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Take some Ls in your blame game with your prof

By
Peak Web
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0

Success is a touchy subject, and this is only compounded when your gambles for success cost a few thousand dollars per year, followed by gross investments of time. It’s only natural for perceived obstacles to frustrate you — and when it comes to your less-successful courses at SFU, sometimes those obstacles appear to be the people who ostensibly want your success.

When you do poorly enough to miss out on that scholarship or passing grade, it’s very easy to place the blame in your prof or TA’s lap. Sometimes, this is even a pretty reasonable way to feel. Sometimes, it’s a gigantic load of crap.

There are very real and good reasons to criticize your teachers, and then there are cringe-worthy reasons. The latter are designed to accommodate your self-righteousness about your 13-week study break, and the lust for excitement that made you hide from all your lectures in the spiritual depths of your hangovers.

I don’t want to invalidate anyone’s shitty experiences where legitimately unfair factors screwed them over. But some complaints are just a bit entitled, and that’s something to be conscious of.

“They wouldn’t bump me up to the next letter grade”

I mean, I get the frustration if it’s the difference between a pass and a fail, and it’s not wrong to ask depending on the circumstances. But if you’re salty about it, you need to put it into perspective: 2% between your grade and the next might not seem like a lot, but on grading scales where the difference between letters is often roughly… 5%, no wonder they don’t feel inclined to bump you up.

Nobody’s obligated to ‘be a bro’ and bump you up. Missing out on scholarships might suck, but you need to consider that thousands of students pass through this system regularly; boosting some people’s grades and not others isn’t fair or sustainable in the long run.

“I can’t understand anything they say through their accent”

If you’re doing everything you can to rectify this problem – sitting as close to the speaker as you can, asking for clarification once in a while, going to office hours to talk in a one-on-one setting where it’s easier to bypass the potential issue things like that, reading your textbook — sure, complain. But in a staggering number of cases, the ‘problem’ is not as bad as people present it as.

No, a lot of time, it’s just a convenient way for people to make fun of someone they don’t like. So many classmates have tried to commiserate with me on how impossible it is to learn in so-and-so’s lecture or tutorial that I sometimes wonder if I’m watching this shit with subtitles or something, because apparently I didn’t notice that my prof secretly stopped speaking English in favour of whalesong.

“It’s just so boring”

I’m sorry, but your naive dreams of only studying things you like with people you like in university should’ve been on life support ever since the first time SFU’s online resources tried, and failed, to seductively whisper “WQB” into your ear while fingering your wallet.

School is boring. This is not new. It shouldn’t be boring, but have some sympathy: there’s honestly only so much a professor can do to make certain material exciting. If every prof had to be a master comedian or a bestselling author to get their job, our course selection would be much more sparse than it is now.

I’ve taken the time to outline these because until you recognize these icy realities of academia, you work through them. Complaining is healthy, but not to the extent of just being a dick to people without trying to improve yourself. These are lifelong obstacles in and out of university that you have to deal with, and sooner or later you won’t be able to find catharsis on SFU Confessions.

Baby on plane actually crying about her carbon footprint

By
EIC
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0

Ever been on a plane and had a baby cry nonstop the entire flight? Well, those cries may have the intention of bringing you back down to Earth.

Flora Goldenflower may only be three months old, but has the ethical conscience of a hipster who only eats organic and reminds everyone to compost every piece of waste that they create. On a plane ride from her hometown of Vancouver to Prince George, British Columbia, the rumbling of plane engines was a constant reminder of the unnecessary fuel consumption for a one hour flight— she flipped out and lost her shit.

“She is always present during discussions about our carbon footprint and the impact that our activities are having on the planet. We are hurting the Earth with each flight that we take and the massive amount of energy it takes to run machines like planes. This is why I haven’t taken a vacation in fifteen years”, said Cora Goldenflower, Flora’s mum, an active Greenpeace volunteer whose guilt tripping abilities are just as prevalent as her daughter’s.

“Her carbon footprint psyche is incredibly well developed for her age, and she was crying out on behalf of the pain that we are inflicting on the Earth. She is Earth’s angel.”

