Youth Are Awesome, commonly referred to as YAA, is a blog written by youth for youth.
YAA provides the youth of Calgary a place to amplify their voices and perspectives on what is happening around them.
Youth Are Awesome is a program of Youth Central.
Any views or opinions expressed on this blog belong solely to the author and do not represent those of people or organizations that the blog may be associated with, unless explicitly stated. All content is for informational purposes only.
Youth in 2025 are becoming increasingly interested and active in politics. This trend has been amplified through various areas today, including increased engagement with information via social media and early exposure to political rallies. Most importantly, it is driven by the impact of politics on young Canadians.
This raises the question: why aren’t youth voices more sought after, given the significant impact current-day politics will have on them? When you look at youth engagement in politics and policymaking, it is easy to stereotype youth as apathetic and unresponsive; however, when you look at how governments consistently undervalue young people’s opinions and ideas, it is no wonder youth often choose to opt out of politics.
Historically, youth voter turnout between ages 18-24 has been one of the lowest demographics to actually cast a ballot. In 2019, according to Elections Canada, only fifty-four percent of young people aged 18-24 actively participated in the federal election compared to over eighty percent of people aged sixty-five or older. If you feel your voice will be simply ignored and your opinions will be written off due to your age and perceived lack of experience, it is easy to fall into a cycle of hopelessness, which breeds apathy.
To combat this, current policymakers need to make room for young people and not just use youth symbolically while consistently undermining youth’s concerns and desired pathways.
Youth voter turnout is not reflective of youth engagement; youth are out in the community hosting rallies, walkouts, and trying to present their ideas over social media. It is clear that in the current day, policymakers view youth as idealistic, inexperienced, and naive.
If you want students and youth to participate in elections at higher rates and become more politically literate, ensure that the sense of hopelessness they feel is combated by representative and utilized programs. This, in turn, would motivate students to more actively participate in political decision-making as they see both the ramifications of these decisions and also proper avenues where they can take action. This is how you make room for the future: by seeing that they are also citizens of the present and deserve equal respect.
Bitcoin (BTC) was the first cryptocurrency ever created, and it’s still the most famous and valuable one today. The concept of digital money has been around for decades, but Bitcoin officially went live in 2009, completely changing how people think about money.
Since then, Bitcoin has been a wild ride, marked by huge price jumps, big crashes, intense hype, and numerous debates.
2. How Bitcoin Started
1983: A cryptographer named David Chaum came up with an early idea for digital money called eCash. It didn’t take off, but it inspired future tech.
2008: Someone using the fake name Satoshi Nakamoto released a paper explaining Bitcoin.
2009: Bitcoin officially launched. The first block (called the Genesis Block) was created.
2010: Someone spent 10,000 BTC on two pizzas. This day is now known as Bitcoin Pizza Day.
2011: Bitcoin hit $1 for the first time and started getting serious attention.
2013: Forbes called Bitcoin the best investment of the year.
2014: Bloomberg called it the worst investment of the year.
2020: PayPal started supporting crypto, making Bitcoin easier to buy and use.
2021: The first U.S. Bitcoin ETF got approved.
2022: The crypto exchange FTX collapsed, shaking trust in crypto.
2024: The U.S. approved spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, making crypto more “official.”
2025: The U.S. passed major crypto laws and even created a national Bitcoin reserve.
3. What Even Is Blockchain?
Bitcoin runs on something called blockchain. Think of it as a public online record book that keeps track of every Bitcoin transaction.
The cool part?
No banks needed
No government control
Anyone with internet can use it
Once a transaction is added, it can’t be changed
That’s why people say Bitcoin is decentralized.
4. Bitcoin Terms You Should Know
Bitcoin (BTC): The main currency
Satoshi (SAT): The smallest unit of Bitcoin
Transaction: Sending Bitcoin from one person to another
Block: A group of transactions
Mining: Computers verify transactions and get rewarded with BTC
Wallet: Where you store your Bitcoin
Public key: Like your username (used to receive BTC)
Private key: Like your password (lose it = lose your Bitcoin forever)
Fun fact (but painful): About 20% of all Bitcoin is lost because people forgot their private keys.
5. How Bitcoin Is Used Around the World
Bitcoin isn’t just for investing — it’s used in real situations:
El Salvador made Bitcoin legal money in 2021
Crypto has been used to send aid during wars like Russia–Ukraine
Countries like Iran use Bitcoin to get around financial sanctions
Sadly, bad groups have also misused crypto, which is why regulation matters
Some countries ban crypto, others fully support it.
6/ Why Do People Care About Bitcoin?
People like Bitcoin because it:
Gives more control over money
Doesn’t rely on banks
Works globally
Challenges the traditional financial system
Whether Bitcoin becomes the future of money or just stays a big investment, one thing’s clear: it already changed the world.
Have you ever seen the brown liquid doctors or surgeons use to clean wounds? That’s povidone iodine, also known as Betadine!
