsby’s life was but a shell of a mansion, an unfulfilled fantasy.

Even in today’s not-so-roaring twenties, we see these same desires and truths reflected, now more deeply embedded in a global, digital landscape. At the core of our surface level obsession with virality and fame lies a childlike need for personal connection and love, for affection, for acceptance and belonging.

Yet, particularly in virtual spaces, this desire masquerades as a shallow call for attention.

In COVET, we deconstruct our desires that stem both from our innate human needs and the messages that society has planted into our minds. We examine the ways in which we covet others, wealth, success, and power; how we wish to be coveted, and how we obsess over the past, finding comfort in our nostalgia.

As you explore this issue, I urge you to reflect on the origins of the desires that pass through you. Are they truly your own? Once attained, will they bring you the fulfillment they promise?

Alex Andersen Editor-In-Chief

TH H E E D IT TOR S T

o covet is to yearn, and to be consumed by it. More of a feeling than an act, coveting desires and craves, thirsts for power or possession so far out of reach it may as well be a dream.

“Thou shalt not covet” — inscribed in stone by the finger of God as described in the Book of Exodus. While other commandments denounce adultery and thievery, to covet is a sin not based on action, but instead focused on the contents of one’s heart and mind. The seed planted by initial desire, nurtured by obsession, baring its thorns as lust. Coveting leaves no trail to follow. It exists as a burning flame concealed by the guise of contentment, showing itself only at the point when the fire can no longer be contained. At this point, it becomes wild, uncontrolled; it spreads, destroys.

And in this way, coveting may be the most dangerous sin of all.

Does the same danger exist when the roles are reversed? What risk is presented to the object of desire? Moreover, is it immoral to wish to be coveted? When we reorient these questions, we’re no longer examining the act itself, but instead, interrogating the reasons for desire—the impetus behind

past and present standards of beauty, the motivation for idolization and emulization, an escape from our own lived reality.

In these questions, then, lies a deeper dilemma: the act of coveting, this profound desire, may in fact rest more in resentment than it does in love.

In COVET, we explore the roots of desire, from where it stems and its fatal undoings.

We look at beauty and success through the lens of sacrifice, what was left behind or lost to achieve them. It’s simple to write off your longings as signifiers of appreciation; however, as we describe in this issue, it’s far from easy to unveil the grounds of your desires, where they come from and where they will lead you.

Lauren Champlin Digital Features Editor 7

SHOOT DIRECTOR KELSEA CHEN FASHION KELSEA CHEN OLIVIA MOURADIAN DHRUV VERMA PHOTOGRAPHERS BROOKE DODDERIDGE FRANCES GU GABBY MACK HAIR RUBY MORGAN MAKEUP RUBY MORGAN VIDEOGRAPHER HANNAH HUR GRAPHIC DESIGNER RINO FUJIMOTO MODEL RUBY MORGAN

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Beauty is the

pursuit of beauty—an unwritten yet T he understood pillar of human existence.

It pens the greatest novels and the most moving melodies. It fights wars, powers vengeance, and can shatter a heart to the point where it feels as though the Earth is twirling on a different axis. The desire to be desired seems as natural and inevitable as a rogue tear escaping your eye despite your efforts to fight it back.

The truth, however, is that our perception of who and what we find to be beautiful is not as innate as we believe it to be. Beauty is packaged and sold to us by overarching and intertwined hierarchical systems constituted by deep-rooted prejudice and profit. It’s hidden in the conversations between your aunts when

they discover a crazy new diet and the passing comments made by your family when the shade of your skin reflects the vitalizing hours spent in the summer sun.

It’s written into the script of your favorite sitcom as comic relief and delivered as a punchline in a teen boy’s callow joke.

Altering your appearance to fit socialized beauty standards has been normalized for ages, with changes as subtle as removing body hair to achieve a more feminine look or as drastic as plastic surgery or skin bleaching. Many celebrities are transparent about the cosmetic work they’ve had done to achieve their physical beauty. Our generation, though, is less quick to accept these beautification rituals as passing fashion trends and is more

interested in deconstructing, diversifying, and decolonializing standards of beauty.