Complaints from fellow passengers about Flora’s incessant wails only warranted dismissal from her mother, who demanded that they listen to Earth’s cry since it has been ignored for thousands of years.

Furthermore, with each plastic cup or newspaper that was put into plastic garbage bags by flight attendants rather than recycled, Flora’s cries became louder and more shrill; they soon reverberated throughout the entire plane and began to crack windows, triggering the dropping of oxygen masks. One passenger recalled the agonizing flight, “There was no escape from that hippie baby. I don’t want to see a child or a recycling bin for at least a hundred years.”

Upon landing in Prince George, Flora was finally soothed when her mother gave her a compostable pacifier made out of recycled toilet paper. She slept peacefully while her mother handed out flyers to passengers rushing to get off that godforsaken plane about the upcoming Greenpeace rally in Prince George.

Cross-Canada Justin is a chance to get your voice across

By
EIC
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0

Our beloved, photogenic prime minister (PM) recently cancelled plans to attend the Davos summit in Switzerland, in order to spend more time on his tour of Canada to hang out with us average Canadians instead. Critics such as Joan Bryden of the Canadian Press ask whether or not this campaign-style tour is for the right reasons.

It could, after all, be to make up for being in some hot water at the end of last year after some unpopular moves. These moves include the approval of the Kinder-Morgan pipeline, and allegations of pandering to wealthy Liberal Party donors who donated up to $1,500 to be in the same room as the man himself.

Frankly, those critics can give any reason they please to the PM’s visits. Whatever intention they try to attach to the trip won’t take away from the fact that it results in more pros than cons. Some might call it costly and time-consuming, but if Trudeau wants to effectively govern all Canadians, it’s a necessary part of his job — or at least, it should be.

Canada’s one big-ass country, which means many Canadians don’t have the opportunity to even see their premier in person, let alone their prime minister. The people making decisions regarding our well-being shouldn’t be strangers to us. How can our country implement any realistic social policy if our politicians continue to hide in the ivory tower called Parliament Hill?

And Trudeau’s not new to the ivory tower. He’s been criticized by figures like Margaret Wente of the Globe and Mail for being “out of touch with the 99 percent,” as he grew up without many of the anxieties that “average Canadians face,” like college tuition and job stability, thanks to the trust fund and connections his father left him.

As much as this tour will help Trudeau connect with us to his benefit, it could also bring Canadians closer to their PM and get them more interested in politics. Over the holidays, my grandmother told me about Pierre Trudeau’s visit to Metro Vancouver. She didn’t have much taste for federal politics, because to her, Ottawa was a distant place that paid little attention to BC.

Yet meeting Trudeau Sr. gave her a change of heart; he was suddenly much more than just a fuzzy face on a late-’60s television. Any good politician might be well-versed in charisma, but seeing him listen to other Canadians showed how much he genuinely wanted to be involved with their lives, and more importantly, to improve them.

My grandmother also mentioned that she voted for new Trudeau because of how she felt about the original Trudeau – which emphasizes exactly why, having taken office and started to develop his own reputation, Justin needs to make connections on his own this time around.

Trudeau maximizing his time with his citizens could really impact what gets done in Ottawa. We can bypass middlemen like MPs and the media can be bypassed, making it easier to accurately communicate the issues that we want addressed. What’ll define the success of Trudeau’s tour and its benefits are the weight we Canadians place on it, and whether or not we choose to get our taxpayer dollars’ worth out of it.

Many Canadians are about to get the chance to meet one of the most important figures of our country, and if we waste it complaining about the money, there’s no way to take the opportunity to make progress. Democracy only works if we all participate, after all, so let’s get out there when the time comes and show our leader what we want and what we value.

Snowmageddon: A Vancouverite’s guide to dealing with snow

By
EIC
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0

The recent dumping of snow over our city has left Vancouverites feeling defenseless, hopeless, and just plain useless at times. We’re talking about people whose driving skills are even further challenged and grown men fighting over salt. So even though snow isn’t cool, here is a guide on how Vancouverites should decently deal with it.