Povidone iodine is one of the most powerful and commonly used antiseptics. It is used in hospitals for cleaning skin before surgery, treating cuts and wounds, and it can even be found in ointments and mouthwashes. It works by killing bacteria, viruses, and fungi, and unlike many antiseptics, germs rarely become resistant to it.
1. A bit of history:
Iodine was discovered in 1811 and quickly became popular for cleaning wounds. However, pure iodine caused skin irritation and staining, so its use decreased over time.
In 1955, scientists discovered povidone-iodine, which combines iodine with a substance called polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP). This new form kept iodine’s strong germ-killing power while making it safer and gentler on the skin.
2. How does it work?:
PVP acts like a carrier that slowly releases iodine. This slow release helps kill germs effectively without damaging the skin. That’s why povidone iodine is both strong and safe.
3. Why is it so special?:
Kills many types of germs
Causes less irritation
Does not stain skin as much
Used worldwide in healthcare
Only used on the skin (not absorbed into the body)
Povidone iodine is a great example of how science improves everyday healthcare: simple, effective, and life-saving.
Many people think being bilingual means having a “different kind of brain.” Some even believe bilingual kids get confused, or that bilinguals are automatically smarter than everyone else. But what does science actually say? Based on research by Dr. Ping Li and a major neuroscience review by Albert Costa & Núria Sebastián-Gallés, here’s what we really know about the bilingual brain, explained simply.
1. First things first: bilingual and monolingual brains are more similar than different
Whether you speak one language or five, you’re still human, and humans all use the same brain structures to process language. There is no such thing as:
a “bilingual brain area”
a “monolingual cortex”
or a special “language gene”
The brain doesn’t assign one language to one location. Instead, the same brain networks are reused, but they’re trained differently depending on language experience.
Think of it like this: Everyone uses the same gym, but bilinguals train more muscle groups, more often.
2. Language is processed across the whole brain
Language is not handled by just one small area. Research shows it involves:
the frontal lobe (planning, grammar)
the temporal lobe (sounds and meaning)
the parietal lobe (word connections)
both hemispheres of the brain
This is why learning a language takes time, you’re training many systems at once.
3. Do bilinguals use the left or right brain differently? Not in a simple way
In the past, scientists thought bilinguals might be more “right-brained.” New research shows this idea is too simple.
For example:
When English speakers first learn Chinese tones, they treat tones as sounds → more right hemisphere
Once they become fluent, tones become meaningful → more left hemisphere
So the brain changes as learning progresses. It’s not about being bilingual vs monolingual, it’s about experience and proficiency.
4. Learning two languages physically changes the brain
Bilingualism is a powerful example of neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to change with experience.
Studies show that bilinguals often have:
stronger connections between brain regions
more gray matter in areas related to language and control
stronger white matter pathways that help different brain areas communicate
Even students learning a new language for just a few weeks show measurable brain changes.
5. Bilingual babies are not delayed, they just adapt differently
A common myth is that bilingual infants are “slower.” Research shows:
Bilingual babies learn sounds, words, and grammar on a similar timeline as monolinguals
They can tell languages apart from a very young age
They develop special attention skills to manage two systems
Bilingual infants don’t get confused, they become better at noticing patterns and differences.
6. Bilinguals may know fewer words in one language, but more overall
Because vocabulary is split across two languages:
A bilingual child may know fewer words in each language
But their total vocabulary across both languages is similar to that of monolinguals
This is not a weakness, it’s a different distribution.
7. Managing two languages trains the brain’s control system
Here’s one of the most interesting findings:
Bilinguals constantly:
choose which language to use
suppress the other language
switch depending on context
This trains the brain’s executive control system, which helps with:
attention
task switching
conflict resolution
That’s why bilinguals often perform better on tasks that require focus and flexibility, even when language isn’t involved.
8. Bilingualism and aging: a surprising benefit
Research suggests bilingualism may:
delay symptoms of Alzheimer’s and dementia by 4–5 years
increase cognitive reserve, helping the brain cope with damage longer
This doesn’t mean bilingualism prevents disease, but it may help the brain stay resilient.
9. Important warning: bilingualism only helps when both languages are supported
Not all bilingual experiences are equal.
If a child:
loses their first language
or doesn’t get enough meaningful input
Some benefits may disappear. Balanced, rich language exposure is key, especially for immigrant and minority communities.
10. So, what’s the real takeaway?
Science shows that:
Bilingual brains are not confused
They are adaptable
They are trained by experience, not magically different
Bilingualism doesn’t make you automatically smarter, but it reshapes how your brain works, from infancy to old age.
And most importantly, it proves that the human brain is incredibly flexible.
We often take for granted the basic human rights that allow us to obtain education, live in a safe and secure environment and freedom to have an opinion. However, many people across the world have their fundamental rights stripped away from them for a variety of reasons. In this blog post, we will take a deep dive into the details of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, including examples of its implementation, instances of its violation, and what we can do to advocate for and promote human rights.
What is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a document which outlines the fundamental rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled, regardless of race, religion, nationality, or gender. This document was adopted by the United Nations on December 10, 1948.
