Residence orientation representatives and Maroons share the work that went into making Welcome Week a success
Behind Welcome Week 2023 are students who volunteer their time to help empower and welcome first-year students as they start this next chapter of their lives.
Laurie He, a fourth-year sensory motors system student, is a residence orientation representative for Bates Residence and Moulton Hall this year. RORs are assigned specific residences and help students settle into their new homes during Welcome Week.
“We help get the first years settled in like to their new home…I know at times they're experiencing homesickness or just everything is very new, in a completely new environment for the first years. Our job is kind of to make them feel as welcome as they do in their homes,” explained He.
Daisy Thang, a third-year communications student and a Multimedia Assistant at the Silhouette, was a McMaster Students Union Maroon this year. The Maroons aim to connect with students at Welcome Week and throughout the year.
Thang shared that this year's Welcome Week training was more immersive than in past years and helped her feel prepared for events of the week.
"They switched up the format, so it was actually more situational. They had us in smaller groups, it was a lot more dynamic. We were able to kind of have more one-on-one, or small group sessions where we were able to be more collaborative and kind of act out the scenarios. I feel like that prepared us way better for the situations that we'd be put in during Welcome Week,” said Thang.
Both He and Thang said they loved meeting the incoming students. He shared that her favorite event was Capture the Watermelon, hosted by Boulton and McKidden residence representatives. They used the event as a way for students to meet in an enjoyable way and start off the week on the right foot.
“I think that was like a great way to like just have the first years get friendly with each other… I think it was a great time for everyone. I think 100 people participated in it because it was 50 versus 50 people and then a lot of their friends came in they supported them. I think it was like a great introductory event to welcome week,” said He.
Thang explained how well-run this year's Welcome Week was, especially compared to her own Welcome Week in 2021.
“2021 was the first full-scale welcome we've had since COVID-19. So I think there were definitely kinks that need to be worked out. I feel like this year, we were able to kind of like ride off that high from last year's Welcome Week and people were a lot more in tune. I think it was very well organized, credit to the planners and I feel like this was a very healing experience,” said Thang.
“2021 was the first full-scale welcome we've had since COVID-19. So I think there were definitely kinks that need to be worked out. I feel like this year, we were able to kind of like ride off that high from last year's Welcome Week and people were a lot more in tune. I think it was very well organized, credit to the planners and I feel like this was a very healing experience."
Daisy Thang, Maroon, McMaster Students Union
Both He and Thang shared that they hope first years were able to put themselves out there during Welcome Week, whatever that looks like for them.
Thang expressed that even if the social aspect of Welcome Week didn’t resonate with you, there are endless activities and groups on campus throughout the year that may better fit your comfort level and personal goals.
“The big takeaway would be. . .it's okay if you stay in your dorm. Its okay if like these huge crowds were daunting and you didn't want to put yourself out there and make yourself uncomfortable. There are limits to that and your feelings are still valid throughout,” said Thang.
“The big takeaway would be. . .It's okay if you stay in your dorm. Its okay if like these huge crowds were daunting and you didn't want to put yourself out there and make yourself uncomfortable. There are limits to that and your feelings are still valid throughout."
Daisy Thang, Maroon, McMaster Students Union
To see more coverage of Welcome Week 2023 visit the Silhouette on TikTok.
New university task force works on clearer protocols around use of AI tools in the classroom, provides provisional guidelines ahead of the fall semester
The recent rise in generative artificial intelligence use has pushed universities to address the lack definitive and researched protocols for its use in the classroom.
On May 1, 2023, the Paul R. MacPherson Institute for Leadership, Innovation and Excellence in Teaching launched their Generative Artificial Intelligence in Teaching and Learning Task Force. The task force’s goal is to better understand the impact of generative AI through an educational lens and develop recommendations for policies around its use for at McMaster University.
"Task Force members representing all six Faculties included faculty, undergraduate and graduate students, staff and senior administrators. The efforts of this diverse group of experts are summarized in a Final Report. . .The Final Report will also include recommendations for continued work across all areas of the University, which may include research, teaching and learning and staff work,” said Kim Dej and Matheus Grasselli, co-chairs of the task force, in a written statement.
