It’s been a long day—homework, class, more homework. Time to relax.
I put my coat and books away, and head into the kitchen to boil some water. While the kettle is warming up, I open the cupboard, grab a mug, then take a look at my tea selection. After some careful thought, I choose a Strawberry Secco: a Sencha green tea infused with, you guessed it, strawberries.
I open the bag and pour the loose leaves into the strainer. The kettle clicks. Once I’ve filled the mug with hot water, I stick the strainer in and wait.
Usually, I start my day with a cup of black coffee brewed in my ...
The balancing point of what you want to do and what you need to do to sustain yourself can seem like a near-invisible wire.
When I talked to Creative Writing and Journalism (CREW) student Joe Enns, it struck me that he seemed to have cracked the code to living as close to a balanced life as anyone can in 2022.
We met up outside the VIU Nanaimo campus Starbucks on a calm Wednesday evening. Enns was enjoying the last rays of the setting sun when I found him. We chatted about lifting COVID-19 restrictions and reclusive classmates as I set up my voice memos app. Sounds of coffee ...
It was Halloween night 2019, and a group of friends and I went to downtown Nanaimo to get our spook on.
By 10 pm, the line up to Level2 nightclub stretched down the block. This was fine with us, though—right next door, we knew that the less-packed Old City Station had space to dance inside.
Purple and blue strobe lights splashed the dance floor in a flurry of motions, fleetingly spotlighting the random faces of strangers. Sweaty bodies bumped into each other and no one could hear anything anyone was saying.
One friend spotted her crush across the room and moved towards him ...
*The dialogue in this article was edited for clarity*
Women make up 50 percent of the population in Canada, yet this number does not represent leadership positions across the country.
In a 2021 study from Stats Canada, it was found that there are fewer women in top decision-making roles. Women were more than two times less likely than men to be in top roles, such as chairman or president. It was also found that 1 in 10 surveyed women in management were presidents compared to almost 1 in 4 men in the field.
But that does not seem to be the case at VIU.
In July 2019, ...
After years of waiting, VIU will finally host the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Women’s Basketball Nationals from March 25–27.
VIU was initially going to host the event in 2020; however, the outbreak of COVID-19 sidelined those plans. For some, it represents a second chance, one that resembles “normal life”—what should have been.
But for the athletes, staff, students, and local fans of the Mariners, the CCAA Nationals mean much more.
The story of the Mariners women’s basketball team is one of overcoming adversity, community pride, the importance of teamwork ...
The latest entry in the Arts and Humanities Colloquium Series took place on Friday, February 11.
Creative Writing and Journalism professors Craig Taylor and Dr. Sonnet L'Abbé presented on “Listening to The World / Storying A Place” in Malaspina Theatre.
It was the second of three events in VIU’s Spring 2022 Colloquium Series, and took place during Global Citizens Week. The series encourages discussion on topics and ideas within the Art and Humanities faculty and their communities.
Taylor, who has written plays, non-fiction novels, and stories for The New York Times and The ...
March is usually a busy month for VIU students is with assignments, exams, and final years getting ready to graduate.
This year, there’s something else important for students to remember—the VIU Students’ Union (VIUSU) referendum and elections being held online March 1–3, 2022.
While VIUSU elections are twice a year, the student referendum is something many current students will have never seen before. The referendum poses six questions, each corresponding to a proposal affecting students. All VIU students have a right to vote on the questions and in the election.
The first two ...
Acclaimed poet A.F. Moritz is the 2021–2022 Ralph Gustafson Distinguished Poet at VIU.
Moritz has written over 20 books of poetry, most recently As Far As You Know (2020). He has won many awards including the Griffin Poetry Prize and the Guggenheim Fellowship, and was nominated three times for the Governor General’s Award. He is currently serving as the Poet Laureate for the City of Toronto (2019–2023).
His Gustafson Lecture, “Poetry: Future Present of the Past,” will examine what writers choose to let live on the page.
Moritz writes, “For all my love of writing, reading, books, ...
I joined the VIU Volunteer Tutor Program last August because I was feeling a bit purposeless. I wanted to do something that helped people in a real and immediate way.
After tutoring a bit in high school, I felt ready to do it again.
The application process was easy. I reached out to the coordinator, Roberta Jenkins, via email, and we arranged a meeting. Then all I had to do was take a criminal record check, the $10 charge paid for by the program.
I immediately felt very welcomed and appreciated.
“I trust you,” Jenkins told me during our meeting. “Thank you,” I tried to say ...
The Urban Issues Film Festival is coming back this Friday to VIU for the first time since 2019 as part of Global Citizens Week.
“It’s great to be back,” Don Alexander, retired Geography professor and co-founder of the film festival, said. “We’ve been missing the festival.”
Alexander said the event is “very student-driven.” The Master of Community Planning students do a lot of initial organization for the event, while the Geographic Students’ Union take over by volunteering the day of the film festival.
