If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? If I met Timothée Chalamet in Bushwick and didn’t post a selfie of us on Instagram, did I even meet him? Pics or it didn’t happen. At the heart of[Read More…]
Off the Board
The bittersweet reality of homesickness
You just arrived at the airport. It’s snowing white everywhere. Security agents shout at you to go to the right line, and police officers coldly ask your reasons for entering the country. An eternity passes before you are reunited with your suitcases. You just made it back to Montreal. And[Read More…]
When we dance, we make the world a little lighter
The room is already breathing before you are. Bass thunders through your ribs as neon lights beam across moving bodies. By the second song, you are no longer dancing in a crowd so much as being embraced by it. Sweat soaks through your shirt. Hair sticks to your face. Strangers[Read More…]
Love is a verb
Late on a Saturday night of St. Laurent bar-hopping, you walk into the dingy bathroom of Bar Bifteck to find a college-aged stranger kneeling over the toilet. They appear to be alone. You go over and ask if they are okay, offering to hold their hair back or to get[Read More…]
Self-care is the opposite of revolutionary
We’ve heard the lines and seen the videos probably more times than we can count—“Protect your peace,” “choose yourself”, “cut people off that don’t serve you,” and the one that gives me the most pause, “you don’t owe anyone anything.” The latest mental health trend: ‘Radical’ self-care. Originally coined by[Read More…]
Learning to live and love through art
I cannot count the number of times I’ve remarked, “That changed my life.” It’s an exorbitant phrase, one that apparently—so I’ve been told—shouldn’t be used so casually when discussing art. I toss it around with nonchalance, proclaiming it at any mention of works that I adore. Accusations of recency bias[Read More…]
I believe in fairies and Santa Claus
Since I can remember, my head has been in the clouds. From the moment I could string words together, I was always happiest poring over the pages of novels or tucked with my favourite show underneath a warm blanket of daydreams. I’ve fallen in love countless times with these worlds,[Read More…]
My acoustic coup against the classical
I was six years old when I walked into my first violin lesson, and for the twelve years that followed, I stood—posture erect—at dutiful attention to the staid technicalities and smug rectitude of classical music. I was a happy cadet and a relatively successful one, for what it’s worth. For[Read More…]
Why local politics matters
Getting my driver’s license a few years ago was the highlight of my teenage years. I finally felt like I had the keys to freedom—able to go wherever I wanted, whenever I wanted—and, most importantly, to venture downtown to hang out with friends. But driving in Montreal quickly humbled me.[Read More…]
I promise I’m not a first-year
Last week someone’s jaw dropped when they learned that I’m in third year. Suddenly they wanted to know everything about me: What I’m studying, where I’m from, and if I’m sure I’ve been at McGill for two full years already. What I find startling is that whenever people are floored[Read More…]
