Post-secondary learning demands a lot from all students who pursue it.

However, it can be especially taxing on students choosing careers within the STEM field.

I may be a Communication Studies major, but I am currently living with two women passionately working toward a degree in nursing.

The University of Minnesota School of Nursing is a highly competitive department that admits approximately 289 students per year to the first-year nursing program, according to the University’s website.

Not only do I hear from my roommates about the rigorous course load they are expected to complete each semester, but I also regularly witness them preparing for 12-hour overnight shifts at local hospitals for work and then again for their required clinical hours.

While all these expectations for nursing students fly way over my head, I’m fortunate enough to live with women who regularly complete this work.

But what exactly does a clinical rotation consist of and how do they help nursing students learn about the field?

Alfonso Amores, a fourth-year nursing student, said clinical work varies based on the student’s skill level, but generally provides hands-on learning experiences in a variety of medical settings — mental health units, medical-surgical units, labor and delivery units, for example — allowing each student to practice necessary skills used in the field.

On top of being a full-time student and participating in required clinical rotations, most nursing students add a part-time job to their schedule to help with the general cost of living.

Conrad Noel, a fourth-year nursing student, said financial compensation should be provided for nursing students as most of them cannot carve out more time for their paid positions due to their clinical experience requirements and other educational commitments. He said that while it wouldn’t be fair to provide nursing students with a registered nurse’s salary, it would benefit students to receive some form of payment or, at the very least, free parking when showing up to their off-campus clinical sites.

Oppositely, Amores said nursing students shouldn’t be getting paid for the work they do at their clinicals as they are not yet registered nurses and can’t quite provide the same level of care as experienced nurses.

“My overarching view is that we as nursing students shouldn’t see it as work even though it does oftentimes feel like that,” Amores said. “It’s important to make the distinction that we are here as learners. We’re here as students. We’re not here as workers.”

While they may disagree on the idea of receiving hourly wages for clinical work, both Amores and Noel have a problem with paying for parking at their clinical locations.

“There’s nothing more debilitating than having to go somewhere where you’re not getting paid and then you pay to park,” Amores said.

This issue is made worse by the fact that students have to find their own means of transportation to their clinical sites and often have no choice but to commute via car or Uber due to distance, according to Amores.

Even though clinicals do negatively affect nursing students in many ways — financially, emotionally and physically — they also provide them with real-life experiences that prepare them for the field once they graduate, which make students exponentially more confident in their abilities as future nurses.

Both Amores and Noel said they are beyond grateful for the experiences they’ve had and the lessons they’ve learned over the hours of clinical work they’ve completed. They feel the University’s nursing program does an excellent job of preparing students efficiently and thoroughly.

As for financial compensation for nursing students, this labor should receive payment. Whether through parking compensation, hourly minimum wage or a percentage off their tuition. 

This work shouldn’t be completed for free simply because they’re inexperienced college students. They’re the future of healthcare and should be recognized as such.

Uber has helped me get to and from a variety of destinations since the beginning of my college career. 

Whether it be driving me to my early morning lab that I’m always running late to or safely returning me to my apartment after a fun night out, Uber has always had my back.

You could only imagine the heartbreak I felt when Uber and Lyft announced they would be terminating their services in Minneapolis at the start of May, according to USA Today. 

This is a horrible decision.

Uber and Lyft services have provided countless customers with secure transportation for years, saving people from long treks through poor weather conditions and drunk people from getting behind the wheel of a vehicle and making dangerous travels home during late hours of the night.

Alcohol-related vehicular accidents have decreased by 60% in some areas of the U.S. with the help of Uber, according to the Ellis Law Corporation.

Isabel Bach-Lefler, a third-year University of Minnesota student and Uber rider, is very disappointed to see these ride services leaving Minneapolis and is unsure of what alternative services are available to replace them.

“I think if something doesn’t replace [Uber] then we’ll see an uptake in DUIs and other severe weather-related injuries, like exposure,” Bach-Lefler said.

Increases in DUIs are also a serious concern, as they remain a national problem even with the presence of ride services.

Holidays and special events increase the risk of drunk-driving-related deaths and injuries, according to the Ellis Law Corporation.

Additionally, Bach-Lefler said she notices the amount of people who don’t bring coats out with them when they go to bars or clubs. This is likely because they know they have access to ride services that will comfortably get them to their next destination.

“I think we’ll see an uptake in people trying to walk home during cold weather without proper attire and negative impacts from that,” Bach-Lefler said.

