Tag: stress

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Skipping school can be a form of self-care

Graphic by Alexa Hawksworth.

Why having balance and making time for yourself is important during the school semester

With the winter semester coming to a close, it seems more and more students are behind on their work. That isn’t to say they aren’t working as hard as they did at the beginning of the term, or even in the fall. As the low temperatures and cloudy skies persist, however, I think it’s easier to get tired.

The mix of rain, snow and wind has been exhausting, along with a constant yo-yoing between above and below zero degrees Celsius. This type of weather increases people’s chances of getting sick, and their ever-growing workload can prevent students from making a quick and full recovery. According to a 2014 study from Harvard Medical School, the cold weather forces people to stay indoors in close quarters, causing colds to spread. For students who just emerged from midterms and are already staring down the barrel of finals, an impaired immune system and low energy levels are the last thing they need right now.

Additionally, some students experience seasonal affective disorder. According to CBC News, 35 per cent of Canadians get the “winter blues,” while another 10 to 15 per cent are affected by a mild form of seasonal depression. The days are cold, dark and short, which can have a depressing impact on our lives and our bodies. I know it does for me.

Personally, I feel like my body has been shutting down since January. I almost always finish my school day with a massive headache, and I can’t function again until I lay down and rest. But my program and courses don’t always allow for restful days. As a journalism student, even on the days when I don’t have class, my projects keep me fairly busy, and I have to run around town to complete them. Even though I rested during reading week, it barely felt like an actual break. I still had many projects to complete and exams to prepare for. I slept in, but it didn’t feel like I was catching up on all the sleep I needed.

During high school, I never skipped classes, though I don’t pass any judgment on those who did and do. This semester, however, reading the PowerPoints my professor sends to the class is enough to understand my elective and still get reasonable grades. That is why I have decided to skip that class every week. My elective is on Mondays at 8:45 a.m., and since I don’t live close to campus, I would have to wake up very early to get there on time. I would often end up falling asleep in class anyway, which is why I decided it would be better for my mental and physical health to sleep in on Mondays and get some work done from home instead.

I genuinely don’t believe skipping class is a form of laziness. Though some people skip class to take a break and have fun, most of us need to catch up on sleep and homework. I now take the two hours and 45 minutes I spent in that class getting most of my projects completed—and it’s such a relief! Those extra few hours allow me to rest during the weekend, do more work during the week and still take care of myself. I know some people who even use skipped class time to go to the gym. Balance is incredibly important—it’s necessary to make time for all forms of self-care, even if that means occasionally not going to class.

I have been less stressed out since I began skipping my elective, and I feel more rested and prepared for the rest of my courses. Even though finals are quickly creeping up on us, self-care is no joke and shouldn’t be neglected. Regardless of how you cope with cold weather, a heavy workload and seemingly never-ending exams, you need to take care of yourself. So rest-up, relax and focus on the upcoming summer break we all deserve.

Graphic by Alexa Hawksworth

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Opinions

We race for success, but what’s at the finish line?

Graphic by Alexa Hawksworth

University culture encourages competition and stress among students in their 20s

​Trying to be successful in a short amount of time definitely comes with a lot of stress. As university students, many of us feel the need to accomplish as much as we can as fast as we can. The pressure we put on ourselves to succeed creates a stressful environment for us to live in, knowing very well there are more important things to worry about.

I don’t believe there’s an approaching deadline for success, seeing as so many well-known people became successful later in life. However, it is easy to feel overwhelmed and pressured to accomplish “success” in school when you hear your classmates talk about their achievements.

We often hear stories of young adults who have already accomplished so much. For example, Chloe Kim is a 17-year-old American who won gold at the 2018 Winter Olympics for the women’s snowboard halfpipe. It can be tough to watch a bunch of fit 20-somethings achieve the highest level in their field. It reminds us of how unaccomplished we are in our own lives. Although there is no time limit for success, especially not in yours 20s, it can certainly feel that way sometimes.
​University culture plays a big part in the pressure to amount to something. We should be focused on our schoolwork and nothing more, but many of us can’t help but feel the need to get a headstart on our careers. Whether that means starting a blog or getting an internship, any step we can take to get closer to “success,” we take it.