Many of us have asserted that makeup and cosmetic surgery exist for ourselves and our own empowerment. And while I do believe there is truth to this—that on an individual level, there is an unmatched spark of gratification that arrives with owning your physical appearance and attaining a desired level of confidence—I also know that, on a societal level, beauty standards exclude by default and uphold the spoils of colonialism, eurocentrism, and capitalism, presenting more severe implications and challenges for women of color and how they navigate the world around them.

The first modern rhinoplasty was performed in 1887 on a patient suffering from “emotional distress” caused by a “pug nose.” During this same time period, German-Jewish surgeon Jacques Joseph used a similar method to “diminish the noses of European Jewry.” A lot of the women in my life—the

majority of whom are ethnic women— have jokingly indicated at some point or another that they wished they could get a nose job and that their nose was far too big or hooked. The dainty, skisloped nose is promoted as the ideal, and this is constantly impressed upon a lot of ethnic women, notably for women of South Asian, Middle Eastern, or Jewish descent. I don’t at all judge those who have received a rhinoplasty or any other form of cosmetic surgery, but instead, I condemn the industry that is upheld by glaringly transparent towers of white supremacy. From a young age, we are taught to wish to remove the features that resemble our people. We learn to poke holes in our confidence and selfimage before they are even formed.

We are subtly trained to slowly chip away at the parts of ourselves that don’t ultimately resemble a fair, thin, hairless, Eurocentrically elegant white woman.

The pursuit of beauty extends beyond mere personal insecurities:

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failure to adhere to beauty standards can result in tangible, agonizing impacts in communities and cultures all over the world. In India and other countries across Asia, a woman with a darker complexion is highly scrutinized when it comes to marriage and is less likely to be hired for certain jobs, specifically those that require interaction with the public. Cosmetic skinbleaching is a multi-billion dollar industry, and their extensive marketing campaigns have undoubtedly conditioned the public to equate light-skin to economic prosperity and beauty.

In America, the majority of Latinos have reported that skin color impacts their opportunities and mobility in America, and shapes their daily life. Black women with dark skin have been shown to receive inadequate health care and maternal care.

It’s rare for Black women and women of color, specifically those with darker skin or non-Eurocentric features, to be portrayed as the love interest and worthy of affection and protection. When one strays from the suffocating and preconceived image of what has been sold to us as a “beautiful woman,” they are dehumanized and reduced to a one-dimensional shell.

I abhor the way in which the pursuit of beauty has infiltrated my life. I wish I could shatter the magnifying glass that my brain casted on my insecurities. My heart hurts when I think of my inner child, and how she knew how it meant to feel unbeautiful before she could read her favorite books. I think of how I’ve been removing the hair on my body since I was just ten years old, and how my little cousins now do the same. I think of the women in my life who have used skin-lightening creams and miss out on the rejuvenating high of a summer day.

It’s difficult to imagine a society detached from obsession with physical beauty. Something that has been fed to us since youth and injected into every layer of our atmosphere feels unnatural to reject. However, I hope we can learn to decenter the physical from our own interpersonal lives and relationships.

I wish for a world where outward beauty is not at all a factor in respectability and that diversity on the screen tells fresh, multidimensional stories of real, authentic people in their truest form. Reorient and decolonize what has been established as objective and embrace beauty-neutrality.

WRITER NEHA KOTAGIRI GRAPHIC DESIGNER EMMA PETERSON 17

With the omicron variant running rampant, and almost two years spent in a global pandemic, sometimes we–including me–think of what it would be like to go back and live life before the pandemic. The pandemic did a lot of harm: it emphasized and worsened inequalities, affected the health of our loved ones, and created distance in our relationships. As hard as accepting the pandemic may be, without it there is no way to move forward; the quicker we can accept the past, the quicker we can create change. We must look forward to address the hardships and inequalities that the pandemic brought to light. Our future selves will thank us; we will no longer be stuck, or have a desire, to exist in the past.

