Many students begin the road to independence upon commencing university. Part of this change is taking on new responsibilities—especially financial ones. Whether you’re working two jobs to pay for your tuition and housing or still living with your parents and receiving a monthly allowance, you make monetary decisions every day of your life. These choices can influence the state of your finances years into the future.
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On tomatoes
The players are far from unknown. There’s the tomato: a round, plump fruit, often confused for a vegetable (although definitely a vegetable for taxation purposes, according to a 19th century U.S. Supreme Court ruling). Then there’s McGill University: a Canadian research institution with global renown and an annual late-August set of welcome exercises for new students.
Five classes you won’t regret choosing as electives
Students spend the majority of their time in university in classes that will propel them towards a future career. Many don’t have electives and the few who do sometimes waste them on so-called ‘bird courses.’ If you’re looking for a new approach, try choosing courses that are worth your while—either subjects that interest you, or courses that provide a fresh look at your field and will give you a new spark that will help keep you excited about studying in that department. Here are five courses for students, across the board, that either have great professors, interesting material, or—if you are really lucky—both.
Point counterpoint
In July 2013, Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin signed a law which gave police officers the right to make arrests on the grounds of disseminating “gay propaganda.” A number of other anti-gay laws have since followed under Putin, creating a whirlwind of controversy. Two contributors weigh in on whether a boycott by athletes and nations of the 2014 Sochi Olympics would be a good idea.
Drinking like there’s no tomorrow
If there is one lesson to be learned from all three features written by Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg in the last decade, it is that looks are always deceiving. In Shaun of the Dead (2004), the titular Shaun treks to the corner store to buy Cornettos— the U.K. equivalent of Drumsticks, and a recurring motif in each of the films— oblivious to the fact that a zombie apocalypse is occurring around him. Similarly, Hot Fuzz (2007) played upon the superficial innocence of a sleepy English village. The creative duo revisits these themes of lurking malevolence in The World’s End, this time waxing Sci-Fi while simultaneously exploring one man’s yearning to return to his golden youth. The result does not disappoint.
Will work for free: unpaid internships in focus
Last semester, with finals still looming, I began to contemplate what to do for the summer. A lot, or very little, can be accomplished in four months. After applying to several positions, I landed a full-time marketing internship close to home with a small company that seemed very professionally enriching. The only issue was that it was unpaid.
Still Life: Mourning Trance
Often, archetypal indie pop concerns itself with loss, generally that of some idealized relationship or another. However, Still Life’s new album shifts its creative focus to a different type of loss: mourning the deaths of extended family members of the band. This theme attests to the collective history of the musicians, who have been playing together since childhood. Every track reflects on these experiences, but it feels more like a tribute to living on rather than a cry against the unfairness of the world.
Third man in
For university students, May is the month when our exam anxiety evaporates and we veer off to begin our promising summer plans. However, this summer brought with it a new cause for uneasiness and hope. It was NHL playoff hockey, and it had finally returned to Toronto.
Australian restaurateur develops symbol for ‘the’
With the development of social media and communications technology, language is facing external pressures to shift towards a more condensed form, as seen in the current use of slangs, abbreviations, and connotations.
Hope in the Republic: how the Gezi Park protests are bringing together a polarised society
If someone had told me a week ago that a major protest would erupt in my country, I would have thought that person was insane. As I landed in Istanbul for the summer, I was expecting an uneventful month off with my family. The government enjoyed strong support as the[Read More…]