On Sept. 10, they will submit their recommendations to Susan Tighe, provost and vice president (academic), after which they will undergo further review before being released.
Until this is completed the provisional guidelines have been released by the university to help guide the use of generative AI in the meantime.
As McMaster prepares to release its specific policies and guide for generative AI, everyone is encouraged to use the provisional guidelines and resources provided on the Generative Artificial Intelligence in Teaching and Learning website.
Transparency is at the core of these guidelines. Instructors are permitted to integrate generative AI tools, such as Chat GPT, into their courses, if they so choose, but they must communicate clearly with their students the extent to which these tools will be and are permitted to be used.
When it comes to student work and assessments, while instructors are again permitted to integrate generative AI tools into these tasks, unless told otherwise, students should operate with the assumption that the use of these tools is not permitted.
If members of the McMaster educational community have any comments or concerns about the Provisional Guideline provided and future guidelines they are encouraged to share through the task forces form.
SRA meeting on Jan. 29 involved discussions on the role of the Ombuds Office, the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance and the MSU rejoining CASA.
he Student Representative Assembly meeting 22M took place on Jan. 29 in Gilmour Hall. In this meeting, the assembly covered the accessibility and services of the Ombuds Office, the initiatives being pushed by the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance and a motion for the McMaster Students Union to have observer status on the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations.
University Ombuds Carolyn Brendon and Assistant Ombuds Meghan Rego attended the SRA meeting and spoke on the role of the Ombuds Office and the services it offers to McMaster University students.
The Ombuds Office representatives as a part of an outreach initiative to help the university better understand the role of the office within the community.
The Ombuds Office is located at MUSC 210 and offers free and confidential counseling to all members of the McMaster community. Brendan explained that the mandate of the Ombuds details three key principles by which their practices abide by — independence, impartiality and confidentiality.
The Ombuds Office operates outside of the academic and administrative hierarchy and strives for minimal institutional impediments. They also abide by standard confidentiality principles, in which all information discussed is confidential unless there is an imminent risk of harm.
The Ombuds Office operates outside of the academic and administrative hierarchy and strives for minimal institutional impediments. They also abide by standard confidentiality principles, in which all information discussed is confidential unless there is an imminent risk of harm.
The Ombuds Office deals with academic and non-academic issues, including student financial matters, behavioral and professional codes of conduct, employment and any other student-related issues and concerns.
OUSA President Jessica Look and executive director Malika Dhanani also spoke at the SRA meeting about their organization. OUSA is a collaboration of student governments across the province that advocates for affordable, accessible, accountable and high quality post-secondary education.
Some of the core functions of OUSA include developing informed substantive policy papers, lobbying the provincial government to enact changes and representing the student perspective on the provincial level.
Some of the core functions of OUSA include developing informed substantive policy papers, lobbying the provincial government to enact changes and representing the student perspective on the provincial level.
Look and Dhanani detailed how they aim to uplift the student voice through their blog, where student contributors outside of OUSA are free to submit pieces on policy issues they are passionate about. Additionally, OUSA offers summer student internships.
Following the discussion on OUSA’s initiatives and role representing the MSU, the meeting transitioned to other matters, including a discussion around seeking observership with CASA.
The motion to discuss and vote on CASA observership was moved by MSU President Simranjeet Singh and seconded by Vice President (Education) Elizabeth Wong. Singh shared that CASA is currently the largest body that does advocacy work for student unions at the federal level.
The MSU is currently part of a separate federal advocacy organization, the Undergraduates of Canadian Research-Intensive Universities. Singh explained that with UCRU, the MSU was able to meet with 20 Members of Parliament during lobbying week, while members of CASA were able to meet with 156. The MSU was a member of CASA in the past but left in 2017 due to issues with their management of affairs.
Singh and Wong are proposing CASA observership, a two-year process in which the MSU would attend meetings and try out a CASA membership. Observership would allow the MSU to make an informed decision about whether shifting to CASA involvement would be beneficial.
