I recently came across an article entitled “Why ‘C’ Students Usually End up Being the Most Successful in Life”. The author of the article argues that the most successful people in the world are those who got mediocre grades throughout their life and “didn’t allow their academic experiences to deter them from rising to the…
Category: Education
6 Reasons Why Protests Against the New Ontario Sex Ed Curriculum are Unsexy
Yesterday, thousands of parents withdrew their children from school as part of a province-wide protest against the new sexual education curriculum set to be introduced by the Provincial Government in September. Protestors called for a revision of the contents of the new curriculum, stating that the material was inappropriate for children, at least in the…
9 Tips For a New Grad Looking For a Job
As a new grad looking for a job, you’re probably faced with a lot of pressure to find a job. The current unemployment challenges facing new grads are a steady topic in the news today, and I wanted to share some lessons that I’ve learned that will help new grads looking for a job. 1)…
Knowledge Dilution and the Authority Illusion: Now Anyone can be an Expert
When I was a child, my parents would force me to get outside the house almost every day. I questioned their motives, as messing around on my PlayStation or watching TV seemed like a much better option, but their insistence combined with their authority got me out the door each day. Authority is quite a…
It’s Not What You Know; It’s What You Produce
Anyone who knows me will know that I enjoy stand-up comedy. I constantly quote my favourite comedians’ routines or adopt the techniques and patterns found in stand-up into my own way of speaking. I even advocate for its study in order to make you better at networking and interacting with people overall. One of the…
The Missing 19 Percent: An Investigation of Part Time Faculty at Western University
Recently, the Western Gazette (Canada’s only daily student newspaper!) published an article entitled: “The Precarious Path to Professorship”. The article spoke of the ongoing issue of contract academic staff (CAS) teaching an increasing number of classes at Canadian universities. Before I delve into the situation at Western, I do need to comment on the article linked in…
The Age of Misinformation II: Watching a Documentary Does Not (Necessarily) Make You Smart
In our age of armchair science, no media outlet provides a lightweight intellectual experience more than the documentary. What were once films of purpose and discovery have been affected by a new breed of documentary, which use pop science and scare tactics to deliver their message. A documentary used to tell a side of a…
Boomer Metrics: How Education Became a Best Seller
Canada was a nation founded on its natural expanse: a sprawling wilderness of massive forests, mountains, and endless prairies. Historically, the Canadian economy was based around our natural resources, but after the Second World War ended in 1945, many Canadians returned to a completely different country. Manufacturing had taken hold in many cities as per…
Flow and Fiero: Why Students Need to Struggle to be Happiest
In 2010, three Cornell University students committed suicide within a month of each other by jumping off a bridge on the Ivy League school’s campus. In response to mental health advocates and national outcry, Cornell installed safety nets on the bridge in 2012. Mental health has become an increasingly prevalent issue on university campuses across…
The Pareto Principle and How it can Apply to Life as a Student (and beyond)
In 1906, Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto was taking a leisurely stroll in his garden. He was examining his pea plants, and he noticed a pattern: 20% of the pea pods contained 80% of the peas. He developed a mathematical model for this pattern, and he produced what is now known as the Pareto Principle, or…
Fall in Love with the Process, not the Product
An issue that I see at university is that many students are pursuing a career that is not the right fit for them, and by that I mean that they’re misled as far as the character required for that particular career. Ask any first year science student what they want to be, and most will…
Does Grade Inflation in High School Affect Mental Health in University?
From an early age, we’re often asked the question: “What do you want to be when you grow up?” At first, our answers are usually visions of grandeur; choices range from an astronaut, the Prime Minister of Canada, an NHL hockey player, and the list goes on. We progress through elementary school holding on to…
