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Rujuta Sawant

Rujuta Sawant is a Rutgers Business School junior majoring in Business Analytics and Information Technology and minoring in Political Science. Her column, "Sincerely Rue', runs on alternate Mondays.

SAWANT: Dog ownership will better your life

My dog Theo is only nine months old and still figuring out the world. At the same time, he is teaching me how to do the same.Dec 11

SAWANT: You should romanticize your life

Life is certainly not a movie. Nov 27

SAWANT: Incorporate reading into your lifestyle

The world is full of sensory experiences, perhaps overwhelmingly so today. Anything can be shoved in our faces at any possible moment through digital billboards, advertisements, TikToks and the like. We consume so much saturated color, sound and movement every day and in everything we do. Oct 17 2023

SAWANT: Take your internet privacy more seriously

Technology is an undeniable facet of our modern world — it has permeated every aspect of our daily lives. While this has made the way we live easier and more efficient in many ways, it has also left us increasingly vulnerable to its invasive nature.Oct 2 2023

SAWANT: How being 'chronically online' has diminished our ability to think critically

The internet has done a revolutionary job of connecting people across the globe. Access to new ideas contributes significantly to society and our humanity by opening our minds to lifestyles very different from our own and ways of thinking we would have never entertained.Sep 18 2023

SAWANT: How female friendships build community

After more than a year of counting down the days, last week, my friends and I finally got on our flights for our girls trip to Nashville, Tennesee.Sep 5 2023

SAWANT: When it comes to joining student organizations in college, less is more

Around this time of the spring semester, I always grow more reflective than usual about the events and the trials of the past year and where I am currently compared to where I was when I started my college journey almost three years ago.May 1 2023

SAWANT: How walkable cities could save Americans' social lives

One of my favorite parts about living on campus is that, for the most part, I can walk wherever I need to go. In general, Rutgers has done a fine job ensuring each campus is comfortably walkable for its students. Apr 17 2023

SAWANT: TikTok trial reveals true American priorities when it comes to safety

As recently seen in the news, TikTok CEO, Shou Zi Chew, attended legal hearings in which U.S. lawmakers grilled him on the nature of the app, including concerns over information gathering and the potential dangers the app poses to the mental health of its users.Apr 3 2023

SAWANT: Unionization is powerful

Throughout the week before spring break, I could hardly focus on my exams due to my upcoming trip to Paris. And while I had a lovely time, I could not ignore the protests that took place on the last day of my trip.Mar 20 2023

SAWANT: Banning books should not be allowed

Across 32 states in the country, school libraries were forced to remove more than 1,600 books from their shelves. These titles included some all-time literary classics such as "The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger, "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck and "Beloved" by Toni Morrison.Feb 27 2023

SAWANT: Misleading social media marketing causes dangerous overconsumption

The period of time after World War II is known by many as the golden age of consumerism. After an era of war and economic depression was brought to an end by increased reliance on mass spending, the U.S. experienced an increase in jobs, pay and production of consumer goods that many could finally afford again.Feb 13 2023

SAWANT: Rutgers students should prioritize bus etiquette

The Rutgers bus system is far from perfect. If we wanted to, we could create a list with thousands of items describing what could be improved. Chances are, though, that these qualms will probably go unaddressed for a while.Jan 30 2023

SAWANT: Journaling helps us find clarity, inner peace

Practicing self-care is a good habit to develop. We all have our own ways of maintaining our mental health and doing things for ourselves that make us happy. One of my favorite self-care techniques is journaling.Dec 12 2022

SAWANT: English dubs depreciate viewing experience of international films

If, like me, you are also a film lover, you probably have a bucket list (physical or mental) of movies and TV shows that you want to watch at some point. Even though I would consider myself more of a reader than a cinephile, I can appreciate a good film. There is something special about a story so captivating that it makes you question the world in ways you did not consider before.Nov 29 2022

SAWANT: Public school dress codes play into misogyny

Something that has always bothered me about public school — more than the cardboard-flavored pizza — was the dress code. Especially as a young woman, I always found it very strange and unsettling how the dress code seemed to impart garment prohibitions specific to feminine clothing and body parts.Nov 14 2022

