If last week’s Charity Ball had you stumbling home with almost-fractured ankles, here are a few tips that you can use for upcoming nights on the town, Valentine’s plans, or whatever other exciting adventures you lead in your daily life.

1)   Break them in

A cold toilet bowl of water has never looked more inviting than when you’re crashing through a formal in pain attempting to find solace for your discomfort in a bathroom. But to prevent yourself from easing your feet into the porcelain sea, your first step in heel mastery is breaking in your shoes. Walk around in them in your house, wear them under your desk at work, and stand in them when you’re cooking. Whenever you aren’t forced to wear arctic-ready winter boots, practice walking in your heels to break them in. It will probably be a bit embarrassing and loud, but it’s better than taking your shoes off at the end of the night to find a small pool of blood.

2)   Walk the line

Much like the tried and true drunk driving test used by the police, when practicing in your heels for a night out, test yourself by walking in a straight line. Follow the lines of your tile or hard wood, lay out a piece of tape or string, or eyeball it and trust your own judgment. Put on some Johnny Cash, and you’ve got yourself a party!

3)   Invest in squishies

Several shoe brands sell inserts for your heels that can make them more bearable. Invest in a set. They may not be the chicest addition to your ensemble, but they’re going to be inside your shoe anyways, and let’s get real, no on really cares. You’ll be more comfortable and more pleasant to be around.

These Dr. Scholl’s come in sizes 6-10. As long as you don’t have elf or hobbit feet, you should be good: http://www.drscholls.com/Products/HighHeelInsoles

4)   Get Sized

This may seem like a no brainer, but buy shoes that actually fit you. Squeezing your feet into your grade eight shoes will be painful for you and for your nostalgia. Get sized at a reputable shoe store (sorry Payless), and buy pairs that fit you snuggly around the heel, and with wiggle room for your toes.

5)   Poise

No, I’m not talking about the brand of adult diapers, I’m talking about your actual posture. Even when you aren’t sporting your 6-inches, be sure to sit with a straight, un-arched back. Imagine you’re balancing something on your head, or for that matter, actually try balancing something on your head. You may look crazy, but then again, you are wearing bits of plastic on your feet to make yourself look taller, so I think that ship sailed a while ago.

 

Winter can be a time of wondrous snow days, evenings by the fireplace, and Hallmark holidays. But in addition to the cheerful, colourful festivities of the season, the cold weather also brings forth an onset of cloudy, dark days that can be mirrored in emotions of hopelessness and depression.

The current school year has brought forth several candid confessions from Silhouette staff members and volunteers outlining the effects of an ongoing battle with mental illness. If you find this time of year tends to bring you down and affect your mood, here are a few tips that have worked, and continue to work, in helping me feel more like myself when dealing with depression and anxiety. I cannot guarantee that these will work for everyone, but making these changes have definitely helped me reduce my frequency of panic attacks, and revive the spring in my step when SAD has left me feeling hopeless.

Make time

When I first started speaking with friends who were also struggling with mental illness, one of the things we always seemed to have in common was an inability to keep a schedule. Sleeping was a challenge, making it to class was a burden, and for reasons unknown, we always forgot to eat. This year, I’ve started keeping a schedule that reminds me to keep up with my commitments and my necessary daily habits. It may seem like a pretty basic plan, but keeping a day planner and setting reminders on your phone will help you feel more organized and less stressed.

If you’re finding it difficult to make time for sleep, reschedule your life accordingly. If it takes you two hours to fall asleep, schedule in an extra two hours at bedtime. If you know you’re going to wake up at 3:00 in the morning, have a show queued on your laptop so you have something to lull you back to sleep again. Or even if you have the opposite problem and are sleeping too much, have a trusted friend or relative give you a call to remind you of the world outside your bedroom. Making time for sleep may require you to cut the time you spend on other commitments, but if you’re well rested, you’ll have more time and energy to get caught up the next day.

If you find that you’re forgetting about other important details in your life, such as eating or attending class, write everything down and check off each item as you go. It’s been about a year since I was diagnosed, and I still write down “Eat Lunch” in my day planner- but now I’ve yet to forget! Getting thrown off my school and eating schedules last year led to a drop in my grades and a rise in my weight. Not staying on schedule ended up giving me more worries on top of my pre-existing anxiety conditions. Having a visual outline for your day written on a calendar or in a planner will give you a better understanding of how much time you realistically have in a day.

Treat Yo’ Self

When you’re feeling down, you can’t waste time blaming yourself for your problems. Instead, treat yourself. Make yourself feel good about something rather than berating yourself into feeling worse.