The majority of university students I talk to usually say they’re stressed almost all the time during the school year. Although some stress is normal, our overthinking about success causes a large amount of unnecessary stress. Our 20s is when we start to figure out what we really want from a career and build our way up from there. We can’t expect to accomplish all our goals in such a short amount of time.

​In 2013, a study conducted by the American Psychological Association found that almost 50 per cent of students listed anxiety as the main reason for seeking help from a school counsellor. Even though there can be many reasons for having anxiety, I believe a major factor is school-related stress. In the same year, another study revealed that 55 per cent of Canadian post-secondary students feel stressed because of health, relationships and academics, according to The Globe and Mail.

Countless articles discuss the pressure students face to feel accomplished; it affects our health and self-esteem, and it sabotages our academic experience. However, I believe very few of these articles discuss why we feel this pressure in the first place. Maybe we don’t quite know all the reasons behind it. What I believe is that putting students in such competitive environments creates a pressure to be better.

The other students in your program are generally striving for the same career as you and can, therefore, be seen as competitors. This level of competitiveness is too often seen as positive because educational systems have emphasized that competitiveness is one of the ways someone can be successful. But there is no race to success. We have our whole lives to be able to accomplish everything we want to, so we shouldn’t rush through our younger years, always feeling stressed out.

Graphic by Alexa Hawksworth

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Opinions

The millennial obsession with bleak humour

Graphic by Zeze Le Lin

An unorthodox stress-reliever: Laughing at your fears

It’s that time of year again. As Concordia’s fall semester nears its end, students are no doubt preparing for the incoming deluge of finals and research papers.

A quick look at the Spotted: Concordia Facebook page reveals a hellscape of pre-exam anxiety: pictures of students in a tired stupor using textbooks as makeshift pillows lie sandwiched between close-ups of empty hard liquor bottles tucked discreetly behind toilets. In among these moments of cinéma verité, one can find dozens of memes (or “image macros” if you grew up in the 1940s) whose messages can basically be reduced to a single, common point: “I am stressed, therefore, I want to die.”

The millennial obsession with nihilistic comedy has always been a fascinating subject to me. Popular TV shows like Netflix’s BoJack Horseman and Adult Swim’s Rick and Morty revolve around perennially depressed main characters who live in uncaring, occasionally violent worlds. It goes without saying that this sort of comedy has developed for a good reason. A 2014 study by Statistics Canada indicates 54 per cent of post-secondary students felt hopeless at some point that year. They face stress from balancing part-time jobs, competitive academic fields and a job market that is in poor shape.

Effective stress management skills are essential for excelling, especially in university. Of course this seems obvious, but it always bears repeating that prolonged high stress levels can impair the physical and social health of students. According to the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, this can manifest itself through a litany of unpleasant physical and mental ailments, including moodiness, insomnia and anxiety, among others.

One might assume many of these feelings and symptoms will gradually disappear once exams are over. Yet this is often not the case.

Much like pre-exam stress, post-exam stress can also have a detrimental effect on one’s physical health. Researchers from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City tracked people who had recently experienced high-stress in the workplace, and found they had a greater likelihood of asthma as well as problems with digestion and skin irritation after they were removed from that environment. Even worse, some of these symptoms can arrive at a time when students are gathering with their friends and family.

While cliché advice—eat well, sleep well, exercise and take time to breathe—still applies, what about taking the time to laugh? Too often, I find, blogs and websites will make top 10 lists that only include the aforementioned unoriginal tips. Lurid neon headlines like “This year’s best ways to BEAT UP stress” always have the same content. On occasion, authors will actually take the time to update their article with the newest dietary trend, a recent variation of yoga or CrossFit or some unholy combination thereof.

Yet, not one website I visited had the fortitude to write about laughing at your own fears. Bleak humour allows students to offload some of their stress and turn it into something less dangerous.
In a sense, one can say that nihilistic comedy represents a sort of crowdsourced therapy. By inviting others to poke fun of their own insecurities, one makes them less tangible and, therefore, weaker.

Graphic by Zeze Le Lin

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Student Life

A cup of coffee and a spoonful of psychological effects

According to the Association of Canada, Canadians drink 3.2 cups of coffee per day. Photo by Kirubel Mehari.

