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'Your Weekend By Metro: Green Line' student living article
The gateway to your next weekend getaway is only a couple blocks down from campus at the McGill Metro Station. Grab a pal and a STM day pass, and you’re all set for a day-long city exploration with our 5-stop Green Line itinerary. 1st Stop: Lionel-Groulx 8:30 am: Fuel up for the day at Restaurant Greenspot on Rue Notre-Dame O. Choose from their selection of classic breakfast food (like face-sized pancakes), sip on your morning coffee, and immerse yourself in the timeless atmosphere of this old-school diner. Side note: they also have an amazing poutine selection, which they start serving from 11am. 9:30 am: While snow is yet to fall from the sky, take a stroll through Atwater Market. The popular farmer’s market is buzzing with an assortment of fresh produce, plants, local delicacies and bakeries, everything you need for this week’s grocery shop. 2nd Stop: Place-Des-Arts 10:15 am: Squeeze in a study session at the Anticafé on Rue Saint-Catherine O, a public workspace that charges you by time, rather than amount of food and drinks you consume. Three hours at the café will cost $8, and an infinite array of cookies, bagels, lattes, and espressos are all at your disposal. BONUS: All out of essays to write? Visit The Musée D’Art Contemporain de Montréal and take a gander at their latest art exhibits. 3rd Stop: Saint Laurent 1:30pm: Feed both your shopping needs and your stomach at Eva B, an eclectic thrift store always overflowing with the latest vintage trends. With two floors full of clothes to suit everyone’s style, it won’t be hard to find your fall wardrobe essential on a student budget. Additionally, their in-store cafe features lunch options, such as soup, sandwiches, and dumplings, all under $10. BONUS: Be sure to make your way back around to Saint Laurent near the end of your evening to enjoy the hustling nightlife of the boulevard’s various bars and clubs. 4th Stop: Beaudry 3pm: Indulge in dessert from Cacao 70 on Rue Saint-Catherine E, an eatery that specializes in chocolate delights. From dessert pizzas, cheesecakes, waffles, fondue, and ice cream, you’ll want to save some room for a post-lunch treat. They also serve brunch until 4pm, as well as other savoury options if sweet food isn’t your cup of tea. 5th Stop: Pie IX 4pm: Once the hub of the 1976 Summer Olympics, today the Olympic Park is full of attractions, events, and activities that will suit everyone’s fancy. Attend an outdoor event at the Esplanade, explore ecosystems from around the world at the Biodome, take a ride up Montreal Tower (a.k.a. the tallest inclined tower in the world!) or illuminate your evening at the Botanical Garden’s Garden of Lights.
'Tuning in: young musician gives insight on how classical music can change lives' human interest article
“Music is the physical vibration of energy, and it’s beautiful because things like pop music, they have lyrics, they tell you how you’re supposed to feel. But whereas in classical music, it is so subjective and intricate and complex, and it fits humans because of that.” With five piercings on her ears, D.I.Y. bangs, and often mismatched socks, Isabel Lago is not the poster girl for classical music, but her fourteen years of experience playing the violin says another story. At seventeen years-old, the abundant exposure she has to the classical music genre is unlike any typical teenager of this day and age, and with her unique perspective on the reception of the genre in society, Lago suggests that those who are closed-off to classical music are at a loss. “I think there’s a lot of stereotypes, like preconceived notions that are false, and a lot of ignorance surrounding [classical music],” Lago suggested. “[Many imagine] people who drink tea and listen to chamber music, and they’re all snobby and have British accents, and they’re so uptight and they don’t laugh. I think that’s a huge misconception about classical music: how it’s not fun, and that it’s very serious.” Like any teenager, she listens to the usual “radio music”, letting loose and jamming to loud, heavily instrumented pop and rock songs, and singing along to rap songs and ballads alike. However, the conventional tunes have its limitations. “Words aren’t fully able to capture and encapsulate so many emotions that one person can feel. We can describe things, like write poetry about love and sing it with a couple chords, but that’s only so much,” Lago explained, touching on the idea of “showing” instead of telling with lyrics, by letting the listener experience the emotions on their own. “It’s so subjective that each person who listens to it will feel differently, because again it reflects on humans and how we’re all so different. Barber Adagio for Strings is a dark and heart-wrenching quartet piece. Lago illustrated her experiences with this piece when she performed it in 2015 with the Vancouver Youth Symphony Orchestra. “I remember we dedicated this to the people who recently lost their lives in the Paris attacks, the terrorism in Paris. I remember when we were playing this, our conductor, he made an announcement in the beginning [saying this dedication], and he said a quote by Leonard Bernstein, a fairly legendary in music history. He said, ‘This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before.’ And I think that this type of music heals people. It’s a way to heal the broken, and I think nothing besides classical music can really touch that.” Personally, Lago has her own experience of healing with the aid of classical music a few years ago when she was struggling with mental health issues. “When I was going to lots of stuff, the only thing that would make my life worth living was to make music, and I would only get up for that one reason, which is to practice.” In the case of mental health, the importance of letting out emotions is always emphasized, and it is the reason for councillors and therapists, but Lago found classical music as her means of release. “It made me express my feelings when words couldn’t. Before, I didn’t really talk about it, but playing the violin and making music allowed me to express it without saying much, without saying anything. I was still able to put forth all the pain, all the hurt, all the loneliness in music and put it out there. It was a way of directing inner feelings and putting it out there.” Classical music doesn’t only cater to melancholy emotions. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Bacewicz String Quartet for Four Violins creates a playful and lively mood. “It’s very modern,” Lago described, “like the composer Bacewicz, I think he [created music] around the 1900’s, so [there’s] a lot of unconventional ideas, techniques, sounds, harmonies, and layers and layers of things are going on between the four violins. It’s very textured, and it all creates this very happy vibe. And because it’s modern, you don’t really expect a lot of the things that happens. It’s very unpredictable.” It’s hard to deny the absence of classical music among the popular music that many young people listen to today, and the reason behind it is simply due to the assumption that the genre is outdated and unlike the stimulation of modern music. “I think the huge misconception is that the only thing that people ever know is Beethoven, but there’s so much more to it that’s overlooked.” With her post-secondary plans set on growing as a classical musician in university, Lago described the core of the reason why she is so passionate about creating music, “That’s why I like what I do, because you get to see the world in a different point of view. You get to experience things deeper because you are sensitive to the feelings behind music, and then you identify the emotions in yourself, and then you say, ‘You know what? I want my audience to feel that.’”
'Dear Smart People: There Is More To Life Than Academics' editorial article
High school seniors are at the brink of what many refer to as “the rest of their lives.” Generally speaking, what one does with their post-secondary life holds a substantial amount of weight with the direction of their lives, so in turn, the efforts one does in high school is important, especially if their future plans includes university. The problem arises when students decide to take on a course load far more excessive than they need, centering more of their lives than necessary around school. This is not taking into account external influences, such as parents, that may compel a student to drive for academic achievements, but students who do so on their own accord for various reasons. In some cases, it gets to the point where students identify themselves in their academic achievements and hardships, failing to see that success can be measured in other ways. Unless one’s passion is in growing intellectually, and their vocation follows accordingly, there is more to life than being academically smart. A common mindset among academically-driven senior students is the idea that it’s better to take on more courses than needed because it will open up more opportunities after high school, especially with regards to post-secondary institution options. There is a “just in case” mindset that drives a student to take courses that are not necessary prerequisites or needed to graduate high school. Other times, some just take courses viewed as more academically challenging when it is unnecessary just to prove that they can, driven by a hint of academic ambitiousness. Though the idea of giving some leeway when it comes to post-secondary options is never a bad idea to compensate the ever-changing minds of teenagers, in most cases, a student knows the general direction they are headed in based on their learning and general interests. If their drive to learn and interests are not rooted in a certain field, there is little reason to keep that door open. The same principle follows with taking additional courses in order to get accepted to one university that the student may not even go to. High school prerequisites varies from institute to institute, but one may want to reconsider if it is worth taking a higher workload just to prove they can get accepted to a highly reputable school that they probably will not end up going to. A higher workload means more time and energy devoted on school, and less time on other important parts of a healthy life, including sleep, which most students do not get near the needed 8-9 hours. The rehabilitation and reparations of the body, consolidation of memories, boost of energy and immune system, and many more health benefits are credited to an adequate amount of sleep. Additionally, with the lack of free time, students tend to be more sparing with the amount of time they spend on leisure activities, extracurricular interests, and events with family and friends. In the end, it is more fulfilling to hold one’s identity in their strong relationships, favourite activities, and passions, since these components of one’s life are ones that stick around longer than the importance of academic achievements. Senior students take on more courses than needed in order to have the best chances after high school, but in many cases, limiting oneself to the few essential courses needed for post-secondary programs can be equally beneficial. With less information to grasp, students will have an easier time achieving a higher grade-point average, an essential to being admitted into most academic institutions. Furthermore, a high GPA opens up a vast range of scholarship opportunities that are only applicable to excelling students. Taking fewer courses is not a form of demotion of the student’s academic abilities, but it is merely a way to narrow the focus instead of spreading oneself too thin.