—Sophie Alphonso

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Clothing Item - Brand

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SHOOT DIRECTOR SOPHIE ALPHONSO FASHION NOOR MOUGHNI SARAH DETTLING PHOTOGRAPHERS JENNA FREINBERG LIV PILOT FERN VICHAIKUL MAKEUP NOOR MOUGHNI SARAH DETTLING GRAPHIC DESIGNER KALI FRANCISCO MODEL CHRIS MAY

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n April 29th, 2011, my mom woke me up at 4am, 9am British time, to watch Kate Middleton marry Prince William. The fanfare leading up to the wedding was pervasive, at least in my world. I was in the fifth grade and plagued by an obsession with UGG Boots, neon Hollister T-shirts, and North Face fleece zip-ups. I kept a tube of Bath and Body Works’ Liplicious lip gloss in my pocket at all times, usually going through about one a week. The flavor of the month in April 2011, “Kissed by a Prince,” was coral-colored, melon-flavored, and packaged in a tube that donned the British flag, a diamond heart, and a gold crown. The wedding was all that me and my friends could talk about; what dress Kate would wear, how pretty she always looked, and how lucky she was to be marrying a prince.

I walked into my elementary school classroom the morning of the wedding exhausted by the early wake-up call, but it was also a bragging point. My mom had let me get up, had done all the work to calculate the time difference, and eagerly watched the wedding with me. Thus, it is no surprise that the royal wedding remains a defining cultural event in my childhood memories.

But years later, I rarely think about Kate Middleton. Some of that certainly has to do with an awareness of what the monarchy really is; the atrocities it has been responsible for, the

shady behavior of most of its members, and the realities that being a princess would entail. I do, however, frequently think about the woman who would have been Kate’s mother-in-law, Princess Diana. She was not even alive during my lifetime, yet images of her litter my Pinterest boards: her famous styling of biker shorts, the daring black “revenge dress,” and a seemingly endless list of other effortlessly chic moments.

Diana’s staying power in popular culture discussions can be largely attributed to aesthetics.

Many modern day fashion icons make clear references to her look and attempt to mimic the timeless nature of her style. That said, our infatuation with her does not begin and end with appearances. People liked Diana for who she was: a mental health advocate, a rebel in the monar-

chical system, and a victim in her own marriage.

While the popularity of the monarchy seemingly plummets, at least in the algorithmic world I live in, Diana remains an icon and a separate entity all together.

WRITER CATHERINE HEHER GRAPHIC DESIGNER NICOLE KIM

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There are a lot of reasons to like Diana that have nothing to do with tragedy, but I cannot help but think that her early death has a lot to do with her popularity. She died in a car crash in Paris in the early morning of August 31st, 1997. Her death is officially attributed to the intoxication of her driver when the accident occurred, but something about the circumstances have always felt unsettled. There are theories that the monarchy may have planned her death in some way, and it does feel all too convenient and eerie. But even if one is willing to write such accusations off as conspiracy, there is still the very real argument that the relentlessness of the paparazzi chasing her car incited the accident.

Regardless of what actually happened that morning, it’s difficult to shake the feeling that Diana died for some intangible, twist-of-fate-like reason. Tragedy seemed to follow and compel her story from the moment she married into the royal family. Diana was always a victim in some sense, of a loveless marriage, of mental health issues, and of obsessive and damaging press coverage. Yet so many people desperately want to emulate her or envy her essence to the extent that her tragic story becomes a part of her appeal.

Few women achieve the level of universal adoration that Diana has. We are quick to scrutinize and destroy women who reach such great fame, far more than we do men.

But the famous women who do maintain their

popularity, whose adoration seems enduring and untouchable, are often tragic figures. When I think about women who have achieved this kind of fame, women like Jennifer Aniston, Beyoncé, and Stevie Nicks, I associate them with sadness in some way.

Even though they did not die young like Diana, their narratives are often presented as melancholy. The press tends to focus on their damaging drug addictions, hopeless love lives, or traumatic backgrounds. It’s as if we are only willing to prop up powerful women if they are emblematic of pain. This phenomenon demonstrates the ways in which we are drawn to powerful, successful women but only when their power comes at a personal price, and thus begs the question, is this type of idolization truly rooted in love and adoration or resentment and fear?

In Diana’s case, I think the best evidence of this reality can be found in her contemporary, Meghan Markle. The parallels between their two stories are bountiful. They both struggled immensely with mental health due to the pressures of the royal lifestyle and made efforts to break out and speak up about those problems. However, while Megan’s efforts were viewed as juvenile and selfserving, Diana was viewed as an injured party.