Once a week, I schedule a two-hour time slot where I do something just for me. Put on some inspiring music (pro tip: avoid the Adeles and Lana Del Reys of the world), paint your nails, watch a movie, try a new recipe, do whatever it is that you wish you had more time for during the school year. It will be an instant pick me up that you’ll begin looking forward to every week.

Talk it Out

Talk to someone- a friend, a family member, a professional in the field, or even call a hotline if you don’t feel comfortable speaking with someone who knows you personally. If you’re bottling up your feelings, you’re hurting yourself and hurting others. Not only are you hindering your own chances of speaking about your problems and accepting them, you’re also preventing those around you from gaining a better understanding of what you’re going through.

Talking to yourself can even be a positive option. Don’t necessarily talk to yourself out loud, but writing in a journal or talking out your problems in your head can be beneficial in gaining a better understanding of what your stresses and upsets currently are.

Good Day Sunshine

Getting enough sunlight is crucial in keeping your mood bright. But if like myself you find yourself living, working, and spending a considerable number of classes in basements, you may need to resort to some synthetic forms of sunshine.

Going outside can be cringe-worthy when the term “Polar Vortex” has become a CP24 regular and frosted eyebrows have become a daily fashion statement. An alternative to the classic glowing orb is a sun lamp. I’ve recently ordered one (a little over $100 from Wal-Mart) and I’m highly anticipating its arrival. I’ve heard great things about its ability to both literally and figuratively brighten your day, and living in a basement, it’ll help my body rise naturally with the sun and create a natural schedule to follow.

If you find the darkness of the current weather is really affecting your mood and how you feel about getting out of bed in the morning, a sun lamp can be a beneficial step.

Be nice

Be nice to yourself and be nice to others. Have an inspiring quote set as your desktop background, or reflect on your accomplishments at the end of the day. Complimenting yourself may seem lame, but it will boost your spirits and help you look towards the positives of each day.

And while you’re flattering yourself, let those around you know how much they mean to you. Complimenting someone else will make you feel like a genuinely good person and will leave you feeling more grateful for positive relationships in your life that you may sometimes overlook. You’ll feel good about it, and any recipient of a validating comment or complimentary text message is bound to also benefit from the flattery.

Dealing with depression, anxiety or seasonal affective disorder can leave you feeling hopeless. But taking a few steps in the right direction may have you turning down a path of new hope.

 

Julia Busatto
The Silhouette

Flu and cold season has hit McMaster. We’ve all noticed the running noses and heaving coughs as we make our way through campus. I don’t know about you, but I’m sick and tired, literally, of blowing my nose in lecture. So what can we do to beat the dreaded January sickness? The following tips are ensured to help you stay healthy this wintery season.

Drink a lot of liquids

If you already do, drink more. It is suggested that in a day you should consume 6-8 glasses of water. When your body is sick it produces more mucus, causing your sinuses to feel stuffed up. Drinking water among other liquids helps increase mucus flow. Liquids also help you stay hydrated, which is important to building a stronger immune system. If you’re looking for a warm drink, herbal teas will tell your cold to hit the road. Herbal teas are warm, organic and have essential hydrating benefits.

Sleep, sleep, sleep

Although students tend to like to stay up until the wee hours of the morning, it is essential we get 6-8 hours of sleep. It is important for our bodies to recharge after a long day of bustling around. A good nights sleep will strengthen your body for the following day, and help you regain your strength as quickly as possible.

To keep your immune system in good shape, it is best to develop a regular sleeping pattern. For students this may be nearly impossible, but even four good nights of sleep a week will help you fight off the cold. This may be a no-brainer, but try to avoid stimulating drinks like coffee late at night.

Eat well

And yes I mean chicken noodle soup. Hot chicken soup, or any given soup, raises the temperature in your nose and throat, creating an inhospitable environment for viruses that prefer cooler, drier climes. In addition, just like a hot steamy shower, hot soup thins out the mucus blocking your sinuses. Alternatively, spicy foods like cayenne, horseradish, or (for lovers of sushi) wasabi can shrink the blood vessels in your nose and throat to relieve congestion. Garlic contains allicin, a potent antimicrobial that can fend off bacteria, viruses, and fungi. Overall, generally eating healthy will help you avoid becoming sick, and help you get over a sickness more quickly.

