Signing off: a heartfelt adieu from your trusted masthead
News
To our remarkable team of writers and editors: thank you for your unwavering dedication, creativity, and bravery. From uncovering breaking stories to amplifying the voices of those who often go unheard, together, we’ve successfully reached the milestone of completing our 50th volume. Your tireless commitment and admirable passion have been the cornerstone of our success.
As we bid farewell to another volume, I leave you with this: never underestimate the power of student journalism to affect meaningful change. Embrace the challenges ahead with confidence and pick up each issue with pride, because it is nothing but a reflection of your hard work and devotion. May the spirit of journalism continue to inspire and inform.
Contributors: May Alsaigh (8) River Knott (2) Hannah Grace Wang (1) Karine Alhakim (18) Larry Lau (11) Samuel Kamalendran (10) Razia Saleh (7) Celesta Maniatogianni (5) Jacob Fu (4) Angelina Jaya Siew (3) Arjun Saini (3) Jia Bawa (3) Vanessa Bogacki (3) Yusuf Larizza-Ali (3) Arjun Saini (3) Dishika Vaswani (2) Juliana Stacey (2) Makayla Kelly (2) Maryam Lela (2) Mashiyat Ahmed (2) Sameera Muna (2) Yana Chopde (2) Ahmed Ali Bukhari (1) Aidan Thompson (1) Debbie Wong (1) Jaimini Patel (1) Lily Yu (1) Mannal Qureshi (1) Meghna Patil (1) Meighan Atkinson (1) Rosa Fragomeni (1) Shreya Joshi (1)
– May Alsaigh, News Editor (Volume 50)
Opinion
To all the Opinion writers this year, I want to thank you for filling this paper with your opinions and experiences. The Medium is nothing without you and I am grateful to have had the opportunity to lift your voices once again. I want to especially thank those who had the courage and eloquence to speak up on topics that required great strength and sensitivity to address. Through your pieces, I have learned a great deal, both through the topics you chose to shed light on and through working with all of you. I hope that you continue to broaden your understanding of the world and share your experiences with others.
To all our readers, both current and in the future, I want you to know how special this time capsule of a paper is. Our archive holds the memories of our community, and we now enter our experiences into the record. The hard truth is that we’ve witnessed genocide unfolding in real-time this year, and we did our best to bear witness to it. We did this in the spirit of fulfilling our promise to never forget. I hope you can help us keep that promise.
Contributors: Aya Yafaoui (4) River Knott (13) Jaros Valdes (2) Hannah Grace Wang (9) Omar Khan (2) Louis Lam (2) Maja Tingchaleun (1) Daanish Alvi (1) Chris Berberian (1) May Alsaigh (1) Tia Cummins (7) Mashiyat Ahmed (6) Yasmine Benabderrahmane (6) Aidan Thompson (5) Keira Johannson (5) Vanessa Bogacki (5) Karissa Harrypersad (4) Debbie Wong (3) Maryam Lela (3) Yusuf Larizza-Ali (3) Angelina Jaya Siew (2) Arjun Saini (2) Fariha Shimu (2) Juliana Stacey (2) Karine Alhakim (2) Makayla Kelly (2) Meghna Patil (2) Meighan Atkinson (2) Taehyung Kim (2) Zainab Khalil (2) Blake Douglas (1) Cristina Pincente (1) Demilade Olaluwoye (1) Elizabeth Prydatka (1) Jannine Uy (1) Jia Bawa (1) Joseph Falzata (1) Kareena Kailass (1) Kenton Hu (1) Leah MacKay (1) Lily Tu (1) Madison Ireland (1) Mari Khan (1) Maryam Raheel (1) Mohaimen Siddique (1) Paige France (1) Prisha Maneka Nuckchady (1) Rola Fawzy (1) Romana Krekhovetska (1) Sabrina Garcia (1) Samira Karimova (1) Shreyaa Samtani (1) Silas Liening (1) Sukaina Rizvi (1) Valeria Ramirez Osorio (1) Zainab Hassan (1)
– Aya Yafaoui, Opinion Editor (Volume 50)
Features
Dear Features writers,
Three letters. One word. Wow.
It’s such an honor to be working with you all. The work and dedication I have seen from you all inspire me to be a better editor and writer. Thank you for contributing to this special part of the paper. The Features section has always been the most important section for telling your stories, sharing your thoughts, and creating a community of writers and readers alike. Thanks to you, we have a jam-packed (and the best) section for The Medium. Can’t wait to see your names again on the paper.
