Yesterday Maclean’s published an article entitled “Too Asian?” The Toronto Star wrote an article about it as well, slapping on the dramatic headline, “Suffering for Success” on the front page of their paper. How this is even news — let alone headline-worthy news — I do not understand, but let’s not get into that.

Much of the article seems to be comprised of quotes from select individuals making statements that re-enforce existing Asian stereotypes:

“I do have traditional Asian parents. I feel the pressure of finding a good job and raising a good family.”

“As a so-called ‘model minority,’ they are more frequently targeted because of being “too smart” and ‘teachers’ pets.’”

“‘My dad said if you don’t go into engineering, I won’t pay your tuition,’ says Jason Yin, a Taiwanese software engineering student at Waterloo.”

However, the main point that Maclean’s tries to make is that schools have a problem with there being a high proportion of Asian students, causing frustration among non-Asians who find it unfair that they have to struggle to compete… apparently.

“… many white students simply believe that competing with Asians—both Asian Canadians and international students—requires a sacrifice of time and freedom they’re not willing to make. They complain that they can’t compete for spots in the best schools and can’t party as much as they’d like (too bad for them, most will say).”

Another “problem” it states is that Canadian universities are struggling with deciding whether or not they should openly address this phenomenon and that if they don’t, all of the students will basically just stop socializing with each other (WTF):

“… many in the education community worry that universities risk becoming too skewed one way, changing campus life—a debate that’s been more or less out in the open in the U.S. for years but remains muted here. And that puts Canadian universities in a quandary. If they openly address the issue of race they expose themselves to criticisms that they are profiling and committing an injustice. If they don’t, Canada’s universities, far from the cultural mosaics they’re supposed to be—oases of dialogue, mutual understanding and diversity—risk becoming places of many solitudes, deserts of non-communication.”

The U of T president, David Naylor, thinks the opposite:

“This is a non-issue… We’ve never had a student complain about this. In fact, this is a false stereotype, as we know that Asian students are fully engaged in extracurricular activities. So the whole concept is false.”

The article seemed to spark a huge response for reasons that include the perception that it makes racist statements and that it is just bad journalism.

So, is this an actual problem in Canada, or is Maclean’s just making it out to be one for the sake of increasing their readership?

In an age where technology is all around us, it’s only natural for us to adapt to our environment. But what happens when you become so immersed in these technological advancements that you miss out on certain things? Think about it.

Smartphones today come equipped with apps like BlackBerry Messenger (BBM), Ping! and Kik. You know, instant messaging on the go. Although it’s amazing to see how far technology has come since the development of the cell phone, I feel as though this might have taken us a step back in terms of social interaction. Now I know this is a cause for debate, but let me make myself clear. It’s a good thing that we have cell phones with this type of app. It gives us the ability to contact people within seconds and to receive a response from them quicker than you can say “I know, right?!”.

On the other hand, how many times have you been SO immersed in your SMS conversation that you missed things that were going on around you? We’ve all seen people in the city with their heads down and their eyes glued to their cell phone. This is where I’ve got to say that we’ve taken a step back.

We’re taking a step back in actually interacting with people face-to-face (FaceTime and Skype do not count!). I think that if we all just left our phones in our pockets, purses or even in our hands (without looking down at them), we can finally take in the beauty of face-to-face interaction with both people and our beautiful city. I’ve actually tried to make it a habit now to stop looking at my phone while walking, so that I can take in how pretty it’s getting now that autumn is really settling in. As a recovering BBM addict, I can definitely say that doing this has definitely changed my perspective on the everyday things I take for granted.

So U of T, I propose a challenge for you all (including myself): Take a day (any day, really) to just leave your phone in your bag or pocket. Walk around and do the regular activities that you would do at school. You’ll definitely see a small change. You’ll be able to take in the fact that “Oh hey! The leaves are changing colour now!” You might even be able to catch your friend walking right by you, and who just so happens to be looking at their own phone texting.

You miss and take for granted a lot of things by just looking down. By putting that ridiculously addicting piece of technology down, you’ll see that actually looking at the REAL leaves changing colour is a whole different experience than just seeing a picture of it on your phone; trust me.

If you haven’t heard of the “quarter life crisis” yet, you will soon be experiencing it. If you have experienced or are currently experiencing this life crisis, I know what you’re going through; and believe me it’s not fun at all. (Am I right or am I right?) For those of you who haven’t heard of this, I’ll give you a basic rundown: it’s that part of your life (mainly early to mid twenties, and early thirties) where you begin to question yourself. You question your future, your current relationship status, your friends etc. It’s the part of your life where you begin to doubt yourself the most. With all these questions, you become overwhelmed with the future and what’s to come. Simply put, you just freak out.

