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You have marked your calendar, you are counting the days and have an end date in mind. It is the conclusion of yet another school year. These last weeks are stressful as they are spiked with exams, maybe prom, and packing up your room. There are lots of mixed feelings in your brain, stomach and heart, a lot of ampersands, which are represented by this symbol: “&”.

If you’ve ever written an “hour” at Stanstead College, you may have noticed the first line: “Hui Tzu said to Chuang Tzu: ‘All your teaching is centred on what has no use.’” I used to see it as an ironic preview, but over time, I realized that it’s, in a sense, a summary of everything. When you think about it, why are we here, and is anything we do truly useful or meaningful?  

As we all know, the school year is quickly approaching the end. Whether you are headed off to university or coming back to Stanstead next year, we soon will be all entering a new chapter of our lives. New opportunities allow us to grow and try and better ourselves along the way. So here are three simple but inspiring quotes I thought were important to apply in one’s everyday life.

You are furious! Why did your boyfriend not call back? Why did the teacher give you a bad grade? Why can you NOT go home for break? You feel your blood boiling, your feel stressed and are just mad, mad, mad! These are all situations that are out of your control, that happened TO you, but now you are in your personal red zone. Your brain is not working at its best and you literally cannot think clearly now! You want to kick the wall, scream, or hit someone. (Please don’t.)

On March 20, I finished my last hockey game as a Spartan, ending a lengthy journey filled with memories that will be with me forever. Starting as a clueless Grade 10 who only wanted to learn and develop in the game he loved while having fun with his teammates, to a Grade 11 year filled with adversity, as many faced all over the world, losing the ability to play their sport due to the pandemic. It’s a memory that will never leave any of us.

Recently we all returned to school after a much-needed and well-deserved break. While all the breaks during the year are of great respite to everyone at the school, this past break was most likely the most refreshing of them all. With this break also comes the onset of spring, the temperature finally starts to warm, and sports move from the gyms and the rink to the grass fields. It truly feels like a final turning point for the year, with the end of the school year in sight.

Do you love to get to know other people? Well, what about getting to know yourself a bit more? Today, I would like to look at what a healthy and an unhealthy version of you look like.

A family outing one day turned into an absolute tragedy as a family of three, father mother and a son, left the cinema through an alley way. As they exited, they found themselves being confronted by a mugger. First thing the father did was to move his wife and son behind him and tried to mitigate the situation by offering the mugger anything he could ask for: jewelry, money, car keys, all while prioritizing the safety of his own family.

Just like me, you might feel overwhelmed lately. The infamous COVID-19 seems like it’s taking control of our world. Practices, games and tournaments are being cancelled here and there. And it might feel like this chaos will never end. Well, I'm not here to tell you that it “isn’t that bad” or that it is “all over very soon.” And I am not here to downplay the whole situation and make you feel that there isn’t any problem and that it is no big deal. I am just here to say that there are other bigger deals.

Today I want to talk about the little things in life. The dictionary definition of the word “little” is something small in size, amount or degree. The word “little” has often been used in an undervalued way; “little” seems to mean something bad more often than good. What if I could change your mind?  

As some of you may know, my biggest struggle is caring. Caring is one of the qualities that people usually use to describe me. Don't get me wrong, caring is a nice quality to have. However, I have come to realize that I over-care. I over-care about people, what they think about me, what they say about me and how they see me, and all of these bring me down.

I am back with one of my favorite topics: ANTs – automatic negative thoughts. In my previous posts, I outlined the 10 ANTs (also called cognitive or thinking distortions) that happen to all of us and then specifically looked deeper into “Shoulds” and “Mind Reading.” All these thinking patterns are normal but can get complicated when they become chronic, overtaking your life and putting you into a negative downward spiral. Today, I would like to tackle another favourite: All-or-nothing thinking, that is black vs white, right vs wrong, good vs bad.

Going to a new school can be scary. It might feel that way because you’re stepping outside your comfort zone. You might not know many people, or in this case, it might be your first time away from home. On top of it all, English might not be your first language. You might worry about what others think of you, or if you’re going to fit in. Personally, that’s what was going through my head my first year here.

“A solution to a problem” is the direct definition of the word “resolution.” The term “resolution” is frequently used during this time of year, during the new beginning, the start of a new year. When this time comes around, we sit down, take a pen and paper and write down our New Year’s resolution. In other words, the solution to our so-called problems.