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<p>I&#8217;m the student who sits in the front of the class but never says a word. It&#8217;s like an invisible hand wraps around my throat to stop the words from coming out. My arms feel like lead so I can&#8217;t raise my hand. Even thinking about speaking up makes my chest grow tight. So, I [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Being Editor-in-Chief of The Aquinian during the federal election, rising Indigenous tensions in Canada and a global pandemic hasn’t been easy but it’s been worth it. We&#8217;ve told stories that don&#8217;t always get heard, and been a platform for voices that need to be listened to.   This year, I’ve stressed over the meaning of [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Content warning: This story discusses an eating disorder. After months of removing all weight-loss-related content from my Instagram, it started appearing on my news feed again. But this time, quarantine style. “The quarantine 15,” “quarantine diet plans,” “how to not gain weight during a pandemic,” “what I’m going to look like after this is over,” [&hellip;]</p>

<p>A week into self-isolation, I decided to watch a Netflix docuseries about the porn industry called Hot Girls Wanted: Turned On.  I wasn’t surprised when the series said 40 per cent of teenagers learned more about sex from watching porn than what they’re taught in school.   High school sex education is like the scene from [&hellip;]</p>

<p>The Government of New Brunswick announced all non-essential services must shut down on March 17, which left many heavy traffic areas empty. The Aquinian&#8217;s photo editor, Alex Dascalu, visited some previously populated locations on March 28, while practicing social distancing, to capture the peculiarities around town.</p>

<p>The spread of COVID-19 and the demand for social distancing has created a mountain of stress and anxiety amongst students. But despite the fear and uncertainty of surrounding the virus, there are ways students can take care of their mental health. Connect with friends Self-isolation doesn&#8217;t mean cutting out friend groups. Friends are a good distraction [&hellip;]</p>

<p>To anyone and for everyone. People who get bullied a lot will fuck up their own lives sometimes just to feel like they can make a difference. This couldn’t be any more true for my buddy Jameson. He introduced himself to me in Grade 2 as a kid with a tracheotomy tube sticking out and [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Fifth-year St. Thomas University student Lucas Gutiérrez-Robert hates the time change. He wishes New Brunswick would join some other provinces and territories that don&#8217;t change their clocks back and forth. “I have terrible insomnia, so any change to sleep schedule makes me very, very unhappy,” he said. March 8 was the last time Yukon turned [&hellip;]</p>

<p>The second time I came to Fredericton felt like the first. All the anxiety, stress and waiting during the final years of high school were part of a journey that was about to begin. Now, this journey is at its end. I enrolled at St. Thomas University knowing I wanted to study journalism. My first [&hellip;]</p>

<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>For some students who find themselves homesick, a taste of home cuisine can mean a lot. Three university students wanted to help fellow international students by bringing Jamaican food to Fredericton. University of New Brunswick students Marcia Roach and Fallon Bowen and St. Thomas University student Imani England are international students from Jamaica. They all [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Dr. Cristin Muecke, the province&#8217;s acting chief medical officer of health, told reporters on Thursday there have been four patients tested and cleared as negative for COVID-19 in New Brunswick. She said officials are waiting for some test results, but as of March 5, there are no confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the province. [&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>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>Content warning: This article discusses conversion therapy. When Mitchell Goodine’s family forced him into conversion therapy at age 15, he almost saw the sessions as routine as his violin lessons. The goal was to “pray the gay away.&#8221; But soon the practice might be banned, or at least it might be in Saint John. The [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Growing up Black, I was taught that wearing my natural kinky hair meant I wasn&#8217;t beautiful. I wondered why people of a different colour or ethnicity would look at me like I was an alien. This was mainly because afro-kinky hair was seen as not suitable in the workplace and not groomed enough to wear [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Ayoung Jung became skeptical of dating after a Tinder date gone wrong. The former St. Thomas University student said she&#8217;s never sure if a guy likes her for her, or because she&#8217;s Asian. &#8220;I wanted to go on a date with this guy because he seemed like a genuine person,&#8221; Jung said over Facebook Messenger, [&hellip;]</p>

<p>For some students, St. Thomas University&#8217;s just a place to get a degree but for Sarie and Zach Lakes, STU&#8217;s a place full of love, memories and matrimony. A summer wedding in STU&#8217;s courtyard, filled with loved ones, sunshine and cocktails, was the perfect wedding for the couple that met at STU. “It means a [&hellip;]</p>

<p>For years, movies have told us what an ideal relationship looks like. These relationships appear desirable but this isn’t always the case. The question is: Are films negatively impacting the way we date and seek out partners? Andre Loiselle, the Dean of Humanities and one of St. Thomas University&#8217;s film studies professors, said men in [&hellip;]</p>