Top Twenty Pieces of Laurier Advice
I came. I saw. I conquered. That is not what veritas omnia vincit means…
Accessibility, Equity, and Support
I had always prided myself on being adaptable. Moving around a lot as a kid was certainly hard at times, but I always found myself succeeding fairly quickly after a brief period of transition; I made friends, got good grades, and found my place in a new environment.
Why Protest?
I’m having yet another bout of panicky frustration at the fact that no one is really doing anything about the whole we’re-destroying-the-planet-and-we’re-all-going-to-die-but-less-privileged-people-first thing. Mostly I get frustrated that almost no one seems to care at all – and that the people who do care get vilified and punished for it. For trying to save the planet and everyone’s lives.
My Broken Biological Clock
There’s something disturbing about children. Perhaps it’s their pudgy faces, smothered with ice cream and selfishness, or perhaps it’s their freedom from responsibility and reality that unsettles me. While many women may listen religiously to their biological clocks and blush with maternal instinct, I remain unsettled and unwaveringly opposed to motherhood.
In Pursuit of Youth
When hair is dyed, concealers and polishes put on, dietary supplements taken and the shapes of bodies altered with plastic surgery, thoughtful consumption is deferred in favour of a youthful pursuit of beauty. The ideals on which these decisions are modeled, however, are inherently flawed. It is time to reflect on what one does to themselves when their bodily appearance is physically and chemically altered.
In Praise of Age
People find it odd how much I love old people.
I don’t mean it in a patronizing way, but when I see old people and interact with them, I get the feeling that many have about children: I absolutely love them. The elderly are so confident and comfortable with themselves; they not only appreciate what they have had in life, but also the time they have left.
Roots for Growth
The work of anthropologist Maria Gimbutas, whose discoveries of certain characteristics from the Neolithic Period led to the construction of the ‘myth of feminist pre-history,’ has been continuously criticized in the anthropological community. She argues that a matriarchal society once existed in Neolithic Europe, where work division and rights were egalitarian and all deities worshipped were female or mother goddesses.
Attack the Roots
The time is coming in which we will need to begin to seriously consider enhancing efforts of resistance to systemic injustices that are rooted within society. The time has come to ‘attack the roots’ of capitalism and the ills that it brings and reinforces throughout society. It is time to consider community-supported forms of struggle and resistance against the very system that has, for too long now, been predicated on oppression and injustice so a few may benefit. This is the time to resist.
Untitled
My actions are not definitive. My existence is fluid. When you think you can look at my life in pieces, reductions, fragments-single moments of action—you forget that I, like you, am a system and despite aging I do not exist in a sequential pattern based on my past, or future. There are times when I am moving because of my past, and there are also times when my currentness would not dictate the movement of my future.
Roots and Wings
Roots and wings. It’s a phrase we’ve heard in graduation speeches, teen films and parental heart-to-hearts, all stressing the importance of preserving your past while flying the coop and following your dreams. Sometimes it’s easy, sometimes it’s difficult, and sometimes – despite our best efforts – it’s not done at all. So what’s the big deal? Isn’t it easy to break with the past and throw caution to the wind? (Any traditional movie hero would have you think so).
These Are Your Neighbours
In January of this year, I began writing a weekly column for Imprint, the University of Waterloo’s student newspaper. Called These Are Your Neighbours, my column focuses on progressive community organizing and collective action in Kitchener -Waterloo. Each week, I interview a local person who is involved in mobilizing members of our community around a common issue and who works together with these people to develop creative ways of addressing and responding to the issue.
A Radical, Rooted Musical
I’m sure your attention has been brought, throughout this issue, to the connection between the words “radical” and “rooted”. Rooted: A New Musical was created in the space where these two words overlap and diverge. It emerged ‘from the roots’, rooted in our own lives and communities and experiences, but stretching beyond these, and seeking to become rooted again in the new community that grew around it, and to spread seeds of change.
Where Is Home
Let’s discuss the meaning of the word patriotism.
I would like to suggest two suitable synonyms for the English meaning of this powerful word: love and devotion. In fact, to be patriotic, according to the Oxford English Dictionary is to possess a “marked devotion to the well-being [i.e. love] and interests of one’s country.” In other words, to be a patriot, you must show love and devotion to your country. Rather vague terms, wouldn’t you agree?
