As the school year draws to a close, I am left reflecting on our latest year in production — one that solidified the Press’ values as a rare worker co-operative as we saw an influx of brand-new staff members; encouraged more creativity in writing than ever before; and on a personal level, shaped me as a person more than any other professional experience I’ve had. 

While I can appreciate the changing colours of autumn, the cozy warm nights of winter and the rainy rebirth of spring, it feels redundant to debate preferences for seasons when summer is given such an advantage. 

The walk across the stage at the Ian Beddis Gymnasium is a fleeting moment — a few seconds of brisk treading, a firm handshake and the heavy weight of a degree. But for those of us graduating this spring, that walk represents the culmination of years of late nights in the James A. Gibson Library, early morning drives or bus rides to campus and the steady transformation of who we were into who we have become. 

Brock University is a really great school to study at. As a political science student, I say this largely due in part to my amazing department, the professors and the wonderful students that make up the discipline’s body.  

This article contains spoilers for the film “Project Hail Mary.” 

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms dictates that freedom of expression is a freedom applied to all Canadians, teachers included. However, parents and school boards alike have long had concerns around what exactly their children are learning, and in a world becoming increasingly publicly politicized, personally I am of the belief that it is the job of teachers to inform students of political and social topics not covered by the curriculum.

The ever-increasing popularity of preventative Botox, filler and other anti-aging pursuits is not apolitical. Normalizing cosmetic work only strengthens patriarchal notions of beauty.

There’s been a trend, which will be labeled as the 90s trend, circulating among institutions across the world. My feed has been showing mostly Canadian universities participating in it. While I think that it’s cute, it also strikes a nerve because it represents a core pilar of why life in 2026 feels so suffocating for young adults.  

Defunding safe consumption sites will only devastate communities and increase harm — but Ford couldn’t care less.

Reproducing the discourse that our exploitative social conditions are eternal truths only devalues the labour of activism and organizing. 

In a heteronormative society, the visual landscape of romantic attraction is rarely a natural reflection of biological drive but rather a curated performance of sexual dimorphism designed to uphold the scaffolding of patriarchal power. We are taught to view the “ideal” couple as a study in contrast: a man who is tall, broad and physically imposing, paired with a woman who is petite, hairless and delicate. This aesthetic mandate feeds into deeper systemic conditions that eroticizes gender power gaps, where the male must be a “superior” physical presence while the female must be “inferior.”  

The CN freight train derailment in St. Catharines is another reminder of why it’s never a good idea to allow a private corporation to own and maintain important infrastructure. 

When evaluating each show based on its humour, Seinfeld is easily a better sitcom than Friends. 

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.