The impact caffeine has on Canadians and how it became a cultural dependence

It’s 8 a.m. on a Wednesday morning, and the first thing you do after getting out of bed is probably make coffee. Whether you are having a shot of espresso, an Americano or a latte, there is nothing like that coffee aroma filling up your kitchen. As you pour it into your mug, add a splash of milk or teaspoon of sugar, you can already feel the warmth rising from the cup. Finals are right around the corner and, for many students, coffee is the go-to beverage for all-nighters and staying alert.

This is no surprise given that caffeine, the stimulant in the coffee, is a psychoactive substance that has physiological and psychological effects. Coffee is also ingrained in our society. According to the Coffee Association of Canada, Canadians drink an average of 3.2 cups of coffee per day. Here is a deeper look at how caffeine actually affects your body and how it has become a vital part of our daily lives.

What does coffee do to your brain and body?

According to Uri Shalev, a Concordia psychology professor whose research focuses on drug abuse and behavioural neurobiology, caffeine typically doesn’t have many negative effects when consumed in reasonable quantities. However, when a person drinks coffee, Shalev explained, the caffeine interferes with signals in the brain being sent from neurotransmitters to their receptors. Caffeine acts as an antagonist, essentially blocking the adenosine receptors, which are inhibitory sensors in the brain that calm the body and mind.

Since caffeine interferes with this calming effect, the body becomes more alert and awake, Shalev explained. That is why drinking coffee increases heart rate and blood pressure, and keeps you awake longer. The physiological effects caused by this over-stimulation can negatively affect a person’s mental state. Sylvia Kairouz, a Concordia sociology professor and the chair of research on gambling addiction, emphasized the risks of sleep deprivation caused by excessive coffee consumption. Since coffee keeps you alert, it also risks disrupting your sleep cycle, which isn’t something you want to happen during a stressful period like finals, Kairouz said.

According to Shalev, the physical reaction coffee causes can result in increased anxiety among people who are already prone to anxiety. This happens when the body interprets a faster heart rate and increased alertness as a sign of danger and raises stress levels. “I become stressed when I have more coffee than I’m used to,” said Sara Betinjaneh, a second-year political science student at Concordia.

Yet many students, including first-year sociology major Yasmin Mehri, rely on coffee to stay awake to study or finish assignments. Drinking coffee to stay up late can work to a certain extent, but too much can cause an imbalance in sleeping patterns, Kairouz explained. “It’s a loss more than a gain when you are not adopting a healthy lifestyle during finals,” she said. “Students should focus on an equilibrium.” Shalev reiterated that, as long as coffee consumption is moderate, it is not considered an addiction—not until it negatively affects the functioning of your daily life.

Why is coffee part of your day?

“My day is organized around my coffee,” said student Betinjaneh. “That’s when I take breaks.” According to Kairouz, “the ritual, the habit and the routine of having coffee daily limits the capacity to remove coffee from our daily life.” This dependence on the drink is also sociological because there is a whole experience that comes with drinking coffee, she explained. Drinking coffee has become a very popular social activity—when people meet up, it often happens over a cup of coffee.

“There is a connection that exists in people’s lives between working or studying and drinking coffee,” Kairouz said. The accessibility of coffee also plays a huge role in society’s growing dependence on coffee. Kairouz offered the example of Montreal’s Mackay Street, where there are at least six coffee shops. “I love the idea and the feeling of sitting in a coffee shop and having my coffee,” Betinjaneh said. The stimulation from an environment filled with coffee shops has impacted our caffeine consumption, Kairouz said.

Easy access to caffeine has impacted the amount we consume since a single press of a button can make our coffee right at home. According to the Coffee Association of Canada, coffee makers are increasingly popular in Canadian homes with 47 per cent of households owning a drip coffee makers and 38 per cent using single-cup machines. Kairouz added that the consumerist environment we live in plays a role in people’s coffee dependence as well. Since coffee has become ingrained in our culture, this leaves a looming question: are we having coffee because we need it or because we just walked by a cute coffee shop that serves the best latte art?

Photo by Kirubel Mehari.

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Opinions

Burning out: Why students should take the initiative of self-care

Graphics by Alexa Hawksworth

It’s a new year at Concordia, which means new teachers, new assignments and quite possibly new struggles. One of those struggles can simply be a lack of self-care. As university students, we’re taught at an early age to follow a certain routine when it comes to our education. Wake up, attend classes, come home, do homework and catch up on readings, sleep and then repeat.

