Issue 3 by Class Magazine Inc.

class M A G A Z I N E, I N C.

CAMPUS & CULTURE • SUMMER 2015 • ISSUE 3

THE DOLLAR AND THE DREAM KELOWNAFORNIA II • BASEMENT HEADS: HOW TO SELL ART • 5 LESSONS FROM A COLLEGE DROPOUT • THE GRAND NARRATIVE • VOICE MAGAZINE

YOUR PRESIDENT’S WELCOME

elcome to the next chapter and welcome to Class. Whether you’re just starting your journey in the Okanagan, returning, or consider yourself a local-you’re a member of a very special campus and community. A place where business and industry are on the cutting edge and education and awareness are values that are closely guarded. This year, UBC celebrates 10 years in the Okanagan. Since conception, the economic, political, and social impact of UBC has been unprecedented in Kelowna’s 110 year history. What was once an uncertain future, is now a exciting reality. And yet, our potential is still beyond imagination. At the Students’ Union, we choose to recognize the importance of community and UBC’s role in it. We believe that putting your feet in the right place and standing firm is central to our growth as students. That being the case, we have committed ourselves to one guiding principle for action for now and for years to come: Invest in our community and the community will invest in us. Whether it be on-campus micro communities, off-campus initiatives, or campaigns to improve the world around us--we must commit ourselves to working together. We become, to help others become. Class is in session, let’s get started. Truly yours, TOM MACAULEY ubcsuo president TOM MACAULEY • PRESIDENT OF THE UBCSUO • READER OF CLASS

class M A G A Z I N E, I N C.

SUMMER 2015

CLASS MAGAZINE, INC. publisher REUBEN MANN co-founder

ROCKY KIM co-founder

EDITOR IN CHIEF

MANAGING EDITOR

NATALIE WONG associate editor SHAYLA RITCHIE arts editor CONTRIBUTORS writers VIKASH DASS, ROCKY KIM, AMBER KROGEL, NICOLE LEGG, DYLAN LENZ, TOM MACAULEY, REUBEN MANN, SHAYLA RITCHIE, LAURA SCIARPELLETTI, FIONA SOHRABI, KELLY TAVERNER

photographers & illustrators CONNOR CHARLESWORTH, CALE SOMETHING, OTHER GIRL, JOZEF STANCIC, YAW OBRENU, JARRED, ANASTASIA FOX

JOIN OUR TEAM! contribute@classmagazine.ca INTERESTED IN ADVERTISING? advertise@classmagazine.ca QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, CONCERNS? inquiries@classmagazine.ca

/CLASSMAG

@CLASSMAGAZINE @CLASSMAGCA CLASSMAGAZINE

Class Magazine is published bi-annually between September and April by Class Magazine Inc. No part of this publication may be used without written permission from the publisher. ÂŠ2015. Every effort is made to avoid errors, misspellings, and omissions. If, however, an error comes to your attention, please notify us. Class Magazine Inc. receives unsolicited materials (including letters to the editor, press releases, promotional items and images) from time to time. Class Magazine Inc., and its affiliates and assignees, may use, reproduce, publish, republish, distribute, store, and archive such unsolicited submissions in whole or in part in any form or medium whatsoever, without compensation of any sort. This statement does not apply to materials and/or pitches submitted by freelance writers, photographers, or illustrators in accordance with known industry practices.

on the cover

DYLAN LENZ, HOLDQUIN PROVENCE, CUBA, 2014 Photography by Anastasia Fox

EDITOR’S NOTE REUBEN MANN | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

t’s an incredibly refreshing feeling to share a moment with individuals that have their own dreams, aspirations, and a get-it-done attitude.

Looking at the table of contents, I’m pleased to share the stories of some remarkable people who have taken roads less traveled. They put in work on a day-to-day basis, not only juggling their personal relationships, but also their jobs, obligations, and passions. But, luckily, when you’re working on something you’re passionate about, there are no obstacles. No limits. No deterrents. Just a laser-beam focus and a will to execute on what you have a dire wish to see. I hope you enjoy the first issue of our second volume, and I hope the stories, lessons, and dreams can inspire you to make the most of your education and your passion. Don’t lose one for the other.

TABLE OF CONTENTS SUMMER 2015 • ISSUE 3 KELOWNAFORNIA: A MAGAZINE CALLED.......... 04 words by: rocky kim & reuben mann photos by: jozef stancic

DOWNTOWN EATS: THE HEALTH CONSCIOUS..... words by: kelly taverner

PROFILE: YOUR STUDENTS’ UNION........................ 10 words by: tom macauley photo by: spencer lupul

CLASS PHOTOGRAPHY: JOZEF STANCIC............

STREET PAPERS: MORE THAN A VOICE...............

BASEMENT HEADS: HOW TO SELL ART...............

BREAKING DOWN POST GRAD..........................

UBCO ALUMNI: THE GRAND NARRATIVE..............

eTHERAPY: COUNSELLING BEFORE BREAKFAST.

5 LESSONS FROM A COLLEGE DROPOUT.....

photos by: akeem nermo words by: reuben mann

words by: vikash dass photos by: basement heads

words by: laura sciarpelletti

words by: shayla ritchie photos by: the grand narrative words by: nicole legg

words by: dylan lenz photo by: anastasia fox

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SMOKE ON THE BRIDGE, AUGUST 2015 • PHOTOGRAPH BY JOZEF STANCIC

MEET OUR TEAM NATALIE WONG | ASSOCIATE EDITOR Natalie majors in International Relations and no, she is not going to be a lawyer or diplomat. She identified as a writer, until she realized she stopped writing regularly. She now identifies as an editor. Find her elbow deep in poutine, using the free WiFi at Sliderz. Twitter: @NataliePuzzle

SASHA CURRY | COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER Sasha is an island-raised Vancouverite. An aspiring writer from birth, she began her writing career in grade three when she wrote her first book review for a children’s science magazine. Sasha earned her Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing from UBC Okanagan writing for newspapers, magazines and her own novel.

SHAYLA RITCHIE | ARTS EDITOR Shayla Ritchie is a Bachelor of Fine arts student at UBCO and is heavily involved with the arts and culture in Kelowna. Shayla is born and raised in the Okanagan Valley and plans on becoming a curator of a contemporary art gallery.

MEET OUR CONTRIBUTORS VIKASH DASS Vikash Dass is a BC-based writer who has written for several publications and projects, and he’s also the co-founder and Senior Editor of The Early Registration, one of the most notable and buzz-worthy new music publications. Vikash contributes everything from reviews, interviews, features, and editorials. He is in his second year at UBC Okanagan. AMBER KROGEL Amber Krogel is a 4th year International Relations student and the founder of Voice Magazine. She is always on the lookout for beauty in everyday life, new flavours of Pop Rocks, and how to use ideas to create social change. NICOLE LEGG Nicole is going into her last leg at UBC Okanagan and will be receiving her Bachelor of Science Honours Specialization in Psychology. She is currently a student representative on the UBC Okanagan Senate, a psychology TA, and works at a local counselling clinic. Nicole is very passionate about mental health awareness and enjoys taking advantage of living in the Okanagan in her free time. DYLAN LENZ Dylan Lenz dropped out after his second year at UBC. In the three years since, he has built and sold two companies in technology and finance. He lives and works in Toronto with his partner Anastasia Fox. Twitter: @DylanLenz LAURA SCIARPELLETTI Laura Sciarpelletti is a Vancouver based freelance writer with a focus on entertainment journalism and poetics. Laura earned her Bachelor of Arts from UBC Okanagan in 2014 with a major in Creative Writing and a minor in English. She completed an editorial internship at NYLON Magazine in New York, and is currently working on an anthology of poems that explore the connection between physical interaction, ambition and alteration. KELLY TAVERNER Kelly is a 4th year Management Student at UBC Okanagan and the Student Union’s current Vice President of External Affairs. Originally from Calgary, she has spent the last fifteen years living in West Kelowna. She keeps busy during the school year, and can be found working, studying, or taking long commutes from the Westside.