Of course there are a number of reasons for these different treatments. We are far more sensitive to the out-of-touch behavior of the wealthy and privileged than we used to be. It is

also essential to note the classism and racism at play when it comes to the press coverage of Megan. Still, the difference between the general sentiment surrounding each woman seems to be that Diana was victimized where Megan was villainized, and it was this victimization that ultimately saved her from falling out of favor with the public after her divorce.

At the core of this is the commodification and objectification of women. Even if we are not sadistically attracted to their pain, we’re still willing to glorify it. The story, the tragedy, and the lingering essence of sadness becomes more important than the woman herself. We see these patterns replicated time and time again in fashion, entertainment, and politics. The idea of a woman becomes more important than who she actually is.

I have come to understand that being envied or desired is something deeply dangerous for women, not only because it is so frequently accompanied with tropes of tragedy and pain, but because it never happens on the terms of the person who is the object of that affection. This is not to say that the attractive, wealthy, and often white women that are idolized in society are the ultimate sufferers of the patriarchy. However, it is important to recognize that no amount of wealth, beauty, or success can fully defend women from such dangers.

When I think back to 2011 and remember the ways in which I obsessed over Kate Middleton and the royal wedding, I often find myself wondering why she has drifted from my general

consciusness in a way that Diana and Megan have not. Since the wedding, Kate has not been particularly outspoken or notable in any way.

While she is not as alluring or intriguing as her counterparts, that is seemingly the very thing that saves her from their fates.

Diana may have been the “people’s princess,” but that simple term reveals the sense of ownership that came with her adoration. To be idolized as a woman is to become a symbol rather than a person. Perhaps the truly enviable position is to go unnoticed. Perhaps that is where they always wanted us in the first place.

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CAPITAL

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Jacket - Banana Republic Shirt - Royal Silk Pants - Banana Republic Coat - Burberry

Jewelry - Isabel Marrant, Rolex, Chrome Hearts, David Yurman 31

CAPI

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SHOOT DIRECTOR BENJAMIN MICHALSKY FASHION TAVLEEN GILL JORDAN WADE PHOTOGRAPHERS SELENA SUN NOLAN LOPEZ GABBY CERITANO

HAIR HELENA GROBEL MAKEUP HELENA GROBEL VIDEOGRAPHER MADELINE KIM GRAPHIC DESIGNER SANDY CHANG MODEL HELENA GROBEL

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VI L E S L AI N S

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SHOOT DIRECTOR ABBY RAPOPORT FASHION ABBY RAPOPORT GIGI KALABAT PHOTOGRAPHERS SAM MCCLEOD TESS CROWLEY HAIR GIGI KALABAT MAKEUP GIGI KALABAT VIDEOGRAPHER SAMIN HASSAN GRAPHIC DESIGNER TAYLOR SILVER MODELS GIGI KALABAT

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WRITER BROOKLYN BLEVINS GRAPHIC DESIGNER KAI HUIE

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ou’ve managed to make a hobby out of life, taking your most treasured moments and sending them to live out a fate of their own between the lines of a page. The relationship between you and your pen can be described as nothing short of intimate.

After all, you do consider yourself a writer.

You’ve compressed your beloved into a symbolic character between countless pages. It is both a testament to your devotion to your craft, and what you believe is a privilege to be yearned for so deeply. You’re swept up in a whirlwind of infatuation, but your word is law dammit—this is your notebook.

There’s something cathartic about the flow of pen against paper, like telling all your secrets to an old friend. At the end of a long day, you open yourself to the mercy of the lines before you. The pages support your hypothesis, fueling your notions of love. And who would they be to lie to you?

You’ve committed a faux pas. They’ve acted off script; this character never appears in your work. Pages upon pages suddenly amount to nothing, and the control you once possessed with a pen in hand now slips from your grasp. You’re not omniscient, and they’re sure to let you know it.

Perhaps the rose-colored glasses helped ideas flow easier. Misplaced passion twists the muse into a lover. Your inspired heart was moved not by promises of true love, but instead the premise of an impressive work. The object of your adoration has always been character.

Your weapon, mightier than the sword, has been turned upon yourself. You mourn the loss of a figment of your imagination.

