Until about a year ago, I thought I was cursed for interviews. I typically made it past the written stage of a job application but did not get anywhere beyond that unless I knew the interviewers beforehand. I believed there was something…
Rewarding Yourself Healthily
Congratulations on finishing exams and another year of university! The end of school definitely calls for a reward, but while junk food and 24 hours of Netflix are certainly tempting options, I don’t usually feel great after a full day of…
Reminiscing on my Summer Abroad
The biggest regret I have of my time in undergrad is not going on exchange. I’d wanted to spend a semester in Europe since high school, but doing so would’ve meant giving up opportunities such as donship or managing Caffiends, which I…
Now, A Break
On Tuesday afternoon, I finished my last exam of undergrad. It has taken some time for that fact to sink in. I’d imagined walking out of the exam centre skipping with joy in the sunlight. Instead, I spent a half hour calculating the…
I Wrote a Novel (Literally)
On Monday, I finished my first novel draft. It was 192 pages in total and just over 58000 words long. It’d taken me seven months to complete, and I wrote it for a fourth year seminar course (VIC479Y1) called The…
Social Media and Mental Health
I once read online that my generation spends an average of seven hours on social media per day. This at first sounded ridiculous to me. Most students don’t even sleep for that long. However, the stat — regardless of whether…
My Mindfulness Journey
Three years ago, I was going through a rough semester and my boyfriend’s mother gave me a book called Wherever You Go There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn, a stress reduction and mindfulness expert. Prior to this point, I’d thought of…
Wen-Do: My Absolute Favourite Event
Last year, I organized a Wen-Do Women’s Self Defence workshop, and it was the most empowering experience of my life. Self defence is so much more than martial art moves, and I don’t exaggerate when I say the workshop changed…
On Missing Class
One of the things I love most about university is the independence. Unlike in high school, you don’t need to ask anyone’s permission when you want to go to the washroom or get a drink. You also typically don’t get…
To Tea Or Not To Tea? That’s Never A Question.
A couple years ago, I was at Delirium, the famous bar in Brussels known for having literally thousands of beers. I was never a fan of beer, but the guy there said to me, “people who say they don’t like beer…