Anna LaGrange, a second-year University student and Gopher Chauffeur driver, said Uber and Lyft are incredibly important services, especially in big-city environments.

“Any big city services like Uber and Lyft are super important to lessen drunk driving and things like that,” LaGrange said. “I think they probably save lives in that regard and also with poor weather conditions, preventing people from being outside for long periods of time.”

Sponsored by the University of Minnesota’s Boynton Health, Gopher Chauffeur is a student-founded and student-employed ride program that aims to provide students with a free and safe option for getting home.

LaGrange said Gopher Chauffeur will likely increase in popularity following the exit of Uber and Lyft from the Minneapolis area.

Some downsides to Gopher Chauffeur are that its services don’t extend to the downtown Minneapolis area and it is only available to students, according to LaGrange.

Safety is always a concern when deciding how to get yourself from one place to another.

As a woman, I am particularly wary of jumping in the car of a random stranger and giving them access to my home address. 

Many women I’ve asked about this topic share similar sentiments.

“As a woman, it really scares me because of the lack of a safe, guaranteed ride home,” LaGrange said. “I think that [Uber and Lyft] services are super important for ensuring the safety of the citizens of Minneapolis. Not just women, but everyone.” 

Bach-Lefler said a safety feature she appreciates is the ability to share ride routes with friends and family, which she believes is a feature that most other taxi services lack.

“I’m disappointed in Uber going away because I don’t think taxis have as many safety precautions for women,” Bach-Lefler said.

As for the future of Minneapolis transportation following the termination of its partnership with Uber and Lyft services, it’s possible there may be increased use of public transportation.

“I think the bus and the light rail are good options, but they don’t run very late,” Bach-Lefler said. “I think about the subway in New York City and how extensively it runs throughout the city. We don’t have that.”

Bach-Lefler said she hopes this upcoming change will create an opportunity for taxi services to take Uber’s and Lyft’s place in the ride service realm.

“I hope that taxi services are able to create a better work environment for drivers,” Bach-Lefler said.

LaGrange said students should utilize the Gopher Chauffeur services provided to them when in the campus area and need a safe ride home.

As I soak up my last few weeks with Uber services, I think about why they chose to make this decision in the first place.

It’s important as a user of these services to recognize the work Uber drivers do to provide people with safe rides to different destinations.

Whether they are doing it to care for their families, to kill some time or to help those in need of a ride, they provide for our communities more than we probably realize and it’s only fair they are paid a livable wage.

Without proper exploration of alternative services, the absence of Uber and Lyft in Minneapolis will be a serious problem for those who rely on these services for safe transportation.

I have mental health issues. These issues started at the ripe age of 12 and haven’t dissipated.

It started during my middle school days when all the awkward bodily changes started happening and new relationships were forming.

I had an overwhelming sense of discomfort within myself and my social encounters, which got better over the course of my adolescence.

Then I went to college. 

Not only did these feelings of discomfort re-emerge when I moved to a new city for college, but I also graduated high school during the COVID-19 pandemic and began my college career in it, too.

Starting a college career with an abundance of mental health concerns, no medication and no therapy was a horrible introduction to young adulthood.

As I continued into my college years, I had a mental health scare that changed the way I viewed my mental well-being and strategies for coping.

My primary healthcare provider encouraged me to try therapy after putting me on proper anxiety medication. This was a life-changing moment for me.

Unfortunately, therapy in the U.S. is not always an affordable option for those who struggle with mental health issues and are interested in this resource.

Therapy sessions today range anywhere from free to $200 or more depending on factors such as location, insurance provider and the selected therapist, according to Forbes Magazine.

Porsche Gordin, founder of Peak Behavioral Health and a licensed marriage and family therapist, said she started her mental health clinic in hopes of providing an accessible space for marginalized groups of people who are often unable to receive services elsewhere due to various obstacles.

“The purpose behind that was to be more accessible to marginalized groups of people because I really didn’t see that representation at the place that I was working,” Gordin said. “I loved what I did, I just wanted to do it a little bit differently.”

Gordin said she isn’t sure there is a clear-cut way to abolish the financial barriers stopping people from seeking mental health services, but she thinks informing people, specifically young people, about their insurance plans and government-funded financial support can help make them more accessible.

Organizations like the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) help provide people with free helplines and mental health support. Additionally, receiving counseling and other mental health services through an educational institution is often free for students. Income-based therapy is another option for low-income services.

