The Silhouette: Please introduce yourself. 

Brenda Lin: My name is Brenda, and I'm the Chief Returning Officer for the [McMaster Students Union] elections department.

What does this department do? 

All of our elections have the same general process but, for each election, the time frames are a little bit different. For a general rundown, we have a nomination period that is open for a certain number of days. At the end of the nomination period, we'll have a meeting with all the candidates to go over the election roles, important dates and the timeline. After this meeting, the candidates start campaigning. We will just be monitoring the candidates' campaigns. Then, students can vote for the candidate that they feel would best represent them in the election. 

What do you do? 

I'm in charge of managing the elections department's administrative side. The Deputy Returning Officer works on all the promotions and social media. We both work together to make sure that the elections department runs smoothly and that elections are held fairly and equitably.

What drew you to your position? 

I was the previous Chief Returning Officer for the McMaster Science Society. Through that position, I got a sense of why this work is important. You have a lot of power to promote and show the importance of running for elections and supporting the candidates who are passionate about running for a position. Student governance is really important and I feel like a lot of people don't recognize the work that many people who participate in student government do because a lot of the stuff that they do is behind the scenes. At the same time, it's the behind the scenes stuff that keeps everything running. 

Student governance is really important and I feel like a lot of people don't recognize the work that many people who participate in student government do because a lot of the stuff that they do is behind the scenes. At the same time, it's the behind the scenes stuff that keeps everything running. 

Brenda Lin, Chief Returning Officer, McMaster Students Union Elections Department

Can you elaborate on why student government is important to you? 

Student government is a really good opportunity for people to get involved in the school and actually make decisions that are important to the students. It's a really good way for students' voices to be heard. Even if some of the things that we want may not be well respected by the school or may not be immediately enacted, even having the chance to voice your opinions is important. If you think about it in the sense that, “I don't think McMaster [University] would listen to me about my opinion, so I'm just not going to voice it,” then who is going to talk about what's important to the students? It's really important that students are advocating for themselves and, even if one person doesn't want to explicitly talk to the McMaster administration about something, they have representatives who are there to represent them in front of the school. Through these student governance opportunities, students have the opportunity to actually bring forward their concerns and actually make changes to see what they want in the school.

If you think about it in the sense that, “I don't think McMaster [University] would listen to me about my opinion, so I'm just not going to voice it,” then who is going to talk about what's important to the students?

Brenda Lin, Chief Returning Officer, McMaster Students Union Elections Department

What would you want others to know about the elections department and running for election? 

Even though running for an election may seem daunting at first, we try to make the process as easy as possible by putting up resources and giving students as much of an opportunity as possible to ask questions and be an active participant. The elections department is always there to support candidates and answer any questions about running. Running for elections could be scary, especially if you're doing it for the first time, because you have to make a whole campaign and there are all these rules that you have to follow. But, I think it's also a really good opportunity for students to learn from the experience and put themselves out there.

We always welcome people to set up a chat to help walk them through the process if they feel that anything is unclear. We also want students to know the importance of voting in elections and how important it is to have their voice heard in the voting process, even if it just seems like a checkbox on a ballot. You may feel like your vote doesn't matter in the election. Each and every person who does end up voting, your vote definitely counts towards the result. While students may not have to be a super active member of the McMaster community, just casting your vote on polling day is really important.

We also want students to know the importance of voting in elections and how important it is to have their voice heard in the voting process, even if it just seems like a checkbox on a ballot. You may feel like your vote doesn't matter in the election. Each and every person who does end up voting, your vote definitely counts towards the result.

Brenda Lin, Chief Returning Officer, McMaster Students Union Elections Department

The Hamilton-based project Filipinas of HamONT is using interviews and surveys to find and connect the community

There are not enough spaces in Hamilton where BIPOC feel that they belong. BIPOC in the Steel City often feel disconnected from their heritage, their history and their community.

This is a problem that Anabelle Ragsag and Jessica Vinluan are hoping that folks in Hamilton with Filipino heritage will one day no longer have to face. They are helping to tackle the problem with their community-engaged project, Filipinas of HamONT.

Ragsag is an author and educator with a background in politics who immigrated to Canada from the Philippines in 2009. Vinluan is a teacher, the founder of BIPOC youth organization Redefine Twenty and a second-generation Filipina-Canadian who was born and raised in Hamilton.