A negative consequence of constantly following this redundant cycle is “burning out.”

According to an article by Global News, more and more psychiatrists are beginning to use this term to refer to patients who suffer from chronic stress. People can experience burnouts when they’re undergoing stressful situations everyday— it eventually builds up and causes various symptoms. These can include physical exhaustion, weight gain, loss of appetite, anxiety, depression, pessimism, detachment, increased forgetfulness, lack of concentration and a drop in productivity. Sound familiar?

There are also other symptoms that aren’t as apparent. According to the same article, burnouts can result in “shrinkage or enlargement, thinning and premature aging” of various areas of the brain.

Although the article strongly focuses on adults with high-stress careers, we at The Concordian believe university students are equally and sometimes more stressed due to school work, internships, jobs, social lives and planning for the future. Therefore, we felt it was imperative to suggest a few way students can take care of themselves this year.

Lifestyle choices and changes can allow students to relax and prevent burnouts. This can be as simple as finding a hobby unrelated to your work or school, anything from biking to reading comic books. The Global News article put a particular emphasis on choosing a hobby that stimulates your brain in a creative way in order to prevent chronic stress.

Having strong, positive connections with people outside of your family is also extremely important. Of course, we all know the struggle of finding time during the semester to have fun. But doing so can stop students from being unproductive and doing poorly in school, according to the same article, which would actually be more beneficial for your grades in the long run.

Unplugging yourself from social media and cellphones can also help. While social media and technology are great tools for everyday life, they can also be pervasive distractions preventing you not only from getting work done, but also from properly relaxing during those study breaks.

Many free apps exist to help you stay off of your devices or distracting websites. Flipd and Freedom Reduce Distractions, to name a few, block your access to certain apps and websites. An article by the Huffington Post also suggests that, before going to bed, phones and other devices should be kept away in order to get a good night’s rest.

As university students, we rarely have time to eat lunch let alone manage a schedule that includes time for breaks. But by taking care of yourself and forcing hobbies and down time back into your life can actually make you more productive and will certainly boost your mental health. Finding time during the day to walk away from your keyboard and textbook, and instead go for a walk or drink a glass of water can mean the difference between a burnout and achieving your goals—and more importantly, enjoying yourself in the process.

Graphics by Alexa Hawksworth

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News

Resources for reducing stress during finals

Concordia offers a variety of services to help students make it through finals

We are approaching the time of the year where students become increasingly more stressed, anxious and sleep deprived. Concordia offers a variety of programs for students anxious about finals and looking for assistance.

Pet Therapy

The Concordia Webster Library organized a Pet Therapy session to help students take a break from their studies. Students crowded around two pugs near the library’s course reserve room on March 29 between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.

“I think that pet therapy is a great way for students to take a break from school and de-stress,” said Ana Grubac, a Concordia economics major, who was at the event.

According to the article “Between Pets and People: the Importance of Animal Companionship,” by Alan Beck, director of the Center for the Human-Animal Bond at Purdue University, in Indiana, petting a dog lowers blood pressure and helps your body release hormones like oxytocin, which is linked to happiness.

According to the Journal of Psychosomatic Research, “some people have experienced increased output of endorphins and dopamines after just five minutes with an animal.”

In addition, even brief encounters with pets, such as the ones who visited Concordia, help reduce levels of anxiety.

This year marks Concordia’s third edition of pet therapy, an event organized around the final exam period to help students cope with anxiety and stress.

“Some of the students are away from home and miss their own pets,” said Linda Toy, this year’s event organizer. “I have observed smiles and laughter during these events,” Toy added. “It is really quite special.”

Everyday Therapy

Throughout the semester, Concordia offers a variety of programs for students who need emotional support and guidance. One of these programs is the Everyday Therapy campaign, organized by Concordia Health Services.

The program is geared towards helping students with everyday personal struggles. The campaign hosts four therapy sessions throughout the semester to give students tips and suggestions for dealing with stress, personal relationships and confidence, throughout the fall and winter semesters.

According to Canada’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, one in five people will suffer from a mental illness or addiction at some point in their life. Two out of three of those individuals will suffer in silence.

“Concordia offers a [variety] of resources for students, and will discuss internal and community resources to help deal with mental health,” said Dale Robinson, a psychologist and manager at Concordia’s Counselling & Psychological Services, in an interview with The Concordian in February.