This document comprises a total of 30 articles that serve to explain these fundamental rights and serve as a standard for all countries and governments to follow. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was created after World War 2 to prevent future atrocities and severe human rights violations from happening again. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is recognized as a symbol of peace as it is viewed as a guideline for a peaceful, free, and civil society that prioritizes the dignity and equal rights of all people.
The core principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights include:
Universality: These human rights are universal and apply to everyone regardless of nationality, religion, gender and any discrimination is not tolerated.
Inalienability: These human rights and freedoms are guaranteed for all humans and are not something that is earned or given away. This means that even if a person commits a crime, they still possess these fundamental rights.
Indivisibility: Emphasizes that all rights are equally important and interdependent.
Examples where UDHR principles are upheld?
There are some examples around the world where the principles and articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are followed. Here are some examples:
Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Canada: Grants the majority of the human rights stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, including the freedom of expression, religion, and equality.
European Court of Human Rights (ECHR): Allows individuals to file complaints against states for violations of human rights. This ensures that these rights are protected and established everywhere.
Examples Where UDHR Principles are Broken
Though in an ideal world, all articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights should be protected, in the real world, there are many cases in history where the articles have been violated. Here are some examples:
Discrimination: In some countries around the world, citizens are significantly discriminated against based on race, lacking the fundamental principle of equality before the law.
Inequality: In various countries around the world, regime Loyalty is prioritized over equality. In this system, many citizens are systematically targeted on the basis of social, political or gender grounds.
How can we promote Human Rights?
Human rights and the principles outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are violated in a lot of places across the world where humans are commonly persecuted and discriminated against. In this day and age, there are lots of steps that we can take to promote human rights and advocate for our views. First and foremost, we can spread awareness about incidents which violate human rights and explain what the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is to others through social media. You can also volunteer with local organizations that promote basic human rights and donate money or items to various non-government organizations aimed to solve issues faced by many across the world.
Volunteering is a powerful way to give back to the community while also growing as a person. I used to despise going outside and really just trying new things, along with my confidence being at its lowest level. One day a friend had dragged me to a full day of volunteering with her, and I hated to admit it but, it was one of the best days I had. Volunteering didn’t just support those in need, but it also helped me develop new skills, build confidence, and form meaningful connections.
Building Confidence
One of the many ways volunteering helped me was building my self confidence, at one point in my life it was so low, I never believed in my capabilities. As I did more volunteering projects, I got the opportunity to try new things and succeed in real-life situations. As I got to complete more tasks, solve problems, and most importantly saw the positive impacts in my self, I started to trust my abilities much more. Working with others and being appreciated by my efforts also helped me feel more capable and comfortable speaking up and taking initiative.
Improved Mental Health
As I entered high school, I felt so much more stressed and isolated. I always thought I never had the time to do anything else but school and extra curriculars. When I did my first volunteering project, it gave a sense of purpose and accomplishment and my mood was so much better. Now whenever that stressed and isolated feeling comes back, I sign myself up for any available project I see and get active in the community.
Sense of Responsibility
Whenever it came to time management and commitment, I never could do it. I never showed up on time, whether it was school or events I made a commitment to help out on, and it took me many volunteering projects to figure it out. I learned through each project that as other depend on you, you learn the importance of reliability and accountability. Overtime, I gained the ability to manage time and commitment, whether it was schoolwork or every day life, it was a skill that helped me be into the person I am today.
In Conclusion…
Volunteering is so much more than helping others, it can help grow confidence, responsibility, and emotional well being. From meaningful service to gaining a sense of purpose, volunteering can create a change in the lives of those who choose to give their time.
When I first started learning Bharatanatyam, I thought it was just another form of dance. I already enjoyed movement, rhythm, and performance, so I assumed I would pick it up quickly. I was wrong. Bharatanatyam demanded something I wasn’t used to giving so deliberately: patience and precision.
Unlike styles where movement can feel free-flowing, Bharatanatyam is exact. Every hand gesture, every eye movement, every bend of the knee has meaning. At first, this was frustrating. I wanted to move faster, to feel graceful immediately, but instead I found myself stuck repeating basic steps, correcting posture, and holding positions longer than felt comfortable.
Patience was the first lesson Bharatanatyam forced me to learn. Progress was slow, sometimes painfully so. I would practice the same adavu again and again, only to be told it still wasn’t quite right. My legs would ache, my ankles would burn, and my arms would feel heavy, but stopping early was never an option. Over time, I realized that improvement didn’t come from rushing. It came from showing up consistently, even on days when nothing seemed to click.
Precision was the second lesson, and perhaps the harder one. In Bharatanatyam, small mistakes stand out. A hand turned slightly the wrong way or eyes that move a moment too late can change the entire expression of a piece. I learned that precision is not about being stiff or perfect. It is about awareness. Every movement must be intentional, connected to rhythm, expression, and storytelling.