“I think mental health care along with other medical or health services need to be more affordable and they need to be more accessible,” Gordin said. “The people providing those services also need to be compensated appropriately for their expertise and their skill set.”

Ella Shaw, a second-year student at the University of Minnesota, said she’s interested in pursuing a career in this field in hopes of providing mentally struggling people with the same sense of clarity and relief that her current therapist brings to her.

Shaw said she struggles with the idea of eventually having to pick whether she, as a future mental health professional, wants to make less money by making her services more accessible, or make more money and have her services be accessible to a small portion of clients.

Proper access to therapy allows people to explore different parts of themselves in deeper ways that they maybe wouldn’t have been able to had they not tried this type of mental health service, according to Shaw.

“It’s access to being in control of yourself and being empowered in yourself,” Shaw said.

In regards to whether they think therapy is for everyone, both Gordin and Shaw said no.

While she believes in the benefits therapy services can provide to people, Gordin said it’s important to remember that every patient is different, comes from a diverse background with a unique history and doesn’t always benefit from traditional therapy sessions.

Shaw said it’s important to explore many different forms of therapy to see what works best for you before putting all your time, money and energy into talk therapy.

“I don’t think talk therapy should be the only thing somebody’s doing and I think that can be a dangerous game to play,” Shaw said. “I think dipping our toes into different types of therapy teaches us different things.”

Mental well-being is often overlooked and it’s time we acknowledge that we all have problems that we can work on. Whether it’s by going to therapy sessions or an alternative method, we all should set aside time to heal ourselves.

“Therapy is not for everyone, healing is for everyone,” Gordin said.

I’m incredibly fortunate to say I’ve been surrounded by strong women all my life. Whether it be my mom, grandma, aunts or friends, they’ve never failed to leave me in sheer awe at their ability to overcome adversity.

Looking back at my chaotic and challenging college career, I can’t help but smile at the thought of all the laughs, cries and late nights I’ve shared with the women I’ve met along the way.

I’d go so far as to say I wouldn’t have successfully made it through college without the gentle guidance and unconditional love that so many women have provided me with.

Cora Goodwin, a second-year student at the University of Minnesota, defines “sisterhood” as a deep spiritual and personal connection with other females that intellectually stimulates one another.

In regards to her relationships with other women, Goodwin said she feels a special connection to the nurturing women in her life who have helped her become a more thoughtful individual across all of her relationships with others.

“I feel like women know how to take care of each other and they’re very emotionally intelligent, at least all the women in my life,” Goodwin said. “I feel like they’ve definitely made me more of a considerate person.”

Thoughtfulness and emotional intelligence are prevalent characteristics in my female friends and family members, as well.

A pivotal moment in my life that showed me how unconditional and supportive my female relationships are was the end of my long-term relationship.

I was a blubbering mess, ugly crying every five minutes with no desire to get off my living room couch. But, my friends have stuck by my side throughout the entire healing process, making me more confident and empowered than I’d ever felt.

Madelyn Bergien, a third-year student at the University, said she had a similar experience when she and her long-term boyfriend broke up and her friends quickly rallied to her side. 

She came home one day to her roommates cooking her soup, sharing a slideshow presentation about all the reasons they love her and expressing their unconditional support for her.

Bergien said all of her friendships, regardless of gender, are incredibly valuable and important, but her strong female connections have played a crucial part in shaping her into the person she is today.

“I have learned more than I can imagine from my female friendships,” Bergien said. “If I need anything I 100% know that I can call them and that they’re there for me.”

While all different types of relationships are influential and meaningful, all women (cisgender, transgender, etc) and feminine-presenting people must have a safe space on campus to cultivate and celebrate these important feminine relationships.

In regards to the safe spaces and opportunities for women on campus, there is always more that could be done to improve the overall experience for this population.

“I think there are definitely a lot of organizations that are focused towards women [on campus],” Goodwin said. “The communities are definitely there for people who want them, maybe just the advertising of these groups isn’t great.”

Bergien said more work can always be done to expand the opportunities for feminine inclusion on campus, especially for mental health services impacting women and feminine-presenting people.

One aspect of mental health services Bergien believes is beneficial for the campus community is the Aurora Center. The center provides a helpline and additional services for people who experienced sexual assault and domestic violence.

Aurora Center helps all students overcome these difficult experiences, regardless of gender. This is just one resource available to anyone on campus looking for support.