Stay warm

It’s the most obvious tip, but I often see people between classes without proper winter gear. It’s time to ditch the fashionable fall jacket and opt for that ugly parka your grandma gave you. Although it may not get you on Style at Mac, it will keep you warm and less likely to catch a cold.  Bundle up when you are on campus, waiting for the bus and running errands to become less vulnerable.

Be conscientious

As students we come in contact with many people everyday, and must do our part to not only keep ourselves healthy but others as well. This means washing your hands frequently after you cough, blow your nose, go to the bathroom, eat, etcetera. Avoid sharing utensils and water bottles, and make sure you let others around you know you are sick. It’s a classic, but always sneeze into your arm rather than your hands. Another option is a vacuum-sealed suit. Do what you need to do.

Hopefully by following these tips the McMaster community will become less red faced and sniffling.

Palika Kohli
SHEC

You’re in university. You’re brand new, you’ve been here a while (because let’s be real—every undergraduate year is the equivalent of at least five regular years) or you’re about to leave. But whoever you are, wherever you are, whatever point you’re at – you’ve got to make a decision. And the question remains: to commit or not to commit?

Because even though you’re in university and are on your way to becoming an adult, basically everyday is prefaced with a question mark. And, well, you’re in university (and while I think I’ve established this fact, it’s well worth repeating). So, somehow you have to try to find an answer to your daily question while also keeping up with a mountain of schoolwork and juggling your social life, your sleep schedule, and any job commitments you might have. Opportunity abounds – all that’s left is for you to determine whether or not it’s worth taking it.

As someone who has often been accused of over-committing, I present to you, in no particular order, some of my own considerations on deciding whether or not to make a commitment:

1. Do you have the time?

Now, this may seem really obvious, but you’ve got to look at your own work habits and priorities. Maybe your schedule isn’t that full, but the only thing that gets you through the week is every Thursday night out at Snooty’s with your roommates, and that’s when the commitment takes place. Or maybe you only get things done when your schedule is already full, and so adding one more thing will actually make you more productive.

2. Are you passionate about it?

For some people, this is pretty much the only truly important consideration. For others, if it doesn’t add to their resume, then it’s not high priority. Neither of these ways of thinking can be called wrong, but in my experience, I tend to do a way better job if I actually personally care about the work involved. And this doesn’t mean I find every part of the job meaningful, but it does mean that I find the ultimate point of the endeavour worthwhile.

3. Do you need it?

Have you answered your aforementioned daily question? Do you have at least a general idea of the direction you’re headed in? It could be that you don’t have any clue, in which case it might be a good idea to join something that is potentially “unnecessary.” Or maybe it’s your last couple of years, and you know exactly where you want to be once you graduate, and so you have to make a judgment call based on the state of your resume.

4. What do you hope to gain from it?

Do your expectations align with the reality of the commitment? Have you envisioned yourself accomplishing goals that may not be so feasible outside of your imagination? Is there a lot of grunt work involved? Or maybe it’s a huge commitment – one that can detract from another commitment. You need to decide the potential worth, and this can involve some research and realistic thinking on your part.

5. Is it a long-term role?

Some commitments explicitly require that you take on a contract of more than just one school year. This is especially true with research, or if you’re working with a sensitive group that requires stability and consistency in terms of your presence. So, you’ll have to schedule your future accordingly. It can also be implicit – for example, you might take on a smaller role and envision yourself as the president of the club by the time you’ve reached your fourth year. If this is the case, it’s not only important to adjust your commitments, but to also to into consideration: why do you consider this role to be so important? If you’re uncertain about where you want to be in the next few years, this might be a great indication.

6. Check where the commitment falls on your hierarchy of values.

Sometimes commitments aren’t about leadership roles or your future. They can be about relationships – like planning a date night with your significant other once a week, or calling your grandmother every few days. Or it can be more personal, like actually making it to the gym and identifying the point in the day that you are most likely to actually go. This last sort of commitment is often the hardest kind, because the only person you will let down if you fail to honour the commitment is yourself.

7. Have you recognized that maybe it won’t work out?

Sometimes you have to commit a lot of time and effort to something like an interview or a dense application process, and it’s important to understand that you may not even get the role you’re applying for. In this case, you must evaluate the worth you applying, because not only does the amount of effort you put in determine the quality of your application, but it will also make you consider whether the time you will take up in your application or preparing for your interview will be worthwhile.