  • Layer up with your Lululemon yoga pants

Due of the fact that we don’t get snow often, our wardrobe is typically ill-prepared when it does strike. To protect yourself from getting frostbite in all the wrong places, warm up with every pair of Lululemon yoga pants you own. Put all five pairs of yoga pants to good use by wearing them all at once. Because hey, why wouldn’t you want to help Chip Wilson build another yoga studio in his already massive home by investing in even more useless pairs of yoga pants?

  • For the love of Jack Frost, don’t drive

Even when it’s a clear sunny day, driving is still definitely not some people’s strong suit. If this describes you, imagine how much worse it would be driving on a skating rink. Horrific, right? So it’s probably in everyone’s best interest if you stayed off the roads and took public transit or something. Besides, cozying up with strangers on the bus sounds like a really good time!

  • Pick up a shovel and dig

One of the things I hate about snow is that the sidewalks are a pain in the neck to walk on. Everyone needs to invest in a shovel, get off their flannel-clad butt and dig out the sidewalks around your house. Teamwork makes dreamwork, and my dream is to live in a world where sidewalks actually do their job.

  • Flock to social media and complain

Vancouverites are really good at complaining, and what better way to broadcast your disdain for the snow than to be that person on Twitter who is all talk and no action? All of those hot takes should be more than capable of melting the snow.

  • Become a human Churro

If you feel that all of these ideas are too much to deal with and you just cannot even, it’s fine! Find that Snuggie that you got two Christmases ago, roll yourself into a human Churro, and just wait out the snow! Be sure to charge up all your devices so that you can burn your eyes out as you binge watch all the shows that you weren’t able to watch during the regular year! How long can the snow in Vancouver last?

The snow isn’t all gone yet, so be a good person, follow these foolproof ways, and you’ll be holier than the nicest looking snow angel in your neighbourhood!

Stuff We Like and Stuff We Don’t Like

By
EIC
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0
(Elena Hsu / The Peak)

Stuff We Like — The Night Manager

By Tessa Perkins

Good looking people, even better looking locations, and chilling suspense make The Night Manager an incredible miniseries.

Tom Hiddleston plays Jonathan Pine, a seemingly non-threatening night manager at a hotel in Cairo. It turns out that Pine is a former British soldier and is recruited by British intelligence operative Angela Burr (Olivia Colman) to catch Richard Roper (Hugh Laurie), a ruthless arms dealer. All three actors were recently awarded Golden Globes for their roles, and the series itself was nominated for best mini-series.

Another standout is Roper’s androgynous, depressed girlfriend, Jed (Elizabeth Debicki). She eventually learns what Roper is really up to and, of course, falls in love with Pine, the hero come to rescue her.

While there are some formulas followed and clichés abused, there are also many unpredictable moments and enough suspense to keep you hooked enough to binge watch all six episodes.

Stuff We Like — The Night Circus

By Jessica Pickering

Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus has been my go to book recommendation since it came out in 2011.

The unconventional love story follows Celia Bowen and Marco Alistair from their childhood as they train to battle each other in a contest of magical ability. It’s all very romantic until you remember the loser will die. Originally a National Novel Writing Month endeavour, this is a beautifully written story with a spellbinding (ugh, I’m sorry, I had to) plot. Anyone who’s a fan of magic stories, romances, and/or plots they can’t predict will find a staple to add to their personal library with this book.

Stuff We Don’t Like — Thomas Sanders post-Vine

By Jessica Pickering

When Vine died, so did Thomas Sanders’ career. Don’t get me wrong, I love him as a person and his six second videos are hilarious, but with the medium dead, Sanders doesn’t stand a chance.

I came to this conclusion after watching his latest vlog. In the video, Sanders talks about his love of Disney movies alongside one of his famous characters, The Prince, and a personification of his anxiety. While this had more than enough potential for comedy genius, it fell flat. Super flat.

His sense of humour just isn’t cut out for prolonged periods of time. He needed the short time slot. Without it, Thomas Sanders just doesn’t know when to stop.

Stuff we like and don’t like

By
EIC
-
0
(Elena Hsu / The Peak)

Stuff We Like — The Night Manager

By Tessa Perkins

Good looking people, even better looking locations, and chilling suspense make The Night Manager an incredible miniseries.