Singh and Wong are proposing CASA observership, a two-year process in which the MSU would attend meetings and try out a CASA membership. Observership would allow the MSU to make an informed decision about whether shifting to CASA involvement would be beneficial.
Observership can be revoked at any point with no consequence and the MSU would remain with UCRU throughout the observership. Following some discussion, the motion was passed with 26 in favour, zero opposed and two abstaining.
How outright and subliminal misogyny in mainstream “self-help” media is taking the fun out of casual dating
By Cassie Wong-Wylie, Contributor
Navigating sexual shame as a girl, teen and, now, a young woman is something that is a very much shared and lived experience for the gross majority of women. Personally, I remember feeling a lot of shame about my sexuality from other women. It was easy to feel less judgment from men who were drawn to sexual prowess.
Fast forward to today, when I now feel relatively secure in my embodied sexuality and work hard to omit shame from my sex life, I find fellowship and power when talking about sexuality with other women. This shift, however, has also come with newfound obstacles. I began to encounter men who view sex as a physical actualization of sexist societal values and their sexual pursuits sought to secure their place as the apex, “alpha”, sex.
I cannot tell if it was my aging that revealed these sorts of men or the landscape around me that caused them to emerge. A landscape that is directly regressive to gender equality and emphatically contributes to homophobia, transphobia, female subjugation and by extension, sexual subjugation. This is namely, the chokehold that right-winged, misogynistic, “personal-growth gurus” like Andrew Tate and Jordan Peterson seem to have on boys and young men via social media platforms.
Dating, sex, relationships and general social interactions have changed since the fanaticism, or even just subliminal influence, of the macho-hustle mentality and with it, a new wave of outright misogyny. I can say confidently I have met the men I once thought only existed as hyperbolized wisecracks and parodies of pathetically insecure men my friends and I would joke about. After having met these caricatures, I believe the sensationalized Tate brothers, Jordan Peterson and other men who nonchalantly front self-help through avenues of female subjugation have ruined dating.
Dating, sex, relationships and general social interactions have changed since the fanaticism, or even just subliminal influence, of the macho-hustle mentality and with it, a new wave of outright misogyny.
This isn’t to say all men have been corrupted by this influence. However, with how influential this mentality has become, I see myself on a night out or a first date dreading that a guy might secretly revere a “boom in her face, grab her neck, shut her up” pseudo-mantra, just to quote one instance where Tate quite literally encourages sexual violence.
It's crazy to be talking to a man and suddenly, with just the slightest reference or name drop to the Tates, you realize he probably thinks you shouldn’t even be speaking when not spoken to. Additionally, having to psychoanalyze everything in a conversation and constantly trying to read between the lines has impeded playful banter. I also admit to the very embarrassing example of when a man says, “I love Jordan Peterson” and I agree, thinking we are being flirtatiously sarcastic, only to realize he is being totally serious when he asks me what the word ‘misogyny’ means.
Even beyond the sphere of conversation in dating, sex and sexual shame has also been impacted by masculinist gurus. The age-old conversation of how the porn industry normalizes and fetishizes aspects of sexual violence and female subjugation for the male gaze has now been superseded by Tate’s direct normalization and advocation for female sexual degradation and abuse.
The age-old conversation of how the porn industry normalizes and fetishizes aspects of sexual violence and female subjugation for the male gaze has now been superseded by Tate’s direct normalization and advocation for female sexual degradation and abuse.
Even men who do not ascribe to these channels and condemn the figureheads are not immune to the subliminal domination sex “commands”. Though it may not swing to the extremes, just ask the people in your life their thoughts about choking or a hand on her throat during foreplay and I bet you would be shocked by the number of people who say it’s so normal that it’s almost obligatory. Now, while that might not be directly oppressive, it still contributes to a culture focusing on male domination in the bedroom.
Although male domination during sex may simply be just a social symptom of millennia of patriarchy, celebrities who are deified based on upholding repressive values will have further impacts. Who's to say what the next version of the playful choke is? With pop culture becoming radicalized, I wouldn’t doubt overt, sexual and non-consensual male domination to follow suit, particularly as the young generations of TikTok kids become sexually active.
