Breakfast is obsolete
By: Aleister Gwynne
You have probably heard that “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day,” but is it really? The traditional breakfast (at least in the West) is based on the assumption that the average person would be doing a lot of manual labour. Therefore, one needed to load up on calories in the morning to get through the day. This is where fatty and generously portioned meals like bacon and eggs came from.
However, this is the 21st century, and many people (especially students) are more likely to be doing sedentary work at a desk that does not involve a lot of physical exertion. In my experience, eating a big breakfast (or a big lunch) before doing this sort of work can be counterproductive. A full stomach makes you feel drowsy and bloated, sapping your energy and making it hard to concentrate. Accumulating fats and sugars and not burning them off cannot be good for your body either.
I am not saying to skip breakfast entirely. If you expect to be doing a lot of physical activity, by all means chow down, but otherwise, some toast or a bowl of cereal is usually sufficient. Three square meals a day is not always necessary or ideal. One should tailor one’s diet to one’s lifestyle.
Ode to the good UFV free pens
By: Nadia Tudhope
When I was a freshman going to orientation and U-Join and whatever, there were always these truly excellent free pens. “But Nadia,” you may be saying, “it’s a free pen, of course it’s good.” You don’t understand. These were some truly exemplary free pens. The kind of pens you cannot believe you are able to hold in your little hand, free of charge and the immoral sting of thievery. The kind of pens that you can scarcely believe just exist in the world, unconfined to Google headquarters and hipster startup companies that illegally hustled them because they wanted only the best of the best. The kind of pens you could once buy in the bookstore, although I never did because why do that and tarnish the sanctity of these beautiful little free creatures, which should exist scarcely in the world, lest they lose some of their wonder. These pens truly had it all: good ink flow, a nice comfy grip, a HIGHLIGHTER ON THE END. These pens were no skinny, hand-hurting Student Life free pens; these boys were nice and juicy, as the ideal pen should be. And now? They’ve vanished, remaining only in our memories.
Headbanging for the Lord
By: Darien Johnsen
The mental health benefits of playing music have been well-documented in the scientific community, and of course, by those who play music. After you’re really immersed in a jam you get a wave of serenity. When I first started playing guitar this really surprised me. My theory is that God gets really stoked about people playing music. The harp is actually mentioned over 50 times in the Bible! I think this is pretty cute; God must have really liked sweet tunes. I wonder if this is because he couldn’t play himself and likes to listen to others play instead.
God aside, playing music is therapeutic — there’s even an entire industry emerging devoted to training music therapists. This pumps me up! I think everyone should try playing music or singing for therapy. If you want a guitar lesson, email me or drop by The Cascade office and I’d be happy to show you a few guitar chords, teach you how to read a tab, or point you in the direction of a place where you can learn. Music is pretty magical, friends.
Gaming for peace
By: Carissa Wiens
My partner plays a lot of video games. He spends money on freshening up his computer so that it can give him a high-quality gaming experience. He buys headphones with a mic attached to them. But playing the games themselves stresses him out like crazy.
Back in the day, I played Animal Crossing on my GameCube, and have built a SimCity or two, but I’ve never seen the appeal of games that involve shooting other players and ranking teammates. Even though my partner breathes loud and fast when he’s about to win (or lose) the round, he claims that this type of gaming soothes him. Just because I fail to see how that could be true, I’m not going to object to his gaming habits. I’ll simply continue to watch 30 Rock in peace without him asking “Wait, which one is Tina Fey again?”
Illustrations: Kelly Ning
Darien Johnsen is a UFV alumni who obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree with double extended minors in Global Development Studies and Sociology in 2020. She started writing for The Cascade in 2018, taking on the role of features editor shortly after.
She’s passionate about justice, sustainable development, and education.