kelownafornia: A MAGAZINE CALLED CLASS

ne thing’s for certain: nobody could have prepared Reuben and I for what we faced the past year. Between riding the wave and just trying to make ends meet, we evolved, adapted, and straight up winged our way through. Picture yourself in the middle of a desert; you have no compass, no map, and no idea where you’re going. Your job is to not only survive the desert, but thrive without guidance, all while trying your hardest to stay sane. This was #ClassLife for us, this was our reality the past year. As we wrapped up our first year, we came to realization that the only thing we’re sure of, is that we’re sure of nothing. The sobering reality that the world will not help or save us, but constantly throw things our way to weigh us down, has painted dark circles under our eyes and whites hairs on my head. Worse than that? In all honesty, it gave us a bitter hatred towards certain aspects of how our lives turned out. But holy shit...we love what we do. Every day, we wake up knowing that we need to get up and run. Run to chase a dream that will hopefully one day become a reality. We have never been so sure about something in our lives. We don’t mean being sure that Class Magazine, Inc. will be successful—we’re referring to the assurance that we have been afforded an opportunity to pursue a career working for ourselves, and that we can work to build our own reality through team effort, determination, and drive. This is Class Life. Every day, readers reach out and ask, “What is Class?”, “What is #ClassLife?” It’s different for everyone. For myself, it’s the realization that when you graduate from university, you may have been pursuing someone else’s dream all along. You shake your head and open your eyes...and for the first time in your life, you really look around and see that it’s not what you want—it’s what your mom wanted, what your advisor told you to do, what society said was the right move after school. We’re letting you know, they’re probably right. We’re telling you know right now: your parents were RIGHT—do not do what we did! Hell, we even included a career section on our website, Q&As with students in graduate and professional schools who have navigated the admissions processes i.e. the path to things other than starting a magazine. Starting a business on your own is a major gamble; it takes a toll on your body and your mind, and will have you on your knees ready to pull your hair out and scream. WORDS BY ROCKY KIM

SMOKE ON THE DOCK, AUGUST 2015 JOZEF STANCIC

kelownafornia: A MAGAZINE CALLED CLASS (cont.)

e got lucky. Don’t get me wrong—we worked our asses off, non-stop. We put in twelve hour days and still pay everyone else before we even see a penny. But we know that any success we have seen has been a consequence of the opportunities we have been given. As the proverb says, “fortune favours the bold.” We were fortunate; we played our cards right, but we still have a long way to go. And we couldn’t be more elated. Our lives may have seen more direction if we stuck to the plan set out by our parents, but I define the difference between life with Class and life without Class as the difference between being content and feeling contempt. We love what we do. Class Life is different for everyone; for us, it’s this. The important thing is that you define it. That’s what we did, and that’s what we hope you’ll do. We wanted to take the time to share our story with you...and we are finally ready, after a year of chasing the dream, to share that story. We’ll see you next issue.

TREETOPS, JULY 2015 JOZEF STANCIC

BNA BREWING, THE INSTANT CROWD FAVOURITE, AUGUST 2015 REUBEN MANN

downtown eats FOR THE HEALTH CONSCIOUS

f you are looking for a place to eat in Kelowna, you wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to look hard to find a number of delicious options! But if you have food restrictions, that list gets significantly shorter. Luckily, I believe that anyone can treat themselves to a delectable meal that suits their needs at almost any establishment, by asking questions and making modifications! I visited five local restaurants and ordered meals free of gluten, dairy, sugar, high amounts of sodium, and unethical meat.

REVIEWS BY KELLY TAVERNER

downtown eats

BNA BREWING It’s no secret that BNA is Kelowna’s new hot spot of the summer—a well deserved title. BNA works diligently in serving only the highest quality produce from local farms and ethical, grass-fed meat. I ordered the Beet & Quinoa Salad ($14) without cheese (They added extra veggies for me instead!) and added chicken breast for $2. For an appetizer, I chose the $5 Corn on the Cob. My one critique of BNA is their lack of gluten free options visible on the menu, but they made up for is by having the most delicious gluten-free New Grist Pilsner by the bottle for only $6. BNA has a very fun atmosphere, with a shuffleboard table, indoor bocce, and a huge staff of young people, many of whom are students. As a 4th year student at UBCO, I was very impressed to walk in and see a large number of my classmates working there. A short walk away from Queensway station, BNA secures its reputation as a student friendly hub. Overall, I think BNA is an incredible addition to the list of downtown eats in Kelowna.

GRADE: A

GRATITUDE CAFÉ The Gratitude Café is a neat little gem that I discovered online. The café is dedicated to serving an all vegan, gluten and dairy-free menu! It is a little ways away from the downtown core, but it’s close to all the cute shops on Pandosy—and the food is definitely worth the commute. This place is amazing because, on top of being super healthy and accommodating to allergies, they grow all of their herbs in an in-house garden and make everything from scratch in house. I tried their most popular dish, the “I am creating” ($18), which is a loaded taco salad with stew, guacamole, and organic corn, and finished with their raw dessert of the day—coconut chia pie ($8). Both selections were delicious and filling! It is a bit on the pricey side for a café, but in my opinion it is justified because of their high quality, organic ingredients. As they say—you get what you pay for!

GRADE: B+

RAUDZ Before you read any further, I need you to forget what you’ve heard about dinner at RaudZ being too expensive for students. Although RaudZ is quite upscale, many of their dishes are reasonably priced, considering their high quality. Like our friends at BNA, RaudZ takes pride in sourcing locally. My favourite dish at RaudZ is not only affordable, but also a better version of a typically “junky” meal—I’m talking about the Cheese Burger. With a variety of modifications, RaudZ is the perfect place to treat yourself to a burger, without feeling guilty, for just $15. They use the highest quality grass-fed beef and offer gluten free buns (that are actually delicious). I asked for my burger without condiments or cheese and added sautéed mushrooms and onions ($2), with house greens as a side dish. Condiments often have high sugar and salt content, but if you’re a ketchup fan I recommend RaudZ’s blackberry ketchup made in-house! RaudZ is very accommodating to making modifications and overall has great service!

GRADE: A-

MON THONG THAI RESTAURANT I visited Mon Thong on Ellis when I was craving something filling and flavorful, that I could also get to go. Admittedly, Thai food isn’t my usual go-to for eating out, but I love that almost all of their main courses are dairy and gluten free. Mon Thong is also very accommodating to allergies and preferences. Since their meat isn’t sourced locally, they accommodated me by giving lots of extra veggies in place of the meat that came with the meal. Their meals, such as the Gaeng Pak Ruam-Mit ($14.50) that I enjoyed, are super creamy and flavorful because they are made primarily with coconut milk. They also have alternative rice options ($2), such as brown and coconut rice. The staff at Mon Thong were very friendly and my take out was ready to go in under fifteen minutes. Highly recommended for a lunch or dinner on the go!

GRADE: B+

TRAIN STATION PUB I know Train Station has been featured in Downtown Eats before—but I wanted to include it again because it’s a great example of a location with amazing bar food, yet not a wide selection of entrées for the health conscious diner, like myself. When my friends suggest eating at bars, I shiver at the thought of low quality, high sodium foods. In that situation, I would suggest Train Station for their Superfood Salad and gluten-free beer! The Superfood Salad is one of my favorite salads on Kelowna menus, right now. For $15.95, you get a huge portion of greens with a delicious mix of different flavours.I substituted the tarragon vinaigrette for red wine vinaigrette in order to make it gluten-free. Even though pubs aren’t the place to go for super healthy eats, if you’re squad is looking for drinks and bar food, I definitely suggest Train Station.