This isn’t to say that dating, men or sex need to be sworn off. Although the dating field has changed and new litmus tests for partners are required, I try not to allow advances from men who gain security in their lives by denigrating women’s autonomy as the oppressive force it aims to be. Instead, I hope to find renewed communion with women and establish strongholds of support as we are forced to fortify our status as equally alpha. Ultimately, I hope we all find refuge from sexual shame in each other, and not in a hollow, Tate-esc cult of personality.
You do not need to cram in the most important years of your education even though that is what we have been taught to do
Being an undergraduate is one of the most important stages of your educational journey. It is an opportunity for you to work on becoming the best version of yourself, to make yourself a suitable candidate for potential jobs and to build a solid foundation for your future.
In such a large university with so many diverse disciplines, everyone will be walking a different path and encountering different obstacles.
For some students, this may mean that they need to take a couple of extra years beyond the average four years expected to complete their degree.
I notice time and time again that there is a constant stigma around the concept of spreading out your degree. Four years is the norm and anything greater than that means you slacked off in school.
If you are in this position, it is important to remind yourself that there is no timer that is going to go off after the four years has passed. Everyone’s academic journey is completely different in length and time.
Taking more time than the four years is more common than individuals may presume. In 2010, across universities in Canada, around 60 per cent of undergraduate students took more than four years to complete their degree.
In a span of around ten years, most students find themselves making the jump from high school to university and then straight into a job. Though these changes are viewed as mandatory, it can be hard to adapt to them as they are rapid.
When one spends quite a few years immersing themselves in a discipline, one is bound to unveil their true sentiments toward them as they are able to explore every corner and crevice of the degree.
The good thing about taking your time during your undergraduate study is that you can slowly start making the transition to working an actual job (if that is what comes next for you). Students are able to opt to go on a work term or work year to gain experience in their desired field where some may also choose to take a university course alongside it. That way they continue to get a bit of both worlds and do not experience as much of a culture shock as they might when jumping straight into a job.
Another option could be spreading out your workload for a much more manageable school year. Lightening your course load in the fall and winter terms so that you can focus on specific courses can aid with you giving it the best effort you can. Then you can make sure that the courses dropped are available in the spring and summer terms so that your requirements can be fulfilled during those months.
If you plan ahead, and plan well, you may even be able to graduate within four years if that is what you desire, finding what is right for you is all that truly matters. But taking an extra year can also help you come to terms with whether you truly like your major and/or where you should shift your energy to, academic wise.
When one spends quite a few years immersing themselves in a discipline, one is bound to unveil their true sentiments toward them as they are able to explore every corner and crevice of the degree.
It is quite difficult to do something that is seen as "not normal” to societies eyes. This leads us to become distracted by what others may think of us, instead of focusing on what may be best for ourselves and we leading us to not make decisions based on what we truly desire.
It’s important for students to prioritize their mental health and education above others’ opinions. It does not matter how long of a journey it takes for anyone, as long as you get there on your own rate is all that matters. After all, these next few years are especially important.
With employers seeking graduates with increasing professional skills, the university standard of required courses is not cutting it.
Co-op, placement courses, research practicums and internships are some of the experiential education opportunities the faculty of science offers its students. Although there are various opportunities for science students to gain an experiential education, this is not necessarily the most known option as students begin their university careers.
Unless a student begins university intending to partake in co-op, these learning opportunities are not widely discussed. Luckily, McMaster offers courses such as LIFESCI 2AA3 and SCIENCE 2C00 spread awareness about the opportunity and benefits of experiential learning.
LIFESCI 2AA3 hosts a lecturelecture dedicated to having a panel of third and fourth-year science students speak about their experiences in an experiential learning course. At the same time, SCIENCE 2C00 is a prerequisite course for students to develop professional skills before entering co-op in their third year.
Although not many experiential educational courses are offered to science students, the different learning methods that are offered allows students to get involved in the ones that best suit them.
For example, co-op is provided to a limited number of programs within the Faculty of Science here at McMaster. Whereas there are only 16 different experiential education offered to all science students.