Tom Hiddleston plays Jonathan Pine, a seemingly non-threatening night manager at a hotel in Cairo. It turns out that Pine is a former British soldier and is recruited by British intelligence operative Angela Burr (Olivia Colman) to catch Richard Roper (Hugh Laurie), a ruthless arms dealer. All three actors were recently awarded Golden Globes for their roles, and the series itself was nominated for best mini-series.

Another standout is Roper’s androgynous, depressed girlfriend, Jed (Elizabeth Debicki). She eventually learns what Roper is really up to and, of course, falls in love with Pine, the hero come to rescue her.

While there are some formulas followed and clichés abused, there are also many unpredictable moments and enough suspense to keep you hooked enough to binge watch all six episodes.

Stuff We Like — The Night Circus

By Jessica Pickering

Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus has been my go to book recommendation since it came out in 2011.

The unconventional love story follows Celia Bowen and Marco Alistair from their childhood as they train to battle each other in a contest of magical ability. It’s all very romantic until you remember the loser will die. Originally a National Novel Writing Month endeavour, this is a beautifully written story with a spellbinding (ugh, I’m sorry, I had to) plot. Anyone who’s a fan of magic stories, romances, and/or plots they can’t predict will find a staple to add to their personal library with this book.

Stuff We Don’t Like — Thomas Sanders post-Vine

By Jessica Pickering

When Vine died, so did Thomas Sanders’ career. Don’t get me wrong, I love him as a person and his six second videos are hilarious, but with the medium dead, Sanders doesn’t stand a chance.

I came to this conclusion after watching his latest vlog. In the video, Sanders talks about his love of Disney movies alongside one of his famous characters, The Prince, and a personification of his anxiety. While this had more than enough potential for comedy genius, it fell flat. Super flat.

His sense of humour just isn’t cut out for prolonged periods of time. He needed the short time slot. Without it, Thomas Sanders just doesn’t know when to stop.

PuSh International Performing Arts Festival 2017: Preview

By
EIC
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0
Sexuality can be difficult to understand, but by pushing against what is deemed "normal" can we begin to understand sexuality. Oil Pressure Vibrator does just that, challenge what is "normal."

The 13th year of this diverse festival of performing arts from near and far is once again presenting a variety of innovative dance, theatre, and music to entertain and inspire all types of audiences. PuSh runs from January 16 to February 5 in theatres across Vancouver.

Here are some top festival picks:

Best show for open minded Shakespeare fans: Macbeth

January 16–17, 19–21 — Vancouver Playhouse

This South African adaptation of Verdi’s operatic adaptation of the Shakespearean classic takes many daring liberties. Set in the Democratic Republic of Congo instead of Scotland, this updated tragedy features machine guns, mines, and a different form of violence. For traditionalists, this contemporary take on one of the Bard’s classic stories will probably not appeal, but for those looking for a radical new take on it, this will not disappoint.

Best show for GSWS students: Oil Pressure Vibrator

January 17–19 — Studio D at SFU’s Goldcorp Centre for the Arts

If you’re into sex, and exploring all the nuances and weirdness of human sexuality, this is the show for you. South Korea’s Geumhyung Jeong has created a truly original piece of theatre in which she presents her sexual desire for an excavator. That’s right, she wants to do it with a giant piece of machinery. Exploring sexual fantasy like never before, Jeong explains this strange love affair as documentary footage of her training to operate the machine is shown on the screen behind her. It sounds like there will be some self-pleasuring involved as well.

Best show for Fringe-ers: Mess

January 18–22 — Waterfront Theatre

If you love a good, low-tech show about personal struggle, Mess seems like it will be a perfect fit. Caroline Horton brings this story over from England and plays Josephine, a dreamer who wants to put on a play. With her friends Boris and Sistahl, inventive songs, and plenty of humour, Josephine confronts some tough issues such as eating disorders, obsession, and addiction. This show was a huge hit at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, so we’re lucky that it’s crossing the pond to join this festival.