GRADE: B-

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挀氀愀猀猀

PROFILE: YOUR STUDENTS’ UNION

n UBC Okanagan’s 10th anniversary, the UBCSUO has committed to reimagining what it means to be a Students’ Union. Where others maintain the status quo, we aim to shake off the dust and provide students with a relevant agenda for improving and innovating the student experience in the Okanagan. Here are just a few of the new and continuing unique initiatives that we’ve dedicated our efforts to: THE CAMPUS COMMUNITY BRIDGE The UBCSUO’s President, Tom Macauley when first taking office made a promise that he would commit his term to ensuring that students and graduates of UBC Okanagan would always be able to call Kelowna and the greater Okanagan home. During his term, Tom has lived up to this promise. He has committed over $50,000 for supporting student internships within the community and has advocated for and delivered on connecting the UBCSUO with private enterprise in the Okanagan. Students have an opportunity to gain real experience in the work field during their degree and have an opportunity to work, play, and live in the Okanagan. To apply, visit www.campuscommunity.ca! FROSH & RECESS Over the past 3 years, Layne Richardson and the Students’ Union have been developing a strategy for success in providing unreal concert experiences for the beginning of the year and end of the year. And this year people said it’d be nearly impossible to top Recess in April. Well we’ve come back swinging. Working alongside the Blueprint Okanagan team, we’ve managed to accrue some of the biggest talent in the industry while providing a safe space for awesome parties on campus. Frosh, being held on September 18th, will be host to Big Data & heavy hitter Adventure Club! See you all there! EXPO UBCSUO Club Day has always been a day centred around connecting students with clubs and course unions on campus. This year we thought we would bring new life to a great tradition. Expo will invite the community, UBC campus groups, businesses, and students alike, to share their purpose and culture with us and each other. When we open up the doors for creativity, we enhance the transformative experience for all. We have so much to be proud of in our community and on campus, and it’s time to formally celebrate and appreciate just that. Look for Expo UBCSUO to be the best club and course union day ever. accessABILITY One of the most important program developments in the students’ Union this year, is the official initiation of a program that seeks to make life for students with disabilities at UBCO more accommodating and healthier. Founded by Gabriel Tobias, a UBCO alumni and a current medical student at UBC Medical School, the program offers students with access to a specialized personal trainer for 1 hour a week for 6-8 weeks. The UBCSUO hopes to extend this program to as many students as possible over the academic year. For details and personal inquiries, email Gabriel Tobias at accessABILITY@ ubcsuo.ca STUDENTS’ UNION VOLUNTEERS Students’ Union Volunteers or “SUV” is an initiative, much like Campus Community Bridge, aimed at connecting students with our community. But instead of an economic focus, SUV seeks to socially integrate UBC students by engaging them in meaningful volunteer experiences both in the community and on campus. To become a member of SUV, email “I’m in” to suv@ubcsuo.ca and a coordinator will get you set up!

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TEN

PICTURED FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: RYAN KAILA, LAYNE RICHARDSON, TOM MACAULEY, ROMEY JASWAL, KELLY TAVERNER

ELEVEN

jozef stancic CLASS PHOTOGRAPHY

y name is Jozef Stancic. I’m originally from Ontario, but now live in the beautiful province of British Columbia. I always had a gut feeling that I would end up exploring the west coast.

I am passionate about the power of photography and am inspired by the ability to expressing myself through a lens. I love everything about it. By simply going out shooting, I allow my willingness to make mistakes and get excited about uncharted landscapes. The thesis of it all—creating permanence from the past. My passion for photography was discovered while traveling. From a young age, I’ve always seemed to have a camera in my hands. I found myself inspired just lurking around at surf and skate spots, looking for places to camp, or lounging around idyllic locations with adventurous folk. I’m truly grateful to be part of this community, sharing a passion that seems to be inspiring others to get outside, or just have fun shooting. The chief enjoyment for me now is traveling, snapping landscapes, lifestyle, and showing my admiration for photographing natural beauty all around us. There’s something rewarding about showing homegrown pictures from BC’s backyard to new, equally exciting parts of the world. My next adventure takes me to Indonesia and Australia and can’t wait to share new adventures with Class readers. I hope to inspire those who choose to follow me, through my lens, and love seeing people react by going on their own photo journey. I am truly passionate about my home and native land. But for now, I’m trading in the waters of Okanagan Lake for the oceans of Bali. Instagram: @duhjoe

WORDS AND PHOTOS BY JOZEF STANCIC

TWELVE

OKANAGAN FORESTS JOZEF STANCIC

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STREET PAPERS:

MORE THAN JUST A VOICE FOR THE VOICELESS WORDS BY AMBER KROGEL

here are two feelings that every current student, regardless of program, becomes extremely familiar with throughout a 4-year degree: the first feeling is the magnetic pull of social media, where our perpetually diminishing energy is far too low to resist the attraction of mindless double taps and visual stimuli; the second is the intense feeling of guilt from procrastinating.

“STREET PAPERS ARE ALSO A PLATFORM FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN MARGINALIZED TO BECOME ADVOCATES FOR THEMSELVES.” In April, when I should have been studying for finals, I frequently found myself sprawled out on my couch experiencing both of these feelings. But one day, as I was aimlessly wandering down a rabbit trail of Twitter’s suggested follows and hashtags I didn’t really care about, I was surprised when these feelings were suddenly replaced by a burst of inspiration. I stumbled upon the Twitter account

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FOURTEEN

of Megaphone Magazine, whose bio describes itself as “an award-winning magazine that provides meaningful work for people experiencing poverty and homelessness.” That sounded exciting and intriguing. So I did what every Millennial knows to do when we find something or someone on the Internet we like: scour every page of their social media profiles. After doing this, I found out that Megaphone, which is based in Vancouver and Victoria, is one of more than 100 independent street papers operating in over 30 countries worldwide. While street papers can differ in their approach and content, they all follow a simple model that has proven successful since the first street paper began in the early 1990s: vendors who identify as homeless or low-income buy each issue for around 75 cents and sell it on the streets for approximately $2, keeping 100% of the profits from each transaction. Through their sales, vendors earn an income that can be the difference between buying groceries or missing a rent payment. But that’s only one aspect of the street pa-

VOICE ON THE WEB:

WEBSITE/www.voicemagkelowna.com FACEBOOK/voicemagkelowna TWITTER & INSTAGRAM/@voicemagkelowna per model. Every sale of the magazine is also an opportunity for vendors and other members of the community to engage with each other, to have a conversation rather than simply passing each other by, and to start building relationships that, one-by-one, create a mosaic of a community that is both diverse and unified. Street papers are also a platform for people who have been marginalized to become advocates for themselves, by distributing content on the issues affecting them. Inside most street papers, readers find a combination of social-justice related articles and news, writing, and art produced by members of the homeless and low-income community, and interviews with vendors who have powerful stories to share. When I came across this model, I could instantly picture the difference something like this would make in Kelowna. Having lived here since I was a toddler, I’ve seen a lot of changes in Kelowna, one of which has been a growing population of people experiencing homelessness or becoming reliant on panhandling. One thing that hasn’t changed, though,

is the general lack of interaction between this community and other members of the community. Imagining what a street paper could do for Kelowna created an image in my mind of a city where fear, stigma, and isolation are replaced with understanding, empowerment and community.

“VENDORS WHO IDENTIFY AS HOMELESS OR LOW-INCOME BUY EACH ISSUE FOR AROUND 75 CENTS AND SELL IT ON THE STREETS FOR APPROXIMATELY $2.” It didn’t take much imagination to picture this kind of city – all I had to do was look at existing street papers and the impact they have in their communities. I got to do this in June, when I went to Seattle to attend the International Network of Street Paper’s annual Global Summit. Delegates from street papers from over 40 countries came together to share their successes and challenges, to strategize and to inspire each other. FIFTEEN

VOICE MAGAZINE, LAUNCHING IN 2016, PROVIDES UNDERSTANDING AND EMPOWERMENT FOR THE IMPOVERISHED

There were times where I honestly felt somewhat overwhelmed and underqualified for this work, like the time, over lunch, when I accidentally spilled ranch dressing all over my notebook while listening to a serious discussion by other delegates about the unexpected obstacles they’ve had to face. Nonetheless, my first step when I got back was to start building a team (and replace my notebook).

