OtherPress. Room 1020-700 Royal Ave. Douglas College New Westminster, BC V3L 5B2 TELEPHONE: 604.525.3542 WEBSITE: theotherpress.ca EMAIL: editor@theotherpress.ca STAFF LIST Natalie Serafini Editor-in-Chief Meditor@theotherpress.ca Eric Wilkins Assistant Editor Massistant@theotherpress.ca Angela Ho Business Manager Chandler Walter Distribution Manager Mike LeMieux Layout Manager Joel McCarthy Graphics Manager Cara Seccafien Production Assistant Ed Appleby IHustrator Jony Roy Social Media Coordinator Angela Espinoza News Editor Minews@theotherpress.ca Michael Sopow Sports Reporter Cheryl Minns Arts Editor Marts@theotherpress.ca Chitwan Khosla Features Editor Mfeatures@theotherpress.ca Brittney MacDonald Life & Style Editor Mlifeandstyle@theotherpress.ca Elliot Chan Opinions Editor Mopinions@theotherpress.ca Sharon Miki Humour Editor Mhumour@theotherpress.ca Staff Writers Cazzy Lewchuk Mercedes Deutscher Senior Columnists Joshua Grant Andrea Arscott Columnists Megan West Contributors Kirsten Scott-Wuori Sarah Walker ‘Delicious ambiguity’ [er had to fill out a sheet, outlining my plans and goals for the next two years—two years. I looked down at my next couple years of existence, glossing over birthdays, events, moments of stress and joy, arguments, sweet nothings, and all the rest that makes up the bulk of our lives. It’s a bizarre experience, and one that ultimately told me, if I buckle down and don’t take any breaks, I'll be graduating with a BA in Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies, a minor in Communications, and three semesters of co-op under my belt in two years. Now for my panic attack. I'd been planning on intending to graduate within (rough estimate, if I took a semester off) the next year and a half, so figuring out the final date of Spring 2017 wasn’t too much of a shock. What was a shock was realizing how relatively quickly and really very slowly I’m approaching life “in the real world.” We toss that word around a lot as students—life “in the real world’—and it’s because life often feels like a simulation, a © Getloknowus! © The Other Press has been Douglas College’s student newspaper since 1976. Since 1978 we have been an autonomous publication, independent of the student union. We area registered society under the Society Act of British Columbia, governed by an eight-person board of directors appointed by our staff. Our head office is located in the New Westminster campus. © The Other Press is published weekly during the fall and winter semesters, and monthly during the summer. We receive our funding from a student levy collected through tutition fees every semester at registration, and from local and national advertising revenue. The Other Press is a member ofthe Canadian University Press (CUP), asyndicate of student newspapers that includes : contrived creation, in the blur of : : work, school, and tuition fees. : Even at the Other Press, where : we produce a newspaper on the : weekly and do much of the work : : that career journalists do, we : occasionally speak of getting a : media job “in the real world.” It’s not like we're existing : insome laboratory, the madcap : creation of a not-so-sane : scientist about to unleash us on : the world; we're not inhabiting : an alternate universe, gazing : upon Earth. Being a student is : like looking out from the edge : of a cliff—we’re constantly on : the precipice of our next stage : in life. High school is a different : : matter, when the pressure : isn’t so high and youre likely : preparing yourself for more : school. In college and university, : : you're preparing yourself : for employment, a semi- : affordable apartment in the : Lower Mainland, and possibly : a longterm relationship to tie it : all together. Of course emerging : : into this phase of life doesn’t : necessitate having it all figured : out, or immediately getting the : job that you're going to die with. : : Still, itseems like youhaveto : : have things somewhat kinda-ish : papers from all across Canada. figured out, right? I keep feeling my age as I get older, thinking back to : one year ago, when I had just transferred to Simon Fraser : University and was trying not : to get lost; two years ago when : I was still at Douglas College : working out requirements : for graduation and filling the : Opinions section with my : rants and raves; three years ago : when I was a super nervous : 18-year-old and occasional : contributor to the Other Press, : scampering to grow away from : the comfort and complacency of : : adolescence. : The good thing is, I think I : keep growing up and evolving, : no matter how generally : perplexed, overwhelmed, and nervous I am on a daily basis. : Honestly, I think “having your : life together” is a myth that will : never be entirely unravelled and : : debunked. We keep hanging : onto the idea that we'll be full, whole, and complete someday, : or that there are people out : there who are. In reality, : uncertainty and indecision are essentially unavoidable. It’s : almost paralyzing that, in not knowing what’s “supposed” to © The OtherPressreservestheright to choose what we will publish, and we will not publish material that is hateful, obscene, or condones or promotes illegal activities. Submissions may be edited for clarity and brevity if necessary. All images used are copyright to their respective owners. : happen next, we have all the : options in the world; but much : as it can cause of a mess of : anxiety, it’s kind of ok that we : spend a lot of life lost, confused, : and figuring out where to go : next. It’s kind of wonderful. In trying to find an ending : to this Lettitor on uncertainty : and not knowing how my life : will proceed following my : impending (yet still so far off) : graduation, I stumbled ona : quote from Gilda Radner. I’m : going to take the easy way out : and leave you with her poignant words: “I wanted a perfect ending. : Now I’ve learned, the hard way, : that some poems don't rhyme, : and some stories don’t have a : clear beginning, middle, and : end. Life is about not knowing, : having to change, taking the : moment and making the best of it, without knowing what’s : going to happen next. : Delicious Ambiguity.” Hello gorgeous, Natali Serafini Editor-in-Chief @ theotherpress.ca | +f facebook.com/DouglasOtherPress | twitter.com/theotherpress