As I improved, I began to understand why this level of detail mattered. Bharatanatyam is not just movement set to music. It is communication. The dancer carries responsibility for the story, the emotion, and the tradition behind every piece. That responsibility made me more mindful of my body and more respectful of the art form itself.
This mindset slowly began to shape other areas of my life. I became more careful with my work, more attentive to feedback, and more willing to revisit things I thought I had already mastered. Bharatanatyam taught me that repeating the basics is not a step backward. It is often the foundation for growth.
Perhaps the most important lesson was how patience and precision work together. Precision cannot exist without patience, and patience becomes meaningful when it is directed toward something specific. Bharatanatyam showed me that growth is quiet. It happens in repetition, correction, and persistence, not in sudden moments of perfection.
Even now, every performance carries reminders of those early lessons. The stillness before movement, the control behind expression, and the discipline beneath the beauty all reflect what Bharatanatyam has taught me. The stage may show confidence, but it is built on hours of slow, deliberate practice.
Learning Bharatanatyam did not just teach me how to dance. It taught me how to slow down, trust the process, and value precision in everything I do. Those lessons stay with me long after the music ends.
Artificial intelligence is everywhere. It recommends what we watch, helps doctors analyze medical scans, filters job applications, and even assists in driving cars. As AI systems become more involved in decisions that affect real people, an important question keeps coming up: who is responsible when AI makes a mistake?
At first glance, it might seem simple to blame the technology itself. If an algorithm makes the wrong call, shouldn’t the algorithm be at fault? However, AI does not exist on its own. It is designed, trained, and used by humans. Because of this, responsibility is much more complex than it appears.
Understanding What AI Really Is
Despite how advanced it seems, AI is not conscious. It does not think, feel, or understand consequences the way humans do. AI systems work by identifying patterns in large sets of data and making predictions based on those patterns. If the data is biased, outdated, or incomplete, the results will reflect those problems.
A real example of this can be seen in facial recognition technology. Studies have shown that some facial recognition systems are far less accurate at identifying women and people of colour. This is largely because the data used to train these systems contained mostly images of white men. The AI did not choose to be biased. It learned bias from human-made data.
The Role of the Developers
Developers play a major role in AI mistakes. They choose the training data, decide how the system learns, and set the goals the AI is meant to achieve. If something goes wrong, those early design choices often play a key role.
One well-known example occurred at Amazon, where an experimental AI hiring tool was found to disadvantage female applicants. The system was trained using resumes submitted over many years, most of which came from men. As a result, the AI learned to favour male candidates and penalize resumes that included words like “women’s.” Amazon eventually scrapped the tool, but the incident showed how developer decisions can lead to harmful outcomes.
Developers have a responsibility to test AI systems carefully, question their data sources, and anticipate potential harm before releasing products to the public.
The Responsibility of Companies and Organizations
Companies that deploy AI systems are also responsible. Even if an AI tool is well designed, using it carelessly can cause serious consequences. Organizations decide whether AI is used as a support tool or as a replacement for human judgment.
A strong example of this is self-driving car technology. In 2018, an autonomous Uber vehicle struck and killed a pedestrian in Arizona. Investigations showed that the AI system detected the pedestrian but failed to react properly. Uber had also reduced human oversight during testing. While the AI made the immediate error, the company’s decisions about safety protocols played a major role.
When companies benefit financially from AI efficiency, they must also accept accountability when the technology causes harm.
Can Users Be Responsible?
In some cases, responsibility extends to the people using AI systems. Professionals often rely on AI tools to assist their decisions, but problems arise when AI is treated as infallible.
For example, some doctors use AI systems to help detect cancer in medical scans. While these tools can be extremely helpful, they are not perfect. If a medical professional relies solely on an AI diagnosis and ignores warning signs that contradict it, responsibility becomes shared. AI should support human judgment, not replace it.
Users must understand the limits of AI and remain actively involved in decision-making.
Legal Responsibility and the Law
One of the biggest challenges with AI responsibility is that laws have not kept pace with technological advancement. Most legal systems are designed to hold people or organizations accountable, not machines. Since AI cannot be punished or held morally responsible, humans must bear the responsibility.
Some governments are beginning to respond. The European Union has proposed regulations that would require companies to ensure transparency and accountability in high-risk AI systems, such as those used in law enforcement or healthcare. These laws aim to prevent companies from avoiding blame by claiming that “the algorithm made the mistake.”
Clear legal frameworks are essential to ensure fairness and protect the public.
So, Who Is Responsible?
AI mistakes are not harmless. They can deny people jobs, misidentify suspects, spread misinformation, or put lives at risk. When responsibility is unclear, those affected may have no way to challenge decisions or seek justice.
If society allows companies to hide behind technology, trust in innovation will decrease. On the other hand, clearly assigning responsibility encourages ethical design, careful use, and safer outcomes.
The most accurate answer is that responsibility is shared. Developers are responsible for how AI is built, companies are responsible for how it is deployed, and users are responsible for how much trust they place in it. AI itself is a powerful tool, but it reflects human choices at every stage.