“IMAGINING WHAT A STREET PAPER COULD DO FOR KELOWNA CREATED AN IMAGE IN MY MIND OF A CITY WHERE FEAR, STIGMA AND ISOLATION ARE REPLACED WITH UNDERSTANDING, EMPOWERMENT AND COMMUNITY.” I’ve been blown away by the number of people in this city who truly want to make it a place where everyone is connected and cared for, who have amazing ideas and skills, and who are already doing meaningful work alongside or as a member of the homeless community. In 2016, all of these steps will culminate in the launch of Voice Magazine, a monthly magazine based off the street paper model that you’ll be able to buy from vendors on the streets of Kelowna. You’ll find the same kind of content inside, along with features on Kelowna arts, entertainment, culture and lifestyle. Our mission is to be a platform for change that enables people experiencing homelessness and poverty to find income, empowerment, and a voice in the community.

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“I’VE BEEN BLOWN AWAY BY THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE IN THIS CITY WHO TRULY WANT TO MAKE IT A PLACE WHERE EVERYONE IS CONNECTED AND CARED FOR, WHO HAVE AMAZING IDEAS AND SKILLS, AND WHO ARE ALREADY DOING MEANINGFUL WORK ALONGSIDE OR AS A MEMBER OF THE HOMELESS COMMUNITY.” Of course, none of this can happen without the support of the community. Right now, you can connect with us on social media, check out our website for more information and where to find vendors, and keep an eye out for our big crowdfunding campaign in the New Year. Most importantly, you can choose to stop and say hello to a vendor and buy your copy of Voice Magazine from them—this is when real change happens. Change happens with every conversation, with every idea shared, and with every glimpse into each other’s lives. It’s what happens when you make your personal interactions a picture of the world you want to see. Everyone’s voice deserves to be heard, so let’s start this conversation together.

AMBER KROGEL IS THE FOUNDER OF VOICE MAGAZINE. TO GET IN TOUCH WITH AMBER, YOU CAN EMAIL HER DIRECTLY AT AMBERKROGEL@GMAIL.COM.

SIXTEEN

BASEMENT HEADS HOW TO SELL ART

WORDS BY VIKASH DASS PHOTOS BY YAW OBRENU & JARRED CLARK

he pursuit of expression and art is a risky venture to embark on, especially if you’re at a tender, youthful age and you’re constantly being told that your passion for creativity can only be realistically harnessed in a more industrial or economical sense. We’ve all heard the generalizations of the ‘starving artist’ or the contemporary generalization of Arts majors being left in shambles following graduation, with nothing but debt and unemployment by their side, because of how seemingly useless and impractical their skills are to a world run by commerce and corporations. However, if there was ever a specific culture to provide a sliver of hope and motivation to navigate through the paradox of selling art and creativity, it’s been hip-hop. Historically, hip-hop is a culture known for making millionaires out of minorities, and most importantly giving an expressive and artistic outlet to the suppressed and sullen, specifically catered to the African-American experience in America. Its modern incarnations PICTURED: YAW AND JARRED OF BASEMENT HEADS

have inspired the masses, and have given millennials and the new wave of youth a different set of goals and motivations. It has now been explicitly proven to the world that you can be an expressive kid, from anywhere in the world, and as long as your message and movement is potent enough, the world will listen and watch. It’s this same directive that has translated effectively to the young men over at Basement Heads, a local team of creatives that specialize in apparel and culture, and allowed them to bust open the doors previously shut by generations past. Yaw and Jarred represent both halves of the brand, a growing and forceful presence in the local clothing industry in the Okanagan. They’ve seemingly found a compelling and productive balance in both hip-hop and skate culture, something that both of them have tried to accomplish in the past with their own separate ventures and startups. “I felt like my voice wasn’t being heard,” Yaw recalls of his prior experience in clothing, “Then all of a sudden Jarred moved into town.” Yaw and Jarred both reflect on their organic experiences formulating Basement Heads with a fondness and sense of clarity. “I had a drive to go towards clothing, and Yaw helped me bring it to life.” Jarred explains. “I quit Mincst and I went to Ghana trying to gather a plan,” adds Yaw. Jarred was meditating in the Okanagan, plotting in a similar fashion. “After I came back, it was on. We already knew what our first idea was.” That first idea would be their classic trademark, referred to affectionately as ‘The Classic B’. As Yaw explains that they weren’t

associated or married to the Basement Heads title yet, Jarred discloses that the ‘B’ was initially derived from his past clothing designs. “I tried to do my own clothing thing for a little while, and I liked the name Portray, and we started designing for it,” he describes. “We kept coming back to that Philadelphia P, and we’re like, ‘that’s taken’—what can we do with that, right?” Yaw adds, “Then one day Jarred texted me, and said, What do you think about Basement? I said, ‘That’s it!’”

“FOR YAW AND JARRED, INSPIRATION CAN COME FROM ANYWHERE AND EVERYWHERE, AND IS AN ONGOING PROCESS.” That ‘B’ would end up representing a lot more than a compromise. On their website, they expound on the letter. “The basement was the place where we could dream, become anything,” reads the ‘About’ page. It’s here that the duo establishes the true meaning of what it truly means to be a ‘Basement Head’: acting as an actualized manifestation of a creative introvert. “As we push forward we take our dreams that flourished in the basement and are making it reality.” Yaw and Jarred alluringly walk this fine line of art and culture, but despite their aspirations to take the Basement Heads brand to heights of cultural impact, the artistic component is the

PICTURED: YAW OBRENU YAMOAH, IMAGES COURTESY OF BASEMENT HEADS

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basis of their brotherhood and always comes first. “We’re artists first, business people second,” says Yaw. “I think we talk too much. It’s good, cause if there’s a problem, we deal with it. If there’s something positive, we celebrate.” Basement Heads’ caliber of design is equal parts refreshing and forward. They don’t deviate from the norm in terms of classic streetwear design, but their logo is reimagined and accentuated with each and every piece in both classic and innovative colour ways. The ‘Classic B’ can be found in minimalistic crewnecks, while other shirts play off the brand with slogans like “I’m coming upstairs now” or more straightforward mementos and mantras that the brand was built on, such as the tall t-shirt with a slim cut that sports ‘Loyal’ on the front. For Yaw and Jarred, inspiration can come from anywhere and everywhere, and is an ongoing process. Both halves of the brand will be the first people to admit that this never-content style of design has both pro’s and con’s. “Sometimes it’s good and bad. And we end up focusing too much on one design, and realize that’s not what we even want,” says Jarred. “And we’ve done that. We put out a design, not even put it out even, we been working on it for 2-3 weeks, and all of a sudden when it’s finalized, we’re like fuck, don’t even like it no more,” Yaw explains. They recall a specific instance of the most difficult design they’ve conceived to this day, a design inspired by the Joseph Gordon-Levitt film, “Hesher”, as Joseph’s character has a tattoo that struck a chord with Yaw and Jarred, one that would generate one

of the brand’s flagship logos, entitled Born Young. “We were sitting there, and I really liked that skull tattoo.” Yaw reveals. “We both drew 2 different designs of the skull tattoo, and asked what people thought of it. After some mix-up, we were going over the design, and they overlapped for a second,” adds Jarred. “I was like, wait a second. That shits cool. And there was Born Young.” Basement Heads has not always been an outlet to easily monetize art, though. Both Yaw and Jarred have described the business aspect of what they do as “a struggle” as well as a “hard balance”, for good reason. When you are trying to captivate the youth and come across as a brand based on expression, it’s hard to sell that and remain as sacred when there is a firm price tag beside your art. “There are days where you’re like, I just wanna put out art, why is this so hard,” Yaw considers. Despite the difficulty they face daily trying to preserve their artistic integrity and make a living at the same time, the payoff is what keeps them coming back. “Once you see it on someone though, it’s walking, it’s like the coolest feeling. You don’t know that dude, maybe Jarred sold it to him, and it’s like, yo, that kids wearing Loyal, that kids wearing the ‘B’. And he’s representing it is in his own way.” So far, the Basement Heads’ ambitions for world domination are still a work in progress. They’re continuing to sell poignant designs on their web-store, however, they’re disadvantaged by the lack of a flagship location or pop-up shop. A brick and mortar shop in Kelowna is one of their end goals, and shows the dedication and passion they have for their hometown. “Our goal for