Because I’d Rather Be Flag Burning
Patriotism. Nation. State. Nationalism. Allegiance. Duty. Flag. Words perhaps not so different within the context of the modern world in which we live. We are quick to place them in the same category; one that insists upon a harsh obedience to a status quo. A status quo of silence, if you will.
In Defence of Canada
Why do I study Canada? That is a question I have been asked a lot and it is a question I frequently ask myself. I am about to finish my undergraduate degree here at Laurier as a Canadian Studies major and I plan on continuing with my studies at graduate school in the same field. Canadian Studies is an odd program as Canada is an odd subject, never quite fitting into one specific discipline.
Citizenship
What does it mean to be a citizen of Canada? Or a citizen of the world? I think that to even approach an answer, we need to first ask what it means to be a non-citizen, a secondary citizen, or a so-called ‘undesirable’ citizen.
Seek to Know Love
What do I know about love? I have no particular writings on it, nor do I have any clear philosophical resolutions (only musings plagued by doubts, haunted by dreams). I have been in love, or at least think I have, and recognize many loves as platonic, romantic, or a combination of both. Whether ‘love’ is a physical reality of pheromones and material bonds between brains and bodies, or a soul-tying merger between kindred spirits, it has been the adhesive of clan and culture across the ages.
Dialogue on Food
Up, up, bubbles roll under and over mirepoix and potatoes, caramelized apple and yam, an avalanche in reverse. They come from an impermeable solid, no pores to pour out from; unbelievable, but fire’s transformative, and it would appear something can come out where there is, apparently, nothing for them to come out from.
Subsistence and Self-Esteem
We’ve all been there, male or woman. The age old situation when a young woman pauses, on the verge of accepting some desert or otherwise ‘unhealthy’ food, then goes “No, I really shouldn’t” and refrains from accepting it. Regardless of prompting that no, she really looks fine, and she doesn’t have to worry about it, and it’s just one, once that initial threshold of decision has been crossed, it seems there is no going back.
Save the Kale
Our generation exists in the midst of vast cultural and political change, both locally and globally. Our lives can often seem seized by capital interest and our society’s constant tendency to outsource, expand and globalize. The idea of a global neighborhood can be exciting and charged with change, but on the other hand, can simultaneously be quite terrifying and only established at a great cost: the sacrifice of culture, tradition and resource.
Food Allergies on Campus
Last week, I had a ravenous craving for a brownie. You know the feeling: the willingness to kill for something with chocolate in it. It hit me in the middle of the Concourse. I was with a friend at the time, who passionately decided to join my quest (chocolate cravings can be contagious, you see). He said “Excellent! The Second Cup is still open!” But I had to stop his mad-dash and explain that this was a mission that was not for the easily-swayed. It would be long and tedious, and probably wouldn’t end with any brownies at all. You see, I’m allergic to peanuts.
Foodie Over Easy
I’ve been called a foodie many times, which at times makes me concerned. Yes, I love to cook. I love to share recipes. I head the Culinary Arts Club on campus. I indulge more then a skinny little Asian girl should. Nonetheless, the amateur foodie is a misunderstood title. The usual suspect is someone who loves food, but everyone loves food! It takes more than just a love for food to be a foodie: it takes a relentless passion.
Don’t-Cha Put It In Your Mouth
Food is such a basic thing, but it comes with a lot of baggage. The very simple habit of eating three meals a day is loaded with significance if we just stop our munching and think about it. When you consider what you actually know about your food, it’s not a lot at all. If you’re eating a pre-packaged meal, you have to wonder what exactly is in it, if those things that look like meatballs but taste like shit actually have any naturally occurring substances in them. The closest most processed food gets to real fruit, vegetables, or animals is through the picture on its box.
Food for What? Commit To Knowledge
As I sit here typing, I muse about our sleeping patterns. Harnessing fire, electricity and even the elements; we sure are an assertive bunch. The entire body of impositions and assertions produced by the collective process of human brain development has the bonus and handicap of being good for the species. Agriculture is one of those developments. Agriculture is our white elephant in the room.