As AI continues to shape our world, responsibility must be treated as a core part of technological progress, not an afterthought. Only then can AI truly serve society without causing unnecessary harm.
Sources:
Buolamwini, J., & Gebru, T. (2018). Gender Shades: Intersectional Accuracy Disparities in Commercial Gender Classification. MIT Media Lab.
Dastin, J. (2018). Amazon scraps secret AI recruiting tool that showed bias against women.
National Transportation Safety Board. (2019). Collision Between Vehicle Controlled by Developmental Automated Driving System and Pedestrian.
European Commission. (2021). Proposal for a Regulation Laying Down Harmonised Rules on Artificial Intelligence (AI Act).
Topol, E. (2019). High-performance medicine: the convergence of human and artificial intelligence. Nature Medicine.
If Oreos and chocolate chip cookies had a very serious meeting and decided to become one dessert, this would be it. These cookie bars are soft, chewy, slightly gooey in the middle, and hiding a full layer of Oreos inside. They look impressive but are honestly hard to mess up, which is my favourite kind of baking.
Why you’ll love these
No mixer required
One pan, minimal cleanup
Crispy edges, soft center
Oreos. Enough said.
Ingredients
1 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
1 family-size pack of Oreos (you’ll use most of it)
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a 9×13 pan with parchment paper or lightly grease it.
In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth.
Add the eggs and vanilla. Whisk again until fully combined.
Stir in the flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix just until the dough comes together. Don’t overmix. Fold in the chocolate chips.
Press about half of the cookie dough evenly into the bottom of the pan.
Lay Oreos on top in a single layer. You can break some in half to fill gaps, but don’t stress about perfection.
Drop spoonfuls of the remaining dough over the Oreos and gently spread it out so most of the cookies are covered.
Bake for 25–30 minutes, until the top is lightly golden and the center is just set.
Let cool for at least 20 minutes before slicing. This part is hard, but worth it.
Tips
For extra gooey bars, slightly underbake them.
Sprinkle a little flaky salt on top before baking if you’re into that sweet-salty thing.
These taste even better the next day, somehow.
Final thoughts
These are the kind of desserts that disappear fast, so if you’re bringing them somewhere, maybe make two pans. Or don’t. Self-control is optional.
In the awful and dull winter, it is easy to forget how beautiful summer is. The yellow and gold hues that shine through the trees, cute jean cut-offs, and sweet ice cream. However, one of the most memorable moments from my childhood was sleep-away camp.
I first started attending when I was eleven years old, much older than the vast majority of summer camp goers. At the time, I was incredibly shy and fearful about being away from my parents for the first time. I remember clinging to my carseat as we drove up to this large grove of trees sat aside a babbling brook, before the camp sign came into view.
It wasn’t until I met my camp counsellor that I began to unwind and become more comfortable in my new environment. My camp counsellor was the coolest person I had ever met, with pearly blue sunglasses and ribbons in her hair.
Throughout that week, I learned how to be independent and brave in a way that I had previously never been and made friends who are still in my life today. From then on, every year I waited patiently for summer to arrive. To return to the wilderness where the smell of campfire and the twinkling of stars awaited me. I continued to go to camp up until I was too old to attend.
Last year, I got hired to work as a camp counsellor at another local sleep-away camp. I got to fall back in love with the outdoors and camp. I saw camp from a whole new perspective, staying up late with my co-workers and getting to be a kid again.
During this, I started thinking about why exactly sleep-away camp is so important and has played such a large role in my life.
Summer camp is an environment where kids can make their own decisions, often for the first time in their lives. There is nobody there babying them in the same way a parent does. You can be who you want. The confidence that children gain from camp, and the sheer unapologetic authenticity that it encourages, are so important.
Additionally, the silence and slowing down that being in nature facilitates is vital to childhood development and an appreciation for the outdoors.
Sleep-away camp has made me into who I am today, and is a core childhood memory that I will cherish forever. Even in the dead of winter, I continue to long for the summer and know that the gentle hum of the campfire awaits me.
At some point in the school year, things get quieter. The second semester begins, and the corridors are less loud, the classes are more of a routine, and everyone basically knows where they’re going. There’s less craziness than when school first started. However, even though things are less loud, it somehow feels more heavy.
The second semester is just easier when looking from the outside in. There’s a routine to the schedule, the teachers aren’t new anymore, and most people have found their cliques. There’s less small talk and first impressions to be made. Everything is more predictable, which should make everything feel lighter.
However, the weight begins to build. Grades become more important now, especially as finals approach and talk of next year begins. Even if it’s not said directly, there’s this sense that you should have your stuff together by now. This is a time of year when people are supposed to “lock in” even if they’re running on fumes.
Motivation shifts as well. The first semester is full of excitement and new beginnings. The second semester is full of expectations but not a lot of motivation. Burnout isn’t always an extreme thing. Sometimes it’s just feeling exhausted all the time without anything necessarily bad happening.