 

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With their different backgrounds, they have made their project Filipinas of HamONT for all Filipinas in the city of Hamilton, whether they were born and raised in the city, a naturalized citizen, a long-timer, a newcomer or just passing by as is the case for many students.

They have made their project Filipinas of HamONT for all Filipinas in the city of Hamilton, whether they were born and raised in the city, a naturalized citizen, a long-timer, a newcomer or just passing by as is the case for many students.

The pair met in early 2020 at a Reaching for Power workshop, an initiative that teaches BIPOC women and non-binary individuals how to make a positive change in their communities. After the workshop series ended, Ragsag and Vinluan began in June 2020 to think about creating a project for the Filipina community. In fall 2020, they received a microgrant for the project and began sharing it with the larger community in November.

The project initially consisted of a survey designed to map where Filipinas in Hamilton are located. The survey asks for participants’ demographic information including: their highest completed education level; the province in the Philippines that any member of their family is from; if they are working, the industry in which they are employed; and the effect that COVID-19 has had on their livelihood.

 

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The survey results will be shared to show where Filipinas in Hamilton are. As Filipinas began immigrating to Hamilton in the 1960s to build the health sector, Ragsag and Vinluan anticipated that many of the Filipinas that participate in their survey will work in this area. However, they began to find Filipinas outside of this sector when they decided to complement their survey with interviews with Hamilton-based Filipinas.

“[E]specially being born and raised in Hamilton, I didn't really think that I could see Filipinas in different spaces and I think to be able to see that . . . like, “oh, you're not just in the health sector, there's other avenues that maybe I can take if I see myself in them” . . . [The project is] validating that it's not just in the health sector, but like other aspects as well and other spaces that Filipinos are taking up,” said Vinluan.

"[The project is] validating that it's not just in the health sector, but like other aspects as well and other spaces that Filipinos are taking up," said Vinluan.

Ragsag and Vinluan have completed eight of the 10 interviews that they aimed to do. They shared the first interview on Nov. 13, 2020 and will continue to share them until March 2021. The interview series neatly exemplifies the intention behind the project: they want to share stories of leadership, empowerment and living between two cultures.

“I grew up and it was very white-dominated spaces. I think that, as a Filipina, I felt like I didn't belong in a lot of the spaces . . . I felt like I couldn't have these kinds of conversations around dual identity and things that I feel like I had difficulties navigating.  So, when Anabelle brought up the idea of starting Filipinas of HamONT through the YWCA project, I was so excited because I know there's a lot of these kinds of community collectives in Toronto . . . but I also feel like I don't belong because it's Toronto and I'm from Hamilton,” explained Vinluan.

Based on the feedback from some of their interviewees, Ragsag and Vinluan are working towards running online events that will enable them to continue the important conversations they began in the interviews. They are considering running a book club where they would read works by Filipino authors and hosting workshops on the history of the Philippines.

“I saw that a lot of second and multiple generations of those with Filipino roots have this thirst to know more about what it is like. What does it mean if I don't speak Filipino, if I don't speak Tagalog, am I still Filipino? Because of my teaching background . . . I thought that's something that I can do. That is something that I can contribute to the community,” said Ragsag.

“I saw that a lot of second and multiple generations of those with Filipino roots have this thirst to know more about what it is like. What does it mean if I don't speak Filipino, if I don't speak Tagalog, am I still Filipino?" said Ragsag.

However, in starting this project, Ragsag and Vinluan do not intend to take away from the work done by established Filipino organizations in Hamilton. They recognize the importance of churches, cultural gatherings, all-Filipino sports tournaments and student organizations such as the Filipino McMaster Student Association. They aim to work alongside these organizations to connect the Filipina community.

Despite the name, Ragsag and Vinluan are not completely closing the project to woman-identifying individuals. The project is intended to evolve with community needs.

“We see that our being here in Canada is rooted to that history of a feminized migration . . . So I think it started from there but at the same time, the project is an evolving one – it's not set in stone — and we are aware that identities are fluid, as well . . . the role of those who don't identify as male or female have been there in history but they [were] erased by colonization. That is one of the topics that we want to discuss: what is it in our history that was erased? Can we uncover them?” said Ragsag.

Ragsag and Vinluan hope that this project will enable them and other Hamilton-based Filipinas to continue learning more about their history and heritage. By having these conversations with their community and connecting with established organizations, the project will help ensure that every Filipina in Hamilton feels they belong.

