Zainab Salam

The image of seven books lined up on a bookshelf, with their fore edge (the pages) facing the viewer. The bookshelf is not visible.
3 min 0 252

Reading for joy is enough

Peak Web November 8, 2025

By: Zainab Salam, Opinions Editor You’ve probably witnessed it before — someone suggesting, with smugness only a self-proclaimed intellectual can summon, that reading authors like Dostoevsky is the only proper way to engage with true literature. I say this as someone who has spent many nights trying to parse the meaning of a single sentence in a Hannah Arendt essay. But I also say this as someone who reads murder mysteries under the cover, devours romance novels in one sitting, and has fallen in love with the main character in a certain YA book with a blue cover. Reading shouldn’t…

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the image of an exam hall, filled with desks lined up throughout the hall. There’s one person sitting with their back towards the viewer.
1 min 0 542

The sweet relief of no final exams

Peak Web November 8, 2025

By: Zainab Salam, Opinions Editor Don’t you just love it when a course doesn’t have a final exam? I know I do. A certain joy overtakes me when I realize that one of my courses won’t end with me scribbling…

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A girl wearing trendy clothes standing in front of the Sea Wall. She’s holding a paper with the number 13 on it.
3 min 0 378

#NotClueless: Taylor’s engagement? More like my claim to fame

Peak Web November 8, 2025

By: Zainab Salam, Influencer of influencers OK besties, brace yourselves because I have a confession. A major one. Like, this might actually BREAK the internet. It might be bigger than Beyoncé dropping her surprise album and changing the music industry!…

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4 min 0 302

The queer agenda is solidarity

Peak Web November 8, 2025

By: Noeka Nimmervoll, Staff Writer and Zainab Salam, Opinions Editor Like many other communities, the queer community experiences marginalization that intersects with various social issues. Some of those issues are related to mental health, poverty, race, and physical ability. Because…

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An illustration of a person sitting with their hand beneath their chin. They are covered in label stickers. The label stickers have the following written across them: “stigma”, “misrepresentation”, “lack of support”, and “alienation”.
3 min 0 965

People with psychosis must be supported

Peak Web August 13, 2025

By: Zahra Khan, SFU Student and Zainab Salam, Opinions Editor Psychosis is a mental health condition that affects a person’s perception of reality. It can occur at any time and is increasingly common. The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health…

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An iced latte in a glass cup with a glass dome lid, and a glass straw. Sitting on a white counter top.
2 min 0 1553

Brighter Side: Iced lattes

Peak Web July 30, 2025

By: Zainab Salam, Opinions Editor A certain headiness comes with the first sip of a latte. It’s not just the taste — it’s the warmth, the anticipation, the ritual that precedes it. I usually start my day yearning for my…

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A girl sitting sideways, with her legs tucked underneath her. There are flowers growing out of her right abdomen. Her face is solemn. The background is green.
5 min 0 1501

Being sick shouldn’t cost this much

Peak Web July 30, 2025

By: Zainab Salam, Opinions Editor One day, two and a half years ago, I woke up with agonizing pain in my abdomen. After hours of attempting to get through it — thinking it might’ve been a muscle cramp — I…

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An illustration of a person standing on a stage with a microphone in hand. Four arms reach out to grab the microphone from them.
4 min 0 1030

Hot takes are killing our capacity to think

Peak Web July 14, 2025

By: Ashima Shukla, Staff Writer and Zainab Salam, Opinions Editor There is a genre of content that only grows louder with time: a viral clip where someone argues against abortion, climate change, or immigration issues — with the knowledge of…

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A photo of an opened book on a bed with purple floral sheets.
2 min 0 1328

What Grinds Our Gears: Hardcover books

Peak Web July 1, 2025

By: Zainab Salam, Opinions Editor Let me set the scene. It’s midnight. You’re cozy. Under layers of a blanket and a duvet. Swallowed whole like a sentient marshmallow. The lights are dimmed, just right. You reach for your book —…

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Shrek running away from Fiona. Both are in ogre form.
3 min 0 916

Hot-take: Shrek is anti-ogre

Peak Web June 25, 2025

By: Zainab Salam, Opinions Editor Let’s get this out of the swamp: Shrek is not the ogre ally you think he is. Sure, he’s an ogre. Sure, he lives in a swamp, eats eyeballs like olives, and has a roar…

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