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Insulin Spike and Price Spike: Who Owns Our Lives

  Clayton Yun Professor Horgan HST 401 11 February 2026 Insulin Spike and Price Spike: Who Owns Our Lives I sat quietly in the back seat of the car, watching the border booth lights reflect off the windshield as we pulled up to the U.S. Customs checkpoint. My parents rolled down the window and handed over their passports. The officer asked the usual questions in a bored, mechanical tone. Where we had been, how long we stayed, and what the purpose of the trip was. My parents answered calmly, but I could tell they were waiting for the one question everyone expects. “Are you bringing anything back with you?” There was a brief pause before my dad responded. “Yes,” he said. “Insulin.” The officer’s expression shifted slightly, not shocked, but suddenly more alert. He asked how much, and my mom explained it was a two-month supply. Then the officer leaned forward a little and asked another question, sharper this time. “Is it for you?” “No,” she replied. “It’s for our son, Jack.” Even thou...
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Holistic Medicine: My Personal Window into Pre-Modern Medicine

  Jonah Diaz HST 401-A Professor Horgan 11 February 2026 “I pledge my honor that I have abided by the Stevens Honor System” -Jonah Diaz Holistic Medicine: My Personal Window into Pre-Modern Medicine My mother was never fond of doctors or modern medicine in general for that matter. This indifference can largely be attributed to a lack of familiarity or exposure to “standard” medical care given that she was raised in a low-income, rural setting under the Chilean Pinochet regime. Furthermore, my mother belongs to the Mapuche indigenous people, a people who have long resisted assimilation and subjugation from foreign actors to this day. The Mapuche practiced a systematic form of holistic medicine in which a machi (healer/religious figure) carries out ritualistic healing ceremonies based on extensive herbal knowledge. Current Mapuche society and culture is merely a shell of its formal self but fortunately, much of the knowledge remains preserved through subsequent generations. My pers...
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The Right to be Cared For

        “The US Healthcare system is broken”- a phrase I have heard often that sparks a lot of debate, anger, even sadness within people, which is perfectly understandable. And the common reasons people give to back up the claim that our healthcare system is broken stems from high costs, worker shortage, the involvement of government in healthcare etc. However, I believe there are 2 sides to this coin. The US Healthcare System has improved the lives of many on various accounts including: Maternal and infant health, cancer reach and prevention, public awareness of diseases, vaccines, and the prevention and control of infectious diseases. Therefore, it is important to preface that US Healthcare isn’t something that should be taken for granted or a topic that should be discussed for the sole purpose of highlighting its current faults and shortcomings because when you look at the whole picture, it has done a lot of good.  When problems related to the current US He...
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Life, Death, and the Struggle In Between

  Jack Caputo HST401 12 Feb 2026 Assignment 2 I pledge my Honor I have abided by the Stevens Honor System. x Jack Caputo WITH THE FORTUNE of living a long life comes the misfortunate of the complications of age. Most seniors eventually find challenging the tasks which were once trivial – showering, taking the stairs, doing laundry. This happens at different times for different people, and in different forms, but if you stay on this planet long enough, you will certainly start to pay for that long life of yours. I’ve been chewing on ideas of age and senior care for the past few months now. Allow me to set the scene: back in my hometown, my family lives across the street from a delightful older couple. Let’s call them Jim and Jane. They have had a great life together, travelling most of the world on excursions and cruises, and are generally just pleasant and polite in an old-timey sort of way. Genuine, pure souls. My family would see them only occasionally, maybe once a month. They w...
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The Digital Divide: Ageism and Inequity in Healthcare Access

Faye Gilbert  John Horgan HST 401 February 11, 2026 I pledge my honor that I have abided by the Stevens Honor System.                                       My grandma has always been a woman of routine. She’d wake up around four or six most mornings entirely on her own accord. She’d get dressed, make a cup of tea, and open her phonebook to dial a neighbor on the rotary. She’s stuck to this ritual for decades on end. However, in her older age, it falters at times. She’s started to forget some small steps, whether it be to turn off the bathroom faucet, or the kettle, or to pair some breakfast with her tea. She is not without help, though. On the increasingly often occasion time feels hazy to her and she stays in bed a little too long, she is provided a gentle nudge from the songbirds that inhabit her b...
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