This article has been edited as of Feb. 27, 2020

A previously published version of this article stated that Giroux phoned his daughter to ask about Casablancas. This has been corrected to state that he asked his son.

This article is part one of a two part series. Read part two here.

The latter half of the 2010 decade brought with it the rise of various right-winged movements throughout the world. Henry Giroux, a McMaster professor in the department of English and cultural studies, felt a sense of urgency; that the public needed to be educated in order to advance our democracy and combat the right side of politics. We recently had the chance to catch up with Giroux after he published his newest book, The Terror of the Unforeseen, which includes a forward by Julian Casablancas, lead singer of The Strokes.

INTRODUCTION TO CASABLANCAS:

In 2016, Giroux received a phone call from an agent asking if he knew who Julian Casablancas was, to which he responded, “No, I don’t”. He then phoned his son to ask who the mysterious rock star was.

Casablancas brought a film crew to Giroux’s Hamilton home and interviewed the professor about his work. This was the start of the duo’s friendship. Giroux then asked Casablancas if he wanted to write a forward in The Terror of the Unforeseen to open up his narrative to a much-wider audience. 

After the forward was written, Casablancas interviewed Giroux in front of a live audience at a  McMaster Library event at The Westdale Theatre (1014 King St. W.) on Oct. 24, 2019. The event was entitled “The Looming Threat of Fascist Politics”.

EARLY YEARS:

Giroux was born in Providence, Rhode Island, living in a working-class neighbourhood. He obtained a basketball scholarship from the University of Southern Maine and graduated from the university to become a high school teacher. He received a scholarship to complete his schooling at Carnegie-Mellon University, graduating with a PhD in 1977.

After becoming a professor at Boston University, Giroux began researching what education looks like at universities; what does it mean to get a university education

In 1981, Giroux’s research inspired his second book, Theory and Resistance in Education: a Pedagogy for the Opposition. In Theory and Resistance, he defends that education has become a privatized endeavour that does not prioritizes the public’s best interests, including the interests of students. This privatization has become apparent through the promotion of maths and sciences, and the undermining of social and behavioural teachings. Giroux concludes that universities are no longer producing public intellectuals, people who think and reason critically, with the absence of humanities and social sciences.

When Giroux went up for tenure at Boston University, everyone but the president of the University wanted to give him the teaching position. 

“[The president] was the east coast equivalent of Ronald Reagan, and a really ruthless guy.. he was denying tenure to everybody on the left [side of the political spectrum],” said Giroux.

Giroux moved to Miami University where he started the first cultural studies centre in the United States. He was then offered an endowed chair at Pennsylvania State University. When the opportunity came to apply to McMaster University, Giroux leapt at the offer and was hired in 2004.

THE TERROR OF THE UNFORESEEN:

Casablancas joined Giroux’s project because he saw the value in Giroux’s ideology.

“The idea for the book came out of a certain sense of incredible urgency . . . motivated by the election of Donald Trump and the rise of right-winged movements throughout the world,” said Giroux.

The author coined the term “neoliberal fascism”: a cross between racist ideology and a ruling financial elite class that disregards lower classes. This term is the basis of Giroux’s book, which describes how neoliberal fascism affects universities and media, along with how it has contributed to the creation of alt-right culture.

“I tried to take seriously the notion that politics follows culture, meaning that, you can’t really talk about politics unless you talk about the way in which people are experiencing their everyday lives and the problems that confront them,” said Giroux.

He believes that fascism never goes away, that it will always manifest itself in some context. Giroux used the U.S. as an example. The wealth and power held by the governing financial elite has created a state that does not care about the inequalities faced by most of its citizens.

Giroux links the above issues to the war on youth that much of his work has focused on, with the belief that youth are a long-term investment that are being written out of democracy.

CAMPUS POLITICS:

Giroux sees elements of youth being written out of democracy on our own campus. He also recognized that neoliberal ideology could have been a contributing cause to the province’s financial cuts to universities.

“The [ideal] model for education is now patterned after a business culture and with that, it seems to me, comes with an enormous set of dangers and anxieties,” stated Giroux.