'An Introvert's Guide To A Social Life' blog post
Hello, my name is Millie, and I'm an introvert. At times I wish I could introduce myself to everyone that way, almost like a precursor to what the next few minutes of conversation is going to be like: "Hey, I'm socially awkward and may make you feel uncomfortable, but some people tolerate me so that's saying something"! Other times, I wish I could drink a magic potion that gives the illusion that I'm a social monarch butterfly, because it seems like life is a breeze as an extrovert. Everyone is a unique blend of both introversion and extroversion, however more reserved social lives aren't really ones that grab the lime light on social media. Preferring a more reserved social life should not be confused with not having one at all, so I thought I'd share a few tips, tricks, and healthy mentalities that are helping me create a kind of social life that doesn't stress and drain me out. 1. Quality over quantity. Breathe it. Eat it. Bathe in it. Although it's a saying that gets thrown around a lot, it's the key to an ideal social life for someone who dreads large bouts of socializing. Having a social life that will get you Instagram famous and name-dropped at every conversation is not the only kind of social life to exist. It’s exhausting to feel the need to have connections left and right, when all you’re really looking for is a handful of friends who will always have your back. Sometimes a couple of life-giving friends is enough to satisfy your social needs. 2. It's not lame to stay in every Friday night. Often, I look down on myself for declining almost every invitation to hang out with friends, and then I feel even worse when I pop on Snapchat and watch story after story of parties and blurry videos taken with flash of people goofing off at 2am. I get it, FOMO (or the Fear of Missing Out) is real and lives in all of us, and it often seems as if people stay home on the weekends by necessity rather than desire. During moments like this, don't feel pressured to need to go out with friends all the time in order to keep them, because there'll be plenty more opportunities in the future. More laid-back gatherings at home with pizza, board games, and movies may suit your fancy a bit more, or even a catch up with friends over lunch during the day. As introverts, we need time alone to recharge, whereas extroverts feed off the energy of a social buzz. Don't feel like you're missing out when you're snuggled up in bed at 11pm, after all, we're all doing what we gotta do to recharge. 3. You don't need to be everyone's friend to be friendly. Here's one for my homies with a splash of social anxiety. It was only recently that I realized a lot of the pressure I put on myself in social situations was rooting from the idea that every social interaction is a failure unless the other person basically wants to be my best friend afterwards. Talking to acquaintances is always difficult, but I found it to be less fluster-inducing if you forget about trying to fit in the few inside jokes and common references you know, and just take a simpler route of friendliness. Not everyone has a knack for striking up a conversation with everyone and their mothers, but that doesn't mean you're automatically deemed unfriendly and rude. It is perfectly enough to stay as "another friendly face" in someone's mind, and it doesn't take much to get there. 4. Turn the focus on them instead of you Some advice my therapist gave to me is the practical part two of tip #3. As mentioned before, I often put a lot of pressure on myself in social situations, which builds up the anxiety and flusters my brain. If you struggle through a similar kind of pressure, turn the focus of the conversation to the other person. As my therapist put it, think about something, anything that you're curious to know about the other person, and then ask it! Pay attention to what they're saying, and notice which part of their response sparks something in your mind. Aside from keeping the conversation flowing, you've also done a great job with making the other person feel like they had your undivided attention, cared for, and heard. Even if you honestly aren't feeling particularly curious and the conversation is short-lived, asking someone about their day and mustering up one follow-up question is more than enough. It's an extremely simple concept, but it has been my saving grace in any social interaction. 