I began doing the New York Times Mini Crossword during the pandemic, and after a year of practice, I could proudly complete it in under a minute almost every time. It was a solitary experience, a permanent fixture in my routine where I could compete with myself from the comfort[Read More…]
Off the Board
Why everyone deserves therapy
Therapy. There, I said it. A word that, despite its immeasurable benefits, carries the heavy weight of unrelenting stigma everywhere it goes. In the industrialized world, 25 per cent of adults experience significant mental health problems each year that require intervention in the form of psychotherapy and/or medication. In particular,[Read More…]
Don’t publish—and flourish
When I looked down the barrel of the microscope, I could see everything. I saw exploding galaxies of green fluorescence, and a network of nebulas dotting a dark, surrounding infinity. I saw the edge of a coastline studded with city lights, and islands surrounded by swirling oceans, like I was[Read More…]
Redefining the I’s in Identity
The first year of university is a major transition for all students. For me, the biggest change was not just moving across the country, but additionally learning to adapt to a completely different environment, both culturally and socially. Culturally, as I grew up as a Taiwanese immigrant in a small,[Read More…]
Every conflict deserves equal coverage
A month ago, I opened my social media only to be met with a flood of panicked posts. Ranging from tweets to reels and everything in between, the message was the same: How unbelievable it was that our generation was experiencing live coverage of war––a statement with which I did[Read More…]
The feminine urge to be a bit of an asshole
My mother is an assertive woman. When I was younger, I was often baffled by her abilities to command the attention she deserved whenever she walked in a room. Maybe it was because she spent years working as a manager at an engineering firm, or maybe it was because she[Read More…]
Changing the norms of university instruction
One year into my degree, in Fall 2021, I became aware that I spent more time studying at the university of YouTube, or the university of free online textbooks, than McGill itself. I woke up at 5:30 a.m., a despicably early time, to watch my 8:30 a.m. lecture all the[Read More…]
The challenges and comforts of transitioning at McGill
Crossing Sherbrooke street to pass through McGill’s Roddick Gates tends to offer newly admitted students the chance to explore a new life at university. When I first saw the majestic stone arch, I felt an overwhelming sense of pride. I was proud of getting myself to the university I knew[Read More…]
The unspoken harm of digital hoarding
Toward the end of my winter break, I flipped open my copy of the New York Times to find a dying Seneca, scantily clad with arms outstretched as if to spread the last vestiges of his sagacity to his surrounding party. He was trapped in the chassis of an article[Read More…]
Attempting to bridge the gap: A family divided by COVID-19
At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic when we were all shut into our homes, washing our groceries when we got home from the store and buying every disinfectant we could get our hands on, everyone in my extended family agreed that we had to do everything necessary to keep[Read More…]