SAWANT: No one does music like Taylor Swift

Speaking from personal experience, almost nothing else bonds two people faster than when one person finds out that the other person is a Swiftie, too. Besides creating genius lyrics to go with the best music you have ever heard, Taylor Swift has also created a tight-knit community of fans that very few artists have been able to so far.Oct 31 2022

SAWANT: Leaving campus is pivotal in reminding ourselves our world is bigger than Rutgers

When you step foot on campus for the first time ever, it feels like a huge, sprawling realm with no beginning and no end. So many places to see, so many places to be and, honestly, so many ways to get lost or take the wrong bus to strand you farther away from your destination.Oct 17 2022

SAWANT: True crime media scuffs social boundaries

If you are like me, you probably love true crime media in any form it comes in. Podcast, documentary, TV series or book, I am there for it. But any true crime lover must be extremely picky about what they consume. I will be the first to admit that while I enjoy the topic, it is extremely easy for many of these content creators (and fans alike) to cross social and moral boundaries.Oct 3 2022

SAWANT: Change the way you think about networking to harness its true power

If there is one word a university student knows better than Canvas, it is “networking.” Every club highlights “networking opportunities” as a reason to join, and it is often the very first piece of advice professors and advisors love to give students looking for some career help.Sep 19 2022

SAWANT: Living in residence halls is essential to college experience

As the academic year comes to a close, I cannot help my mind from constantly wandering back to the start of my college journey. May 2 2022

SAWANT: US education system should be reexamined to better serve students, teachers

School is a large part of any child’s life. If you continue your education beyond high school, it can become a large part of your adult life, as well. Most of our lives are spent in schools, absorbing information that unmistakably shapes how we see the world and participate in it. For educators, the education system is their entire career.Apr 19 2022

SAWANT: Bridgerton season 2 offers refreshing look into South Asian beauty

Last semester, I produced an article detailing my discontent with the representation of South Asians in our society, primarily in media.Apr 4 2022

SAWANT: We must decommodify higher education

College is expensive. That goes without saying. Is it worth it then? Here we all are, investing in this experience anyway, so it must be worth it, right? There is a valuable set of benefits that we all acknowledge that the degree promised to us at the end of our program will bring us. I guess what I really want to ask, then, is whether it is worth the exact dollar amount we pay for it.Mar 21 2022

SAWANT: Performative activism on social media is counterproductive

The rise of social media has enabled the rapid spread of information. News of a social or political event that occurs overseas reaches our phones within a second.Feb 28 2022

SAWANT: Rutgers is not ready to lift mask mandates

The last time I had been in a classroom before Jan. 31 was on a sunny but wet, seemingly random, March day during my senior year of high school. Cue the pandemic, the lockdown, the uncertainty, the virtual high school graduation and the endless stretch of time spent attending Zoom classes out of my childhood bedroom. This spring, I was finally able to sit in a classroom again for the first time in almost two years.Feb 14 2022

SAWANT: Voter suppression degrades value of American vote

The country in which we find ourselves is home to a polarized and ever-changing government.Jan 31 2022

SAWANT: Our 'new normal' creates opportunity to embrace change

In the forever-changed, uncertain climate we find ourselves in right now, with vaccine rates climbing, people are starting to grasp for pre-pandemic normalcy.Nov 29 2021

SAWANT: Adjusting to college life is not easy, but it is necessary

As high schoolers living in our parents house, living on their terms for our entire lives so far, we achingly long for the day we get to make our own home on campus and begin to finally live on our own terms. To finally make our own choices and spend our time how we want.Nov 15 2021

SAWANT: South Asians deserve fair representation in society

You can probably tell by my name, but just in case it is not obvious, I am South Asian. Billions of South Asians are dispersed all over the world, with a great number of them growing roots right here in the U.S. So why then, as a South Asian, do I still feel so invisible in this country? Nov 1 2021

SAWANT: Stop bragging about your stress levels

We have all experienced those around us who show off the amount of work they have and complain about it. Perhaps these people even supplement the lament with a comparison to the amount of work we or others have. Oct 18 2021