gsa-comms

Another September is here and I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, there’s a sense of excitement on campus as folks head into a new semester with new goals and new opportunities. I also feel that excitement and optimism that this academic year will be positive. I’ve been at this school for over a year now, so I have more of an idea of what to expect in terms of scheduling and TAing and supervisor expectations and whatnot. I also feel more settled in Waterloo now that I’ve had time...

Over the course of July, which is Disability Pride Month, I’ve been reflecting on (and getting very angry about) the stigma around disability. My perspectives on this issue are limited due to my own internal biases, my experiences, and the nature of my disabilities being invisible. For that reason, I’ll never fully understand the challenges and barriers faced by folks with visible disabilities or disabilities that are different than mine. Not to mention that every disabled person has vastly...

Calculus of gain and loss: Rothschild’s Fiddle In Anton Chekhov's Rothschild's Fiddle (1894), the protagonist Yakov Ivanov undergoes a series of realization — hinging on an evolving definition of life's gain and loss — as he witnesses the death of his wife, Martha, and as he drew toward his own life's end. To Yakov, the missed opportunity for gain is a loss — and those are thousands, and so much so to conclude, ''[So,] life to a man was a loss — death, a gain. '' Yakov, whose calculation of...