 

Julia Busatto
The Silhouette

If you’re a Mac student (which I assume most of you are), you’re either living at home, in residence, or off campus. Yet regardless of your living situation, there is one thing that is nearly impossible to avoid: your neighbors.
I find neighbors encompass one of three key categories: the good, the bad or the ugly. Let’s not be pessimists, and begin with the “good” neighbors with whom you should befriend.
How do you tell if you have good neighbors? Well for a start, they probably invite you to their parties, open their beer stocked fridges for you, and tell you to take whatever you’d like. Or how about the neighbors who don’t say anything when they see the girl from last night sneak down the hall the next morning.

The “good” neighbors turn a blind eye to things they just weren’t supposed to see, are generous with their possessions, direct the pizza guy right to your place, and maybe even act as a cuddle buddy from time to time (if that’s what you’re looking for).
On the opposite end of the spectrum are the “bad” neighbors, which can be separated into various degrees of nastiness dependent upon your discretion, and are best to avoid. They call the cops on your intoxicated friend who was just in the middle of her eerily realistic rendition of Wrecking Ball, watch everything you do with judging glares, and tell your parents the somewhat less notable stories about you when your monthly delivery of Kraft Dinner comes in.

The bad neighbors rightfully believe they own the whole block, the whole floor, and, essentially, your whole life. I’m sure we’ve all encountered them at some point, and they’re certainly not the angels they try to appear to be. They park in your parking space, steal your Wi-Fi and complain about even the slightest squeak of noise after 9 p.m. despite their own music has been seeping through the walls the whole time. In conclusion, it is definitely best to avoid these neighbors, because neither friendship nor mutual agreement is an option. Any friendly relation is a lost cause, so just abandon the ship now.
Last but not least are the “ugly” neighbors. The ugly neighbors are not esthetically ugly, but habitually ugly. When it comes to creatures of foul habit, it is best to proceed with caution. They tend to leave garbage sitting out for so long that the smell eventually wafts in through your window, and bang on your door at 5 a.m. to tell you about something they found really, really, *hiccup*, really, hilarious. Not to mention they invite themselves over way too often to be considered a spontaneous surprise. You don’t have the heart to tell them to leave your house, especially to stop coming over for their favourite “movie nights” where they happen to forget to bring the movie and treats each and every time.
The “ugly” neighbors play dubstep obnoxiously loud in the hopes to convert you to their superior music taste. They’re hopelessly inconsiderate, but blissfully unaware they’re doing anything wrong. After all, they’re just having fun, right? They ward off neighborhood wildlife with BB guns, thinking it’s objectively hilarious to torment squirrels. But no matter how riled up you may get with these folks, it is best to proceed with caution because you do not want to hurt their feelings. They may be so upset that they actually never end up leaving their house, stuck in a wallowing party that not even the loudest of dubstep music can revive them from, and consequently the old lettuce smell and ear-bleeding house music will become a permanent part of your life.
Whatever your neighbor situation is, remember these neighbor profiles. Good or bad neighbors can influence how you live, your experience here at McMaster, and your life beyond graduation too. Neighborly love is on the decline, with fewer street BBQ’s and friendly neighbor introductions. Most people tend to stick to themselves, as opposed to socializing with those that live around them. Ultimately, however you decide to proceed with your neighbors, just remember this note of optimism: everyone moves eventually, right?

Stephen Murray
The Silhouette

Though the school year has just started, many undergraduates in the final year of their bachelor programs are starting to give serious consideration to what comes next. A popular option is graduate school. I feel that this option is highly appealing because of the widespread perception that “if some education is good, then more must be better.” After all, our generation has been inculcated with the belief that education (regardless of what field it is in) is the silver bullet for getting a good job. This is only partly accurate. While it is true that for many prestigious careers, a graduate degree is either a requirement or a strong asset, it is also true that many people think this way, and, as a result, there are enormous gluts of labour supply in these job markets - for instance, just ask someone looking for a tenure-track professorship. In addition, a graduate degree is perceived as a means of delaying one’s entry into the “real world” - with the added bonus that it gives the impression that one’s undergraduate degree is being put to good use, which, in today’s job market, is increasingly difficult to do.

As a seasoned grad school veteran (entering what is hopefully the final year of my mechanical engineering PhD here at McMaster - my MSc was in math, also obtained here at Mac), I humbly offer some advice for those considering grad school - though please bear in mind that my perspective is necessarily skewed by my science/engineering background.

The most important piece of advice is this: “Because I don’t know what else to do with my life” is not a good reason to attend grad school. If you are not completely sure grad school is for you, you may want to consider getting some real world experience; spend some time working, or get another set of more professionally oriented skills. Though if you do choose to take some time away from an academic environment, be cautioned that if the skills you applied in academia are not regularly practiced, then your proficiency can rapidly fade. After my BSc (in math), I spent two years working, volunteering and traveling - in retrospect, this was too much of a gap. As a result I spent much time simply catching up when I started my MSc.