5. Find your sweet spot, and befriend those who recognize it So as an introvert, you've realized that it's draining to be besties with the whole world, and also that you shouldn't feel the need for whole world to want to be your bestie. So who are the lucky few that get the privilege to call you their friend? Something to know is that everyone's concept of an ideal friendship varies greatly from person to person. Some find their basketball buddies to be their ride-or-die's, and others must have ugly-cried and have been ugly-cried to in order to know this friendship's a keeper. A way of figuring out which kind of friendships you find to be the most fulfilling is to think of the qualities that you thought made you the most fantastic human being of a friend to ever exist. I call it a "sweet spot" because these are the moments where I felt like I was my best self, purely because it was my strengths that were able to truly brighten my friend's day in a unique and personal way. There's no need to feel like you need to be a kind of friend that you're not and feel like your options are limited. Finding people who value these special and authentic qualities that you can bring to a friendship is hard to come by, but you know you've hit a jackpot in your social life when you do.
' Fact Check: “Anti-sexual assault movements ‘overblown’? Young men in America face unjustified anxieties”' expose article
The article “Anti-sexual assault movements ‘overblown’? Young men in America face unjustified anxieties” poses a valid perspective of apprehensive young Americans who fear being falsely accused for committing a sexual assault act. However, the article tremendously fails to detail the converse of the conversation through omission of statements and distortion of statistics found in the BBC news article Brett Kavanaugh accusations: Are young men in America scared?, creating a bias unethical to journalism. Unlike “Anti-sexual assault movement ‘overblown’?”, BBC news included sentiments surrounding the need for self-reflection within young men and their own actions, which is a positive outcome resulting from the #MeToo movement. Drake King, an 18 year-old Tennessee student, expressed apprehensions regarding dating, but also thought that the guidelines on what is and isn’t OK are now clearer due to the movements. King says, “ It helps to have someone tell me what I am doing wrong.” This is just one quote from a series of statements from young men with the perspective that the #MeToo movement has provided a learning experience, all of which were completely erased from the narrative. Those who have given statements on the topic do not appear as black and white as they do in “Anti-sexual assault movement ‘overblown’?”. Aiden, the 23 year-old student in Arizona, says, “I was pretty sure sexual assault was more common than society was willing to admit, but I also am fairly certain that false accusations are more common than most of the #MeToo activists would like to think." Sentiments that question both perspectives are crucial to properly portray the grey area of the situation, which should be addressed in the article. While the choice of which statements from young Americans were included and which were omitted is a questionable decision, the distortion of study findings unfairly masks the reader from viewing the situation with objective lenses. BBC news had linked a study that explored the nature of false assault accusations in their article, which truthfully stated that 2-10% of rape accusations in the past 20 years were proven to be fake. “Anti-sexual assault movement ‘overblown’?” did not indicate the estimate to be a range, but simply stuck with the high end of the estimate and deemed the number definitive. In addition, a set of statistic that appears in the BBC article explains that one in six women is a victim of attempted rape in the US, and government data in 2016 suggested just 23% of these assaults were reported. This finding was sandwiched between statements supporting the idea that young men do feel anxiety due to the high exposure of sexual assault cases, which helps bring the reader back to a more neutral, objective standpoint, allowing them to look at the facts, rather than get caught up in opinions. Articles such as BBC article and “Anti-sexual assault movement ‘overblown’?” are founded on the opinions of the general public, which makes the impartial and objective nature of the report all the more necessary. The latter article has been written with a bias that cannot be trusted to be the backbone of an ethically-written news article.