Ink-stained pages now transform into an obituary, but the blood lies not on the hands of the author, instead, the unreliable narrator. Your craft both fuels and soothes your heartbreak. You’ll turn back to the only relief you know, chronicling your own undoing. There’s a certain poetry in aching, and once recognition sinks in, you’ll find yourself detailing your desires once more.

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Dress - SHEIN Corset - Amazon Bodysuit - Topshop Heels - Boohoo Boots - Journeys

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SHOOT DIRECTOR JANAÉ DYAS FASHION JANAÉ DYAS PHOTOGRAPHERS MARGEAUX FORTIN RILEY KISSER HAIR NINA WALKER BELLA MALATESTA MAKEUP JANAÉ DYAS BELLA MALATESTA VIDEOGRAPHER RACHEL LENNA GRAPHIC DESIGNER GABI MECHABER MODELS JANAÉ DYAS BELLA MALATESTA 45

Community Spotlight:

Express Your Y

Yes Now Studios

WRITER TIARA PARTSCH GRAPHIC DESIGNER EMMA PETERSON 47

H

oused just a block away from the Diag, Now Studios is “an underground non profit political playhouse, venue, multimodal production company, immersive gallery and creative social lab.”1 Their mission? To create a radical, safe, and creative space.

It is after a guided meditation and over a cup of peppermint tea that SHEI Magazine had the opportunity to sit down and chat with Petals Sandcastle (they/ them), founder and CEO, Nicole Johnson (she/her), development director, Sofia Deler (she/her) and Ellie Keessen (she/ they), UM interns, and Austin Nedrow (he/ him), event attendee, to discuss Now Studios’ potential and impact.

1 Express Your YES. n.d. “Now Studios.”

EXPRESS YOUR YES. Accessed January 28, 2022. https://www.expressyouryes. com/.

Petals, you studied here at the University of Michigan. What led you back to Ann Arbor?

And how did the idea of creating this artistic space come to being?

Petals: I was an alum here, and I fled to New York to become a public high school teacher; but the “white curtain” was ripped from my face, and I left the system. I said I would never work for the machine again, and I fled overseas for two years. I was back here visiting family when the landlord of this place, who I’d gone to Electric Forest with was like, “you should do something here! I’ll give you a good rate.” This was just this nasty basement, with carpet from the 70s, and nasty overhead lighting… and I was like, “okay!”

So I spent the pandemic down here, basically living, transmuting everything. And all these paintings came from being down here, feeling and creating.

It became clear to me that if I wanted these creative spaces to exist, maybe I could just build them. My whole life has been of service, but a transient service. And there’s a permanence with space, because it’s here. I’ve also been flirting with how to use art, creation, and playtime to infuse the political landscape: 1 in 6 people sleep outside; 1 in 4 kids live in warzones; 1 in 3 black men go to prison. But to the world, that’s just another stat’, and it doesn’t really mean anything unless there’s a visceral anchoring. And that’s the power of theatre, the power of art, because you can just have your whole entire self be blown open by a show. [Now Studios] is a cosmic dressing room to recast, try again, and tinker… whether it’s the climate crisis or capitalism, or a trillion dollar war, it feels like we are at some sort of precipice, there is this sense of urgency: so if it’s not us, then who?

As creatives who have flowed in and out of this space, what drew you to Now Studios?

Sofia: I walked in, and I was like yes! I was just looking at the stage, and the costumes, and the bucket of wigs, and the paintings, all the little nooks and crannies. There was this beautiful

transparency about all things, about the good and the bad. A place of truth.

Nicole: I really wanted to be able to contribute to this world in a really powerful way, and even if it’s just to a couple of people, I want to be able to connect to people, and help people connect to each other. I could actually be myself in this place. It just felt so right.

Austin: I’m excited that it’s located right next to the University of Michigan.

Petals: That’s kind of the idea, right? We want to have a dialogue with the university: and the Diag is right there! There’s a genuine physical, public space where discourse can occur. I genuinely believe that we cannot make the change that we artists want to make without employing the structures that exist. So part of this project is, how do we create something that starts to make those ripples, that offers up this infrastructure, so that we can marry art, spirituality, social justice, and politics?

How would you describe this space, from your own personal perspective, from a community perspective, from a social justice perspective?

What does it bring to your community, to your life?