The traditional co-op route entails students adding an extra year to their degree. For many students, this is not attractive due to the length it takes to complete as well as hindering their professional school plans.
However, by making experiential education courses mandatory, students can receive the benefits of co-op without committing another year to obtain a degree. These courses are created like a regular course in the sense that they are unit based. Thus, experiential education courses count towards the unit requirement of a degree.
However, by making experiential education courses mandatory, students can receive the benefits of co-op without committing another year to obtain a degree. These courses are created like a regular course in the sense that they are unit based. Thus, experiential education courses count towards the unit requirement of a degree.
Breanna Khameraj
Some of the specific alternatives offered in place of the co-op are SCIENCE 3EP3, a placement course; SCIENCE 3RP3, a research practicum; and SCIENCE 3IE0, an internship course.
Regardless of the limited courses offered within the faculty of science, the importance of these experiential education courses is prominent. These opportunities allow students to gain real-world experience in their field of choice.
According to a study published by two archeologists, student interns engaging in experiential learning gained transferable skills and apply their learned knowledge to society. Their internship enabled them to become educators within their community and made these students well-rounded individuals prepared to enter a working environment.
Experiential learning provides students with the opportunity to gain technical and transferrable skills they may not have been able to gain until post-graduation.
By making experiential education courses a requirement to obtain a Bachelor of Science degree, science students are given more incentive to engage in opportunities that will provide them with the necessary experience for the working world.
Through these courses, science students are required to learn professional skills, research, and lab techniques, as well as resume/interview skills.
The benefit of making experiential education mandatory goes beyond students gaining attractive employable qualities; it also does not deter students from graduating “on time”.
Universities should make courses under the experiential education category mandatory for all science students. Students will gain experience academically relevant within their field of choice providing them the opportunity to develop transferable skills. Fortunately, this could all occur without extending their graduation date, allowing them to indulge in the best of both worlds.
Universities should be more mindful of more hands-on learning options and start discussing on making courses such as these mandatory for all science students.
The new course is the first phase of the McMaster Indigenous Research Institute’s Prison Education Project
The Silhouette sat down with Savage Bear, Director of the McMaster Indigenous Research Institute, to discuss her new course set to start in January 2023 taught at the Grand Valley Institution for Women in Kitchener.
The new course is part of the Walls to Bridges National Program where Bear sits as co-director. The program aims to implement post-secondary education in prisons and jails nationwide, offering classes that both incarcerated and non-incarcerated students can attend. The program values dismantling stigmas and creating collaborative spaces for incarcerated students.
“There are a lot of stereotypes, and we carry misconceptions about what happens in a prison and what incarcerated folks are like. At the same time, incarcerated folks also have ideas about university and the students who attend. So we bring these two groups together to break down those boundaries,” said Bear.
“There are a lot of stereotypes, and we carry misconceptions
Savage Bear, Director of the McMaster Indigenous Research Instituteabout what happens in a prison and what incarcerated folks are like. At the same time, incarcerated folks also have ideas about university and the students who attend. So we bring these two groups together to break down those boundaries,”
Working with the Edmonton Institution for Women, Bear and her team implemented the Walls to Bridges program during her time as an assistant professor at the Faculty of Native Studies and Department of Women and Gender Studies at the University of Alberta. She made continuing her work of implementing post-secondary education in prisons a priority when appointed as the director of McMaster’s Indigenous Research Institute in July 2021.
“You have 10 students from the university and 10 students in the [prison]. We hold a classroom in the prison, it’s a three-credit course like a regular semester. It's a normal university course in every other way, except it's in a prison and half your classmates are incarcerated folks,” said Bear.
“You have 10 students from the university and 10 students in the [prison]. We hold a classroom in the prison, it’s a three-credit course like a regular semester. It's a normal university course in every other way, except it's in a prison and half your classmates are incarcerated folks,”
Savage Bear, Director of the McMaster Indigenous Research Institute
Bear described the course as covering historical Indigenous tragedies and how communities preserved their cultures and traditions.
