Content warning: Mentions of sexual violence From where he was standing, he could not see me. All he saw was a young woman, possibly alone, sitting inside Juliette et Chocolat, enjoying a dessert. She was not making eye contact or flirting. She was just sitting. That is when he, the[Read More…]
Off the Board
A lesson from my mom
I am sure that my mom is not the best cook in the world, but at some point in my childhood, I realized that all of my friends’ parents couldn’t cook nearly as well as my mom could. Every night, even when she complained of being tired or of a[Read More…]
Overcoming human challenges with transhumanism
Sometimes, being human involves tragedy: unexpected accidents can alter a person’s future, permanently changing how they need to approach their daily lives. Those with traumatic brain injuries suffer long-term mental and physical challenges, such as trouble with their working memory span, which can play a significant role in their education[Read More…]
The mental impacts of physical injury
When I was 16, my dream was to play soccer and run track at university, and perhaps even at the professional level. At the time, sports were my social life, my confidence booster, and my joyful escape from the stress of academics. But adolescent dreams die hard. In my third[Read More…]
In defence of texting like a man
I am, for the most part, a happy person, but I would not be described as cheery by my friends or family. However, if you were to read one of my emails or Slack messages, I am a bubbly ball of joy. Until last week, I forced exclamation marks into[Read More…]
Lessons from my hometown
I grew up in a trailer park in Upstate New York. Having moved several times throughout my early childhood, I remember moving into the trailer with my mother and brother as an exciting moment: Even though I had to share my bedroom, it was the largest one that I had[Read More…]
TikTok is unexpectedly revolutionary
In 2010, I wrote my first ever social media post: “What is this Buzz thing?” I typed it out on the family computer, posted it to the now-defunct Google Buzz, and immediately clicked the like button on my own post. Looking back on it now, it’s difficult to believe it[Read More…]
The hidden hurdles of a wallflower
The social interactions of everyday life exhaust me. Oftentimes, I would rather observe commotion unfold before me than engage in it. Due to our reserved nature, introverts like myself are frequently asked if we are okay when, in reality, we are happily minding our own business. Although the people asking[Read More…]
Exams belong in the past
Job interviews for entry-level positions in the technology sector are notorious for the use of whiteboard tests: Interviewers ask applicants to solve programming problems on a whiteboard, without access to reference materials or coded-checking tools that programmers would usually have access to when doing real work. Universally reviled by applicants,[Read More…]
Reflections on racism from the election
The 2019 federal election was my first experience voting. When I was a child, voting seemed like a distant, adult future; growing up outside of Canada also made that future seem more inaccessible, because my participation in Canadian political issues was always online, thousands of kilometres away. But finally, this[Read More…]