Ellie: Everything it’s offered us. That validation, the opportunity to play, to confront things that have been weighing you down—that’s up for grabs to anyone!

Sofia: Dream-making. Petals and I came up with this idea of Thursday evenings being this dream-making event. We would invite this exclusive audience from the community, people who have financial power and who would really be able to benefit the lives of artists in a really positive way—the people who can offer those connections and opportunities. And we would have a group of artists that we would have selected and have them come up and present their work. For example: let’s say I wrote an EP, and I need someone to record my album.

There’s a person attending the event who owns

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a record studio, and there’s another person who loves my song, and wants to pay for me to have the studio for a weekend to record my EP. It’s a way to get people and artists to connect.

Petals: Dream-making… in a basement under a sushi restaurant—which is my favorite part about the whole thing!

And talent or not, this space is just—it’s crayons!! Or ‘I’ve had a rough day, and I would just love to charcoal sketch through my feelings’... it’s the idea of radically creating a super empowering safe space to just play and explore and rise.

Sofia: Another thing I really love about this place is, there’s a provocative aspect to art—it makes you turn your head, it jolts you. It’s like seeing a row of grey and

then one dash of pink. You can’t help but look at the pink. And when you walk down here, you’ve never seen a place like this. [Now Studios] just makes you think about your childhood self again, and it really reframes the dull reality we are so accustomed to.

Nicole: Speaking of childhood, one of the things that’s really amazing about this space to me is, I have an eight year old son, and seeing a space like this… As a mother, I’m like: ‘this is what kids need.’

Ellie: Everybody needs it, really. We just kind of forget...

Nicole: You’re right, you forget! You forget how much you need this kind of space to play, to be a goofball of a human or a creative human or an artistic human; a human space. This is a human space.

For upcoming events at Express Your Yes, please visit their website https://www. expressyouryes.com . Weekly events include meditation-Wednesdays, at 6:30pm; Fruity Fridays, which consist of a screening of Rupaul’s Drag Race, followed by a drag show and a dance party; an Open Studio and live show on Saturday; an Unplugged Sunday, and Cafe Study Sessions. Express Your Yes also offers reservations and rental opportunities.

Express Your Yes Now Studios 715 N. University, Ann Arbor Instagram, Twitter, Twitch, Soundcloud, Etsy, Venmo: @expressyouryes 51

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SHEI Magazine

The Grass is Always Greener

Madison Patel

Shoot Directior, Fashion, Hair & Makeup

Christina Merrill Photo

Zahira Jordan Photo

Coco DelVecchio Video & Hair

Andrew Nakamura Graphic Designer

Kate Gendruschke Model

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SHOOT DIRECTOR EMILY HAYMAN FASHION EMILY HAYMAN PETER MARCUS PHOTOGRAPHERS ANNA FUDER SOPHIE HERDRICH EMILY HAYMAN OLIVER SEGAL VIDEO EAMAN ALI GRAPHIC DESIGNER EMMA PETERSON MODEL LAYLA JAWD

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STREET STYLE SNAPSHOT: AJDIN SULLIVAN

I

first met Ajdin two years ago while hanging out with some mutual friends. I knew of him previously, but had no idea what to expect.

The idea of meeting this 6’4” stranger was intimidating, but all the nerves immediately went away after our first conversation. He immediately had such a kind presence and sense of calming familiarity to his aura. Ajdin is the type of person to be able to foster genuine conversations and connections with virtually anyone and make them feel comfortable.

After getting to know him through the years, the best term to describe Ajdin is dedicated. It

was refreshing getting to know his passions, motives, and goals throughout our friendship.

Ajdin is currently a junior in LSA studying Economics with a Ross minor. He transferred this academic year from Oakland University and got on par with U-M’s fast paced nature without missing a single step. He is pursuing various endeavors outside of academics from studying for the real estate license exam to managing his family’s restaurants to starting his own photography business. Majority of his time outside of school is devoted to these jobs.

After his classes end for the day, it is not uncommon for Ajdin to drive upwards of an hour to work at one of his family’s restaurants.

