Alessi Ayvaz

UC Berkeley is an intensely competitive atmosphere where it can too often feel like everyone’s got it figured out and doing way more than you are, but no one really is. When it comes down to it, it’s beyond okay to take time away from it all to figure out where you fit, like I did.

After a recent rewatch of the 2005 film adaptation of Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice,” I realized a couple of things. First, the language used in this film, while typical of the period the book was written in, is exceptionally striking.

I’m not entirely sure if my evolved clothing choices have impacted how others view me, but I do certainly know it’s changed how I view myself.

For me, like many other commuter students, where I live became the number one defining characteristic in my college experience. For all my fellow commuters out there (including incoming ones), you are never without hope.

I’m here to look into and fully explain some common phrases and concepts we now use in everyday speech that were so infrequently used before 2020.