Best show for literary theatre lovers: As I Lay Dying

January 19–February 12 — Goldcorp Stage, BMO Theatre Centre

This experimental adaptation of William Faulkner’s classic novel is presented by Toronto’s Theatre Smith-Gilmour. The Bundren family’s misfortune is the centre of attention as the children are on a journey to take their mother’s body to be buried in her hometown. During the trip, many characters take up the task of telling the story, and there are plenty of poignant, funny, and tragic moments along the way. Seven actors perform 19 parts in this family pilgrimage on a bare stage. The story and their ability to create the world of the play will have to speak for itself.

Best show for classical music lovers: Four Thousand Holes

January 23, 24 — The Fox Cabaret

Pianist Vicky Chow and percussionist Ben Reimer join forces to perform John Luther Adams’ “Four Thousand Holes,” as well as world premieres from Vincent Ho and Nicole Lizée — the current composer-in-residence at Music on Main. They are sure to provide an impressive display of musical talent. Chow is known for her ability to bring her own style to some of the greats such as John Cage, Steve Reich, and John Zorn. Reimer is known for his innovative and diverse mix of musical styles.

Best show for contemporary dance lovers: FOLK-S Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow

February 2–4 — Scotiabank Dance Centre

Italy’s Alessandro Sciarroni has taken a traditional Bavarian folk dance, the schuhplattler (shoe beater), to its extreme. In a feat of physical endurance, a group of dancers slap their shoes and legs with their hands in stunning energetic synchronicity. You may feel tired just watching them, but this show looks guaranteed to impress. The rhythm, stamina, and constant motion of these dancers will make you wonder how much they can endure as they take it to the limit.  

Best show for film lovers: Portraits in Motion

January 24–26 — York Theatre

A series of moving images; that’s what a film is, essentially. When slowed down, these images can be powerful, poignant portraits. Germany’s Volker Gerling presents the art of flipbooks as his photographs, taken in quick succession, show a mini movie of the subject. He flips the book on stage under a camera that projects it onto a large screen. While showing the images, he also tells the story behind the photo. Gerling has taken this show across Germany and abroad and audiences are moved beyond their expectations by these intimate moments brought to life.  

Best free shows for SFU students: Documentary Film Series
January 18, 25; February 1 — Djavad Mowafaghian Cinema

SFU’s Goldcorp Centre for the Arts plays host to three different documentaries curated by DOXA’s Dorothy Woodend. The series features a collection of dance shorts (Dance Dance Revolution: Shorts Program, Jan. 18), defining what “normal” life means to different segments of the population (Natural Disorder, Jan. 25), and choir auditions (Wide Open Sky, Feb. 1).

Students weigh in on whether TransLink’s changes are improving their commute

By
Peak Web
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1
A map detailing all the new stops on the Evergreen line

By: Alex Smiciklas

With the new semester in full swing, students are slowly getting back into the pace of teachers, textbooks, and, of course, transit.

At the end of the fall semester, TransLink implemented changes across the lower mainland, many of which directly affected SFU students, particularly in the Vancouver, Burnaby, and Tri-City areas. While the changes only happened in the last two months, TransLink hopes the shift will help maintain and grow its transportation system and make it more efficient and customer-focused, as per the highlights of phase one of the 10-Year Vision 2017-2026 Investment Plan.

Three of the particularly important changes for SFU students have been changes to the 143 bus, the opening of the Evergreen Line extension, and the removal of the 135 and subsequent introduction of the 95 B-Line. Read more on the 95 B-Line published in an article in The Peak earlier this year.. It may be too early to tell what impact these changes have made, but students are already noticing whether or not they have improved their commute.

The 143 bus, which now connects SFU Burnaby campus and the new Burquitlam SkyTrain station, no longer services Como Lake Avenue. The avenue is a popular route for many students, as it’s on a main road with an easy connection to Gaglardi Way. Kailli Spence, a fourth year environmental science student, lives nearby and has found the changes increase her commute time.

“Before the changes, I used to walk a few minutes and take the 143 all the way up to school. Now I have to take the 180 to Burquitlam Station and wait in line for the 143 to take me up the hill,” she said. “I know these changes are supposed to make Coquitlam transit more efficient, but it changes my commute to school from 20 minutes to 40 minutes.”