“We are looking at Indigenous peoples who have resisted and subverted colonial policies, and legislation like the Indian Act — all those types of oppressive structures that pushed back against them historically... We have to recognize that Indigenous people were never passive participants in these colonial structures. They fought back in brilliant and courageous ways,” said Bear.
Bear and co-facilitator, Sara Howdle will facilitate the course with group discussions and group projects between incarcerated and non-incarcerated students. She characterized incarcerated students that register for courses as eager with an appetite to learn.
“I've rarely come across a university class where all the students do all the readings all the time. My incarcerated students have an incredible thirst for knowledge. They make notes of what they liked and didn't like about the articles. Hands down they're some of the most critical thinkers I've ever come across in my entire teaching career. It is such a pleasure to have such engaged and thoughtful minds in the class,” said Bear.
The Walls to Bridges Program is the first of a three-tier plan for the McMaster Indigenous Research Institute’s Prison Education Project. The second tier involves support for post-incarceration students living in transition houses to attend courses on campus for either a credit or an audit. Tier three is a mentorship program that provides supports to formerly incarcerated people to apply for university. Bear described the project as a pipeline for incarcerated people, from prison to transition housing to post-secondary education.
Bear highlighted the value of this unique course setting and structure as life-changing for university students.
“It is a life-changing course. It is something you rarely come across in your life. Walls to Bridges has been like that for students since its inception 11 years ago. If you want a dynamic course that's going to challenge you, make you uncomfortable, but be incredibly rewarding, then this is the course for you,” said Bear.
Applications for McMaster students to register for the class are due Nov 15th.
The absence of masks does not relieve students from the pandemic state of learning but rather pushes us more toward it
C/O Tai's Captures (Unsplash)
We appear to have introduced the new normal of the post-pandemic. Students can once again freely socialize, hybrid learning is at its peak and the mask mandate is long gone. However, COVID-19 and many other common sicknesses are circulating within the population.
Cold and flu season has arrived and with the end of the mask mandate on campus, it is concerning how quickly viruses are spreading among students. With illnesses running rampant throughout campus, many individuals are thrown back to the early pandemic — time when students lacked the tools to protect themselves against fast-spreading diseases.
Living Systems Laboratory, a second-year course taught by Dr. Tomljenovic-Berube, includes a unit on epidemiology. This unit teaches students about the biological mechanisms of how viruses spread. Students learn that illnesses such as the flu are airborne diseases that spread through respiratory droplets obtained through the air, or infected surfaces. They are also taught the infectious rates and measures to prevent sicknesses from spreading which have been prominently implemented throughout the pandemic.
Learning about the rates at which diseases spread among the student population due to a lack of masks can cause concerns for students attending in-person classes. It can be worrying to go back to school knowing that other sicknesses are still present among COVID-19, especially when you hear your peers sniffling and coughing in lectures and tutorials.
Contagious students are likely attending in-person elements and due to the lack of a mask mandate students are not wearing masks in enclosed spaces. It can be uncomfortable sitting next to a coughing student and neither one of you has any form of protection. Understandably, masks come from a time of frustration and loss. However, masks also provide us with a safety barrier and continue to do so; masks hinder the spread of airborne illnesses.
The lack of mask usage on campus fosters a growing population of sick students and rather than taking us away from online learning, the campus-wide epidemic pushes us more towards it.
The beginning of a common illness hinders students from physically attending school. Thus, this population relies on online lectures and accommodations for missed labs and tutorials. Unfortunately, online learning hinders student performance since a barrier is created limiting social interactions.
Students who choose to stay at home for the duration of their sick period fall even more behind. Fortunately, the duration of a common illness is no more than a week. Due to the lack of regulation, students can attend campus earlier than this. However, this small notion further spreads the illness within the student population since the individual’s contagious period may not be over.
The cold and flu are like COVID-19 in terms of mechanics; they are airborne viruses that target the immune system. Henceforth, masks should be mandatory for ill individuals. As learned through the pandemic, masks work because they prevent ill individuals from spreading their contagious respiratory droplets. Masks function as a barrier. When worn correctly, they prevent individuals from inhaling respiratory droplets as well as spreading the virus to individuals they interact with.
