I feel awkward at parties. It’s not the drinking, the dancing, or the slurred attempts at small talk, all of which I am shamelessly bad at. It’s the fear that somewhere, sometime, I’ll be asked to put my music on shuffle. There is an unwarranted anxiety that comes with showcasing[Read More…]
Off the Board
Enough with the unwarranted LinkedIn views
A helicopter pilot once viewed my LinkedIn profile five times in one day before sliding into my DMs. As bizarre as this sounds, I know that I am not alone in experiencing harassment on the platform. Numerous women have come forward about harassment on LinkedIn, and unpleasant experiences sparked the creation[Read More…]
Confessions of a fangirl
When I first arrived at McGill, I was eager to make friends and answer all perfunctory introductory questions—what I study, where I come from, and what residence I live in. However, there was one fact I was always afraid to confess: I was a huge fan of TFBoys, the most popular[Read More…]
Funding universities is a national security issue
While the Chinese telecommunications manufacturer Huawei may be most famous in Canada for the Vancouver arrest of chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, the company’s influence is much closer to McGill than that event might suggest. Despite security experts’ concerns that the company may be operating as an intelligence asset for[Read More…]
St. Valentine’s Capitalist Manifesto
It seems that, every year, the public outcry against Valentine’s Day threatens to overwhelm the holiday itself. Browsing through the opinion sections of online publications, it is impossible to escape the feeling that a war is unfolding against the holiday. According to recent trends, the percentage of the population celebrating Valentine’s[Read More…]
Reinstituting systems of care: Treating eating disorders at McGill
I was lucky. I was able to sit down with my mum and tell her how scared I was. The people I love supported and watched out for me. When I woke up in the middle of the night and I couldn’t see, my dad was there to drive me[Read More…]
Becoming a Canadian in Canada
Before I went on exchange last winter, my mum sewed a small Canadian flag to my backpack. I was apprehensive: It felt like a a bold, definitive declaration of my nationality. As an anonymous traveller, your country of origin comes to define you, and I wasn’t sure I was ready[Read More…]
“But, you don’t seem autistic!”
Last October, my best friend, who has autism, told me that he thought I might be on the spectrum. I was skeptical: I’m not into trains, I take turns in a conversation, and I’m good at giving relationship advice; I’m not autistic. Still, his comment prompted me to do some[Read More…]
Reflecting on the Quebec mosque shooting two years later
I remember crying when I first heard about the Quebec City Mosque shooting. I saw the faces of my father, my uncles, and my friends in the faces of the victims. I remember asking how this could have happened in a country that claims to value immigrants and diversity. I[Read More…]
Light your academic fire
In the first few sessions of every graduate seminar I’ve taken at McGill, a particular routine has unfolded without fail: The class goes around the table introducing themselves, their progress in the program, and how their research interests relate to the course. When my turn comes, I take a deep[Read More…]
