Growing up, in any and every aspect of my life, I have constantly been bombarded with pressure. The pressure to succeed, to achieve great things, or in general, just be better. Now, this is in no way forced upon me. Instead, this need to achieve great things and succeed, whether it be academics or even…
Everyone defines their high school years differently. My teacher said she barely remembers her high school years- that’s how insignificant they were. However, I hold steadfast to the idea that nothing is truly insignificant, we just perceive it to be that way. The dust particles that float around your screen while you read this have…
Canada, True North Strong and Free.
A double-edged sword on the edge of our tongue.
With the 2016 Academy Awards at the root of the cynically popular hashtag #OscarsSoWhite, after no POC (people of colour) actors and actresses were nominated for any awards, The Academy got quite a bit of flack from the public. This year, however, the nominees were considerably more diverse than in previous years. With 35% of…
Green jealousy, guilt, healing, ↓ yellow ☀ cheerful, happy, irresponsible, unstable ↓ orange courageous, confident, ignorant ↓ red …
Life is about evolving. Don’t stay in a situation that’s not helping you grow mentally, spiritually, and emotionally. — Unknown I am a creature of habit. This is the simplest way that I could begin to explain how I operate on a day to day basis. I like routine, schedule and order in my life…
Islamophobia is hatred, fear or prejudice of Muslims, in simple terms defined by the dictionary. This type of fear or hatred is far different then fear of heights or spiders for example. This type of fearmongering hatred and prejudice is a significant factor that once influenced and encouraged ordinary Germans to contribute to a genocide during the Holocaust. The rise of…
As we wind down to the end of the school year (collective cheer), it’s a great time to really look back at this past year and reflect. What are things that you were really happy about? What were things that didn’t really go your way? What things did you do really well? What do you…
Why is it that I was born in a safe country, embraced by my parent’s loving arms While another like me was born and soon abandoned in a dirty orphanage? What was the difference between him and I? Why is it that I had the privilege to scamper my beautiful streets, wildly laughing and carefree,…
Dear Homophobe, He was 15 and terrorized. He didn’t even know what being gay meant. He prayed relentlessly to God, begging Him to fix him. A fifteen year old boy began to despise himself… God did not fix him. And the boy detached himself from the world. Until, God-willingly, he eventually came clean about his sexuality.…
(Original Image) Why should we give compliments? I still remember back when one of my teachers explained to our class that giving a compliment not only makes the other person happy, but also yourself happy. She contrasted this with insulting a student (for demonstrative purposes, don’t worry). The point she was trying to make was…
“The mind is so delicate, and has so much potential. In high school I find we’re bombarded by so much extraneous information that it can often blind the young mind and lead us to interpret our lives less intricately than it should be interpreted. It’s sad to see so many young people get so caught…
Alone and wondering, “Who am I?” A question that I’ve been thinking about for years, struggling to find the answer to, however for some reason I feel as though that question is incomplete. It should really be “Who am I, and who do I want to be?” Or is it, “What do I want to be?”.…
Several days shy of the new year, a suicide note was posted on 17-year-old Leelah Alcorn’s Tumblr page. Earlier that Sunday, she walked into traffic on an Ohio highway, killing herself. In her letter, Leelah explained how her parents’ unacceptance and lack of support for her coming out as transgender culminated in her decision to…