When I was eight years old, I got the first hit of my competitive softball career. I don’t remember where I hit the ball to, but I remember standing tall on second base, feeling shock, pride, and pure happiness: An exhilarating combination. Hits came more regularly after that. I spent[Read More…]
Off the Board
Learning to love my big nose
I love my big, crooked nose, but that hasn’t always been the case. The first time I was made aware of its size was when my aunt asked me if I had broken it. Her sentiment made me feel sick. I pushed aside my childhood ambitions of becoming a writer[Read More…]
Unlucky inheritance
There are many things in my life that I’ve accepted as inevitable: Breaking a bone, teenage heartbreak, and failing a final exam, for example, I have a strange sense that those events are predetermined. This may be symptomatic of a childhood spent in front of a television—each event in my[Read More…]
Corporate culture, as seen on TV
Popular media offers a vivid portrayal of modern corporate culture, but I didn’t expect it to translate so literally to my experience at my first tech internship this previous summer. It was nothing short of jarring to recognize so many phrases I had previously only heard from the mouth of[Read More…]
Identities should start conversations, not end them
Being Israeli is something that I keep to myself at McGill. After returning to school this September, my peers often asked what I did over the summer. I told them that I had been travelling, but omitted that I had actually staffed a trip that took Jewish-Canadian 17-year-olds to Israel.[Read More…]
Missed connections: Exchange can be isolating
Before I left for my exchange term at the University of Edinburgh last winter, I sat in Leacock 132, half-listening to a mandatory safety presentation, when one line caught my attention: “This is going to be the best five months of your life.” The idea terrified me: I was by[Read More…]
“Hey, so I did a thing…”
I found out that I was pregnant on the same night that the Chicago Cubs won the World Series. The euphoria of my hometown’s victory was accompanied by a devastating plus-sign on a pee stick. I was 17-years-old. The morning after, I called Planned Parenthood and set up an appointment[Read More…]
Tolerate thy neighbour
I don’t consider myself to be a selfish or ignorant person. I take some pride in keeping up to date with current events, because I think it’s important to know what’s going on around me. I’m even prouder of the fact that I know most everything there is to know[Read More…]
You are what you eat
Dairy, fish, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, tree nuts, peanuts, and shellfish. Seven rules for feeding me, or rather, what not to feed me—seven allergens that are ingrained in my memory. This list is a part of who I am. And no, it’s not easy navigating the world of food with[Read More…]
What is an “internship?”
For me, and hopefully for many other McGill students, this academic year is all about honesty. School is difficult; let’s talk about it. I’m saying goodbye to “everything’s fine.” No more plastering a fake smile over my insecurities. I’m done with pretending. This year is about finding strength in vulnerability,[Read More…]