According to Giroux, universities used to operate as public good; however, this is no longer their priority. Instead, universities are constantly worried about their bottom line, due in part to neoliberalism. This is especially evident in the elimination of or lack of funding for programs and courses that bring in less money for universities. Giroux cites the example of liberal arts education, which he believes is vital for every student to obtain. He believes this field teaches students a general understanding of our interactions with the world and how to become a socially responsible citizen; however, Giroux believes that liberal arts are being neglected in favour of teaching science and math.

While he understands that universities run deficits, this need to meet the bottom line can open the door for them to become influenced to opt-in to privatization and corporate influence. Giroux believes the only type of influence major corporations should have on campus are in the forms of sponsorships to allow the university to carry out its business as students are neither clients nor products.

“We have an obligation as educators, not to prepare students for just the work, but to prepare them for the world and what it means.” 

When asked about the Ford government’s stance on OSAP cuts, Giroux believes that the government has a limited notion of investment, likely stemming from neoliberalist ideals.

“You don’t invest in students, for them to return profits . . . you invest in students and do everything you can to make sure that they can distinguish between meaningful work and meaningless work; that they can have some vision of the future that’s rooted in democratic values, that has some sense of compassion for what it means to live in a world in which we’re completely interdependent.

The Terror of the Unforeseen is the 71st book by Henry Giroux. 

“I write because I believe that writing matters, I believe that elevating ideas into the public realm may help change the way people view the world,” said Giroux.

Stay tuned for part two of this series featuring our interview with Julian Casablancas.

 

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Photos by Catherine Goce

This time last year, I was contemplating what my future in the sports industry would look like. I had just wrapped up my first year as the Silhouette’s sports reporter and though I gained a ton of valuable skills and experiences, I was really unsure if I wanted to continue as a sports writer.

Though despite my doubts, I saw the doors that opened for me through this job and I decided to give it another shot in my final year.

I took on this role because I knew that if I wanted to find a job in the sports industry, everything that I did outside the classroom would matter the most. Being a multimedia and communications student at McMaster has taught me a lot of the skills I need, but the practical aspects of the sports industry one can get at programs at Ryerson University or Brock University are not offered here.

So along with writing for The Silhouette I took on four major sports-related extracurriculars. From running women’s football on campus, to helping the men’s basketball team figure out their social media presence, I tried to get as much experience as I could.

This, along with my previous internship experience, allowed me to figure out what exactly I had a passion for. I knew that I could write, I had two articles every week for the last two years to prove it, but I also knew that it was not something I was passionate enough about.

Running women’s football gave me a chance to work out my organizational and operational skills. A major part of the sports industry is game operations. Although it is a bit different to what I am used to as a comms and media student, I have always had an interest in planning and carrying out projects.

This role had me overseeing over 150 students, both student-coaches and players, and organizing tournaments; it was no easy task. In my frustration I quickly came to realize although I once had an interest in sports operation, it was not something I envisioned myself doing long-term.

It was not until I was working with the McMaster men’s basketball team creating creative content that I discovered what I was truly passionate about. It combined the media skills I learned in class, my personal interests and my sports media knowledge.

Giving a team who struggled on the court an online presence that did not just reflect their losses was a fun challenge. We immediately saw the positive feedback in an increase in followers and activity.

Now that I figured out my passion, it all began to seem so simple. Apply to social media positions for different sport teams in organizations? I can do that no problem. Although it was not enough.

Part of looking for a job, especially in the sports industry, is through networking. This is something I have always struggled with, so it was something I challenged myself to do this year. I first met with Camille Wallace, digital media specialist for Team Canada, who reminded me how my job as sports reporter already helps me to build these networks.

As I had started the year before, I continued to interview alumni who work in the sports industry and found a mentor in Vanessa Matyas, Marketing and Media Manager at NFL Canada.

NFL Canada’s Marketing & Media Manager Vanessa Matyas on her journey from McMaster to her dream job, and how hard work and perseverance led her there. https://t.co/TiBu0xd8kq pic.twitter.com/Ln8gt6wVRd

— The Silhouette (@theSilhouette) March 11, 2019

 

Through her advice and help, I have been able to fix up the resume I used to see no flaws in, and even land myself my first dream job interview. Unfortunately for me, due to still being in school, I was unable to move forward in the interview process.

But with positive interview feedback under my belt, I am now ready to take on the job search by storm. I know it will not be easy, but I have been, and I am ready to work hard and use what I learned while at Mac in and out the classroom.

When I look back at the beginning of my journey four years ago, I never would have thought that I would be here today. Although I do not have it all completely figured out, leaving Mac with a sense of what my purpose is something I am grateful for.

