Columns

Porkpie Hat—Life During Wartime

“Transmit the message to the receiver/ Hope for an answer some day” – Talking Heads, “Life During Wartime” There is a battle raging all around us, a deadly skirmish in the only war that has ever mattered: the struggle between the opposing forces of love and fear.  It’s a senseless conflict, one that should never… Read more »

Women of Interest—Amani Al-Khatahtbeh

Amani Al-Khatahtbeh is the editor and cofounder of MuslimGirl.com, which is the number one blog for Muslim women in the United States. As a result of her tireless work on Muslim Girl, at twenty-three years old Amani was named to Forbes 30 Under 30 in media. Forbes 30 Under 30 is issued annually with the… Read more »

The Fly on the Wall—Happy Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day!

265 000 students have graced the proverbial halls of Athabasca University since it opened in 1970.  Despite differences of age or geography, we all share an intellectual bond as members of the academic diaspora that is AU.  Turns out, we are not alone in sharing a unique bond with those who are surrounded by a… Read more »

The Fit Student—Laugh Your Way to a Perfect GPA

A happy brain could make you a superstar student.  One Harvard study showed that “happiness is positively associated with GPA for students in grades 4-12.”  Another study “revealed a significant correlation between happiness and academic success.”  So, if happiness boosts GPA, why waste time being sad? In the undergrad, depression dipped my grades.  Due to… Read more »

Course Exam—PSYC 228

PSYC 228 (Introduction to Human Development) is a three-credit introductory psychology course that has students studying the basic concepts and mechanisms inherent in the process of human development from birth to old age, with an emphasis on the physical, cognitive, and socioemotional changes associated with each life stage. PSYC 228 has two precluded courses, which… Read more »

Dear Barb—Meet the New Boss

Dear Barb: Recently, I began working at a small company doing administrative work for the summer.  I’m halfway through my degree in business and looking forward to graduating.  Most of my summer jobs have worked out well, but this one is challenging.  My boss is in her early thirties and this is her first time… Read more »

Porkpie Hat—Of Flight Attendants and Pink Flamingos

I’m twenty years old, living in the basement of a ramshackle pink building in Vancouver’s wild West End.  My upstairs neighbour, appropriately named Byron, is about seventy years old, a salty and poetic soul, a former flight attendant for a British airline.  His studio apartment is cramped and narrow, but the furnishings are suggestive of… Read more »

Study Dude—Four Ways to Wash Away School Worries

Studies can lead to stress.  So, as students, our brains might chatter nonstop.  We might second guess ourselves.   We might toss and turn rather than drift into lullaby land.  We might complain of headaches, sore muscles, and tiredness.  We might even mingle with mental illness—after all, anxiety and depression can stem from negative thoughts, overthinking,… Read more »