Jack.org

For students seeking assistance with stress or mental health, Jack.org, is also available.

Jack.org is a non-profit organization designed by students for students with mental illnesses or suffering from emotional hardships. Concordia has its own Jack.org chapter.

“Jack.org reaches out to students who need help, and we help guide them to different resources available in their area,” said Michael Dorado, a Jack.org representative.

“Most often times, students don’t know that counseling and psychological services exist at Concordia. Our role is to show students that [services] exist and are available to help them,” Dorado said.

Photo by Chloe Ranaldi.

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Student Life

Exploring the healthy side with Fardad

Graphic by Thom Bell

Debunking stress eating: Tis’ the season of midterms and takeout

Midterm season is officially here, and stress is creeping up on many students. Although people respond to stressful situations differently, a lot of us have a common struggle: stress eating.

Emotional eating can happen for a variety of reasons, but this week we will specifically analyze stress as a cause.

When your body is put under prolonged stress, a multitude of physiological changes happen, namely, your body releases a hormone called cortisol.

Cortisol plays a key role in human survival—think about it from an evolutionary standpoint. Your body registers stress as a “fight or flight” situation. When your body thinks it’s in a life or death situation, it “panics” and urges you to consume calories for strength and survival, when really, all you need is a deep breath.

Needless to say, exam period is a stressful time. Seeking refuge in the glory of pizza or greasy fries when the workload gets overwhelming is something a lot of us can relate to.

While this may provide momentarily relief—due to the release of other hormones like dopamine—the underlying cause of your stress still remains.

Additionally, feelings of guilt about eating too much may enter into the equation and end up adding to your initial stress.

But how can you tell the difference between being actually hungry or just feeling stressed?

There are a few telltale signs. Here are the most important ones:

  • We usually turn to comfort foods or unhealthy foods when we are stressed. Let’s just say cauliflower and broccoli aren’t the food of choice when cramming for an exam.
  • According to Harvard Health, consuming comfort food triggers two changes in the brain. First, it stimulates the reward centre of the brain by releasing feel-good hormones. Second, it has been shown to temporarily counter the effects of the stress-producing and processing hormones. So not only does comfort food provide a “happy fix,” but it also temporarily takes the stress away.
  • According to American pediatrics doctor Dr. Mary Gavin, and many other experts, contrary to stress cravings, physical hunger isn’t instant. It takes time for the digestive system to process food.
  • According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, when you feel physiological hunger, it’s due to the gradual release of the hunger hormone, ghrelin. Ghrelin itself is released over time, thanks to “feedback” provided by sensory nerve endings in the digestive tract, including the intestine and colon. So if you suddenly have a “need” for a bag of chips, take a second to reflect on how stressed you are in that moment. You might just need to relax and take a deep breath.

Here are a few things you can do to help combat stress eating during exam time: 

  • Get moving. Exercise releases endorphins so hop to it. Physical activity also releases those feel-good hormones and it gets fresh blood flowing to the brain, making you feel more awake.
  • Drink a lot of water, regularly. Dehydration oftentimes manifests as hunger. Staying hydrated helps keep your body healthy and your brain active.
  • Call a loved one or a friend—but make sure you don’t end up talking about studying or exams. The aim here is to take your mind off all the stress by hearing a familiar voice and maybe cracking a joke or two. Tell the person in advance that you don’t want to be talking about school.

Fardad is a science student here at Concordia. He wants to share his research and learning about the science field with the Concordia community.

Graphic by Thom Bell

Categories
Student Life

My experience with mental health

Graphic by Florence Yee

Dealing with depression, binge eating disorder and attention disorders

I used to try to pinpoint when it all started, but I have come to realize that there is no precise beginning to my experience with mental illness.

In my case, it was just an accumulation of things, like drops that accumulate in a glass until it inevitably overflows.

I grew up in Annecy, France, surrounded by mountains, lakes, nature and caring friends and relatives—a perfect environment.

Everything began crumbling apart when my parents divorced.

I first met with a psychologist when I was seven, to help me understand and accept my parents’ situation.

My parents eventually remarried, and I ended up moving to Paris with my mother in the eighth grade. That is when I truly started to feel my glass begin to overflow.