IMAGES COURTESY OF BASEMENT HEADS

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Kelowna is two local shops to hold our stuff. If we move, we want it to be here.” Jarred says. Yaw feels the same way. “He started here. We want to be here.” The Basement Heads team is attempting to appeal to the masses by offering a separation within their brand with an Upstairs and Downstairs collection. The vision for the Upstairs collection is to be a “brighter, more playful” rendition of their designs focusing on catching the eye of the beholder, while the Downstairs collection seeks to achieve a more slick, clean palette that you’d be able to “wear out at night”, with tattoo-like aesthetics and darker colour ways with blacks, whites and greys. “It’ll flow cohesively. The more we put out, the more it’ll make sense.” Jarred explains. “It’s more real,” adds Yaw. “It’s more structured. Everyone can see what that is. It comes to a point where okay, I wanna put this on because I wanna go out at night. I wanna put this on because it’s a just a fun tee that you can just chill with.” It’s here that the utilization of their internal dichotomy of skate and hip-hop culture not only becomes relevant to their brand, but vital to their success. Their self-awareness is genuinely something to admire and to marvel at, as they flawlessly embody the independent and hustler-spirits of this millennial generation inspired by the success stories and idols we grew up witnessing. Both Yaw and Jarred are important figures in our local ethos because they’re proving everyday that expression, creativity, and innovation is

cool, and it can sell. As for the future, Basement Heads are looking to fulfill their promise of being a local staple in design while also letting their online shop carry the weight of their global presence. “We have a direction now which is great,” Jarred says. “Before we didn’t know where to take it. We were just growing off that name, seeing how people would take to it. We have our own styles now and we can go from there. My art style, I figured out what I like to draw, and Yaw has his.” Yaw has his own outlooks on growing the brand upwards, too. “We have a new podcast, a Snapchat account, we have two promo vids coming out, tank top coming out, shirt coming out,” he lists, “Now we film things. We’re tryna let know people who we are and let us grow within that. We just wanna move forward.”

BASEMENT ON THE WEB:

WEBSITE/www.basementheads.com FACEBOOK/basementheads TWITTER/@basementheads INSTAGRAM/@basementheads

IMAGES COURTESY OF BASEMENT HEADS MATERIALS INSPIRE AS CONCEPTS TRANSPIRE

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T W EN T Y T W O

BREAKING DOWN THE POST GRAD PREDICAMENT

WORDS BY LAURA SCIARPELLETTI

ummer is the buffer between university graduation and ‘the-time-shit-should-be-figured-out-by.’ Traditionally one of the following must arrive along with the ninth month: grad school, an internship, a job related to your field, an elaborate trip, or a teaching gig overseas. Films centered on post-grad characters typically depict the ones that shy away from any of these options as failures and/or “lost.” I fell into the category of university graduates who entered an internship, selling a large majority of my possessions and putting the rest into storage to move to New York for its duration. Now—having had completed the internship, gathered references and moved to a new city—I find myself in the financial limbo that many arts students meet when loan cushioning is no longer available. This period—or the ‘cleanup process’—is never depicted in the media, except maybe with ads about debt management. We don’t tend to hear about the writers that teeter off creatively after graduation, because their story was simply never written. The reality of what occurs is a battle between ambition and financial security, and deciding if you do actually have a novel in you rather than only the lust of one. Americanized media interpretations As a sheltered adolescent living in a secluded TWENTY FIVE

community with nothing but time and a portable DVD player, I was constantly exposed to the media’s interpretation of the lives of post-grad creative professionals. Like many young people who decided early on that they wanted to be writers, my floors were piled high with stacks of reading material ranging from how-to-writeprose to Hemingway.

“THE REALITY OF WHAT OCCURS IS A BATTLE BETWEEN AMBITION AND FINANCIAL SECURITY, AND DECIDING IF YOU DO ACTUALLY HAVE A NOVEL IN YOU RATHER THAN ONLY THE LUST OF ONE.” What a young teenager doesn’t consider is that the culture for young writers in the US is completely different from Canada’s because there is simply no media interpretation of Canadian post-grad creative culture. We are being fed the expectations and realities of Americans, and our job opportunities are different given the fact that we have fewer large cities. In media, the correlation between writers and money tends to be unrealistic; queue the common go-to modern day reference of Carrie Bradshaw and her weekly Sex and the City column that somehow earns her a rent-controlled apartment and an endless supply of Jimmy Choos. Is a profitable future in creative employment a

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luxury? Of course the media’s interpretation of post-grad life is often acknowledged as being ungrounded. But the truth is that for a small specific percentage of the American population, that interpretation is actually a reality. And this percentage—consisting of those that do not have to undergo the ‘cleanup process’ and are able to maintain their creative momentum—is the percentage that gets the big jobs constantly depicted in films.

“POST GRADUATION LIFE SO FAR? CLEANING UP THE MESS THAT HAS BEEN MADE AS A RESULT OF FIVE YEARS OF UNIVERSITY, WHILE NAVIGATING DAILY NEEDS WITHOUT STUDENT DISCOUNTS AND PLANS.” The debt ghost Debt can be an invisible demon throughout university, where you are telling yourself that it is simply a reality of our day and age and you are using it to better yourself for future employment. All that reassuring makes debt seem ghost-like; that notion is torn down with the very first call from BC Student Loan Services inquiring about direct deposit options. It’s a catch 22; loan money allows you to focus on school, while the programs and community school provides keep you creative and productive. Out of university, you’re faced with the fact that loans are gone, and you now have debt to pay off while devoid of a ready-made creative posse. So you get yourself a job unrelated to your degree while trying to generate revenue and inspiration from freelancing or commissioning gigs—all of this on very little living money. Meanwhile, we pick our vices along the way, or they pick us—if the situation tempts it. A clear head doesn’t always help creativity, but a muffled one doesn’t either; the balance is completely situational to the person. After the first round of debt kicking a university graduate’s ass, their passion and ambition can really be put to the test. In reality, the more obstacles placed in front of a goal that is truly desired, the more driven to achieve it you are likely to become. Urgency and momentum One of the biggest fears artistic post-graduates face is losing

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creative momentum. This is something that cannot be avoided if the former student is in a race against bill deadlines, madly depositing the tips from their weekend job until they’re able to tap the payment button on their online banking app. Meanwhile, at twenty-four years old, I’ve been published by a fair number of newspapers, completed two newspaper internships, a magazine internship, and acquired a Bachelor of Arts degree. These are below average feats in the New York young writer scene, and my age was—for the first time—an embarrassment for me, simply because the scene I had stumbled into consisted of people from a different background. Many writers wrap themselves in their accomplishments, but feel so far away from them at the same time. It’s a strange wonder how accomplishments are so quickly forgotten, until they eventually become lost. It’s the momentum of accomplishments that give outsiders the impression that you are successful. For artists and writers, the concept of becoming a ‘has-been’ is a daily fear.

“WHAT A YOUNG TEENAGER DOESN’T CONSIDER IS THAT THE CULTURE FOR YOUNG WRITERS IN THE U.S. IS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT FROM CANADA’S BECAUSE THERE IS SIMPLY NO MEDIA INTERPRETATION OF CANADIAN POST-GRAD CREATIVE CULTURE.” Post graduation life so far? Cleaning up the mess that has been made as a result of five years of university, while navigating daily needs without student discounts and plans. There is always a kind of romanticism surrounding art—something that drives us to it throughout our adolescence. University makes it clearer, and either wipes it out or fuels it. Post-graduation strips it of the romantism to its bare bones and allows a clear view of what exactly you are committing to. If you are wise, you will undergo the difficult but necessary process of ignoring Americanized projections of creative professionals and throw away urgency. The passion doesn’t disappear during post-grad limbo—it eats at you like a virus until it is the only thing that matters.

