The production and commercialization of physical media is the only way to instill a true sense of ownership in consumers, which makes it incredibly disappointing that physical purchasing has never been more at risk. 

The historical context and personal lives of academic figures does matter and should be taught alongside their theories and contributions to their respective fields.

I was one of those kids who didn't have a gaming console growing up. While it was a blessing to have friends with a Wii or an Xbox 360, it made me jealous that I couldn’t play Mario Kart or Castle Crashers at home. For years, I begged and pleaded with my parents to let me have my own console so I could finally play all my favourite games that I’d played at my friends' houses. In elementary school, playing video games was just about the only thing I wanted to do besides hanging out with my friends and playing sports. 

Brock has a whiteboard problem. This year, it seems nearly every whiteboard in every lecture hall is running into the same predictable shortcomings that inevitably befall wall-mounted melamine writing surfaces.

For decades, we accepted the collective delusion that in order to be productive, a person had to wake up to a blaring alarm in the dark, rush through a chaotic morning routine and physically transport themselves to a specific building, only to sit at a desk and stare at the exact same screen they have in their living room. 

While I’d never claim to have perfect attendance, it’s around this point of the semester when attendance in general seems to fall apart. Whether it’s course load burnout, early morning weather or simply a day too nice to spend indoors, students tend to give up on going to class. 

Do you remember the Vines and viral jokes by Thomas Sanders? How about when popular creators like PewDiePie and Jacksepticeye first started on YouTube? What about the creativity that defined Ryan Higa and Zack King videos? What a time that was.

There is a specific, modern anxiety that occurs at the end of a coffee transaction or a quick service meal. It happens the moment a digital screen is swiveled toward you, displaying three pre-set percentages — often starting at 18 per cent and climbing towards 30 per cent — while a cashier watches in awkward silence. This “iPad flip” has become the symbol of a broken economic contract. What was once a gesture of gratitude for exceptional service has morphed into a mandatory social tax, designed to bridge the gap between a subpar minimum wage and a livable one.

We live in a world where our lives have become one big checklist: go to university, get good grades, get a stable job and build a healthy family. This set of expectations fills life with obligations rather than opportunities to grow into who you are and who you can be. 

Ford’s recent changes to OSAP’s funding model will ensure that middle- and lower-class families stay out of university — unless they want to be in decades of debt after they finish their degree.

Making a life-changing decision is hard, and most of that difficulty comes from the fact that you truly do not know what that decision will lead to — and this is something we must make peace with.

I’m eternally grateful for the technology that gets me through my day. Whether it’s the alarm blaring from my iPhone only to be snoozed a dozen more times; the AirPods that block out the world; the Apple Watch that tracks my sleep, workouts and who knows what other data; the MacBook carrying me through every late-night lab or the iPad that I’ve effectively turned into a very expensive notebook. 

Picture this: you wake up in a perfectly warm room with a peak of sunshine coming in from the blinds and it’s not a struggle to get out of bed for what feels like the first time in months. The air is crisp and a feeling of monotony has broken as you get up with your best foot put forward. 

I’ve always been the kind of person who loves way too hard and far too quickly.

For many Canadians, inflation doesn’t feel temporary — it’s a permanent part of life. That goes to say that Canada isn’t “expensive” by accident, but by design. With average Canadians expressing grocery bill shocks and expensive airfare, while students must pick between food, rent and textbooks, it has become clear that oligopolies are one of the biggest issues in Canada’s market.  

From my first bottle of Burberry Goddess to a collection larger than I’ll ever realistically finish, I’ve fallen down the perfume rabbit hole. But perfume, unlike other luxury collectibles, isn’t meant to sit on a shelf collecting dust. When chosen intentionally, fragrance is experiential. It defines mood, captures memory and becomes part of how we present ourselves. People may forget what you said, but they won’t forget how you smelled. 

Despite it all, your opinion matters the most in this world. We in the Western-liberal-democratic world tend to gravitate towards apathy when faced with the troubles of politics. This isn’t necessarily an unnatural choice when faced with information overload, but for anything to change, your opinions need to be heard and expressed by any means necessary.

Brock University’s administration has been nothing short of shameful in the way that they’ve handled budgetary issues amidst Premier Doug Ford’s underfunding. The actions of Brock’s administration have negatively affected the student experience and brought the merits of Brock University’s education into question. 

Pierre Poilievre is the reason why the Liberals will be in power for a while. On Jan. 31, Pierre Poilievre won his Conservative leadership review with an outstanding 87.4 per cent of the vote. Though this is a major victory for Poilievre, this is not the end of his worries.  

Approximately 70 per cent of all countries have access to universal healthcare, and I was always proud to tell my American friends that I lived in one of those places — proud that I never had to worry about going bankrupt after an emergency room visit. I feel that this reassurance is a privilege, and for a long time, I only saw the positives. 

I don’t want to write anymore.

Trends that urge women to step into their “divine feminine energy,” consume their way into a “clean girl aesthetic” and blame small mistakes on the fact they are “just a girl” are not products of neutral shifts in our algorithms. The differing frames women have been forced into online indicate subtle dog whistles to alt-right ideologies, ultimately functioning to naturalize conservatism, traditional gender roles and regressive choice feminism. 

If you’ve ever scrolled through social media, sat through a family dinner or had to endure a ‘situationship,’ surely you have been exposed to the common diagnosis of modern dating as a moral failure. It’s always the same arguments: the newer generation is impatient, nobody wants to put in the work, everyone is incapable of commitment and they’re all addicted to novelty. 

For the first two decades of the 21st century, technology advanced at breakneck speed. Its rapid development often left sacrificed accountability, with tech being allowed to interfere with institutions like democracy, personal rights, privacy and ownership. 

Piggybacking off the popularity of Crave’s new hit hockey show, Heated Rivalry, doesn’t make the NHL any less homophobic

The Concurrent Education program at Brock University is unnecessarily difficult and ridiculously expensive, causing future educators to experience complete burnout before they even have a chance to reach the classroom. 

On Jan. 24, on a frigid morning during a cold snap and with just four hours of sleep, I embarked at 7:40 a.m. to meet my partner in crime, Wenyang Ming, for my first mock moot court trial.  

The rom-coms of today don’t just disappoint — they feel out of touch.

The response to the United States’ capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro displays an unusual juxtaposition: many Americans are upset at U.S. President Donald Trump for his unannounced military intervention while, on the contrary, many Venezuelans — namely those living within the U.S. — have met the news with widespread celebration.

You can still make new friends in your twenties.