Goodwin said several organizations for women in STEM and multicultural groups encourage women to join and connect with one another.

When it comes to encouraging young women and feminine presenting people to make meaningful connections with one another upon entering their college years, Goodwin and Bergien have some advice.

“Loyalty is very underrated. Stand by someone,” Bergien said. “Like really, really stand behind someone.” 

She learned how important loyalty is when she began building important college relationships, especially with the women she has befriended.

Goodwin said to not be afraid to put yourself out there. She said some of her most valued female friendships started by simply sharing deep-rooted parts of her identity.

Feminine energy is a wonderful thing that should be more outwardly celebrated in professional and academic settings.

I hope to see more woman-celebrating spaces on campus and I encourage everyone to participate in the celebration of femininity.

I have been an Amtrak traveler since the beginning of my college career. I first started using the train when I was a student at DePaul University to inexpensively transport myself from Chicago to my hometown of St. Paul.

What is typically a 50-minute plane ride or a six-hour car ride from one city to the other results in an approximately eight-hour Amtrak train ride through the backwoods of the Midwest.

There are some benefits to taking the Amtrak, including scenic routes, the ability to stand whenever desired and the guiltless conscience of knowing you chose the more environmentally friendly travel option.

However, there are many reasons why Amtrak needs to improve its customers’ travel experience, specifically for student travelers, if it wants to increase its ridership numbers.

What was once an advantage of choosing Amtrak travel was its low prices, but, at the end of 2023, Amtrak decided to switch its fare structure, which resulted in its “Flex” fares increasing by at least 30% and included the removal of the “Saver” fare category, according to TheStreet.

The benefit of this structural change is that the train’s “Flex” fare tickets will allow customers to cancel or modify their trip up until the train’s scheduled departure, which was not an available option for customers prior to the update. 

Christian Wallace-Bailey, a community member and frequent Amtrak traveler, said he enjoys the travel experience Amtrak provides but recognizes the many disadvantages that this mode of transportation brings.

“It’s not as affordable as I believe it should be,” Wallace-Bailey said. “It needs to be much cheaper in order for it to compete with short-hall, super carbon-polluting, city-hopper flights.”

Wallace-Bailey also said, anecdotally, it feels like Amtrak is comparatively more expensive than air travel in terms of cost-benefit.

When I ventured from Chicago to St. Paul on Amtrak in 2021, roundtrip costs were significantly more affordable than what roundtrip prices are today.

My trip to Chicago earlier this month cost $173 for a one-way ticket alone.

“It’s really hard to make the case for why one should take the Amtrak when it is so slow … and it’s super expensive,” Wallace-Bailey said.

Not only is pricing a concern for traveling college students in particular but so is having the ability to complete school assignments and stay in contact with friends and family while traveling.

Eliza Bohart, a fourth-year student at the University of Minnesota, said she had an enjoyable first experience on Amtrak over spring break, but she was surprised to learn customers didn’t have access to Wi-Fi on the train.

While Wi-Fi isn’t a desired amenity for every traveler, it is a helpful tool for college students and remote workers who require Wi-Fi access to complete various tasks and assignments.

Not every Amtrak train is without Wi-Fi, but every train I’ve traveled on from Minnesota to Illinois has lacked that amenity. 

This was challenging for me because I was traveling during the school year when I wasn’t on winter or spring break and had assignments to complete.

“When I think about the needs of college students, I think Amtrak probably isn’t the best mode of transportation for them,” Bohart said. “For college students, there’s a lot of demands on our time and I think the lack of Wi-Fi in particular can be really challenging.”

Bohart added Amtrak may be a great mode of transportation for vacation travel when people can be more flexible with their schedules and time, but it’s not quite advanced enough to act as a functional and reliable form of transportation year-round.

The train’s infrastructure is another concern, as it may be difficult for wheelchair users and other people with disabilities to navigate.

If there’s one thing I’ve noticed about Amtrak trains, it’s that the unbelievably narrow staircases that take customers up to the top level of the train and the tiny bathrooms that look nearly identical to ones you’d find on an aircraft.

Certain carry-on bags barely fit in the staircase leading to the top-level seating area, let alone necessary medical equipment that people may need.

According to Amtrak’s website, accessible room accommodations are available to customers in need of those services. Other helpful services are available for those who don’t necessarily require an accessible room but need additional support from Amtrak staff.