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PIZZA • PASTA • WINGS • BEER

YES! WE DELIVER TO CAMPUS

(LOCATED DOWNTOWN NEXT TO PITA PIT)

OPEN LATE

(250) 717-1111 class

THIRTY THREE

the grand narrative UBCO ALUMNI

n the top floor of the Landmark 1 building in Central Kelowna, there is a studio. A studio with a paper bag mailbox taped to the outside wall, the sound of Buena Vista Social Club emanating through the walls, and the business cards of three artists on the outside door. Those three artists happen to be Connor Charlesworth, Melissa Demale and Cale Shannon, talented graduates of UBCO who crossed the stage this past June with Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees, and have been making waves in the arts scene ever since. They call themselves The Grand Narrative. I sat down with Connor, Melissa, and Cale on a sunny afternoon, and discussed their studio, life after university, and their plans for their careers as artists. Regarding whether they could justify pursuing an arts degree, Cale responded with a blunt, “Not yet.” Which, in all honesty, is a completely understandable response. I asked if any of them regretted taking an visual arts degree. “I can’t think of anything else I would of taken!” laughed Connor. Cale nodded, “Anything else that I would have taken would of been something I wanted to be creative in. Engineering might have been able to offer that but I doubt that there would of been tons of opportunity for creative thinking.” Melissa, a creative writing minor, added, “It offers a perspective on a lot of other things that you wouldn’t necessarily get, it offers a lot of freedom.” “There would definitely be less emphasis on questioning culture and questioning the world we live in,” Cale noted, “I mean, they are very concerned about solving certain problems, but at least with a fine arts degree we get to look into why some of these problems are problems.” “I think creative problem solving is very applicable,” said Connor, “It’s applicable across the board. It gives you the ability to take something and look at it from all different angles, and provide creative solutions.” Fine arts degrees are complicated degrees to explain. Unlike most degrees fine arts doesn’t have textbooks, equations or practicums. They are solely on the talent and self motivation of the artist and their own interpretation of art. I asked how we they address facing the stigma that a fine arts degrees aren’t as valuable as other degrees. “There’s no way that the fine arts degree is valuable in money, it’s self value (challenge) and what you learn about yourself,” said Cale. “You can’t really prove to other people how valuable it is,” added Melissa, “You have to show that value to yourself. As personal and scary as that sounds, art is one of the most self enduring practices out there.” “Most of what I’ve learned is about myself.” added Connor. I asked what they would do if someone ever voiced judgment on their fine arts degrees. “I think I’ll come to accept that some people are judgemental and will never understand art.” said Melissa. “You can’t look at all art and expect people to interpret it right away and, as Connor

explained, I couldn’t imagine a life without arts and culture. So for people who are like that (judgmental)...art’s not a part of their life. That would be so strange and unfulfilling.” “I’d try to open up a dialogue and ask why they would feel arts degrees are so worthless what is the worth that they’re comparing it too,” stated Cale, “People just need to understand the history of it, they can’t just jump in and ‘get it’.” “Some people just feel art is visual not academic, you don’t have the answers in front of you.” added Melissa. The Grand Narrative formed early in July of this year; they’ve been working within close quarters of each other. Cale is a screenprinter and uses digital images to expose onto his silkscreens, while Melissa and Connor are both large scale realism oil painters. With the variety of mediums and different styles that each artist uses, I asked how they’ve all influence each other. “In some ways, yeah, my styles have changed, but I find that I get a lot of support with my art. I’d be more narrow and restricted if I didn’t have these two.” stated Kale.“Space is so important to pursue being an artist,” Melissa emphasized. As an artist, myself, I can’t help but agree. The space that they’re sharing is important for them as a collective to grow together. Having your own space to create in, outside of your everyday life, lets you be more creative. Connor and Melissa agreed that having a space allows the to have set times of when they want to work, without having to worry about bothering anybody. Kale talked about how the studio acts as an escape from life. They just focus on their art and help each other out. Theirs is a strong friendship created from necessity. One that allows for them to trust each others opinions in a non biased professional way. As the year goes on, their studio will not continue being a place just for them. As a collective, they have plans for launching themselves in 2016, and opening up their studio space to the public. “There are ideas that I have for audiences,” Cale grins. They want to grow the art community of Kelowna as young emerging artists, with group discussions and movie nights. I asked what they felt their role will be in the art community and how they plan on being remembered as a collective and as artists. “[There is] nothing in Kelowna...like this, right now, for younger artists,” stated Connor, “I’d like be known as a mentor. A voice for the younger artists.” “Kelowna is a very strange space to live in,” added Cale, “It always consisted of what was here before, or importing culture from different centres. There never was a distinct cultural difference [that set Kelowna apart]. I want to be remembered as a contributor to the younger generation.” Melissa said with a smile, “It doesn’t matter to me (being remembered). It’s not something I want to think about. I just want to focus on my art.” For now, they all have opinions and visions for the Kelowna art community as varied as their mediums and inspirations. For the future, I’m excited to see how The Grand Narrative will change it.

WRITTEN BY SHAYLA RITCHIE ART PROVIDED BY THE GRAND NARRATIVE

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ubco alumni

IMAGES COURTESY OF THE GRAND NARRATIVE

THIRTY ONE

COUNSELLING BEFORE BREAKFAST: ETHERAPY WORDS BY NICOLE LEGG

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s millennial babies grow up, the way that companies provide services and do business are developing based on the growing value we place on technology. Many services are being shifted online to keep up with the demand for easy, flexible, and convenient access. Recently, several streams of healthcare have gone virtual as well. We check WebMD and diagnose ourselves with a rare and lethal parasite that is most certainly the cause of our stomachache. We call hotlines to reach doctors and nurses to get advice about health and medical symptoms. We’ve put our trust in and dependence on numerous virtual services...so why not mental health services? The term mental health still triggers discomfort and uncertainty for many people. As with most things, the best way to keep society thinking progressively about mental health is

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through education. To put it simply, mental health can be thought of as a continuum ranging from healthy and happy, to distress and struggle.

“ETHERAPY, OR MORE COMMONLY KNOWN AS ONLINE COUNSELLING, IS BEGINNING TO GAIN POPULARITY WORLDWIDE, ESPECIALLY AMONG YOUNGER GENERATIONS.” Every single person experiences mental health and falls somewhere on this continuum. It is where an individual falls on this continuum that determines the state of their mental health. As conversations about mental health have begun cropping up, people have become more comfortable with the idea of actively seeking mental health services—

though this is not the case for all. Inhibition could stem from a variety of reasons, such as stigma, denial, confusion, and inability to access qualified clinicians, due to scheduling or mobility restrictions. The new era upon us, of digitized services, just may solve most of these issues. eTherapy—more commonly known as online counselling—is beginning to gain popularity worldwide, especially among younger generations. eTherapy is the term that defines counselling services that are relayed virtually and involve human interaction between a clinician and patient. It can include texting, instant messaging, emailing, phoning, or video call correspondence between the clinician and patient for the purposes of mental health, life, and relationship counsel. This is slightly different than online counselling; online counselling is a broader term than encompasses any type of counsel that is obtained over the Internet. Though both terms are often used interchangeably, with multiple definitions, eTherapy can be understood as a specifically referring to the human interaction portion of online counselling.