Emotionally, second semester can be a lonely time. It seems like everyone is managing just fine, so it’s easy to feel like you’re the only one struggling. Stress becomes comedy, and exhaustion becomes normal. The burden is there, but it’s a quiet one, which makes it easy to ignore.
The quietness of it is part of what makes second semester so much heavier. There’s less external craziness, but more internal pressure. It’s easier to let stress build up when nothing is “bad enough” to talk about.
Just because second semester might be a heavy time doesn’t mean you’re struggling. It’s possible to have quiet weeks that are still difficult weeks. Just making it through this part of the year, even if you’re not feeling motivated or inspired, is still an accomplishment.
Most of my free time goes into musical activities, whether its practicing the piano, band rehearsals, or pedagogy. Through these experiences, I’ve interacted with musicians of various ages from different backgrounds and lifestyles. Speaking with some of my peers and students made me realize that youth today are struggling with streamlining their practicing. I’ve heard stories of students practicing for hours on end, but making minimal progress on their music despite all their efforts.
As someone who has faced similar struggles in the past, I have learned from my mentors the art of practicing efficiently. Soon enough, I realized that using these methodologies allowed me to make years’ worth of progress over the span of a few months. I was flying through concertos, inventions, preludes, and etudes at lightning speed!
The truth is, many music students tend to think that relying on sightreading, repetition, and their wits alone is the fastest way to learn a piece. This method of playing through your music until you get it perfectly can get frustrating incredibly fast, resulting in students wasting away for hours at their instrument. In order to maximize the amount of progress you make and shorten the time you take to learn a piece, you can use some of the techniques highlighted in this blog post below! These techniques are what work for me, and I hope they assist you on your musical journey as well.
The 80/20 Rule
The 80/20 rule helps students focus on the 20% of effort that creates 80% of their progress using strategies like focusing on tricky bars and playing with dynamics. This rule helps you stop “surviving” your pieces and start mastering them. This principle was brought forth by Vilfredo Pareto, an economist who claimed that “roughly 80% of results come from 20% of efforts.” [1]
This principle can be applied to your practicing, helping you maximize progress with manageable efforts. Here are some strategies you can use in order to incorporate this rule into your musical endeavors:
I will die on the metronome hill, fighting everyone who disagrees with me. This is advice I’m very passionate about, and its shocking seeing the sheer number of musicians who don’t utilize a metronome during their practice. The metronome is not for getting your pieces in tempo once you finish learning them, but must be used WHILE you learn them. Learning with a metronome may seem frustrating at first, making mistakes while hearing the clicks in the background may seem annoying, but I’m striving to end the propaganda and hate against metronomes! I used to be a part of the piano student v.s. metronome rivalry, but after realizing how much it changed my practicing, I can’t live without it.
When you learn a new piece, set the metronome at a low tempo (this is targeted towards all of you who let your ego decide the speed) usually around 60-80 = the quarter note. Begin sightreading the piece with the metronome, ONLY increasing the tempo once you can play the piece smoothly and slowly. When increasing the tempo, go up in increments of around 5-15, depending on the difficulty of the piece. I suggest using an app like Soundbrenner or the Google metronome, as physical ones can be unreliable and expensive.
The metronome isn’t only for learning new music, but should also be used during warm-ups and technique exercises as well. Whether its scales, chords, or arpeggios, using the metronome during every step of your practice will train you to learn new music faster, smoother, and always stay on beat during performances.
Learn in 2-4 Bar Sections— Never Run Through The Whole Piece
This one may seem obvious for some, but you’d be surprised at how common it is for musicians to lose patience and decide to stumble through the whole piece instead of repeating the same 2 measures till perfection. This is detrimental in the long run, because even if you may feel accomplished for surviving the song, you’ll soon realize that you’ve made no progress. All the mistakes you had in the first run-though will be made again!
When you first receive your music, learn it line by line, or even measure by measure depending on the difficulty. Move onto the next section only once you manage to play the previous one in tempo smoothly, with minimal slips. For piano, learn these mini-sections hands separately, and come back once you’ve learned the whole song hands separate and repeat the process to put it hands together.
Play Difficult Sections FIRST
That one section you’ve been dreading going over all week? Do it first when you have the most energy in your practice session. You’ll make the most progress this way, and end off feeling accomplished and motivated to play again the next day. Rather than playing through your piece and stumbling during the hard section, fix the difficult measures the second you open your piece before a full run-through.
As you work through the difficult parts in your piece, go in small, 2 measure sections at an achingly slow tempo, WITH your metronome on. It’ll be annoying at first, but you’ll end up thanking me later! Using your metronome during difficult sections forces your fingers and your brain to think faster without stopping in the middle, allowing you to learn the correct notes quickly.
Play Warm-Ups Related To Your Music
This seems obvious when you first hear it, but it truly changes how fast you can learn your music. Look at your music and point out the patterns you see, are there lots of chords, arpeggios, or runs? If so, consider warming up with V7 chords, arpeggios and all their inversions, or running through a few chromatic scales. This warms up your fingers and lets them prepare for your music.