In most cases, one is guaranteed money from teaching/research assistantships, which amount to a modest wage - though of course the amount of funding varies widely between programs and schools. Also when applying to grad schools, be sure to do your homework regarding potential sources of external funding.

The skills which determine success in undergrad are not necessarily the same skills which determine success in grad school. In your undergrad, you were spoon-fed material in lectures, which you rehearsed and regurgitated on tests. If you were good at this, you likely received much positive reinforcement, fueling your desire to continue doing something you’re good at. However in grad programs you often aren’t simply asked to answer questions - you have to figure out what the unanswered questions are, and whether you have the tools to answer them. This, I assure you, is much more difficult. You will need to work with considerably more independence, and from my experience, it took a long time to adjust to not having someone tell me exactly what to do. I have found that a useful strategy for independently working is to regularly write research reports - simply articulating things has a surprising ability to clarify what the questions are, and whether one is taking the appropriate steps to answer them.

Your grad school discipline does not necessarily have to be the exact same as your undergrad discipline. As mentioned, I’m currently a PhD candidate in mechanical engineering, whereas my BSc and MSc were in math - the important thing is that you have (or can develop) the appropriate skills to do the job. Do your homework regarding your potential supervisors. I think the most important quality you can look for is whether your supervisors will actually have time for you - for me, regular meetings are absolutely essential for keeping the project on track. Also, research seldom goes according to plan, hence the expectations of supervisors and supervisees may not be made explicit, and as a result can be hugely mismatched - for example, supervisors might have a tacit expectation that the research results also be made into publications. Also, students might have unrealistically high expectations of what they will produce - the result of much grad student research is so arcane that few other people will care. So when discussing a project with potential supervisors, be clear about what the expectations are. Be sure to get advice from current grad students working under your prospective supervisor - they can often be counted upon for an objective opinion, since they likely do not have an incentive to misinform you.

Despite the best-laid plans, there is the chance that once you get to grad school, the experience is worse than expected. There will be a strong temptation to embrace an idle and fashionable ennui about grad school - largely due to the presence of other grad students who casually express cynical dissatisfaction with their career choice (or, should I say, lack of career choice) while at the same time sipping their lattes and doing absolutely nothing about it. As is true with many things in life, you gotta know when to hold ‘em and when to fold ‘em. If you truly feel that your grad program will not yield a good return on investment, take some initiative and do something about it - change projects, change supervisors, change programs, or quit and seek opportunity elsewhere.

Would I rather be unemployed, or work for free? That’s a question many of us face at some point during our time at university and after we graduate.

Internship season is well underway and those of us who aren’t already employed are probably looking for positions that will open doors. Job-hunting beats watching another rerun of that show we hate (in theory). But the reality is that a lot of internships for students don’t pay very much, if at all. In industries like arts, culture, and journalism, the number of qualified applicants far surpasses supply of internships (even unpaid ones). I’ve come across many enticing job postings that pay about minimum wage, are unpaid internships, or are labeled as “volunteer/internship” (it’s confusing because I don’t think of the two as the same, and yet I see the terms conflated or used together more often).

Scrolling through job ads, the question comes up again: Sit around for X months or make an effort to gain “valuable experience,” even if that means you’re not earning an income?

For some, the answer to that question will be fielded by asking other questions: “Do I need more experience in this industry?” “Will this internship actually provide me with valuable experience?” “Will doing unpaid work pay off later?”

For others, the decision hinges mainly on affordability. A recent article in the Guardian contends that “Unpaid internships and a culture of privilege are ruining journalism”—in other words, unpaid internships open the door to those who can afford to be journalists and discourage those who can’t buy their way in. Students who don’t receive financial support need to pay for groceries, housing and utilities before anything else. Taking on a part-time job while doing an unpaid internship is an option, but it’s tiring and it means you’re not at the same start line as everyone else. Transportation costs add up, too. If it’s a two-hour commute per day, that turns out to be a large chunk of the summer—time that could be spent launching a start-up, taking a course to get ahead, or just taking time off to relax.

It’s not just a moral issue but a legal one as well. Media coverage has been picking up on what kinds of internships are legal and which aren’t. It’s one thing to volunteer for a non-profit organization that you care about—it’s another to replace a paid employee. If you’re doing work you didn’t sign up for or aren’t getting any training out of an unpaid internship, the position may be illegal.