“THE IMPORTANCE OF SELF-CARE IS UNDISPUTABLE, ESPECIALLY IN A COMPETITIVE ACADEMIC ENVIRONMENT WHERE THE GAME PLAYED IS ‘SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST’.”

eTherapy can be a highly convenient and functional solution for individuals with busy schedules to receive the help that they may need, especially students. Many students find themselves feeling overwhelmed, anxious, or depressed during the busy and stressful school year. The thought of taking a few hours of time out of the week to try to schedule counselling appointments around exam schedules, studying, extracurricular activities, and social lives can be perceived as an addition to the stress. eTherapy offers individuals and students a way to connect with certified clinicians and receive counselling for challenges they may be facing without having to consider commuting and scheduling difficulties. A large meta-analysis study directly compared Internet intervention therapies to face-to-face sessions and found that there were no significant differences in effectiveness, supporting the legitimacy of eTherapy. When people hear the term eTherapy they may assume that it is a second tier or backup option to traditional face-to-face counselling. The scientific literature, as well as a glance at how we operate digitally in today’s society, indicates that eTherapy should not be considered a lesser option. eTherapy via video, text, and phone has been shown to be an effective means of treating common concerns such as anxiety, depression, eating disorders, panic disorders, substance abuse, and many more concerns. However, this is not to say that eTherapy doesn’t have its limitations; the most important aspect of eTherapy is that it is much more effective than no therapy at all.

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As eTherapy is still a relatively new modality of counselling, it is important that prospective patients are educated on the topic. Credentials of eTherapists should be checked, as eTherapy is currently an unregulated practice. eTherapy is not an appropriate option for individuals who are experiencing thoughts of suicide, harm to oneself or others, or psychotic episodes. There are databases and websites that advertise eTherapy services, however many of these sites promote unlicensed therapists, require a login and account, or have a service fee. Some databases, such as myetherapist.com, have verified the credentials of their therapists, do not require a login or customer fees, and allow you to search and directly contact the therapist that specializes in your concern. The importance of self-care is undisputable, especially in a competitive academic environment where the game played is â&#x20AC;&#x153;survival of the fittestâ&#x20AC;?. eTherapy provides us with an invaluable opportunity to break down barriers and eliminate inhibiting concerns, allowing more individuals to access the help they are looking for.

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THIRTY FOUR

DYLAN LENZ, SERIAL ENTREPRENEUR

5 LESSONS FROM A COLLEGE DROPOUT WORDS BY DYLAN LENZ PHOTO BY ANASTASIA FOX

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o you think you want to drop out? Recently there seems to be no shortage of success stories detailing 22-year-old tech millionaires, or a friend of a friend who started a blog while living in Bali last summer and just got sponsored by Lonely Planet. Our society champions the college dropout, the outlier, that exceptional individual who goes against all odds and all reason to win big. Everyone loves an underdog story. Perhaps you’re thinking you could be one of these outliers. You are Gen-Y after all—and if you know anything about yourself, it’s that your parents are right...you are special. Perhaps it’s been a hard year and that last physics final pushed you over the edge. Perhaps you’re lost and you don’t know what you want to do with your life... but again, you’re special, important, brilliant, and you know you’re going to make a difference somehow. You’re just...broke. That was me: I was broke. I’d lost my scholarship because socializing with smart people in bars THIRTY SIX

was more appealing than socializing with smart people in libraries. My student loan was drying up, fast, and my parents were still recovering from the 2008 US financial crisis. I was driving a newer Audi (one of the few remnants from better times)but it needed new brakes, and I wasn’t living at home; I watched as the February rent cut my bank balance down to its last $2300. So, I did what any sane 20-year-old would do: I turned to Google. While searching for a job, I was met with story after story of young millionaires who were running businesses while still attending university, or those who had dropped out after their company hit it big. All it seemed to take was an idea...so I came up with an idea. BookEx. I noticed how many students were using Facebook as a platform to sell textbooks and decided to build a site that centralized that exchange, allowing buyers and sellers who were not already friends to connect. I wrote a business plan, thirty pages of b——t, then printed out

YOU WILL FAIL, AND IT WILL SUCK

NDAs (non-disclosure agreements) to have my friends sign—because if I knew anything about business and great startup ideas it was that you can’t trust anyone, right? I found a business partner, a friend in management who would do sales and marketing while I wrote code and looked for investors. We got a business bank account, because that’s what businesses do. We went to StartUp Weekend and found a couple of programmers who could help with the server-side scripting. We worked hard, as hard as we could, but we lost. Even though I thought our idea was genius, even though we had a deal with the Students Union to help us launch on campus. The judges didn’t see it that way; they thought e-books would kill us sooner rather than later. So I did what any sane, broke 20-year-old would do at their first real failure: I quit the startup, got a job, and dropped out of university. In the three years since dropping out, I have failed too many times to count. I’ve also had a few wins and, luckily, those wins were significant. The job I got was a good job and I made a s—t-ton of money. The next startup I did taught me a lot about software, tech, working with others, and sales sales, before it was acquired for a s—t-ton of money. The business after that was even more of an education; more hard work, more failures, setbacks, headaches. Eventually, it too was acquired for a s—t-ton of money. Somehow, this puts me in a position to relay some of my ‘wisdom’ to you the reader, who also may be considering joining the Land of College Dropouts. So here it is, 5 Lessons from a College Dropout: 1. THE HARD THING ABOUT HARD THINGS, IS EXECUTION

We’ll start at the beginning. Dropping out of university is hard, getting into university is not hard. Easy tiger, let me explain. I grew up in the United States where the high school system is really designed to do two things: get the bottom half of the bell curve functionally literate, and get the top half ready for college applications. In a country ten times the size of Canada, the competition to get into school is fierce—or at least that’s how universities like it to look. In reality, universities view incoming students as cost centers and research as the central profit center. I will agree that going to a Stanford or Harvard is difficult; however, the top 80% of any graduating class in the US and Canada has the opportunity to go to college or university (albeit at varying levels of prestige). Once accepted, students—the cost centers that they are—are educated as cheaply as possible, often by professors whose main objective is not to be great educators but to pursue their research projects.

“PERHAPS YOU’RE THINKING YOU COULD BE ONE OF THESE EXCEPTIONS. YOU ARE GEN-Y AFTER ALL, AND IF YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT YOURSELF IT’S THAT YOUR PARENTS ARE RIGHT, YOU ARE SPECIAL.” This disconnect between high costs, middling quality educators, and the general bureaucracy of learning on a standardized time table is where university becomes difficult and teaches resourcefulness in a broken system. It’s no surprise that most schools have a 30% attrition rate after the first year, with only about 50% of students complete their degrees after 6 years.

THIRTY SEVEN

Conversely, dropping out is just as challenging. While the film The Social Network can cut scenes and elapse time to create a nice story that anyone can digest in two hours, this is your life. And as Tyler Durden put it so well, “It’s ending one minute at a time”. If you do drop out there is no Beautiful Mind moment where you come up with a Will Hunting-esque algorithm on a window that solves an amazing problem after a few minutes of conversation. Brilliance and creativity take hard work. Even for those of us with IQ’s in the 99.9th percentile: time still exists, and after you have that brilliant idea, if you get one, you then have to execute it. That’s what this all comes down to. Execution. The hard thing about hard things, is execution. Sitting around with your friends talking about learning a particularly hard thing or about starting a website is just that: talk. The world is won by the hustlers, the fast moving, fast talking doers of our society, I think Bob Dylan put it best, “He not busy being born, is busy dying.” So please don’t think that the moment you drop out, the heavens will open and your purpose will be delivered. You have to find it, and you find it by doing s–t.