“It’s a good way to show really important issues,” said Sarah Brosseau, ...
In a world of two-day Amazon shipping, it’s easy to become disconnected from one’s own community.
There's a growing emphasis on supporting local businesses, and an achievable first step could be to take time to discover and support local artists. However, it can be a struggle to determine how to connect or reconnect with Vancouver Island’s art scene.
Artzi Stuff is a good place to start.
Located in downtown Nanaimo on Church Street, Artzi Stuff offers arts and crafts ranging from pottery, scarves, glasswork, metalwork, and jewelry; all made by local artists.
Owner Tanya ...
VIU is like a contained, thriving community. You can get your car fixed on campus, dine-in with a gourmet meal at The Discovery Room, or even get your hair cut.
There are over 20 trade and technical field programs at VIU, and yet they can still be overlooked by the wider student population.
Ocea Corfield calls this a “hidden underground, off-the-radar piece of VIU.” As a hairstyling student, she happens to be part of it. Corfield is completing the Hairstylist Level 2 (Apprenticeship) Program and going for her Interprovincial Red Seal Certification.
Corfield was about 13 when she ...
Valentine's Day is rapidly approaching. Chocolates and flowers are flying off the shelves like hot cakes, and stores are lined in red, pink, and white.
Couples everywhere are planning romantic dates, buying cute gifts, and walking around with cartoon hearts in their eyes.
While that’s all well and good, Valentine’s Day can feel like a celebration limited to people in romantic relationships. If you’re not in one, it’s like you’ve lost out on a holiday because you couldn’t find love in time.
The typical view is that you’re either in a relationship and happy, or you’re single and ...
Music is a powerful thing—it brings people together, motivates us to keep going, and allows us to truly be ourselves. Music isn’t confined to a single genre, or length, and it most certainly doesn’t have an age limit.
SoundWave, a choir like no other, proves that.
Holly Wright was born with a burning desire to play guitar. By the time she was three years old, she knew that strumming on the guitar was what she wanted to do. She worked for years to convince her family to get her one and, when she turned seven, her parents finally gave in.
Her love of music has only continued to ...
VIU’s Engaged Citizens Speaker series returns on February 8, 2022, with an important human rights issue—climate change.
Sheila Watt-Cloutier Siila's presentation Re-imagining a New Way Forward with Intention examines climate change and meaningful action from an Inuit perspective, drawing upon her own activism and experiences.
Born and raised traditionally in Kuujjuaq, Nunavik (northern Quebec), Watt-Cloutier attended school in Nova Scotia and Manitoba. She served as the Canadian President of Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) from 1995-2002 and its International Chair from ...
As January nears its end, I can’t help but reflect on the month and how well I have followed my New Year's resolutions.
My resolutions for 2022 were pretty typical for me. I wanted to go to the gym five times a week, eat super healthy, journal more, hike once a week, identify plants, knit a scarf, read at least two books a month, and wake up at 6am everyday.
Now that I am typing them all out, I can see these resolutions have unreasonably high expectations.
But this is how I have set myself up—with a slew of crazy goals requiring a complete lifestyle change. I cannot attain ...
The View Gallery has a new exhibition with a special message.
Now through February 12, Figuratively Speaking: A Journey Through Movement is open to the public on the Vancouver Island University campus.
The collection is the final project for Visual Arts student Pam Vickars’ curatorial course. Although it ended in December, she chose to have the exhibition in January in order to be uplifting.
Vickars said, “Even when we get sometimes stuck in things that are difficult to deal with in our lives, we’re always moving.”
Vickars chose four artists to feature in the collection: ...
Corrie Corfield, Island Crisis Care Society's Assistant Executive Director, chats with The Navigator about Nanaimo's homeless population, programs that are offered through the ICCS and other organization that are housing the homeless, and what you can do to help those who are sleeping rough.
Over the winter break, a thought came to me out of the blue(berry):
I want blueberry muffins.
I would describe myself as a lifelong fan of blueberry muffins, but I hadn’t had one in what seemed like a couple of years. My brain decided this was an important issue that needed to be remedied.
I went over a mental map of where I could find a blueberry muffin, prematurely mourning the extortion sure to accompany Starbucks’ offering. Then another idea occurred to me.
Why don’t I make blueberry muffins?
I am not much of a cook. The most complex dish I can offer is buttered toast, ...
My New Year's resolution, like many people’s, was to start going to the gym more come January. With the restrictions keeping gyms closed for the first few weeks of January, however, I decided to come up with another resolution—plant identification.
Last year for Christmas I was given a book about plants in Canada and how to identify them called Edible & Medicinal Plants of Canada by Andrew MacKinnon.
For most of 2021, this book gathered dust on my shelf.
This year, I was given another book on plants, this time specifically on identifying those found on the B.C. coast ...