As senior year comes to an end, I am extremely grateful that despite my doubts, I gave writing with the Sil another chance. Even though there were many times I felt like I was in over my head, I could not have imagined my senior year any other way.

 

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Our Digital Media Specialist Aaron de Jesus sat down with Sean Leon prior to his Welcome Week performance to talk about his experiences, founding the @ixxi.co and the rapper’s approach towards his music.

https://www.facebook.com/TheMcMasterSilhouette/videos/479064049255367/

 

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The best piece of advice Alessia Cara ever received was to take things slowly. “That was from my parents, [and it’s] probably the best advice ever, especially in this industry when things can get pretty overwhelming,” the 19-year-old Brampton native said.

Since the release of her single, “Here,” last spring, followed by her debut album Know-It-All, Cara’s life has been transformed. In the past year, she has appeared on Jimmy Fallon, been featured in numerous publications and performed with Taylor Swift. Despite her unprecedented rise to the spotlight, the fame has yet to get to her. “It’s crazy to even think of that word [famous], because it’s so new to me and I don’t think of it like that so everything feels surreal still,” she said.

andy_interview_alessia2

Performing with Taylor Swift was a similar experience. A longtime fan, Cara said, “It didn’t even feel real. I’ve always wanted to meet her and I’ve always wanted to ask her so many questions and it was so cool to be on stage with her.”

In a sea of manufactured talent and mediocre songwriting, Cara’s songs stand out. They are earnest and utterly relatable. (Nothing has ever encapsulated how I feel in large groups quite like “Here.”) She is obviously connected to each of her songs on a personal level, a trait she strives for with her music. “I think [songwriting is] a lot easier when you’re feeding off your own experiences because then it’ll inevitably become different,” she explained. “When I try to make music I don’t try to compare it to anything else or at the same time I don’t try to make it overly different from anything else.”

andy_interview_alessia3

Know-It-All is more than the name of her album. It also represents an overarching theme in her lyrics. While at first Cara wrote songs simply for the pleasure of it, when it came time to assemble the album, she looked for songs with a common link. “There’s this strong feeling in all of [the songs]. As teenagers, we have these strong emotions and sometimes we like to think we know everything but at the end of the day we don’t,” she said.

Cara performed at McMaster last week as part of her Know-It-All tour. Singing in front of a crowd of students her own age, she looked comfortable and relaxed onstage, pausing at one point in the show to ask if any audience members called Brampton home. Her rise to stardom may have come as a surprise to her, but Alessia Cara is undoubtedly a natural.

Header Photo Credit: Meredith Truax, in-article: Jon White/Photo Editor

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When I meet Chris Baio at Toronto’s Drake Hotel he is exhausted and mildly anxious, but still smiling. Slightly bleary-eyed from his cross-Atlantic flight that day, the London-by-way-of-New-York musician is about to do sound-check for one of the first shows in support of his debut solo album, The Names, but is waiting on a crucial part of his performance.

Nursing a coffee in one hand while warmly shaking my own with his other, Baio leads me to the patio to both get some air and explain his predicament.

One would think that Baio’s experience playing with Vampire Weekend would render him immune to pre-show jitters, but that doesn’t appear to be the case. In this case, it has got more to do with his equipment than his self-belief.

“Right now, the pedal-board belonging to the guitar player that I’m playing with is somewhere between the airport and here. So I’m just waiting on a piece of equipment. We just flew in today from London [England] to Chicago, and from Chicago to here. I’m doing okay, I slept a lot on the flight.”

Passing up the golden-opportunity to make a Wilco joke (“Via Chicago”), I ask how life in London, England is treating him. Having grown up in New York’s surrounding suburbs before moving to Manhattan for college, the wiry musician had spent most of the time he wasn’t touring with Vampire Weekend in the city. As fate would have it, Baio would have to be geographically separated from his beloved New York Rangers due to a career-related move for his wife.

Not one to take his sporting allegiance lightly, Baio has been sacrificing rest to watch the Rangers late at night.

“I tend to live like a reasonable person, but I found that every time I watched the game it would go to double-overtime and I would be on my couch yelling at the TV at 5 a.m.” he said with a chuckle.

Luckily for him, the Rangers’ recent trophy haul has been enough to offset Arsenal’s 10-year cup drought (the F.A. Cup is consolation for consistent failure), the North London football club of which Baio describes himself as a “casual fan.”