While TransLink’s plan may complicate commuter routes nearby Burnaby Mountain, the much anticipated Evergreen Line has already expedited travel time for people commuting to school and work further inland. The Millennium Line now connects VCC-Clark to Lafarge Lake-Douglas, with stops in between at Production Way-University (connecting to the Expo Line), Burquitlam, Moody Centre, Inlet Centre, Coquitlam Central, and Lincoln.

“The Evergreen Line makes it so much easier to get around the Tri-Cities,” said Spence. “The stations tell you how frequently the trains are running (similar to the Canada Line), and makes it super easy to get to Coquitlam Mall and other amenities. I know students travelling from further away and it’s made their transit rides faster and more reliable.”

Meanwhile, the new 95 B-Line has been promising to be a more reliable and direct service between SFU’s Burnaby and Vancouver campuses. With fewer stops and higher frequency, students are no longer subject to the service issues and bus bunching that came with its predecessor, the 135. However, there are questions regarding its accessibility, especially for individuals who live near the stops that were removed.

“The 95 B-Line doesn’t make a huge difference in the time I spend travelling along Hastings. Fewer stops quicken the route in general, but add extra walking time to my journey,” said Rita Ovis, a communication student at SFU. “I could really see this being an issue for anyone who isn’t as mobile, particularly disabled and elderly people. They may have to take [a] second bus in some instances, which counteracts the whole purpose of the 95 B-Line being an expedited and more efficient route.

“The changes TransLink makes will never satisfy everyone. It’s the unfortunate rule of the game and it usually impacts those with less accessibility the most.”

TransLink’s new changes are bringing a mixed reaction to the lower mainland and students commuting to SFU. Only time will tell if the services prove to be more help than hassle.

Take some Ls in your blame game with your prof

By
Peak Web
-
0

Success is a touchy subject, and this is only compounded when your gambles for success cost a few thousand dollars per year, followed by gross investments of time. It’s only natural for perceived obstacles to frustrate you — and when it comes to your less-successful courses at SFU, sometimes those obstacles appear to be the people who ostensibly want your success.

When you do poorly enough to miss out on that scholarship or passing grade, it’s very easy to place the blame in your prof or TA’s lap. Sometimes, this is even a pretty reasonable way to feel. Sometimes, it’s a gigantic load of crap.

There are very real and good reasons to criticize your teachers, and then there are cringe-worthy reasons. The latter are designed to accommodate your self-righteousness about your 13-week study break, and the lust for excitement that made you hide from all your lectures in the spiritual depths of your hangovers.

I don’t want to invalidate anyone’s shitty experiences where legitimately unfair factors screwed them over. But some complaints are just a bit entitled, and that’s something to be conscious of.

 

“They wouldn’t bump me up to the next letter grade”

I mean, I get the frustration if it’s the difference between a pass and a fail, and it’s not wrong to ask depending on the circumstances. But if you’re salty about it, you need to put it into perspective: 2% between your grade and the next might not seem like a lot, but on grading scales where the difference between letters is often roughly… 5%, no wonder they don’t feel inclined to bump you up.

Nobody’s obligated to ‘be a bro’ and bump you up. Missing out on scholarships might suck, but you need to consider that thousands of students pass through this system regularly; boosting some people’s grades and not others isn’t fair or sustainable in the long run.

“I can’t understand anything they say through their accent”

If you’re doing everything you can to rectify this problem – sitting as close to the speaker as you can, asking for clarification once in a while, going to office hours to talk in a one-on-one setting where it’s easier to bypass the potential issue things like that, reading your textbook — sure, complain. But in a staggering number of cases, the ‘problem’ is not as bad as people present it as.

No, a lot of the time, it’s just a convenient way for people to make fun of someone they don’t like. So many classmates have tried to commiserate with me on how impossible it is to learn in so-and-so’s lecture or tutorial that I sometimes wonder if I’m watching this shit with subtitles or something, because apparently I didn’t notice that my prof secretly stopped speaking English in favour of whalesong.