Dear Features readers,
Thank you for spending your time reading this section, and on behalf of the writers, thank you for letting us share our thoughts with you. I hope you enjoyed every story told by your peers. From the fun ones to the more serious ones, I hope their words reached your soul. That’s what this section and the newspaper are all about.
See you again soon! It’s your turn to share your stories next!
Contributors: Louis Lam (5) River Knott (1) May Alsaigh (1) Rafiqa Zubair (6) Pamela Prasetya (3) Madhav Ajayamohan (5) Prisha Maneka Nuckchady (5) Karine Alhakim (3), Yusuf Larizza-Ali (3) Zainab Khalil (3) Kayta Lee (2) Maryam Lela (2) Mariana Dominguez Rodriguez (2) Meighan Atkinson (1) Sukaina Rizvi (1) Fatima B. Habib (1) Mannal Qureshi (1) Aidan Thompson (1) Kareena Kailass (1) Mashiyat Ahmed (1) Juliana Stacey (1) Azkka Noor (1) Elma Chowdhury (1) Marii Khan (1) Debbie Wong (1) Yana Chopde (1)
– Louis Lam, Features Editor (Volume 50)
Arts & Entertainment
Dear Arts & Entertainment writers and readers,
It has truly been an honour and pleasure working as the Arts & Entertainment Editor. To our writers, thank you for being so enthusiastic in pitching your ideas and claiming articles. To our readers, I hope you enjoyed reading arts and entertainment articles as much as I have. I want to thank our Theatre Erindale Correspondent Megan Freedman for her hard work and dedication. Thank you to everyone for making Volume 50 so very special.
Contributors: Hannah Grace Wang (2) Jaros Valdes (1) Daanish Alvi (1) Belicia Chevolleau (1) Karissa Harrypersad (6) Alisa Samuel (6) Keira Johannson (5) Mashiyat Ahmed (4) Maryam Raheel (4) Maryam Uddin (4) Megan Freedman (3) Yusuf Larizza-Ali (3) Avery McMillan (3) Drashi Patel (3) Kuicmar Phot (3) Joy Pius (3) Meighan Atkinson (2) Vedika Awtani (2) Jada D’Sa (2) Paige France (2) Sabrina Garcia (2) Zainab Hassan (2) Katya Lee (2) Azkka Noor (2) Meghna Parhar (2) Meghna Patil (2) Elizabeth Prydatka (2) Mariana Dominguez Rodriguez (2) Lina Tupak-Karim (2) Aidan Thompson (2) Madhav Ajayamohan (1) Demilade Akinleye (1) Dana Al-Habash (1) Toqa Alshwatreh (1) Ayomide Bayowa (1) Yana Chopde (1) Sabrina Chow (1) Charlie Cichoszewski (1) Michaela Dimitrov (1) Lourdes Duah (1) Madison Ireland (1) Mahera Islam (1) Samuel Kamalendran (1) Zainab Khalil (1) Abigail Kohut (1) Romana Krekhovetska (1) Valeria Ramirez Osorio (1) Sierra Peca (1) Aurora Picciottoli (1) Jaimini Patel (1) Skyler Piskoroski (1) Mannal Qureshi (1) Evelia Raphael (1) Lydia C. Rehman (1) Michelle Santos (1) Veronika Sizova (1) Ramiya Sureshhkumar (1) Emaan Tariq (1) Charles Urgiles (1) Debbie Wong (1) Jing Han Yang (1)
– Hannah Grace Wang, Arts & Entertainment Editor (Volume 50)
Sports & Health
This year at The Medium has been quite a journey. I started writing my column about the Toronto Maple Leafs more than two years ago with the intent of blowing off some steam and venting about my favorite team. It’s truly surprising how a simple hobby can evolve into a career path and lead one to a role like mine today—as the Sports and Health Editor. My experience at The Medium is one I will cherish and reflect on as I look forward to my future.
To my writers, I want to thank you for sharing your amazing stories, highlighting the great teams and athletes in our community, and keeping us up to date on the latest sports and health news. Your contributions were by far my favorite part of working as a section editor, and you should all be proud of the great work you’ve done. I look forward to reading your future pieces and seeing how your writing develops.
To my readers, thank you for your unwavering interest, precious time, and enthusiastic engagement, which have fuelled the Sports and Health section this year. I hope we provided you with compelling stories that informed and entertained you.
