Navigating First Year, Both Online and In-Person Posted on April 12, 2022 With the school year finally wrapping up and final exams approaching, it’s the perfect time to reflect on how my school year went. It was an interesting one, to say the least – being online for all of the first semester, barely getting interaction with classmates or professors, and doing classes from the comfort of my own room. Definitely not what my fifteen-year-old self was expecting for my first year of university. First semester went well – I met some friends and was able to form connections with

Making the Most of Every Moment Posted on April 11, 2022 If anything, the pandemic showed us that we shouldn’t take things for granted because everything can change in an instant without warning. Over the last two years, I think a lot of young people feel like they lost valuable time while they were in lockdown – I feel the same way. But this feeling of lost time has made me more appreciative of every moment and has inspired me to make the most of these moments, even the little ones.  Take Pictures/Videos of Everything Recently, I have started taking

Upcoming Book to Screen Adaptations. Posted on April 11, 2022 These past few years in film and television we have seen an abundance of adaptations hit movie theaters and streaming sites alike. From video game adaptations such as Uncharted, to novel adaptations such as Normal People or Dune. There seems to have been a rise in interest for adapted stories. While I would argue that not all adaptations are for the stories’ best interest, it is hard to deny the intrigue surrounding how filmmakers take the words of others and turn them into a visual medium. Taking a story that

Henry’s 2022 NFL Mock Draft Posted on April 10, 2022 Image Credit: Getty Images With the NFL Draft coming at the end of April, I thought I’d put together my first official mock draft. I’ll be going through every pick in the first round, giving notes for each pick along the way. This mock draft will feature trades, but nothing too big. Jacksonville Jaguars: Aidan Hutchinson, Edge, Michigan After improving the o-line in free agency, the Jags get a potentially elite player at a position of need in Hutchinson.    Detroit Lions: Kyle Hamilton, Safety, Notre Dame While they could

Five Things to Do this Spring in Toronto Posted on April 9, 2022 Personally, Spring is my favourite season. The flowers are finally blooming, there’s peaceful rain, and warm weather again! It’s like a breath of fresh air after the typical freezing Toronto winter that lasts way too long. With COVID restrictions lifting and the city finally coming out of hibernation, here are five recommendations for fun activities to do in Toronto during Springtime.  5. Cherry Blossoms- High Park Image Credit: Blogto.com This one goes without saying, the cherry blossoms at High Park are always packed during the Spring months,

More than Meets the Eye: Why You Should Watch Children’s Animation Posted on April 9, 2022 Let’s get straight to the point: you should watch children’s animation. I know that for many, content geared towards kids isn’t totally appealing as they can often feel too thematically simple, too slapstick, and just not enough to keep your interest. Though this can be the case, I would argue that it is not often so. Recently, I’ve been watching an excess of children’s content, and though I’ve always loved some of these shows from a nostalgic perspective, I was surprised to find how

What Pixar’s Tuning Red Means to Me, a Chinese-Canadian Animation Fan Posted on April 9, 2022 Attention animation fans! Pixar Animations Studios has just released their newest feature-film Turning Red on the streaming platform Disney+ on March 11th, 2022. Set in 2002, this film follows 13 year-old Chinese Canadian Meilin “Mei” Lee, who is caught in a rift between being the perfect daughter her mother expects her to be and being a fun loving, carefree teenager. On top of that, Mei also has the good fortune of turning into a giant red panda whenever she gets too excited! Starring Rosalie

A New Way to Enjoy Boba Posted on April 7, 2022 Photo by Dustin Fuhs Like bubble tea? Enjoy shopping? Looking for something to do with your friends? Check out Benkei Hime at the Eaton Centre to satisfy all of these! This new boba and lifestyle store is the first in North America. With multiple locations in China and South Korea, Jason Wang wanted to combine bubble tea and an immersive retail experience all in one place. From an interview with the Toronto Star, Wang created this environment for people to enjoy a cup of boba and buy something new.

Embrace Your Inner Child Through Crafting! Posted on April 6, 2022 Image Credit: Unsplash I admit it – I’m a crafter. My obsession began as a kid, when I went through an intense origami phase. Although I was totally unable to follow the intricate origami instructions and could only make a paper crane, all I asked for for Christmas and my birthday that year was beautiful origami paper. Lets just say I made a lot of paper cranes. Next, it was card making. Birthday cards, thank you cards, anniversary cards – I made them all, carefully cutting strips of paper

A Conversation With Toronto Prisoners’ Rights Project Posted on April 5, 2022 Image Credit: Toronto Prisoners’ Rights Project In my last blog post for SpiritLive, I wrote about a very educational conversation I had with a former inmate of Joyceville Institution in Kingston Ontario, Kevin Belanger. While incarcerated, Belanger had served as the Inmate Committee Chairman and had a lot to say about how the incarceration system was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. When I had initially reached out to Belanger, I had been referred to him by the Toronto Prisoners’ Rights Project. This is a volunteer organization that is

What to Watch Until the MLB Season Starts Posted on April 5, 2022 Image Credit: UPI.com/Yonhap The MLB lockout may finally be over, but we’re still a few weeks away from the real season starting, and if you’re anything like me, you’re probably looking to scratch that baseball itch before opening day on April 7th. Well, don’t worry, because there’s plenty of baseball to watch before then. Here are your best options. College baseball is well underway, and as per usual, it’s absolutely electric. If you’ve ever seen any NCAA sports before you’re in for more of the same, but

Book-to-Screen Adaptations: The Good, the Bad, and the Anticipated Posted on April 4, 2022 I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase, “the book is always better than the movie,” and in most cases, I tend to agree. I often get frustrated at movies or TV shows because they have a tendency to leave out important details or events that happened in the book. On the other hand, sometimes the visual adaptations surprise me and actually do the book justice. Here is a list of my favourite book-to-screen adaptations, ones that missed the mark, and some that I am extremely excited about.

Recommending Songs Based on Your Zodiac Signs (Part 2) Posted on March 29, 2022 Welcome back to part 2 of me helping you discover your new favourite song according to your zodiac sign. This time, I’ll talk about the next 6 star signs. If you haven’t read part 1, feel free to check it out! Before we continue with the list, I want to mention again I am not a professional astrologer. I learn about the different personality traits of the different signs from my personal experience and the Internet. So let’s just focus on having fun talking about the

Turning your Playlists Red and White: Spotlighting Canadian Musicians Posted on March 28, 2022 I seem to be very fond of lists and recommendations so here’s another one for you. If you know me, you know I love music and I love looking for music from everywhere in the world but there is a certain level of joy in finding incredible artists from your own home so without further ado- here’s a list of some of my favourite Canadian musicians and song recommendations you can (and should) add to your playlists.  Gowan Image Credit: Wikipedia Ahh Gowan, a classic Canadian

No Longer Human and Its Significance, Almost a Century Later Posted on March 27, 2022 (Please be made aware that this book and blog contains topics such as suicide, depression, depersonalization, social alienation, alcoholism, violence, and sexual assault. Discretion is strongly advised.)  If you have been keeping up to date with TikTok lately, you may have noticed a particular pink-and-black book trending over on BookTok. This book is No Longer Human, written by Osamu Dazai, which is hailed as one of Japan’s best-selling books of all time, and Dazai’s masterpiece. Now, one might ask, why is a Japanese book, published