“It’s just so boring”

I’m sorry, but your naive dreams of only studying things you like with people you like in university should’ve been on life support ever since the first time SFU’s online resources tried, and failed, to seductively whisper “WQB” into your ear while fingering your wallet.

 

School is boring. This is not new. It shouldn’t be boring, but have some sympathy: there’s honestly only so much a professor can do to make certain material exciting. If every prof had to be a master comedian or a bestselling author to get their job, our course selection would be much more sparse than it is now.

 

I’ve taken the time to outline these because until you recognize these icy realities of academia, you work through them. Complaining is healthy, but not to the extent of just being a dick to people without trying to improve yourself. These are lifelong obstacles in and out of university that you have to deal with, and sooner or later you won’t be able to find catharsis on SFU Confessions.

A hard pill to swallow

By
EIC
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0

[dropcap]A[/dropcap] 2013 survey conducted by the Canadian Organization of University and College Health found that 90% of students feel overwhelmed by their schedules, and 50% of students reported feeling “hopeless.” All of us experience enormous amounts of stress during our education — be it academic, financial, or other — and when it comes down to exam crunch time, for some, a small, non-prescribed pill is a solution.

You can choose between the orange pill and the white pill

Study drugs, also known as smart drugs, are prescription medications  — typically Adderall or Ritalin — used to increase concentration, stamina, and productivity while studying. These meds are prescribed to those with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), in order to help them concentrate, but the kinds of highs they can provide have caught the attention of students looking for additional academic support.

Those using these pills for academic reasons describe feeling focused and motivated, but the drugs can leave the user feeling exhausted, hungry, anxious, and sleepless afterwards. When asked why they began using study drugs, students said that feelings of self-consciousness, an inability to concentrate, and an overall feeling of stress with regards to academic performance led them to prescription drug abuse.

The Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse classifies both drugs as stimulants, and finds them to be as dangerous as cocaine and methamphetamines when used outside of prescriptions. Consequently, getting these drugs come with varying levels of difficulty.

“It did take a lot of effort,” Jason,* who regularly uses study drugs, began. “You can get a prescription. To do that, get your parents to say ‘oh, you have ADHD’ or you can go to a pharmacy and act fidgety [. . .] I’ve known people who have done it and it’s not easy.”

In a series of interviews, other SFU students mentioned either having a minor disability that gives them access to the drugs or buying it off of a colleague or friend.

Looking at the numbers

It’s difficult to find one solid statistic to represent study drug use. Different universities and colleges have different rates, and it’s hard to draw a line between a student with ADD taking their prescription and one abusing their prescription.

A study conducted at the University of British Columbia found that one in 30 students there have at some point during their studies used study drugs, with a spike in usage around exam time. The national average in 2013 sat closer to 4%.

“I got an essay done, I read The Communist Manifesto, and I think I just started writing insane gibberish down on paper, because I just needed to do something.” – SFU student

A 2009 report from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health reported that “full time college students, ages 18–22, were twice as likely as their part-time counterparts to use study drugs.” 56% of college students report that they feel study drugs are “easy to obtain” from their peers, and many students with prescriptions report being asked by classmates to share or sell their prescription drugs.

What are the rules?

What a lot of students and administration ask themselves about study drugs is quite simple: is it cheating?

“I don’t think it’s really cheating, because it’s not making you any smarter, it’s not giving you extra time. You’re cheating yourself, definitely, out of being able to actually learn the material,” Madison* said. Many universities seem to agree as most post-secondary institutions don’t mention the use of study drugs in their honor policies, despite being aware of the substance abuse issue.

“Non-prescribed use of prescription drugs is not addressed explicitly in our academic integrity policy.  Use of these drugs without prescription is dangerous and can lead to significant harm,” said Dr. Peter Keller, SFU vice-president (VP) academic and provost.

Dr. Keller feels it’s a poor reflection of society — “it saddens me to think that there are athletes, students, and others who will put themselves and others at risk by turning to non-prescribed use of prescription drugs in order to compete.”

This can leave many students wondering: if a peer is using study drugs, and you aren’t, are you actually putting yourself at a disadvantage?