ALWAYS Play With Dynamic Shape– Including In Warm-Ups
Playing with dynamics and expression isn’t something you work on after you finish learning your music or the notes to an exercise, you have to do it while you’re struggling through the initial learning phase. For example, as you play your scales, ensure you play with a dramatic, exaggerated crescendo on the way up, and decrescendo on the way down. Same with chords and arpeggios, train yourself to instinctually play each note with a different musical colour and dynamic.
When you’re playing your music, look for patterns in the notes where they go higher up the staff or lower, and create your own dynamics in the sections where the composer hasn’t already given you some. Play these dynamics as you learn the piece, ensuring that every note you play is different in musicality from the previous one. This allows you to play with more expression, and once you finish learning the piece, you’ll have already done most of the work in terms of dynamic shape. If you’re stuck in terms on expression, take into account the context of the piece (e.g. When was it written? What was going on during this time? What does the title mean?) or listen to a recording of it online. Think about what you want to convey with your music, what imagery are you creating for the audience?
If you’re skimming through, here’s the key takeaway for this tip: Everything on your instrument should be played with dynamics in mind. ALWAYS!
Memorize Your Music As You Learn It
Do yourself a favour and don’t leave memory for after you finish learning a piece. Along with dynamic shape and the metronome in the background, try to actively memorize your music as you learn the notes. For example, whenever I’m learning a new song, I try to memorize it hands separately as I learn it. Whether it’s saying the notes out loud, writing out the music on a separate piece of paper, or talking to myself about patterns I recognize, this has helped me learn my music at breakneck speed.
This may seem daunting and difficult at first, but memory is a lot easier when you do it slowly and consistently, with the right tools and strategies. If you’re relying on pure muscle memory to get through a performance, I’m both terrified for you and slightly impressed. Don’t do it.
Learn your music so its burned into the back of your mind, learn it so well that you could play it in your sleep or visualize yourself playing it without your instrument in front of you!
Conclusion/TL;DR
No musician is perfect, we all have those days when practicing feels like running a marathon. This is completely normal and proves that we aren’t machines, but humans. Setting realistic goals, such as sitting with your instrument for at least 10 minutes a day, is the key to building consistency.
Most students waste hours playing through entire songs, repeating the same mistakes and hoping for a different result. To make years of progress in just months, you need to isolate the 20% of your music that causes 80% of the friction. You can do this by:
Everyday, we hear about how much our world is progressing. But despite all of these innovations and research obtained, women’s health— something that affects half the world’s population, has been neglected for most of medical history.
Dismissing Concerns
In healthcare, female patients continue to get gaslighted. Labelling their complaints as something hormonal, or something completely made up in their head, they get their concerns pushed aside as something nonexistent.
According to research from the University of Chicago, women are twice as likely to be dismissed when reporting pain, but yet, they pay 30% more for healthcare. And on average, it takes 6-10 years to diagnose endometriosis- a chronic condition that affects 1 in 10 women.
“It’s a man’s world”
For a long time, medical research and experiments were done on men, for men. Medications, and medical devices went through trial and error being strictly tested on male anatomy— whether it was a human or rat.
You’d think this would all be different as we’re in the 21st century now. Right? Well, it is. But, instead of using men as a reference to produce new medical knowledge, entire researches are carried out about male balding patterns that are funded more then those about chronic conditions related to female organs.
How to help Women’s Health research
A crucial part to improving women’s health is by advocating for it. You can do this by demanding proper care when you or a woman in your life feels neglected by doctors, support organizations like “Women’s Health Collective Canada”, or by volunteering to help research studies to ensure diversity as-well.
And just because knowledge on women’s health isn’t fully developed doesn’t mean it hasn’t come a long way. In just 50 years, access to contraceptives have become widespread, cervical cancer mortality’s been dropped by 50%, and understandings of the female hormones have increased.
For over a century, the humble fruit fly has been a surprising giant in the world of science, aiding in our quest to decode genetics and behavior. Recently, in 2024, it offered its greatest gift ever: a complete wiring diagram of its entire brain. Scientists have mapped every one of its roughly 140,000 neurons and the staggering 50 million connections between them, creating the largest and most complete brain “connectome” of any adult animal ever. This map of a fly’s mind is now a revolutionary blueprint that illuminates the intricate architecture of a complex brain and provides an unprecedented tool for exploring our own.
How They Built the Ultimate Brain Atlas
The creation of this map was a monumental feat of technology and global collaboration. It began with a minuscule brain smaller than a poppy seed, sliced into over 7,000 ultra-thin sections, and imaged with electron microscopy to generate a mountain of data. An artificial intelligence program performed the initial, Herculean task of tracing the branches of each neuron through this microscopic maze.
However, given AI’s propensity for errors, the global FlyWire Consortium needed to step in. Hundreds of scientists and even trained citizen scientists joined a massive online effort to proofread the AI’s work. They spent an estimated 33 person-years checking and correcting the neural tracings and adding vital labels. This collaborative “crowd-science” approach turned a raw, AI-generated sketch into a finely detailed and accurate atlas.