What Baio lacks in taste when it comes to soccer teams, he makes up for with his astute musical ear. The EPs that he has been releasing on his own since 2012 (Sunburn, The Silent/New You, Mira) all veer in different, but focused directions. The need to start recording and producing his own music arose from a desire to use the time spent at home from tour productively. While he had been messing around with Logic on his laptop  since 2009, this was the first time he began to take it seriously.

“It came from having ideas in my head and not being able to get them out. You can have an idea for a synth tone, a melody, a way a voice will sound but if you don’t know anything about production there’s no way you can convey that. I was very bad before I got good, and I think that I don’t regret doing it that way. Sometimes you can spend a lot of money and hire someone else to produce, but you don’t have that same level of control. Taking the time and spending five years figuring out how to be a producer before finishing this first record has lead me to listen to and understand music very differently than when Vampire Weekend started and it makes me excited to make another one of these records down the line.”

Baio also said that watching his bandmate, Rostam Batmanglij, produce the first two Vampire Weekend records on his own was a factor in his desire to keep production in-house as he saw the creative license it gave them.

“I wasn’t in a record contract or anything like that and just took it to a place where I had something I was really happy with before even starting to send it to people. When you’re just making a record on your own there are less expectations and pressure. I can’t say that anyone was really clamouring for a solo record from me, which I think was a good thing because it meant I could focus on the thing itself and make a record that I was really psyched on, which should be why people make records.”

If you sit down and listen to Baio’s discography chronologically, you won’t begin to hear his own voice until you hit his most recent EP, Mira, released in 2013. While he is quick to condemn his vocal performance on “Welterweight” as “not very good,” it showcased an artist growing more comfortable with himself and led to the testing of his limits. Sometimes, as Baio explains, these limits were pushed too far. When playing back the rough cuts of experimental songs for his wife, Baio was on the receiving end of some scathing words.

“She said she liked it, but she also said that when I’d sing in a deep voice it reminded her of the movie Planet of The Apes, which struck me as a funny first reaction.”

“Sister of Pearl” is one track that could have been included under Baio’s wife’s umbrella, but the vocal flows and cadences he employs are anything but ape-like. Inspired by the works of David Bowie and Bryan Ferry, Baio broke away from conventional singing with his staccato-like yelps and the results are seductive. Although they forced Baio to break away from his comfort zone, risks like the ones he took throughout The Names make it an imminently more infectious album from front to back.

The Names was finished approximately a year ago, and Baio says the gruelling post-production routine the record went through before it was picked up by Glasslands makes touring all the more appealing.

“I’m just trying to enjoy the ride. I’ve always enjoyed playing live and I feel it’s kind of like the payoff of the work of making a record.”

Whether you buy the record and end up singing in the shower, or hit up one of his shows, you’re guaranteed a pleasurable ride as well.

Photo Credit: Dan Wilton

What inspired you to make the Exclusive Club Card?

I came here as an international student. I didn’t know anything about the city and for the first year, Hamilton was unknown territory for me. I hated every time that I would do something I would have to go to Toronto. But when I started working and living in the city I started falling in love with it. I started seeing James Street, Augusta Street, Ottawa Street, Concession Street, streets that have a lot of historical meaning. These are places that are under explored or under utilized by students... [we wanted] to get students out to the city and help local businesses.

What is it like being a recently graduated student entrepreneur?

It’s difficult because there’s a lot of uncertainty. At the same time though when you go to downtown Hamilton there is a really good vibe for entrepreneurs. We’re based off a place called Commotion on King, it’s a new coworking place and there are so many recent Mac graduates there doing the same thing, launching their own business. They’re excited about the city, they have a lot of great ideas, they believe in the potential of the city and being in that environment really motivates you to make something happen.

It’s really amazing because right now is a time where people still underrate the city and there’s a lot of potential in the entrepreneurs and the people taking risks right now. We really believe in the city and we want to take it to the next level. Hamilton will be booming within the next 10 years.

For sure. Just the past few years I’ve been here, the change has been incredible.