I faced rejection. I faced rejection because of my fashion style, because of the place I came from. Most importantly, I faced rejection because I made the mistake of being open about my homosexuality. I dealt with daily looks of disgust.

At the age of 14, I began binge eating. It started as a nasty habit, and turned into an addiction that I still fight. I would come home, walk straight to the kitchen, sit on the floor with my bag and jacket still on and stare at the wall as I compulsively stuffed my face with food.

I developed perfectionism and attention problems in high school. School has always been a challenge for me. Seeing my grades drop due to all my emotional struggles only generated more stress linked to failure and limited my attention span even more. I found myself in a vicious circle. My glass was overflowing. It was too much.

During my last year of high school, I asked my mother to help me find a psychiatrist who could help me, at the very least, with my attention deficit. The psychiatrist ended up diagnosing me with depression, and I was prescribed a daily dose of antidepressants.

It was then that my life started to slowly piece itself back together.

After six months, I had stopped taking the medication.  The pills helped and I started focusing on the things I loved in my life again. I started feeling better.

During my healing process, I talked to friends who could relate and help, or at least listen.  I eliminated toxic relationships from my life. I focused on doing things I truly loved. I did photography and drawing. I watched anime. I skateboarded and baked.  Over time, focusing on my hobbies and passions made me feel better.

These were all things I had left behind during my dark time. It took me time to realize that these things were what I was missing to help myself heal.

Most of all, I wouldn’t have gotten better without working on self-love. It took baby steps to gain back my confidence but every day, no matter how hard, I would tell myself that I should love myself for who I am.

I still have downs, and I have accepted that I always will. I don’t believe there are any immediate or magical solutions to mental illness. It was little and then progressively bigger steps that helped me towards remission. That’s what it takes. Open up to someone, surround yourself with the people who love you, do what you enjoy and work on being healthy.

Graphic by Florence Yee

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Student Life

Analyzing stress levels – it’s all in the heart

Study by Concordia prof says your heart rate reveals your risk for chronic stress

Stress – this is a condition that is no stranger to students, especially as they climb the rungs of higher education.

While some students tackle deadlines and exam season with a come-what-may attitude, these same events can be triggers of extreme distress for others. So, why is it that some of us are so much more susceptible to stress than others? Concordia psychology professor, Jean-Philipe Gouin, holds the answers in his most recent study.

The study, published in the latest issue of the journal Stress, details the findings of how students’ heart rates play into their stress levels.

Gouin, along with colleagues Sonya Deschênes and Michel Dugas, measured the respiratory sinus arrhythmias (RSA), or in layman’s terms, heart rates, of a group of 76 undergraduate students during periods of high and low stress in their university semester (i.e. beginning of the semester vs. exam time). The results indicate subjects’ comparative levels of distress during these times and explore how one’s resting heart rate plays into the stress they may experience later.

“What we’re looking at [with the RSA measurements] is very high rapid fluctuations in the heartbeat,” Gouin said. “For most people, there’s a change in heart rate associated with breathing. When you expire it slows down for a few seconds, and when you inspire, it goes back up. The measure of this heart rate variability is the measure of the strength of your parasympathetic system.”

The parasympathetic system is responsible for the rest-and-digest phase which allows your body to maintain a calm state and replenish its energy, explained Gouin.

“Lets say you’re walking in the street and you see someone who is armed and want to run away, you want your sympathetic system — responsible for fight or flight responses — to be activated, and your heart rate variability to be quite small,” Gouin said. “You want your heart rate to be quite elevated so you can run away the way you need to. If your body has the same reaction when you’re worrying about something, when you show this withdrawal of the parasympathetic system, then you’re much more at risk [of experiencing elevated stress].”

The results of the study indicate that students who have a more variable heart rate during times of low stress are in fact less prone to experiencing acute distress during periods of high stress. Conversely, students whose heart rate was more regulated during times of low stress were more likely to be more stressed during a period of intensity.

With the information gleaned from this study, health care professionals will be able to better predict who might be at higher risk for chronic stress, allowing for preventative measures to be taken.

As for tricks to beat stress? Gouin said the best idea is just to get lots of sleep — easier said than done, I know — and try to keep up a healthy diet. A healthier body will always deal with stress better than a sleep-deprived, sugar-filled one will.

