Commentary

<p>I know most of you plan to work this summer. I do as well. I have an apartment downtown that I would like to keep. I have a phone bill, I buy groceries and I have a somewhat unhealthy relationship with expensive coffee. But, this is where our paths somewhat diverge: I&#8217;m not really sure how [&hellip;]</p>

<p>My mum saw me have a panic attack for the first time last winter. I remember sitting in the living room, arms curled around my legs as I sat in a tight ball. I was dizzy from hyperventilating and couldn’t see through the tears.  Mum sat on the couch across from me and watched.  After [&hellip;]</p>

<p>When you think of &#8220;healthy,&#8221; what do you see? Most of us will see someone physically fit, with toned muscles, smooth skin and who is relatively thin; most likely someone you’ve seen at some point in your life, either in person or on screen. Someone aspirational, perhaps. Now picture &#8220;unhealthy.&#8221; What changes? Chances are, you’re picturing [&hellip;]</p>

<p>This is part two of a two-part series focusing on the history of the Crown-Indigenous relations in Canada and contextualizing the Wet&#8217;suwet&#8217;en crisis. The first part appeared in the March 9 edition of The Aquinian.  In British Columbia, the Wet’suwet’en people control roughly 54,000 square kilometers of unceded territory, governed by their hereditary chiefs. Coastal [&hellip;]</p>

<p>It&#8217;s hard not to laugh about railways shutting down in response to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police arresting the occupants of the Unist&#8217;ot&#8217;en camp, which opposed the British Columbia Coastal Gaslink export pipeline. I find it ironic, and justified, to limit the capability of a country that has built its economy on crippling Indigenous Peoples. [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Trigger warning: This story discusses an eating disorder.  My appearance is something I can never get away from. Am I good enough? Is my belly too big? Do people think I&#8217;m pregnant? Can they notice my double chin? Are my stretch marks showing?   It took me a long time to learn to love myself and [&hellip;]</p>

<p>A few weeks ago at a filmmaking workshop for students in St. Thomas University&#8217;s James Dunn Hall, I was the interviewer and CBC reporter and STU grad Logan Perley was the subject. Filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin sits beside us, leaning forward and hanging onto every word. “Find the heart of the story. This is something you [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Digby Neck, N.S. is a weird place.   The Bay of Fundy and St. Mary&#8217;s Bay almost cuts Digby Neck from mainland Nova Scotia. The Neck ranges from the end of Brier Island and stops before the town of Digby. Most who live on Digby Neck are fishermen. There’s a man who drives around the [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Mackenzie Lynn Acheson is a second-year psychology and criminology major from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. She enjoys reading, music, running and collecting plants. My first year at St. Thomas University was not going according to plan. The random aches and pains I&#8217;d been accustomed to for most of my life became more pronounced in September. By December, I [&hellip;]</p>

<p>While waiting for the bus in the summer of 2018, I overheard a stranger talking about how trans people &#8220;ought to be hanged.&#8221; His language was more derogatory and graphic but I won&#8217;t describe it here for the safety of folks reading this. I became hyper-aware of how trans I look. A few nights later, [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Growing up, I was a homebody. I didn’t go out with friends often and I never partied. If I went shopping, out for dinner or to the movies, it was usually with my mom or dad. Even with friends in tow, I always had my parents by my side. The University of New Brunswick Saint [&hellip;]</p>

<p>For Ben Pugsley, having an autistic brother has been one of the great blessings of his life, but the way the province funds group homes is his greatest worry “Fucking retard!” That’s the last thing I remember before I got pulled off of him. Twelve years old, Grade 6, and I’d just gotten in my [&hellip;]</p>

<p>I love lady’s night at clubs as much as the next mediocre-dancin’, lady-lovin’ person. Who doesn&#8217;t love boppin’ to music, hands in pockets, at the edge of a dancefloor? I must admit, I’ve even used the F gender marker on my license to get that S Club or Twenty/20 stamp for free. I like to tell [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Fiona Steele asks whether institutions like STU are guilty of classicism when it comes to the rural working class      Let me bring you back to the summer after my Grade 11 year. It’s boiling inside my 2003 Hyundai Accent because the AC, like the radio, is broken. After turning onto a red-dirt road in rural [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Ted Bundy was hot. His irresistible blue eyes and charming smile were almost enough to make any girl swoon. Some women sent him love letters because they believed he was too handsome to be guilty of murder and rape. But Netflix’s Conversations With A Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes has turned Bundy into a modern-day [&hellip;]</p>

<p>When I found out I was pregnant, I knew I had to go back to school. I&#8217;d been graduated from high school for a couple of years at that point and was comfortable in my routine. Staying up late waiting tables at McGinnis Landing, a savings account that consisted of extra change from my shifts [&hellip;]</p>

<p>With Venezuela teetering on collapse, international student Isabella de los Reyes cautions Canadians to talk to people experiencing misrule. One day I was sitting in the university cafeteria talking politics, and a bunch of students began talking about how communism and socialism are really good theories and that they should be applied to the Western [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Warning: This story contains graphic content about sexual assault, mental illness and abuse that may disturb some readers.  I remember the first time I went to an event aimed at reducing rape culture on campus. As the expert started to talk, two first-year boys in the back started talking over her and proposing their own [&hellip;]</p>

<p>“Weird looking kitchen but OK.” “She&#8217;s gonna call a penalty on somebody for something she remembered him doing six years ago.” These are just some of the comments that have been made online about Sarah Thomas, the only female referee in the National Football League. Thomas made history as the first female NFL referee and [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Being one the of the only Asian kids in Digby, Nova Scotia had its perks. For example, if I didn&#8217;t want to talk to someone, I could break out my fake Chinese and confuse the hell out of them, or pretend I didn&#8217;t know English. But most of the time, being Asian sucked. I’m not [&hellip;]</p>