Although no one likes being sick, ill individuals should not be forced to stay home nor should they walk around campus maskless during their contagious period. It should be mandated that individuals in their recovery phase wear a mask. This will limit the spread of the common illnesses and protect other students who are exercising their freedom to not wear a mask.
C/O Ainsley Thurgood
An examination of testimonies from freshmen across different first-year majors
By: Kirsten Espe, Contributor
Over the past few months, McMaster University students faced the daunting task of preparing and completing their midterms for their selected courses. For many first-year undergraduate students, this was the first high-stakes assessment they have had since the beginning of 2020 — almost two years ago.
Ariana Petrazzini, a first-year health sciences student, said that like most other Ontarian high schools, her exams were cancelled. Petrazzini also noted that her quizzes were mostly open book.
“The content itself wasn’t necessarily easier, but the teachers did go a little bit softer and gave us more time than usual,” said Petrazzini.
On the other hand, Veronica Larrazabal Zea, a first-year integrated biomedical engineering and health sciences student, continued to have class exams in high school.
Although Larrazabal Zea felt more prepared for the testing aspect of university midterm season, she highlighted that she found it difficult to adapt to the increase in class work due to the implemented ‘quadmester’ system last year.
“It was really weird because it was one week, one class, all day for a week and then another class, all day, for a week,” said Larrazabal Zea.
Now, Larrazabal Zea’s classes have increased to a simultaneous seven upon enrolment into her program.
Sharanya Badalera, a first-year social sciences student, says that the lack of exams in high school was not the only factor that threw her for a loop coming to McMaster.
“Online [learning] is just way less engaging and it’s really easy to get distracted . . . You’re missing the social interaction with your teachers and your classmates. It’s a really important part of learning that I didn’t realize,” said Badalera.
Badalera points out, however, that many students have gotten used to online learning, especially when accessing teachers during online office hours and having recorded lectures, both of which could be considered positive and negative.
“With the chat, I feel like you’re interacting more, but once you go back in-person [it won’t be the same],” explained Badalera.
All three students expressed their concern for the winter semester, which was just recently announced to be fully in-person.
“I don’t know if they’re going to just do a 180 degree entirely and try to do exactly what they used to do before COVID . . . That's just a little stressful. [People have] changed their studying habits to fit the kind of tests and assessments that we have,” said Larrazabal Zea.
Petrazzini had a similar experience.
“I was probably a better student in grade 11 than grade 12, where it was easier to slack off,” said Petrazzini.
Indeed, many students echo the sentiment that their education constantly evolves to changing expectations.
“Learning is a changing thing and your learning is not going to be constant. You have to adapt to it,” said Badalera.
All three first-year students pointed out that they are all striving to adjust well to the university experience. This is not uncommon for most first-year students, but the COVID-19 pandemic and the online environment do entail unprecedented complications for current freshmen.
It’s the little things and experiences that lay the groundwork for connection with others
C/O @british library
What is it, exactly, that bonds us to others?
For many students, we find a connection to those around us through school. Whether it be the people that we meet during Welcome Week, in classes, through clubs or through mutual acquaintances, it’s safe to say that there’s ample opportunity to make connections in your time at McMaster University.
But what exactly separates your best, lifelong friends from the random dude whose contact is still in your phone from your first-year chemistry class?
But what exactly separates your best, lifelong friends from the random dude whose contact is still in your phone from your first-year chemistry class?
I’d beg to argue that it’s a third thing. Mutual, shared points of connection between people that bond us in joint wonder. For some, our connection through school is a third thing. For others, the third thing is a sport, the arts or an experience. Whatever it may be, it’s our third things that truly create lasting relationships.
Now, let me give credit where credit is due. The idea of a third thing isn’t exactly mine.
I recently reconnected with an acquaintance from high school who shared the same set of lived experiences that I did but still managed to seldom intersect with my life. We reconnected through a class discussion in breakout rooms, as people do in Zoom university. We lived adjacent but separate lives in a high school of 1,200 people, but our paths finally crossed in a university with a population of 30,000. What are the odds?