Categories
Opinions

The yuletide and joy of Christmas past

Graphic by Jenny Kwan

The holiday season: loved by most children, and dreaded by many adults. As we’ve gotten older, the holidays just don’t feel the same. People may sometimes get excited over the snow and gifts, but it’s not quite as magical as it once seemed to be.

The winter wonderland fantasy, for one, has lost its appeal. When you’re young, you always look forward to that first big snowfall. You knew that with that snowfall came the snowmen, snow angels, forts, ice skating and a nice cup of hot cocoa when you finally retreated back into the house.

Graphic by Jenny Kwan

If you were really lucky, you may even have had a snow day. We always heard our parents complaining about the weather, but we never understood how anybody could possibly hate this beautiful season. That is, until we grew up.

The snowmen and snow angels have been replaced with shovelling, and for those with cars, have been replaced with the dreaded driving conditions.

It leads people to become more and more aware of soggy socks and frost-bitten toes every year. Let’s not even get started on how the wind dries up the skin. We never noticed these things as rambunctious youngsters, but now it’s all many people think about.

Sure, it’s possible to appreciate the beauty of our city covered in a white blanket, but there is a limit. At least we can still warm up with a nice cup of hot cocoa, give or take a few shots of Baileys.

Christmas itself isn’t quite the same either. During my childhood, I would lay in bed, practically shaking with excitement on Christmas morning. Nothing seemed more exciting than getting up on Dec. 25 and waking up everybody in the house at the crack of dawn.

After months of anticipation (for those of us who eagerly prepared our Christmas list before the air even had a chill), we finally got to see what Santa Claus brought for us.

Nowadays, it’s not unlikely to lay awake in bed worrying about our Christmas shopping or dreading our family get-togethers.

The illusion of Santa has also long been shattered. We now know that it was our parents who waited for us to fall asleep to hide our presents under the tree. There is now the stressful responsibility of buying presents for everybody else—something we never had to worry about as children.

While we may no longer jump out of bed at the crack of dawn, it is still fun to see what we got. Let’s be real, a present is a present. Child or adult, it is still exciting to be showered with gifts. It may not have the same feeling of glee as the old days, but who can complain?

Adults and children may not perceive the holidays the same way, but that doesn’t mean growing up leaves nothing to look forward to. As cheesy as it sounds, now that we’re adults, we’re able to enjoy what’s truly important: family, friends, and the spirit of giving.

When we were kids, all we wanted was to open our presents and play in the snow. Now, we get to be the ones who spread the excitement, whether to our younger family members or within our community. Isn’t that enough?

If the feeling of spreading joy doesn’t warm your tiny Grinch-like heart, just remember one thing: now that we’re legal, we can have a lot more fun at holiday parties.

Categories
Student Life

Is peer pressure making you spend more this holiday season?

Graphic by Jennifer Kwan.
Graphic by Jennifer Kwan.

According to a new consumer trends survey called “Every Dollar Counts,” Quebecers’ spending habits are greatly influenced by those around them, and it’s wreaking havoc for their personal financial goals.

When Simon Préfontaine, a financial advisor at Lafond Financial Services, first started looking to improve his own finances, he said he had to start paying off his debts by spending less than he made and living more within his means.

“You have to make tough choices,” said Préfontaine. “Sometimes that means finding a new crowd to hang out with and friends who will tell you the truth.”

Préfontaine is quick to point out that peer pressure is not a new thing. Ultimately, you must face yourself.

“Financial success,” he said, “is 80 per cent behaviour and 20 per cent knowledge.”

Préfontaine occasionally volunteers his time and expertise to offer personal finance courses that are designed around peer support.

“Your accountability partner should not be your advisor. He or she is paid to help you,” he said. “You can’t call them up on a Saturday and have them listen to your struggles.”

Rafael Sorili, a liberal arts student, is also tackling his personal finances. He recently attended a workshop called “Budgeting to Your Values” given by Judy Lashley, a financial advisor at Concordia University. It was part of a series offered by Student Services during Concordia’s first ever Financial Literacy Week this past November. Sorili works part-time to supplement his loans and bursaries, and plans to go on to graduate school.

“I got tired of being a hostage to my finances,” said Sorili. “I’m looking to empower myself financially.”

What appealed to him about the workshop was how it focused on building a budget that reflects his own values and reality as opposed to some idealistic plan.

“Once you know your values,” said Lashley, “it’s a lot easier to make decisions.”

