Admittedly, this odyssey you’re about to embark on may be longer than most of YAA’s blog posts, but I believe it’s worth your time, if only because it features not me, but Harrison Hart, a ConocoPhillips Youth of Distinction Awards (YODA) finalist for sportsmanship. Harrison, who is a Grade 11 student at Strathcona-Tweedsmuir, having just…
My job (I apologize to all of you who work during the school year–you’re all amazing), far from proving that I’m not lazy as I expected it to, has only vaulted me into a whole new dimension of procrastination and other such symptoms. It seems I’ve begun to use it (despite my extremely short hours) as…
With exception of number five on the list (the restaurant supply store), for this list, speciality usually means expensive. So while not to do your daily grocery shopping at, these stores are interesting to browse through and quite often air-conditioned as well. 1. The luxury store – Mercato’s The main value in going to Mercato—once quite a…
This is a bad advice column. Choosing the university to attend next year was a difficult decision for me–and I don’t think there’s a way to make sure you choose the best one. Or perhaps you can, but only for a certain piece of criteria. Luckily, likely a number of you graduating this year have…
It’s become the key word these days: one treated with derision and a patronizing air, oh those slacktivists, the ones who tweet #BringBackOurGirls and think that somehow they’ve saved a student all on their very own. We see them as hypocrites: the people who are all talk and no substance. However, for someone such as…
While novels that transcend the boundaries of time, such as everything I have been reading lately in English, are utterly fantastic, I find it hard to resist one that is directed so specifically to a contemporary concept. It is not simply the incorporation of current technology or our ever-evolving set of colloquialisms, but a novel…
I wasn’t sure what I expected when I arrived at the Eau Claire YMCA last Wednesday, but it was likely not the dynamic and enjoyable experience I had. The focus of the session I attended was urban art, and so, being right in downtown Calgary, we went for an urban art walk. Before that, however,…
For Sara Abdelrahim, Calgary was a vast, abstract idea of a community, not one that she actually participated in. This all changed when she joined the Immigrant Service’s Youth Volunteer Program back in February 2012. Since then Sara has accumulated well over 300 volunteer hours, and with her enthusiastic disposition and willingness to help and…
In the wake of the Liberal landslide of yesterday’s provincial election, as it turns out, not everyone was able to exercise their right to vote–enough to spark one person to create the Disenfranchised in Quebec blog, and other’s harrowing stories made the news. Most notably were five McGill students whom, even after providing utility bills…
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt In a traumatic incident, a young boy ends up with a priceless painting, which he comes to find himself unable to part with. This is the premise for The Goldfinch, a novel that surprised me in a number of ways. I didn’t expect that I would actually become so absorbed.…
I was at a loss when I sat down to write this post. Quite frankly, with up to 500 words to fill, and the simplicity of a coddled egg, adding enough text to balance an overload of images seemed to be a challenge. All that came to mind was a brief and insincere exploration of…
A while ago I wrote a (looking back, slightly confusing) post on the Western Canada Redmen and the controversy associated with ethnic slang. And, as it turns out, some change is indeed occurring. It has been confirmed that there will be a change in Western’s mascot, and as a result, Western Canada High School is…
Curling was the only sport I ended up watching during the Olympics, as it conveniently came on live around 10 p.m. MST. Surprisingly, in contrast to my initial impressions of the sport, I ended up more interested than I expected. Now that the Canadian Brier has just finished, I thought this the perfect time to…
A couple months ago at the library I saw something incredible. Something incredibly bizarre. Wild Orchid by Cameron Dokey is a retelling of the Ballad of Mulan, the same tale popularized by the animated Disney movie. If you need a recap, the summary of the novel is as so: “Wielding a sword as…
The Olympics are over now. Canada’s team of athletes won an impressive total of 25. And, all for a very real price tag. I’m of two minds when it comes to programs such as Own the Podium. (You can see a nice breakdown of their portion of the funding on their website.) The reality is that Own…