“AT THE END OF THE DAY, IF YOU WANT TO MAKE MONEY, YOU NEED TO DO WHAT PEOPLE WANT.” 2. YOU WILL FAIL AND IT WILL SUCK Your first startup/idea/plan will probably fail because, inherently, the more things you try, the more things you will fail at. And because most startups fail. For some, this may seem counterintuitive to your present life experience: You’re a winner, you got into one of the best schools in the world, you get excellent marks, and look at all of those trophies and awards on your bedroom wall! Your parents are proud of you because of all of your accomplishments, NOT just because you are their child. Oh, if only this were the case. Real life is not a series of achievements predicated by teachers, parents, and coaches. There is no participation medal and mediocrity will not be championed. Not only will you fail, but it will not be fun. It is true, you should fail fast and fail often—after all that is how Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos came to be. But what seems to get lost in hindsight is that failure does not get any easier and it does not feel any better the more it happens. It is true you will learn from it, and that value often makes the failures worth it...but they always sting and you need to learn how to get back up. Since I’ve dropped out, I’ve had some massive failures. I’ve lost clients and failed to close accounts because of late software. I’ve had my business broken into and lost over $200,000 in cash, equipment, and merchandise. I’ve built apps that no one wanted. I’ve spent months on projects with bad co-founders that blew up in the end. Every time it sucks, and eventually your friends will become apprehensive of opening your emails, knowing that its probably you asking to share a link on Facebook for a new idea because once again your last one failed—and that’s okay. At least you are doing something and putting yourself out there. Trying to squeeze a dollar out of a dime is one of the noblest things a person can do, at least it is if we’ve learned anything from Hustle & Flow. 3. YOU ARE A PRODUCT LOOKING FOR A MARKET Everything is comes down to Product/Market fit, and the sooner you realize you’re the product, the better off you’ll be. If you do decide to drop out, or even if you graduate and enter the work force, you will probably do a bit of job-hopping and your LinkedIn page will fill up with a number of one-year stints at assorted jobs. I did this and thought it was a bad, but it’s not. As you get older, that sort of job-hopping can become a problem if it continues. A 35-year-old, with a spouse and two kids, who can’t keep a job for a year is not likely a picture of success—but for you, a young person trying to figure your s—t out, you need

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to job hop. You need to experience as much as you can, as fast as you can, and fail quickly so that you can figure out where your product/market fit is. In the book Hackers & Painters, Paul Graham pens an essay that describes this well. At the end of the day, if you want to make money, you need to do what people want. That is how trade works and no matter if you are an artist, a plumber, a lawyer or a programmer you are trading your skills in the marketplace for market value determined by the quality of your output. I think we forget that this is what is going on with our careers. We personify ourselves as more than mere actors in an economic exchange and while that is often a good thing, it’s not ideal to completely lose sight of that sterile version of ourselves as we attempt to survive in the marketplace. By looking at yourself as an economic actor who must do something people want, you will realize that doing something people want is rather easy. Everyone can sweep floors or make hamburgers, but perhaps that does not fulfill you. You, the product, are not happy in that market and so you still must find the Product/Market fit. The sooner you realize what you want, the happier you’ll be—but this requires experimentation. This does not mean you should try on all of the hats to see which one fits: you should select the handful of hats that you think you might enjoy wearing and try them on. Consequently, this means that you probably will want to leave school; even though taking a number of courses across a number of disciplines seems to be a method of finding out what you like and who you are, it is a flawed approach because it exists in a vacuum. Iterating your product (yourself) to establish product/market fit requires you to exist in a market. Think back to yourself at 12 years old and how within a year you could go from liking N’SYNC and Brittany Spears, to Sum 41 and Blink 182, to Notorious BIG and the Beastie Boys, often times changing some of the kids you hung out with. This is you trying to establish product/market fit and it’s important so embrace it! Don’t be afraid to quit what you’re doing if it’s not what you want to do. This search does not end at 15, 22, or even 45. Iterating yourself, learning, and pursuing goals that challenge and interest you is what life is about. Yes, I just revealed the meaning of life, now go f——g do something! 4. YOU WILL NEVER STOP QUESTIONING YOURSELF There will be times when you feel empowered and on top of the world. You will feel like you beat the system, and you will scroll through Facebook imagining all of the student loans and wasted time of your peers—those times will bleed into crippling self doubt, often following one of the inevitable aforementioned failures. This is why it’s good to have a backup plan. Don’t burn bridges or tank your GPA before you leave school. You may want to come back after you’ve realized you really want to be an Engineer or a Lawyer and that being an entrepreneur or fry cook is not right for you. Going back to school is an option and one that I have toyed with many times. I have a great relationship with the University of Toronto admissions office after I’ve deferred entering their Honors Computer Science program for the nth time. Self doubt will exist no matter what, even if you’re Evan Spiegel or Mark Zuckerberg, but it gets better the further out you get.

“YOU NEED TO EXPERIENCE AS MUCH AS YOU CAN AS FAST AS YOU CAN AND FAIL QUICKLY SO YOU CAN FIGURE OUT WHERE YOUR PRODUCT/MARKET FIT IS.” If you do drop out, eventually you’ll probably realize you just can’t go back because there is nothing there for you but a piece of paper that requires you to sacrifice a chunk of cash and a few more years of your life, and that really doesn’t open that many

THIRTY EIGHT

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more doors for you in a world where skills and experience beat out degrees almost every time. If you don’t drop out, you’ll be searching for your product/market fit the same way your friends who dropped out had to do two years earlier. The secret here is to do what you want, do what interests you, what keeps you up at night excited to wake up. Stop looking around at what everyone else is doing, what they’re interested in, what their resume looks like. Again, “this is YOUR life and it’s ending one minute at a time.” 5. THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO LEARN IS HOW TO LEARN Finally, the last lesson is perhaps the most important one for both dropouts and those who stay on the path to their degree. The most important thing to learn is how to learn. With this skill, you are unstoppable. If you can make yourself crack open a textbook or seek out mentors and teachers who can teach you what you need to know outside of a formal classroom, you will be great at life. Learning does not stop the day you finish school or after the first year on the job. Learning should be a lifelong pursuit. If you have the right attitude about it and know how to do it, the better off you will be. I learned more through self-educating in two months of summer after my first year at university, than the previous nine months of school, largely due to the fact that I could learn at my own speed, choose my own curriculum, and follow my interests. I realize that this is not the case with everybody. Structure can be important, though I know too many engineering grads who have not opened a book in the two years since they finished school because they have such a bad taste in their mouths from being force fed academic and technical readings, without a corresponding real world application. Learning is a privilege; it’s wonderful, but so often we are forced to learn things that we don’t have any interest in, in ways we can’t apply into real world problems. Taking your education into your own hands, in or out of school, is the only way you’re going to be satisfied. Learning how to learn is the best way to do that.

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FINAL REMARKS Dropping out is a big decision, but so is staying in. Teaching yourself the core skills required to get a certain job or become an entrepreneur is not for everyone—but staying in school while racking up debt and learning on someone else’s timetable is not for everyone either. I’ve been extremely lucky to have a decent level of success, looking back on the last few years, but there has been a lot of b——t and headaches along the way. In the end, I’m glad I dropped out, though I do doubt myself and worry that I missed out on something by not completing my degree. Dropping out is a risk but for those of us that do, we do it because—for us—it’s the lesser of two evils; for us, it’s a risk we find somewhat manageable, while remaining in school seems somewhat unmanageable. Every one of us, in or out of school, is searching for purpose, for product/market fit. Both are challenging to find, both are hard, but we tend to avoid the fact that the successful people in our society would likely have found a way to success, no matter their level of education or where they live. Being capable, being smart, and doing things is not the simply the byproduct of a university education. It’s more than that, and we should not discount personal determination and hard work outside of an academic institution. You are not a lottery ticket, with your numbers predetermined to win or lose. Inside or outside of school, smart people figure out how to succeed. If success is a mountain, the way to the summit is a long, winding road around, or a quick, vertical climb via the side of a cliff. The tricky part is knowing yourself and whether dropping out or staying in school will get you faster to the top.

“EVENTUALLY YOU’LL REALIZE YOU CAN’T GO BACK BECAUSE THERE IS NOTHING THERE FOR YOU BUT A PIECE OF PAPER THAT REQUIRES YOU TO SACRIFICE A CHUNK OF CASH AND A FEW MORE YEARS OF YOUR LIFE AND REALLY DOESN’T OPEN THAT MANY MORE DOORS FOR YOU IN A WORLD WHERE SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE BEAT OUT DEGREES ALMOST EVERY TIME.”

FORTY

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