When it comes to job hunting, it can be shortsighted to give ourselves ultimatums that revolve around unpaid work (“Should I take this unpaid internship now or do nothing?”). That mentality makes it easier for us to neglect our other options and disregard our potential as self-starters. When faced with a tempting unpaid internship, we should instead be asking: “Why should I take this? Is it the best fit for me right now, and would I get the same out of it as my employer?” Forget everything you’ve read or heard about ‘entitled millennial’ – an unpaid stint is at best an exchange between intern and employer (labour for training and experience). At worst, it’s an exploitative measure that makes it more okay for other companies to keep posting volunteer positions without looking at funding options.

Even if you barely have any job experience, I’d encourage you to think twice about digging into an unpaid internship. Ask why you need it, if you really do. If you feel like it is a good fit for you, be upfront about your goals and find out if they’re attainable before you go through with it. Learn as much as you can.

 

Look around.

To your left, the blinding fluorescence of multi-coloured coveralls shimmers. Just to the right of that, a mob of incessant cheering has broken out and will most likely ring on for about an hour or so. Right in front of you, people are probably parading around to the cackling of talent-bereft pop monstrosities, who, through relentlessly roaring radios, shriek on and on about a morally bankrupt society. Don’t be alarmed. Don’t be afraid. This is your welcome. This is your University.

After two years, your University – while still entirely new to you – has become my home. It didn’t start out that way, though. I came as you did, or perhaps more truthfully, even less than that.

Jump back a few years, and you’ll find me packaged in a pair of mustard-stained underwear. It was a slip of the mind, a mistake of nerves, anxiety and general uncleanliness. I was scared out of my pants (and clean tighty-whities) of the prospect of entering a foreign environment. McMaster was big and I was small and I wondered if I would really matter at all.

Yet in time, things changed and I was able to call McMaster my home. To this day, whether by sheer loyalty or my own volition, McMaster still is. It isn’t the University itself that conjures this feeling, however. Nor is it the community or unwavering kinship that I have developed over the years.

Instead, it is both the first warm smile I received and my first bitter disappointment. It is that day on a piano singing with strangers. It is finding a way onto the roof of Hamilton Hall only to wonder how anyone could get down. It is the best night that will never be remembered and another night that I only wish I could forget. It is that time looking up at the stars reading Kurt Vonnegut aloud. It is cramming before an exam. It is a laugh, a kiss, a conversation, a feeling, a thought, a hug, a cry, a test, a workout, a game, a secret, a dance, a drink, a car ride. It is an entire two years sandwiched into an article.

For what my home is and always will be is a single moment that is built upon brick by brick, memory by memory – just like a house would be. During both the good and bad times, it serves as a place for comfort and reflection. It reminds me of where I was and where I am going. Friends, family, and people that I will never have the chance to meet, people that I will never be able to talk to – all of them fit into that house, that shelter. My shelter.

My home.

Yet it is not mine alone. It will be yours, just as much as it is mine. It also belongs to the person who just passed you by. And the professor who is lecturing you. And the custodial staff who are working tirelessly. It is all of ours together.

This is because these moments, however fickle they may be, are the aggregate of 125 years. Arising from a Christian education centre in 1881, McMaster was founded as a Baptist seminary. In 1890, the first degree programs were offered. 1892 brimmed with zany sport cheers like “Boom on Star”. 1894 saw the first students graduate. 1902, and the school colours were chosen. Then, in 1930, McMaster found its home. Hamilton.

This is but a brief snippet of various instances that comprise McMaster’s history. It, however, barely scratches the surface. There were numerous accomplishments in education and research. There were times of uncertainty and hardship. There were harrowing accounts of students being drafted into the Great Wars proud but never returning.

Without all of these – a hundred unrecognizable faces and names, the sum of people before and after me, a collective spirit of students that yearned for knowledge and social interaction, all the alumni, all the professors, all the staff, all the people who walked where I walked, did what I did, and felt what I felt – my moments, my home, and everything else I value in this place, would not exist.

Perhaps that’s a tad dramatic. It is often said that while all atoms exist, not all are important. Maybe that’s true. Maybe we are truly inconsequential in the scheme of things. Maybe no one will remember me five years from now. Maybe this very sentence will fade into obscurity.

But understand that while we have probably never met and it is likely that we never will, I have been where you have been, and no matter what has happened here at McMaster, whether it be happiness or sadness, frustration or serenity, I keep coming back and back and back again.

For this place is what you make of it, and what you make is this place.