Personally I’ve gone through the “quarter life crisis” and will probably go through it constantly until I find some sort of stability in my life. The way to conquer this life crisis is a bit easier than you’d imagine. If you’re freaking out about the future, don’t fret; why not try internships, talking to people in your desired career, volunteer your time to potential places of interest for your career. You might have to go through a series of trials and errors to reach whatever it is you’re interested in, but I promise you it’s worth it. If you’re freaking out about your current relationship status, why not just stop thinking about the future and live in the moment. Enjoy being in a relationship, dating around or being single. Remember that sometimes the grass isn’t always greener on the other side! (more…)

Dear T.A,

Maybe it’s me. It’s possible that I expect too much from you, but maybe it’s not. I’m not entirely sure why, but in four years at U of T with countless tutorials, I can only remember two that I actually liked going to. Only two that made me give a crap.

I get it. Obviously you don’t want to be spending your time trying to explain basic theories and concepts to some undergrad that watches The Bachelor Pad religiously (don’t judge me). You probably have a thesis to write that will determine the outcome of your professional life. I empathize, but this is not where I want to be spending my time either. Especially when your speech induces a chorus of yawns.

I swear, I’m not trying to sound like a nag, I just want you to care. Pretend to care if nothing else. You’ve spent years reading and researching things I’ve only just heard about. You thought this was interesting enough to pay for grad school and CONTINUE reading and researching the same stuff. You can’t tell me you don’t feel passionate about something you’ve willingly studied for almost a decade. I don’t believe you. U of T is not cheap, especially grad school. So, you’re either passionate or have a Paris Hilton trust fund.

(This is obviously not me.)

I’m not asking for you to write a song detailing Plato’s Republic or act out Hamlet. That would be awkward, and excessive. Can you please just give me a little insight, a small window into why this particular subject is interesting enough for you to devote your youth to and what I am going to spend a year engrossed in? I promise, I will stop yawning and staring at you with half-baked eyes. Show me this crap matters, even a little, and I’ll contribute something legitimately interesting. I might even do ALL the readings. Crazier things have happened.

OK, I’ve rambled enough. You get back to disproving Einstein or whatever you do, and I’ll go watch Mad Men.

Sincerely,

A Hopeful Undergrad.

As expected, the G20 has taken over the Twittersphere the past week with users from all ages and walks of life, tweeting about the happenings downtown. Some (okay many) expressed their displeasure and outrage of what went down during the G20, provided live updates, and others even used Twitter to organize protests. So…where were you during the G20 weekend? Did you catch any of the protests? Were you a protester yourself? Let us know!

SexyDragon (a.k.a. Yang) is back with another video in which he is running around Toronto in a banana costume. Why? A banana is white on the inside and yellow on the outside — this is how some people describe Asians who are so-called “white-washed.” Yang wants to emphasize how silly it is to label people this way, by being an actual banana!

Ah, the last day of the 2010 U.T.S.U election! It’s been quite an exciting time at U of T these past few days as our campus has been filled with orange, green, pamphlets, solicitors, music, and why yes, even scandal! At around the same time last year, I wrote a blog post that described my pretty shameful lack of knowledge about the election, campaign slates, and the U.T.S.U in general and so I promised myself that this year, I’d get myself a little more involved…actually take the to learn about each side’s platform, and why yes, even chat with a few of the candidates and campaigners that we try so hard to avoid on our way to Sid Smith (I know, right?)! And this wasn’t one of those things that I said I would do but wouldn’t actually…I’ve actually been pretty involved this election campaign. I know what each slate stands for, watched the debates, actually knew the people I voted for (and didn’t just use the innie, minnie, mynie, moe trick), and omg even read The Varsity for the first time in a very, very long time.

This is not actually me.

But here’s the thing. I’m a student and I’m a commuter. And though I’ve educated myself about both Change and Stronger Together‘s campaign platform, I still feel there’s this sort of disconnect between myself and U.T.S.U. I’ve spoken to many commuters about this same issue and almost 100% of them share the same sentiments. True, this wasn’t a scientific poll and I really only talked to maybe 20 student commuters out of the thousands at U of T, but something tells me that this is a pretty general feeling. I honestly don’t see how some of these things affect me in any direct or tangible sense. The closest thing that might is probably the discount on TTC metropasses (amazing feat btw). But I don’t even buy a TTC metropass. It still comes out to be more expensive for me personally than to just buy tokens. And okay fine, fighting to reduce fees is incredibly important but I’m graduating in a year (fingers crossed) and this probably won’t happen anytime soon so once again, irrelevant and not applicable to me…

Don’t get me wrong, I care about this school and I’m incredibly proud to be a part of it but I can’t help shake the feeling that there is and might always be this unbridgeable discord between us. And with all these candidates constantly talking my ear off about how I matter…how they’re going to make student life better…and how this is our U of T and that they can and will make a difference…I find myself questioning all these broad, sweeping, and optimistic claims.

Anyway, just thought I’d give my thoughts and hopefully a different perspective. Here’s hoping that the slate I voted for will bridge that gap for my last and final year at U of T and really, make a change