For McGill students, getting into a crowded course often takes more ambition and artistry than the class itself. Securing a spot might require skipping one class to head to another professor’s office hours, refreshing Minerva every two minutes, or carving hours out of a busy schedule to sit in line[Read More…]
Commentary
The optics of gun violence in Canada
Living in Canada, I’ve never thought of guns as a particularly divisive issue. As far back as I can remember having an opinion, my politics on the subject have mostly aligned with those of most of my country’s citizens, and I’ve always been thankful for this. But lately, I’ve been[Read More…]
Piecing together my McGill puzzle
Growing up, university was the light at the end of my tunnel. My family, friends, and teachers always pushed the idea that at university, I would find a place for myself where I would fit in perfectly—that I was a unique jigsaw piece yet to find the rest of its[Read More…]
Campus Conversation: First year residence—a house or a home?
Editor’s note: For many McGill students, the first campus community that they encounter is in residence. The McGill Tribune Opinion section asked contributors to draw on their personal experiences living in residence (or not), to answer the question, “Do McGill residences facilitate community-building, and if so, how?” Bryan Buraga | Lucas Bird | Kyle[Read More…]
Lonely campus
I’m a first-year McGill student, and I’m lonely. I did all the right things. I lived in residence. I participated in Arts Frosh. I joined a few clubs. But nothing seemed to work. None of my relationships could bridge the canyon-sized gap between acquaintance and friend. Everyone else, it appeared,[Read More…]
Am I (too) #EmotionallyUnavailable?
Living in the small Middle Eastern country of Kuwait for my entire life, teenagers often romanticized the easy-going university hook-up culture that we watched in Western movies and Netflix rom-coms. Much like many other first-year students, when I came to university I was thrilled to be away from a place[Read More…]
Beyond arts versus STEM: Why the interdisciplinary approach could revolutionize higher education
The idea that arts degrees are useless has become a cultural joke. Every holiday, my friends and I repeat the same conversation, poking fun at the fact that our relatives are definitely going to ask us about our studies, followed by the inevitable question: “What happens after graduation?” Yet, this[Read More…]
McGill’s grades-only admissions process needs a holistic revamp
Applying to most undergraduate faculties at McGill is a fairly easy process: Fill out some logistical information, submit a high school transcript, and plug in your grades. It’s as impersonal as an application can get. Students are immediately seen as a letter grade or number, stripped of the personalities and[Read More…]
Young people incite progressive change—why don’t Boomers see it?
On Oct. 31, 2017, Business Insider ran a piece listing the industries and businesses which millennials had supposedly “killed,” or were in the process of killing, in the most recent decade. This article is part of a trend of baby boomer-penned thought pieces demonizing younger generations for their habits and lifestyles,[Read More…]
SSMU’s CARE initiative needs to be revised and expanded
As the semester draws to a close, first-year students are busily finalizing their living situations. Arguably the most popular rental neighbourhood for McGill students is the Milton-Parc neighbourhood, colloquially known as the “McGill Ghetto.” Even if students do not live in the neighbourhood, many pass through it during their morning[Read More…]
