Introduction

“Hope” is the thing with feathers –

That perches in the soul –

And sings the tune without the words –

And never stops – at all –

—Emily Dickinson

Holding onto hope, even when it feels like there’s no reason to, is the bravest thing we can do. Let this magazine containing stories, poems, essays, and artwork dedicated to hope be the proof in uncertainty that hope is worth having. 

As you flip through this magazine, you’ll notice the colour palette changes from dark to light. This was a deliberate design decision to represent the journey of finding hope. Just as dawn comes after the night, this visual transformation represents the way hope emerges. Our words have the power to rise above our fear, pain and struggles and remind ourselves that light is never far away. Growing up, I’ve always found immense comfort in stories, in words. If ever hoping becomes too difficult, I hope you find comfort in words and let them carry you through. Hope comes slowly, subtly, then all at once. And before you know it, it’s daylight. 

I encourage you to explore what hope means to you, and how you can share hope with others. It’s never too late to hope.

Hannah Grace Wang, Editor-in-Chief

Poem Copyright Credit: Emily Dickinson, “’Hope’ is the Thing with Feathers” from The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson, edited by Thomas H. Johnson, ed., Cambridge, Mass.: The Belknap Press of Harvard University press, Copyright © 1951, 1955, 1979, 1983 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. Reprinted by permissions of the publishers and Trustees of Amherst College.

The Medium Magazine started as a passion project in 2010. It was a collection of articles and graphics that mimicked a traditional magazine, with articles that spoke about campus and student life, recommended albums for different scenarios, featured recipes, and more. Back then, it was a way to try something new, to highlight the creativity of our team and the unique perspective of UTM and its students. As the paper continued, this magazine became more than a passion project, it became a way to respond to the changing media landscape. As 2012’s Magazine Editor, Michael Di Leo, wrote, “while print, especially in the case of the newspaper, may be withering away, I am of the opinion that it won’t die. It will take on a new form…This magazine is our first step towards that end.” 

After a brief hiatus, the magazine would come back with a new purpose: to explore a theme and concept that was most important to the masthead and students of that year. It became about sharing stories and experiences that mattered. In 2020, as the world shut down due to the Covid-19 pandemic and was rocked by the Black Lives Matter protests sparked by the murder of George Floyd, The Medium’s magazine theme was inspired by the word “essential,” which was attached to workers, services, and actions. Subsequent magazine issues explored themes of growing, changing, and becoming in tune with the world. 

This year, as we sat down to think of this year’s theme, all that seemed to surround us was death, destruction, hate, and horror. For a year and a half, all we’d witnessed on our phones and in the news were children dead or disfigured, houses destroyed, families torn apart, leaders spewing hate from the podium, and life getting harder and harder to live. It’s been five years since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the world only grows harsher. In thinking of the theme for this issue, we asked ourselves, “what is most important right now?” 

The answer that came to us was hope. 

Hope. The remaining spirit in pandora’s box. The only thing that will not leave humanity. The most essential and painful thing that is needed in crisis. It takes hope to live. It takes hope to love. It takes hope to try. Our young people are often called a generation that despairs, that we do not have hope for the future. And with the state of the world, it may seem so. Yet, we are also hopeful. Our Magazine seeks to showcase that. We are still holding on to hope, despite the darkness. 

Thank you to our writers for sharing their hope with us. Thank you to our design team for bringing that hope to life. Thank you to our editors for bringing it all together. 

May you never despair, dear reader. And we hope you enjoy this issue of The Medium Magazine. 

Aya Yafaoui, Managing Editor