Contributors: Omar Khan (18) Daanish Alvi (3) Justyn Aleluia (11) Bilaal Mo (3) Joseph Falzata (3) Samira Karimova (3) Noor Shaikh (2) Yusuf Larizza-Ali (2) Kuicmar Phot (2) Alisa Samuel (1) Juliana Stacey (1) Sukaina Rizvi (1) Ahmad Kubbar (1) Alanna Sethi (1) Aidan Thompson (1) Maryam Lela (1) Simran Rattanpal (1)
– Omar Khan, Sports & Health Editor (Volume 50)
Photos
It sounds simple, but capturing and preserving moments has always been the aspect of photography that I’ve gravitated toward the most. Having this, albeit brief, time at The Medium made me fall in love with photography even more. It constantly inspired me to go outside of my shell to further hone my visual eye—and seeing my photos in print cannot possibly ever get old. What I’ll take away from this stint with The Medium, more than anything, is that it gave me the chance of a lifetime: my shot to share my art with the world.
It taught me the biggest lesson I needed to learn at the same time, too: that I have something special within me that I can feel good about sharing. These personal missions are what bring photography to life, and it is these missions that make the art of photography vary incredibly from person to person. You can see someone doing it as a hobby, not knowing the power they hold in the palm of their hand, because halfway across the world someone else could be doing the same thing to spread crucial awareness about what they are experiencing firsthand. The art of photography remains limitless—and now that we all have cameras in our pockets, we all can have something to say.
Contributors: Daanish Alvi (58) Beatriz Simas (87) Hannah Grace Wang (1) Omar Khan (1) Laura Tovar (113) Samira Karimova (27) Aurora Picciottoli (26) Sara Li (8) Floria Zhou (4) Jay Chang (2) Shunsho Ando Heng (2) Tia Cummins (2) Abigail Kohut (1) Alexander Thomas (1) Alisa Samuel (1) Bernice Santos (1) Blake Eligh (1) Charles Urgiles (1) Dania Arwini (1) Ekene Akuneme (1) Giang Bui (1) Greěgoire Feěron (1) Juliana Stacey (1) Mark Overton (1) Megan Li (1) Nick Iwanyshyn (1) Rola Fawzy (1)
– Daanish Alvi, Photos Editor (Volume 50)
News Editor (Volume 48 & 50) — May is in her final year of undergraduate studies and is on her way to graduating with a double major in Criminology and Sociology. With more than 50 published articles, May has a wealth of experience writing for The Medium. May has also served as News Editor in Volume 48. She believes that news journalism is not just a privilege, but an important responsibility to report the unbiased truth.
Features Editor (Volume 50) — Louis graduated from UTM with a Bachelor of Science double majoring in Psychology and Professional Writing and Communication. He is currently in the field of UX/UI design, conducting research on how to improve user experience in apps and websites, designing websites for companies that are looking to branch online. As the Features Editor for Volume 50, Louis wants to bring the experience of reading enjoyable and informative for everyone. He hopes to showcase student voices and empower them through editing. When Louis is not at his computer designing websites or writing, he is opening Pokémon card packs chasing the Charizard or at the gym training his mind and body.
Arts & Entertainment Editor (Volume 50); Staff Writer (Volume 49) — Hannah is in her final year double majoring in Communications, Culture, Information and Technology (CCIT) and Professional Writing and Communications (PWC). In her spare time, Hannah runs her sticker shop The Aesthetics Studio and listens to podcasts while drawing. Hannah’s previous publications include PWC’s official journal of creative non-fiction in Mindwaves Vol. 15 and research in Compass Vol. 9 and 10. She also served as an Associate Editor for Compass Vol. 9 and Vol. 10. Hannah was a Staff Writer for The Medium Vol. 49 and 50 before becoming the A&E Editor. You can connect with Hannah on LinkedIn.
Sports & Health Editor (Volume 50); Locked on Leafs Columnist (Volume 48 & 49) — Omar is in his final year at UTM, working towards completing a major in CCIT and double minors in Political Science and Anthropology. Omar loves to keep up with various sports teams, his favourite being the Toronto Maple Leafs. When he isn’t stressing over exams or the Leafs, you can find him watching movies, looking at shoes he can only hope to afford, and trying his best to avoid parking tickets on campus.
Photos Editor (Volume 50) — Daanish is wrapping up his final year at UTM, majoring in Technology, Coding & Society, and minoring in Mathematics and Cinema Studies. He's aware of how odd that combination is, but that is enough to describe him in a nutshell. Carrying his cameras wherever he goes, you can find Daanish furiously writing Letterboxd reviews, cheering on the Maple Leafs, and blasting the Jonas Brothers any chance he gets.