The accessible rooms include in-room bathrooms, a first-class attendant, beds, complimentary lounge access, priority boarding and complimentary meals.

While accessible rooms are a plus for those who need them, it isn’t guaranteed requests will get approved, as they are on a first-come, first-served basis.

All necessary accommodations either encourage or require a request at least 14 days in advance and if requests aren’t made, there is no guarantee accommodations will be made for these customers.

While Amtrak’s protocol for caring for travelers with disabilities seems to be relatively effective and well-designed, it isn’t to say that further accommodations can’t be made in an easier and generally more accessible way for all people in need of these services.

It may be hard to believe, but I generally support and appreciate all that Amtrak does for national travelers. 

Wallace-Bailey said the fight for improving rail travel in the U.S. is not a hopeless situation and that change is possible if people show their support for this mode of transportation.

As long as people continue to utilize this service and demand better Amtrak travel experiences, customers of the beloved railroad corporation should see improvements over time.

Unless you’re at a Halloween party, “What are you?” should never be a question a person is prompted to answer. 

Unfortunately, this is a question I’ve had to answer more times than I can count. It has been such a pertinent part of my coming-of-age that I even wrote my college essay about the harmful effects of this type of language on biracial people.

Having a white mom and a darker-skinned Mexican-American father, I like to joke that I made myself. Every time a person asks me what my parents look like, they tell me how different our appearances are, anyway.

I’m not the only mixed-race person that feels this way.

Olivia Sanchez is secretary and director of communications for Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social (MALCS) at the University of Minnesota.

MALCS is a nationally recognized organization dating back to the spring of 1982 and aims to unify academic life and community activism in the Chicana and Latina community, according to MALCS’ official website.

Sanchez said her biracial identity influences the way she navigates her experiences on campus. She said it’s often hard for biracial students to express themselves on campus, as they want to explore their cultural backgrounds without feeling unwelcome in either of their respective cultural communities.

“A really common thing that we bring up is that we might not feel Mexican enough, we don’t feel Chicana enough, we don’t feel this or that,” Sanchez said. “When we have these group meetings, we feel like we all belong and we are also learning a lot about our own cultures.”

While this club primarily focuses on serving the Chicana, Latina and Indigenous communities on campus, their doors are open to all students, regardless of gender, who are seeking time away from the campus’s predominantly white environment.

“We don’t want anyone to feel like they don’t belong in our group,” Sanchez said. “We have members that are of every color, different language backgrounds, coming from different nations.”

Luisa Gaona, president of MALCS, said her desire to start a MALCS club on campus came from her love for her Chicana identity and her passion for supporting fellow Latinx and Indigenous students in their academic endeavors. 

Both Gaona and Sanchez want biracial students to know MALCS is a safe space for them and any other underrepresented students on campus who feel as though they aren’t fitting into the environment the University provides for them.

The University has more than 1,000 student groups available, according to the University’s website, yet cultural clubs available on campus seem to be undervalued and underpromoted by the campus’s websites and faculty.

Gaona said it feels as though the campus puts less emphasis on the opportunities available to students of color compared to white students.

“It’s mostly the students pushing for that inclusion, I don’t think the University of Minnesota as a whole pushes for that,” Gaona said. “I think it’s the students looking for better rights, more inclusion [and] cultural awareness, but not really the school.”

There is no such thing as a surplus of attention towards diversity and inclusion efforts on college campuses.

Not only would increased attention towards the needs of students of color on campus improve the University’s environment for current students, but it would also provide prospective students of color with a more welcoming and desirable opinion of campus.

Monique Burgoz, vice president of MALCS, said it can be difficult for a biracial student to find clubs on campus that address their issues and needs.

Burgoz said being in the Midwest contributes to the lack of cultural identity Latinx and Indigenous communities feel, so becoming involved in a club like MALCS really benefited her. 

“Having other people from similar cultural backgrounds as you really helps create a sense of identity in a space that you don’t really see yourself in,” Burgoz said.

Biracial people bring a unique perspective to college campuses that differs from monoracial students’, regardless of racial or ethnic background. 

The University should involve faculty in more nuanced discussions about cultural diversity so that students don’t feel like all of the pressure is being placed on them to create a campus they feel supported by. 

Additionally, the University should promote cultural clubs on campus more frequently, whether via the University’s newsletters, popular media platforms or school-sanctioned events. Students of color deserve to be celebrated and prioritized.

To learn more about MALCS, visit their Instagram page, @malcs_umn.