The law, on the other hand, is a little clearer and stricter on policies with prescription drugs. Possession of a drug without a prescription, obtaining prescription drugs by fraud, selling prescription drugs or prescriptions, and doctor shopping (visiting many doctors for multiple prescriptions) are all considered criminal offences in Canada. Depending on drug type, concentration, and amount, charges range from fines to imprisonment to drug therapy.

The good, the bad, and the addictive

Students have different reasons for using study drugs. Some use study drugs to level the playing field and overcome a learning disability. Some students just want to be able to do their school work more quickly because of time constraints.

“The way I describe it to people who ask, people who were curious. . . It’s like when you can think of something perfectly in your head, but you can’t get it out,” Jamie* described her past experiences with the drug. “It’s like everything just comes out perfectly. . . it’s like the best cup of coffee you’ve ever had.”

There have been reports of students using, and continuing to use, these neuroenhancers for months, even years, as an academic and social crutch. With regards to the admission of a transfer or high school student who is using study drugs, Dr. Keller said that information with regards to drug use is not disclosed.

“It was actually a friend who got me into it, she was like ‘Oh you’ve got to try this. This is gonna save your life,’” Madison* said. However, in other interviews conducted, the common trend was that students were keeping their use of study drugs a secret from friends, family, and significant others — not encouraging others to experiment as they were. “If they did know, they definitely would have said ‘you’re an idiot,’ so I was definitely like, I’ll keep this to myself,” Paul* said.

One student, though, speaks of her open-minded parents and friends, and how her experiences talking about drugs made her realize how common it is: “Most people’s reaction when I bring it up is to ask where they can get some. It’s very popular.”

Students described their first experiences as “scary, yet effective” as well as compared it to a scene from the movie Limitless. For some it’s like “that feeling when the whole room lights up and everything becomes instantly clear.”

“I got an essay done, I read The Communist Manifesto, and I think I just started writing insane gibberish down on paper, because I just needed to do something,” Jason*  said with a laugh. After a first experience, many students continued to use the drugs, describing the pleasure, concentration, and confidence the drugs gave them in both school and social environments. Many interview participants also spoke to the negative effects in the long term.

A promising Beedie student recounts some more negative experiences,“I know one guy who would take them everyday, two or three a day, and he couldn’t do anything. He couldn’t watch a 15 minute video because his mind wanders too much. That’s a really incredible adverse side effect in that way. He’s also been hospitalized twice because of it.

Multiple participants noted the addictiveness of the drugs. “It’s pretty obvious that there are adverse negative effects to using them. I decided that it’s really not worth it,” Andrew* said, mentioning the exhaustion and feelings of dread he would experience in the days following him taking a pill. Another student studying biomedicine stressed the negative impact it had on her health and how it was “screwing with” the way she did her schoolwork.

What are stress-relieving alternatives for SFU students?

At SFU, there are multiple clubs that address the mental health of the student body. The SFU Stress Reliever Club is a shining example, hosting events that help students escape from school-related stress.

“We provide a few events per semester for students with different personalities. . . We offer yoga, meditation, hiking, and biking events,” said Parmida Atashzay, a club member. “We have get-togethers and dinners. We also have fun events like bowling, laser tag, paintball, etc. These events all destress students and make them escape from school life for a while.” There are also events such as Puppy and Kitten Therapy. The Stress Reliever Club emphasizes the need for a healthy diet, a friendly environment, and talking about your problems in order to reduce your academic stress.

When asked how SFU’s administration would respond if it was found that SFU had a study drug problem, VP Dr. Keller offered a well-thought out plan. “SFU would work with its partners to implement harm reduction activities aimed at educating on the risks of inappropriate/illegal drug use, as well as the risks associated with illegal drug purchasing and dealing. SFU would also promote and offer supportive alternative lifestyle choice and study skill workshops, and perhaps counselling groups,” he suggests.

“The number one thing on our mind is the safety of our students.”

*Names have been changed to protect the anonymity of the source*

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Simon Fraser University’s independent student newspaper since 1965.

Contact us: [email protected]

© The Peak Publications Society 1965-2024

Simon Fraser University’s independent student newspaper since 1965.

Contact us:
[email protected]

© The Peak Publications Society 1965-2024