You can sense the change right? Even the attitude and the way people speak about Hamilton. The downtown core is revitalizing slowly. A couple years ago when you walk by at night, the businesses were closed. There were all those cash for money places. I was, like, what’s going on, right? But now there’s a new company called Ambitious Realty and they’re renovating businesses and opening up new places. Commotion on King is the perfect example. A building that was run-down has been renovated and now entrepreneurs are moving in and a new lounge is moving in downstairs. So it’s definitely a very cool time to be in Hamilton and be an entrepreneur.

Can you go into your background in business and what you studied in school?

I didn’t have a background in business. I did Political Science here at Mac. For me, that’s the biggest challenge. The biggest challenge is not having the background to fall onto, the fact that I didn’t take business classes, the fact that I didn’t really have much business experience before. But the people I’m working with and the network I’m trying to build with Exclusive Club Card as well really helps... People are willing to collaborate with us and a lot of the young entrepreneurs we’ve talked to really think our plans have potential. This is how we’ve kind of started off strong and can do the student card and everything else. We’re trying to grow our network within McMaster, within Hamilton, all over the place.

You finished school and then went on to do this venture. What do you think about people who drop out of school to pursue a business venture?

I am of the opinion that school is essential because those four years of school really made me learn a lot and formed me as a person. I definitely agree that you can drop out of school and launch your own business, but for your personal development, your development as a person, school is more than just going to class and writing exams and that’s it. School is also about growing as a person. For me I came here at 18 years old not knowing anybody. I didn’t know one person in Canada. I came from El Salvador in Central America and I moved here by myself. So the network of students around McMaster, associations like the Latin American Student Association, the McMaster Political Science Society, just the network of communities that McMaster has is really embracing. That for me is essential. I don’t think I could be doing what I’m doing without my four years at McMaster.

And the networking I assume helps with reaching out to other people once you’ve graduated and started this venture. 

Yeah, exactly. The more people you know the more people are willing to help you out and, you know, right now there are so many associations. I’m not sure if you’ve heard of Hamilton Hive, this organization with the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce which we recently became part of. They’re really pushing people to go out and take risks and do what they believe is going to be successful, especially in Hamilton. So there’s really a good support network from the University and from networks and organizations in the city. So even though it definitely is difficult, you do feel like there are people who are there to push you forward and telling you that you can do this.

What advice do you have for a student entrepreneur who is in school right now?

If they have an idea and they believe strongly in it, I think they should definitely pursue it. For me, for example, when me and my partner, John Gabriel, started getting the vision of Exclusive Club Card I really saw the potential and I really believed in what this card can provide to both businesses and students. I think it’s a good idea and I think if it’s done well it could be really successful. So applying that to people who have their own ideas, if they really believe in them, that’s what will drive you to work hard, to network, to put in the time when it seems like it’s uncertain. Because you never know. When you start your own business uncertainty is going to be everywhere. So I think that if you believe and you’re passionate in your ideas, cliché as that may sound, when you wake up in the morning and there are ten things to do, that’s what differentiates whether you’re passionate or not.  When you’re passionate about it, those ten things are not chores. The passion is what determines your level of excitement. And that makes a huge difference.

Do you have any additional things you want to talk about the Exclusive Club Card that you haven’t had a change to say thus far?

Our goal right now is to get students to know about our card because it’s really difficult for them to use it without them knowing what it is. This free card we’re giving them is so they can explore these places and see that Hamilton has more to offer than what they’ve heard or what they’ve seen before. I want them to think that it’s worth their time to go out into the city and check out these local businesses that are exclusive to Hamilton, can’t find them anywhere else, and slowly but surely if they do that, the student community will start embracing Hamilton, thinking that it’s their city. That’s ultimately our goal. We want everyone in the community to come together, and our card will hopefully help with that.

For more information visit www.exclusiveclubcard.com

What drew you to Mac?

Really the football program was number one for me. They had great coaches and felt like a comfortable fit for me. It’s more of a family feel at Mac. You go to some other schools and they show you interest, but you see the team atmosphere and what they have in the locker room and nothing stood out. The “family feel” at Mac felt like no other school. I visited other schools in Ontario and went out east to Quebec, but I wanted to stay near my family and grandparents.

What was the toughest thing to get used to playing at the university level?

The speed. The speed of the game is way quicker and the concepts are more complex. In high school, playing receiver is kind of like “run as fast as you can and we’ll throw you the ball” and now it’s more “read the defenses and understand the game more”.

What is your favourite Mac football memory and why?