The Power of the Map: From Street View to Circuit Logic
Thus, the result is far more than a static diagram. It is a dynamic, searchable database that functions like a “Google Maps for the brain”. Now, researchers are able to navigate from a single neuron to the brain-wide circuits behind intricately complex behaviors, including navigation and memory.
The map reveals a brain built with remarkable consistency. It details a hierarchical “parts list” of over 8,400 distinct cell types, providing a standardized catalog for neuroscientists worldwide, acting as an extensive guide. These trailblazing discoveries are letting researchers see not just the “streets” (neurons), but also the “traffic rules”, gaining knowledge on how different types of neurons, using chemicals like dopamine or serotonin, are wired together to process information. Now, we have a complete reference manual for what “normal” wiring looks like in a healthy, functioning brain!
Why a Fly’s Brain Map Matters to Humanity
You might wonder, “Why on earth does a tiny insect’s brain matter to us?”
Well, the answer actually lies in deep biological conservation. The fundamental principles of how neural circuits are built and how genes guide brain development are shared across various species. Therefore, the fruit fly serves as a powerful genetic model, as about 75% of human disease-related genes equally have a counterpart in the fly genome.
Conclusion: A New Chapter for Neuroscience
In conclusion, the completion of the fruit fly connectome marks the end of one extraordinary journey and the exciting beginning of another. One that transforms the fly from a model for studying individual genes or cells into a complete system for understanding how entire networks generate thought and action. It proves that by charting the intricate landscape of even a small mind, we illuminate the path to understanding our very own, one unimaginably larger!
If you take a look at your surroundings, chances are, you will find at least 5 products made out of plastic; whether it be a phone case, TV remote, a bottle of lotion, or the wrap of a granola bar. While plastic has become one of the most popular materials available, there are several repercussions- especially related to health and consumption. In this article, we will take a deep dive into the microplastics within our food in order to truly understand what we are eating.
Where it Came From?
While most manufacturing processes ensure safety measures are put in place to protect food items, microplastics infiltrate your food in the initial stages of crop growth. In other words, farmlands are the largest reservoir of microplastics. A study at Cardiff University claims that ” 86 trillion to 710 trillion microplastic particles, contaminate European farmland each year”. The soil holds the highest amounts of microplastics through the use of fertilizers (via biosolid from sewage sludge), atmospheric dust, irrigation, and the breakdown of litter. Furthermore, livestock consume crops and water, eventually storing the microplastics within their tissue. Such tissue is then transferred into meat for human consumption.
Another, more common way microplastics may enter your food is through the plastic cutting boards, plastic containers and dishwasher pods in your kitchen. Several research articles claim that plastic cutting boards add microplastics into vegetables and meats when cut on plastic surfaces. Plastic containers contaminate your food when microwaving, scrubbing harshly or even storing food for long periods of time.
Unsplash. By Ries Bosch. Published on June 2, 2023.
How it Impacts Us?
Now that we know where it comes from, we need to understand how it affects us. Many studies claim that microplastics affect the endocrine system by limiting growth hormones. Other research suggests that microplastics are linked to cancer, heart diseases and cellular damage. Researchers found that ingesting microplastics can activate immune responses which can be harmful overtime. While research is ongoing, preventing microplastic contamination is becoming increasingly important with the rising connections to health risks.
How Do We Track It:
While there are many ways researchers identify microplastics in samples, the most common way is by chemically separating the components. This method is called Pyrolysis–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (also known as: Pyrolysis GC- MS). In this method, the sample is heated at high temperatures in order to break down the ingredients. Afterwards, the mass of the microplastics is measured to make conclusions about the amount and type of microplastics present. Such processes are difficult to perform and many researchers are consistently attempting to create new, effective techniques of determining how microplastics contaminate food. Additionally, we have found many ways of removing microplastics from water however, removing them from food is more difficult. For this reason, it is we need to prevent contamination in the first place.
Unsplash. By Da-shika. Published on May 4, 2023. Microplastics
How We Can Avoid Microplastics:
Not heating food in plastic containers
Choosing non-plastic materials for long-term food storage
Avoid plastic cutting boards ( use alternatives like wood or glass cutting boards), nonstick pans and plastic wraps
Avoid the use of tea bags (generally woven with plastic thread)
Disposing broken/damaged plastic utensils
Use dishwasher pods without PVA
TL;DR
Microplastics enter our food through farmlands and plastic use in the kitchen
They may lead to many health issues including cancer, damage to cell walls, hormonal imbalance, etc.
Scientists identify microplastics using Pyrolysis-GC-MS where a sample is heated to separate the ingredients and analyze the mass of plastic
We can prevent microplastic contamination in our food by: not heating plastic containers, disposing damaged plastic utensils, avoiding plastic cutting boards, etc.
Pixabay. By StockSnap. Published on September 4, 2015. Wood Cutting Board