Sorili has already booked a follow-up appointment, and is now saving all his receipts for a month. With the advisor’s help, together they will go through his receipts to determine where he spends his money. Sorili’s goal is to break free from student poverty. He says he refuses to be a victim. “Being a student does not have to mean being poor,” he said.

Lisa Hanash also believes that values should dictate her budget, and not the other way around. Hanash, who is graduating this semester in marketing at the John Molson School of Business, said that generosity is an important value to her regardless of her financial situation. She’s learned to manage her money well by observing her family’s habits and values.

“My mother is resourceful. She’s always learned to do things herself, so was my grandmother,” said Hanash. “And both my dad and brother fix things, so we didn’t spend money when we didn’t have it. I’ve learned the value of a dollar.”

Hanash continues to buy second-hand clothing for herself like her mother did when she was growing up. She says she never learned to hoard because her mother taught her the principle of “buy one thing, give one thing.” She buys food on sale and in bulk.

“I don’t spend a lot on food. I eat a lot at home and I pack my own lunches,” said Hanash. She also anticipates the unexpected by putting aside an emergency fund.

As a marketing student, Hanash says she is more aware of how stores mark up their prices and use certain tactics to sell their stuff. She hopes to use her marketing knowledge and skills to raise the profile of non-profit organizations and fundraise for worthy causes.

For help with your finances visit concordia.ca/offices/faao.html to view the services Concordia’s Financial Aid&Awards Office has to offer.

 

Categories
Arts

Zentangle your way to better mental health

An attempt at a Zentagle creation. Photo (and Zentage masterpiece, pictured) by Sara Baron-Goodman.

At first glance, Zentangle looks exactly like the DoodleArt that every child born between 1970 and 2000 surely spent hours toiling over. Zentangle, however, claims to be much more than simple doodling. It is an easy and relaxing way to create images through drawing structured patterns. It is, in fact, a school of art, a sensation that is sweeping the nation. There are hundreds of Certified Zentangle Teachers (CZTs) in more than 10 countries worldwide.

Apparently, Zentangle can bring one to a state of religious experience and deep meditation. Zentangle is like the tantric sex of the art world – the goal is to achieve a spiritual awakening, it’s not about the end results. For tanglers, the pretty art is just an incidental bonus. Because aesthetics are not important to Zentangle, even the most artistically handicapped among us can become tanglers.

Tangles, as the patterns are called, are meant to represent life’s problems, helping to deconstruct them into zigs and zags, dots and squiggles so that they are easier to overcome. As the Zentangle mantra states, “anything is possible, one stroke at a time.” Disclaimer: compulsively drawing lines and shapes will not help you erase your debt, mend a broken heart or pass an exam.

Armed with a copy of The Joy of Zentangle, a black fine-tip Sharpie, a pencil, and a small sketchpad, I was ready. It should be noted that “true” tanglers are supposed to use special tiles to draw on, made from fine Italian paper. I, however, had no desire to spend $20 on said tiles when my highschool sketching paper would suffice. For beginners, it is recommended to only use black ink and a pencil, so that our feeble minds aren’t distracted by too many colour options.

The cardinal rule of Zentangle is never to erase – there are no mistakes in tangling. Already this made me anxious. The thought that there was nothing I could do if I messed up my pattern had me in a cold sweat before I even put pen to paper.

Finally, I took the plunge. Following the guidelines in my book, I marked off each corner of the paper with a dot. The next step was to connect the dots to make a frame in which to tangle. Then, tracing an imaginary string with a pencil, I followed the instructions to divide my frame into sections. Each section is meant to represent an aspect of life.

The next part was the fun part, where I got to doodle (sorry, tangle) for an hour under the pretence of self-betterment. After meticulously drawing filigrees and shapes in the first section, I was starting to feel exasperated rather than zen. I can only employ acute concentration for so long, I am a millennial after all. Like a trooper, I persevered and filled the rest of my sections with intricate-ish tangles.

The end result is no Picasso but it is interesting-looking. Was my mind clear and focused on the task at hand? Yes, for about an hour, my raison-d’être was trying to make paisleys fit together like a puzzle. Did this help me to achieve spiritual awakening and solve my problems? Not so much.

The Joy of Zentangle retails for $15.74 at Amazon.ca

 

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