My favourite memory would probably be winning the Yates Cup last fall. Winning the Yates Cup was huge, especially with it being against Guelph. They are rivals so it was special winning at home too in front of family. Holding that Yates Cup and knowing that everything we worked for just paid off.

Do you have a favorite touchdown memory? Was there a specific ball that you caught that sticks out? 

I don’t think it has happened yet. I think if I ever break the school’s touchdown reception record—that would be my favorite catch. I just tied the record last game so hopefully this game coming up against Guelph I’ll be able to break Matt Perissini’s record. It’s cool to be considered with one of the best receivers Mac has ever produced in my third year.

What is your favorite part about playing for Mac?

The fans. Hamilton loves football. I feel like when you go to a game everyone’s involved. The atmosphere is awesome here. I feel like at other stadiums football is more of a social atmosphere, but at Mac, people truly do love football.

In terms of your wide receiver position, who do you look up to in the pros and who did you look up to in your early years at Mac?

In terms of pros I looked up to Jerry Rice. In high school I wore the No. 80. I look up to the way he works. Everyday he works at his craft and that’s what I try to do. The way he prepared for football stood out to me and he prepared the best. I think I try to adapt both the mental and the physical aspects of the game from Jerry Rice.

In first and second year playing for Mac, I looked up to Mike DiCroce. He had a lot of insight. He was OUA MVP so he knew what was going on. I also looked up to Dahlin Brooks because he played my position. He told me what to do, what to see, how to read different things on the field. I looked up to Mike DiCroce for playing style, but for the mental aspect of the game I looked up to Dahlin Brooks.

Why do you wear the No. 83?

That’s actually a good question. I wear the No. 83 because of my dad. He wore it in high school. When I came to Mac I knew Rob Babic was graduating so I asked him right away if 83 was an option for me, and he allowed me to take it so I was happy.

What is your current pregame pump-up song?

That’s difficult. I have a couple. I play a lot of Eminem. Eminem’s my go-to. Anything by him gets me pumped up. I play an Eminem playlist pre-game. Sometimes I’ll listen to Drake on the way to the game to calm me down but as soon as I’m on the field and in the changerooms, it’s mostly Eminem.

What gets you fired up on the field?

Seeing everyone else get fired up. When we’re in warmup and my teammates and coaches are excited, that gets me fired up. When the coaches are jumping around and going crazy and they’re not even playing, that gets me pumped. It’s an awesome sight. You know they’re fired up and they want to play so we play our heart out for them.

Do you have any pregame rituals or any words or initials you write on your wrist tape or cleats?

I’ve done it a couple times. I write “FAM” for my family. It’s who I play for. I write it on my wrist because I play for them and that’s who I show my game to.

What is your favourite route to run and why?

I like the deep ball. I like running the seam. I just run as fast as I can down the seam. I love the straight seam ball with Asher’s arm and just going up and getting the ball.

In terms of short routes, I like running the out. A lot of defenses like to play “off” because they know from watching film that I like to run deep, so I like changing up the pace with that route.

After Mac where do you want to be?

If everything goes well, the dream right now is to go to the CFL if I can. That’d be awesome. It’s what I’ve been training since high school for. It’s why I train. After Mac I want to keep playing football. It’s my passion. It’s what I work hard for and I want to continue playing football as long as I can. If I weren’t playing football I’d want to maybe coach or be a commentator. I want to stay in the football realm.

Okay, we’re going to shift gears a bit. What’s your idea of a perfect day?

I’m more of a beach guy. I like to be outside with friends, maybe tossing around the football on the beach. I’m a water guy so I like the beach. My perfect day would be hanging out at the beach with a couple of friends. It’s just chill, good weather and sand.

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live and why?

Somewhere tropical for sure. I’d want to get away from everything. Maybe Costa Rica or Hawaii. I’d want to live somewhere remote and away from the noise.

What is your favorite dish to eat and what’s your favorite dessert?

I’m a pretty basic guy. I like steak. I like steak and eggs. For dessert I’m a cake guy. I like vanilla cake. It’s plain and simple.

Who is your favorite athlete of all time?

Kobe Bryant for sure. 100%. The way he sees the game is different from everyone else. I’ve seen so many videos and documentaries on him and his work ethic is second to none. He prepares for the game like no one else. He’s in the gym before everyone else and he’s the last one to leave. He thinks about the game differently. If at one point in time I could eventually even get close to how he prepares for the game and develop his work ethic, that’d be awesome.

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