Final Issue: Summer
/ Campus Stories: Part 1In August, The Tribune met with nine different students, who would then go through a year’s worth of experiences in Montreal. Each was asked to describe something important to him or her. Eight months later, we revisited their stories.
Four photos second from top, clockwise: courtesty of McGilliography
MT: Last time we talked about music being important to you. What role has it played since we spoke?
“I think that it’s played pretty much the same role in the past couple years and this past year. I haven’t done much more with it, [although] I have actually been able to practice a couple times outside of volunteering at the hospital [….] I haven’t gone through many changes here at McGill, and my extent of playing violin hasn’t changed much either.”
MT: You mentioned you were looking forward to your involvement on Rotoract and the neuroscience undergraduate society. Were you able to accomplish your goals?
“[I had hoped to recruit more members to Rotoract, but] I didn’t have as much of a large role in that as I thought I would this past year. I am going to be the president next year for the club, so that’s one of my main goals I am going to focus on next year. I am looking forward to seeing what I can add to the club, and in general I want to make [my last year] count.”
MT: How do you feel you have evolved this year?
“I think I am pretty much the same person as I was in second year. First year was different, but in second and third year it has been [consistent]. Coming right into university, it is totally different, [but] I have found my niche [….] I think I have learned this past year that I can do more with what I have and understand what I have.”
MT: What is your favourite breakfast food?
September: “I might have to go with French toast. Doused in maple syrup.”
April: “[Last time] I probably said French toast. There’s nothing much better than French toast [….] Bacon and French toast is a nice combo.”
MT: Last time we met, we talked about the importance of comedy in your life. How has comedy influenced your year?
DJM: In a lot of [my] comedy roles [this year], I was filling a facilitating role [….] Being head of the Comedy Department [at TVM] meant I was flexing that muscle a lot. I remember I said that I wanted to diversify the way I communicate, and I think that is something that inadvertently happened this year [….] I got to apply my sense of leadership, [and] through this [experience], comedy has really allowed me to diversify my leadership style, and allowed me to understand and adapt my style, as well as to appreciate others.
MT: Are you still planning on pursuing a degree in Education?
DJM: I am actually in the process of switching to the Faculty of Arts [to study] film and television in Cultural Studies. The part that I liked most about the Faculty of Education is the fieldwork, which was actually getting to work with kids, but […] a lot of the true teaching I have done is through doing the comedy workshops or the equity workshops [I run].
MT: Do you feel you have evolved this year?
DJM: [This year], I was interested to see what my learning curve might be [….] In first year, you are learning new things every day, like where to get a sandwich and what building your classes are in. Second year is a more tough growth, where you are learning about living on your own and figuring out more things about yourself. [In] third year, I felt I was learning more about others, which has been really great [….] I have learned about how different people can be in wonderful ways.
MT: What are you looking forward to next year?
DJM: Being wrong. It’s way easier said than done, but that was something that has always been very scary and hard for me. I think that going into third year, I thought it would be much easier this time around […] but the more that I was wrong this year, the more I learned about myself and others.
MT: Favourite restaurant on campus?
September: “SNAX. SNAX in Leacock because I know someone who works there named Evan and [SNAX] is fantastic and also very fairly priced.”
April: “Probably [Engineering] caf. It has pretty decent quality stuff. I am from a family of restaurateurs, so it’s not easy to impress me. Snax is also great.”
MT: Last time, you mentioned your Blackberry was important to you. Is it still an important aspect of your life?
KI: It’s definitely important to me to have a device that can help me document my life and help me look back on it through photos, through sound, through writing. My Blackberry could do that; I actually have an iPhone now, and my iPhone can do that [too]. I think that’s symbolic of how it’s not the phone, but something that can help me retain memories and [record] a constant monologue of my life.
MT: Tell me about your experience being a floor fellow this year.
KI: It was super incredible and everything I wanted it to be [….] I can’t do it next year because I’ll be working full-time [at] SSMU, but regardless of that fact, I am still super happy with how this year went. It involved a lot of learning, time spent getting to know people and what works with them, and I tried to make it as horizontal as possible. I am not about a hierarchy where I am just a floor fellow and they are just [students]. That’s not how a friendship is started. I think that worked out pretty well, and I love all [my students].
MT: How do you feel you have evolved this year?
KI: Interestingly enough, I think the way that I have evolved has little to do with my campus [evolution], perhaps, but more with respect to my response to others [….] I think I crafted myself around a positive sense of identity, [and] I have learned to be more honest about my state of being, and being able to recognize stress, sadness, and frustrations more accurately when describing myself to others.
MT: What is your favourite breakfast food?
September: “Fruit salad. I love the fruit salad.”
April: “Waffles and fruit.”
MT: When we talked, you mentioned that your background was most important to you. Has this answer changed?
SA: I think my answer has changed. I feel like now, because I am living by myself and have had to go through a lot this year, the most important thing to me right now is […] the people around me. I can see in myself now, eight months later, [that] the people around me have really played [a shaping role]. I feel like my background and culture got me here, but I feel like my support team has helped since.
MT: Do you still find McGill overwhelming? How has your impression changed of Montreal and McGill?
SA: I think my impression has stayed the same. Montreal is still trendy, and McGill is still overwhelming [.…] I love the streets [in Montreal].
MT: Have you tried poutine since we last talked?
SA: I have tried it multiple times. I love it—it really is good. I don’t die for it; I feel like there are people that really loved poutine, but I enjoy it—it’s a really good dish.
