Waves: the Spring 2025 issue
From the Editor
Hello everyone, and welcome to our spring 2025 issue!
One of the things we love most about this collection is how much personality the four featured authors bring to their projects. We value each piece for its distinct voice and point of view, and we hope our readers are motivated to experiment, play, and discover different styles and genres for their own writing.
Kicking off the issue, Sunny Hunt’s essay begins, “The most difficult part of writing this article was figuring out where to start.” Before introducing their argument, Hunt spends a paragraph introducing themself as the embodied author: a non-binary young person wrestling with how to cut through the “ever-present sludge” of anti-trans rhetoric and write something with feeling and impact. The outcome is a refreshingly personal essay that argues anti-trans moralism is built upon—and perpetuates—scientific illiteracy and misinformation.
Next you’ll find Viviana Baker’s environmental policy brief: an urgent call for Florida policymakers to address the damaging impacts of single-use plastics. Under Florida’s current “ban on bans,” local governments can’t regulate products like disposable plastic bags, straws, and packaging, which are building up and harming both marine and human life. Designed with striking visuals, the brief reminds Floridians that despite ideological divides, they share a deep love for the beautifully unique “beaches, springs, and wetlands” that make this state such a special place to live. Lifting the “ban on bans” will empower cities to protect their most cherished environments from the plastic pollution crisis.
Our next author, Isabella Caraballo, examines Florida from another angle. As an outsider from Maryland, Caraballo was originally intrigued by “Florida’s kitschy, garish culture” but developed a more complicated understanding of the state after studying its literature and art. Caraballo’s essay analyzes how Karen Russell’s 2011 novel Swamplandia! satirizes stereotypes of Florida to reveal “the duality of the state – the authentic quirky culture and the artificial predatory stereotypes corporations crafted to infatuate tourists.” Whether you’re a lifelong Floridian or curious outsider like Caraballo, you’ll have a blast reading this vivid and lively exploration of Florida’s alluring danger.
Our issue ends with Arden Gozum’s “Brown Beads & Future Dreams,” a memoir essay about the author’s intergenerational journey toward a career in medicine. One of the main ‘characters’ in this story is a rosary that has been in the family’s life for three decades. Given to the the author’s mother when she was a young student “in a quiet church,” those brown beads “traveled the distance of 8,100 miles with [her] mother as she made the courageous leap of faith to move from Manila, Philippines to Jacksonville, Florida.” The rosary has become a powerful symbol of love, faith, and resilience for Gozum, who now follows in her mother’s footsteps to become a physician.
We hope you enjoy these projects as much as we did and are inspired to submit your own projects to Waves!
—Emily Bald, Editor-in-chief
Scientific Illiteracy and Anti-Trans Rhetoric
When Society Collides with Science: The Role of Scientific Illiteracy in the Trans Panic, by Sunny Hunt
The Haunting Allure of Florida
Making a Spectacle of Florida: Interrogating the Allure of the Dangerous, the Macabre, and the Bizarre in Florida Tourism through Karen Russell’s Swamplandia!, by Isabella Caraballo
Bagging Plastic Bags
Detrimental Effects of Single Use Disposable Plastic Bags, by Viviana Baker
Faith and Legacy
Brown Beads & Future Dreams, by Arden Gozum
Sunny Hunt
“I hope to instill a sense of urgency in my readers. Once they finish reading, I want them to think about the role of science in our society and how they can be informed to prevent themselves from being manipulated or misled. I also want readers, especially those hoping to pursue careers in medicine, to know that some of their colleagues are trans and that no matter which team wins this game of politics, we aren’t going anywhere.”
Viviana Baker
“This policy brief calls attention to the various detrimental impacts felt by marine, terrestrial and urban environments due to plastic bag pollution. Despite long term proof that these materials are causing detrimental effects to both human and environmental health, single-use plastics are rampant in everyday life. Single-use plastic pollution is a widespread issue due to prevalent use and improper disposal. This is both a social and environmental problem, as we need a collective shift from an inherent disposable mindset to a more sustainable, reuse focused approach.”
Isabella Caraballo
“As a student who came from Maryland to attend the University of Florida, I was immediately intrigued by Florida’s kitschy, garish culture. . . . Upon further research and class discussion, Florida slowly revealed itself as a somewhat misunderstood place. I learned about Florida’s Sunshine Law, which has given rise to the “Florida Man” phenomenon and contributes to perceptions of Florida being a wild and lawless place. I created this essay as an outsider seeking to interrogate the stereotypes I held about Floridian culture by delving into how Florida tourism interacts with people’s attraction to the dangerous and the bizarre.”
Arden Gozum
“Writing the memoir was a therapeutic opportunity to reflect on my honest feelings about the start of my college journey. It forced me to slow down and acknowledge the messy and daunting feelings that I’ve repressed in the past. My intended audience for this project is any college student who is experiencing or has dealt with underlying shadows of doubt about their tracks. On a more niche level, I think anyone who has felt the weight of internal pressures – especially the desire to make their family proud – can relate to this as well. I hope my piece can resonate with those who are dealing with these kinds of vulnerable thoughts and encourage them to embrace the uncertainty.”