We instantly clicked. I think we’d spoken a total of once before — if that? But we were instantly on the same wavelength. Our conversation quickly veered to speaking about our high school experiences and even though we had hardly crossed paths then, our experiences were astonishingly similar.
We reminisced about how absurdly hyper-competitive our high school experience was, with our academically driven group of peers. We joked that the most often used pickup line in those halls was “so, what’s your average?” We laughed at how the less sleep you got, the bigger the flex. We agreed about how you get a choice of two of the following three: good grades, good health or a good social life.
These were things that we just thought were acceptable at the time. It was a school environment that perpetuated hustle culture. Where to be the best, you had to work the hardest and grind the most. It was stifling and absurd. I realize now that it was one of the only things that connected me to my friends at the time.
As we chatted in our breakout room from the comfort of our bedrooms in our hometown of Ottawa, we discovered a shared love of reading. She shared with me this beautiful piece of prose that we both connected to instantly.
It was a piece by Donald Hall, called The Third Thing. Hall wrote it at his wife’s bedside, as she died from leukemia. Throughout the piece, he describes this concept of the titular third thing: a singular idea or point of connection between yourself and another person.
“Most of the time [my wife and I’s] gazes met and entwined as they looked at a third thing. Third things are essential to marriages, objects or practices or habits or arts or institutions or games or human beings that provide a site of joint rapture of contentment. Each member of a couple is separate; the two come together in double attention . . . John Keats can be a third thing, or the Boston Symphony Orchestra, or Dutch interiors, or Monopoly,” wrote Hall.
“Most of the time [my wife and I’s] gazes met and entwined as they looked at a third thing. Third things are essential to marriages, objects or practices or habits or arts or institutions or games or human beings that provide a site of joint rapture of contentment. Each member of a couple is separate; the two come together in double attention . . . John Keats can be a third thing, or the Boston Symphony Orchestra, or Dutch interiors, or Monopoly.”
Donald Hall
Ironically enough, The Third Thing became our third thing, for a moment. As was our shared love of reading and inspiration we drew from literature.
For those at our high school, we agreed, their third thing was school itself. By no means do I want to invalidate sharing the connection of school and education with friends and colleagues. However, we both found that we’d lost that connection with our peers. It was the first time I realized that I’d begun to fall out with those that I used to call my best friends, as our third thing disappeared.
By losing that third thing, we had nothing left with so many of our old friends. It was the only point of connection that we truly had. Without the pressures and stress and competition, the connections fell apart. What’s left of a friendship when there’s nothing to bond over?
But with one connection gone comes the opportunity to strengthen what’s left. With some of my friends, our third thing is screaming Hamilton lyrics at the top of our lungs on road trips. Midnights spent loitering around suburbs. A mutual hatred of the existence of nickels. A crushing obsession with Breath of the Wild. Crocs as our footwear of choice. The list goes on and on.
But with one connection gone comes the opportunity to strengthen what’s left. With some of my friends, our third thing is screaming Hamilton lyrics at the top of our lungs on road trips. Midnights spent loitering around suburbs. A mutual hatred of the existence of nickels. A crushing obsession with Breath of the Wild. Crocs as our footwear of choice. The list goes on and on.
Each and every third thing brings us closer together. These small moments, ideas and figments of friendships past keep us going strong.
As a first-year student, I know it’s more difficult than ever to meet others right now. Getting to know people can be awkward and uncomfortable in a normal year, let alone in the midst of a pandemic.
But I assure you, third things are there and ever-present. I’ve found third things with newfound online friends in the form of our mutual shared experience of writing for the Sil, which turned into joking over a professor’s love of Animal Crossing. I’ve found them in a mutual more-than-dislike of online schooling, turned into a love of musical theatre, turned into a discussion on choosing favourite basketball players based on their wholesome-ness. I’ve found a third thing in the poem The Third Thing itself.
Please, I urge you to find a third thing and hold it close. Hold to it for dear life and never let it go once you find it.