MT: If you could sum up your first year of experiences in a word?
SA: Daring [….] I feel like when I am out here, I am consistently on an adventure. You dare to make new friendship groups, you dare to put yourself out of your comfort zones and join new clubs, you dare yourself to challenge yourself in courses, you dare yourself to keep your sanity [during stressful] points of the year.
MT: Last time we met, you showed me your space pen and discussed the importance of writing and engineering to you. How has writing and engineering played a role in your life this year?
AM: As for the pen, it has been sitting on my shelf since first semester, [which] goes to show just how much the material itself was important. As for engineering and writing, [I have] jumped a lot more into the organizational aspect [of engineering] through my [executive] position and I’ve been working on big projects—we’re doing a massive mural in the engineering building [for instance]. Writing wise, I have not really had the chance to do [it]. I’m really into satire and comedy, and I’m involved [through Engineering’s] satire paper that we publish, but I haven’t had a chance to write anything besides just doing editing. It’s just been so busy with school and [acting as a] floor fellow.
MT: Do you think you made as big an impact as a floor fellow as you hoped?
AM: From what I see, I think I did. When we first met, I was making their door signs, and […] it was just before I met them all. If I were in first year, I would be friends with my students, which is why I think we got along so well [….] I like to think that I impacted their lives in some way, ideally positively.
MT: How do you feel you have evolved this year?
AM: I don’t think I valued hard work as much as I do now [….] I think I have a better appreciation of it and a better understanding of how to go about it […] in everything [I’m involved in]—my [executive] position, my floor fellow position, school.
MT: Remind me of your favourite breakfast food?
September: I love bacon. I’m semi proud about that.
April: I had a really great breakfast this morning. They were doing local food day in [Residence] from Cabin à Sucre, and I tried peameal bacon with a maple glaze. It was probably the best breakfast I’ve had.
MT: Last time, you talked about sweet potato as an object that was important to you, and how the metaphor of cooking sweet potato related to your work ethic. Has this changed over the course of this year?
EL: I don’t have sweet potato as much anymore, I’m not sure why. I’ve gotten into artichokes. I think the metaphor of putting time into things [that are important to me] still sticks. I think one thing that has been important for me to realize is that I think I always thought about papers as an opportunity to show what I know, and I think one of the reasons why I took so long was because I thought it had to be perfect. Since I talked to you last, I think I have taken on a different perspective on the paper, which is helpful in a lot of ways in terms of my deadlines. I’ve learned that a paper is just one part of the learning process, and [that] I sort of undermined the value [of] being in a seminar and that actual process of discussing things. I still hand stuff in late—that’s still a thing, but I think rather than […] taking time on things to do a good job, I think about my learning process as a whole that does not really end.
MT: Are you still planning on going to Prague for exchange?
EL: I am actually going to be going to Berlin. I think one thing that is really important when you spend time on exchange is attempting to learn the language, and I think for me German is more realistic than for me to learn Czech due to the similarities between English and German. Also, I am studying German philosophy. I know like 300 German words and a bunch of random philosophy words, but I feel like my starting point with German is better than anything I would have in Czech. The other reason I chose to go to Berlin instead was also due to [my interest in] industrial design. Berlin is amazing [for industrial design], both in terms of the academic context and also aspirational context.
MT: How do you feel you have evolved this year?
EL: I think this year I have been thinking a lot about humans’ relationships to nature. I was in an architecture class this semester studying sustainability […] and my responsibility within the class was to critique certain inherent notions we have about what the relationship between humans and nature is. [Then, while] reading a paper for a class that I’m in, [it was] Walter Benjamin’s interpretation of Kafka [that] is infamous for being very obscure, [...] I was confronted with my personal inability to understand and the fact that this paper does not have a rational argument, but can still say something significant. So basically, I think I have been thinking about the limits of our rationality and […] the study of the environment in relationship to that fact that people don’t [always] make sense.
MT: Remind me of your favourite place on campus?
September: I like that room in the Arts building, the one with all the paintings of old white men and leather upholstered chairs with armrests. It’s also got an elliptical table, like a Harkness table. It’s kind of pompous, but it’s a nice contrast from some of the newer, more sterile buildings that institutions seem to like these days.
April: I didn’t really study at McLennan before [this year], but [the] second floor of McLennan is so secretly nice.
No matter where she went, or who she was with, Roma’s positive and radiant energy always warmed those around her. From her horribly amazing puns and trolly nose-flicking, to her irreplaceable sense of empathy and genuine care for others, Roma had a beautiful influence on so many individuals. Roma made all those around her feel appreciated, leaving others with a wonderful feeling regardless of the situation.
Chances are, if she had not already taken you under her wing, she probably carried your emotional weight on her shoulders. Or your physical weight. Although Roma was small, she was also a tank. She was successfully part of three-person piggybacks on the regular. This is only a mere representation of the initiative and dynamism Roma embodied, positively shaping equity on the McGill campus, the community of McGill Residences, and the lives of everyone who surrounded her. Her involvement convinced us she really could balance the world on her shoulders, yet no matter how busy she was, she always took time out of her life to make others feel supported and valued.
All of us are going to miss Roma Nadeem, but none of us will ever forget the way she shaped our lives. We all have a lot to learn from the way she walked through life; if we all cared for others the way Roma cared for us, there is no doubt the world would be a better place.