While this may sound like a lot to juggle for the average person, Ajdin is motivated to succeed for his loved ones. He comes from a small, but proud family that immigrated to America from Albania in the pursuit of happiness and opportunities for a better life. In this uphill battle for success, he has witnessed the struggles his family has faced: starting a brand new life from scratch on an unfamiliar

terrain firsthand. He witnessed his family overcome barriers like language, finances, and lack of knowledge on the mechanics of the American way. Even with all these circumstances against their favor, Ajdin saw how the hope and hard work that fueled his family transformed their life from being in the lowest financial bracket to creating and operating a family business consisting of several restaurants in Metro Detroit.

Ajdin always maintains a plan that focuses on his bigger life picture. That’s why he is pursuing a degree in economics: with his lifelong involvement in the business world, he realized the importance of understanding the fundamentals of economics to build a foundation for growth. His experience through academics and the world of business sparked a passion in global and domestic economy and how it impacts people’s everyday lives.

After graduation, he hopes to utilize the skills that he has acquired through school to scale his own family businesses to a national level

and create multiple businesses of his own to grow our economy with better working conditions and salaries for the American people.

PHOTOGRAPHER SUREET SARAU WRITER SUREET SARAU GRAPHIC DESIGNER GABI MECHABER MODEL AJDIN SULLIVAN 61

Own the Night T

he balancing act of living through an ongoing health pandemic while still hoping to celebrate large milestones and accomplishments can be hard to achieve.

On one hand, you want to look out for the greater good of the population, but on the other, it you must rightfully sacrifice once in a lifetime milestones. While the pandemic is understandably reshaping everyone’s lives, it leads to a path of disappointment when milestone after milestone passes that people still cannot commemorate it in an extravagant, pre-covid manner.

Around a month ago, my roommate, AK, turned 21, and while this specific birthday is typically known as a celebration filled with hazy memories filled with friends hitting the town, the recent surge in COVID cases due to the new variant demolished

PHOTOGRAPHER SUREET SARAU WRITER SUREET SARAU GRAPHIC DESIGNER GABI MECHABER MODELS AK MALEPATI RUCHITA COOMAR MARLEE RAPP SYDNEY BAUER WILLIAM BROWN JADE SMITH

our opportunity to revel her special day in this way. A lively night filled with large quantities of friends from all around was substituted for a night in with roommates.

Despite this challenge, we made the best out of an ill-favored situation. We redefined the typical “21st” birthday celebration and made it a night to remember regardless.

All our housemates quickly transformed our living room into our own personal nightclub. From confetti poppers to streamers to a plethora of desserts, we strived to ensure that the birthday girl would get VIP treatment, even if it was from the comfort of our own home. I took on the role of being the paparazzi for the night, creating relics with which we can forever reminisce. We spent our time singing at the top of our lungs, dancing the night away,

and creating memories and inside jokes that will last a lifetime. The feelings of love, glee, and liveliness quickly filled the room.

None of us felt any type of stress or worry; we truly lived in the moment. There was an unmatched amount of positive energy in a room with only seven people. It was a truly cathartic experience. There was not a drop of negativity in the air the whole night, and all our stresses and worries melted away for the night. We put the mundane routine of our daily lives on pause for a moment and focused on coming together, fostering our connections with each other, and celebrating AK. The comfort and harmony of our friendships laid the perfect foundation for a great night of non-stop smiling and laughter in our home.

Albeit, none of us envisioned us celebrating milestones like AK’s 21st birthday in this manner, but we were able to make it one of the more memorable nights of college. After all, our closest friends made sure to take part in commemorating AK’s milestone birthday. Times like these, where we are unable to socialize with people like

we once did, put the true value of close relationships into perspective and serve as a friendly reminder to truly cherish those dear to you. Our social circles heavily influence our lives, and this pandemic really highlights the necessity of positive, uplifting relationships to our mental health.

It showcased whether friendships were formed out of genuine personal connection or out of convenience of social gatherings.

Our desire to ensure AK’s birthday was one to remember, despite the incommodious circumstances, demonstrates the true strength of our bonds with one another.

Despite not having a grandiose ball, the intimacy of our homemade nightclub is what really concocted the euphoric and joyous ambience of our night. We redefined the narrative of typical COVID celebrations that is typically portrayed as a meager, watered down pity party and focused on strengthening our already-defined relationships instead of being burdened by a sense of isolation in a time where it is difficult to foster new connections.

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