Tag: Melbourne

Hope Edition

Gritting Your Teeth

Words by: Alice Wright
Art by: Uyen Dien

One thing we can all relate to is the inevitable highs and lows that life offers us. I think sometimes it seems as though every win is matched with three losses. As soon as you feel like you’re climbing the ladder of victory, there’s a strong, mighty wind that swoops around to knock you down a few pegs. When I’m feeling positive, I like to see it as character-building. When I’m revelling in pessimism, I feel sorry for myself and like to blame my own actions for things not going the way I wish they did. Really, it’s a horrible feeling to be down on yourself. But what’s the key to being resilient through our ongoing misfortunes?

… Gritting Your Teeth
Hope Edition

Glass Half Full

Words by: Lochie McKay 
Art by: My Tieu Ly

I think my love affair with the bright side of life started when my dad and I watched Monty Python’s Life of Brian — we’re the only two people in our family of six who loved that movie. For those of you who haven’t seen it, Brian is mistakenly believed to be the messiah, despite his protests that he is just an ordinary guy. He is then sentenced to death and while all his followers and his girlfriend have the chance to save him, they instead vow to preach his teachings and form a new religion in his name. So, as he is hanging there after being crucified, his buddy the next cross along tells him to “cheer up you old bugger, give us a grin” and launches into song. Needless to say, the joke never fails to get a good laugh out of me. 

… Glass Half Full
Hope Edition

Adulting

Words by: Soraya Rezal 
Art by: Callum Johnson

At 15 years old, all I could think about was how great it would be if I lived alone, because that would mean I was an adult, right? I could sing my lungs out without being judged, leave the house whenever I wanted and eat at whatever time I desired. The thought of having complete independence was enticing, but I didn’t quite think about the responsibilities that came with being an adult. When the day finally came — or more accurately, the days leading up to it — I was terrified, to say the least.

… Adulting
Hope Edition

Financial Security: From the Perspective of a Student

Words by: Tess Kent 
Art by: Carla J. Romana

I’m sitting in my first-year marketing class. The term ‘sitting in’ is a bit of a stretch, given that it’s 2020 and all of my classes have been shifted to this peculiar platform called Zoom. We’re learning about the premise of cost/sacrifice value and I’m half paying attention, thinking about whether or not I need to remember this information for this week’s Moodle quiz. Yet, fast forward to two years later and now every day I live the eternal struggle of evaluating the cost/sacrifice value of my silly little $6.50 almond latte. 

… Financial Security: From the Perspective of a Student
Hope Edition

Glass Half Empty

Words by: Sarah Arturi
Art by: My Tieu Ly

If I were given a dollar for every time I was told to ‘stay positive’ and to ‘keep my chin up’ in all kinds of negative situations growing up, I’d probably be a millionaire by now. I heard it from everyone — teachers, friends, family, Disney movies, and even fictional characters in books. It helped me through some tough times, I’ll admit, but somehow I always managed to find peace in preparing for the worst. I guess you could say I’m a glass-half-empty kind of girl, and whilst some may believe this mindset is to my detriment, I dare all the optimists to practise what they preach: look on the bright side. 

… Glass Half Empty
Hope Edition

The Happiest Day

Words by: Bryan Hoadley
Art by: Adrienne Aw

The taxi fills with sunlight. I’ve never been to this city before, but as I look out the window, I instinctively know I’m in LA. The car pulls up in front of a bright white hotel with large circular pillars and gleaming windows. 

“Ms Davis is waiting for you in the foyer,” says a suited employee while ushering me inside. My chest tightens in anticipation. Hollywood, Davis — this can only mean one thing. 

… The Happiest Day
Hope Edition

Starting Afresh

Words by: Angel Tully
Art by: Madeleine Galea

My mother thought she had her whole life ahead of her at 25. She had just married her high-school sweetheart of nearly ten years and was beginning to climb the ranks in the fashion industry while working for Nautica. Moving from a small town in Canada to the big city of Toronto, her life was playing out like a rom-com. But by the time she turned 26, her dream life was crumbling around her. 

… Starting Afresh
Hope Edition

She Is the Navy Blue

Words by: Caitlin Cefai  
Art by: Madison Marshall

The sweat. The rush. The crowd. The bounce. The game. It’s full throttle: no protective gear, played in the dead of winter, and known for being a petri dish for vulgarity and violence in its crowd. Aussie Rules is the sport for Australians. It’s as tough as its namesake nation — the soul of a home with over 60,000 years of history. It’s a game for all Australians… 

Well, up until only six years ago, it was actually a game just for men.

… She Is the Navy Blue
Hope Edition

A Kid’s Dream

Words by: Gabriela Fannia 
Art by: Emilia Bajer

Innocent wishes and boundless imagination, with a touch of hopefulness — that is what childhood dreams are made of. Funny how we don’t remember most things from the past (let alone last Monday’s dinner), yet a childhood dream will always have its place in a precious storage box, tucked inside the mind. 

… A Kid’s Dream
Hope Edition

Disappointing the Family

Words by: Jackie Zhou
Art by: Mon Ouk

Asian parents.

This pair of words, no matter what background you are from, may have elicited some sort of image or reaction from you; perhaps it’s a ‘helicopter mum’, or a pair of harsh and strict parents who disdain the arts and force their poor second-gen immigrant children to become doctors, lawyers or engineers. Maybe it’s the generational trauma passed down each line on the pedigree chart, a theme we have been seeing a lot in our media, depicting the stories of Asian immigrant families and the dynamic between traumatised parents and cultural freedom-seeking children.

… Disappointing the Family
Politics Edition

Just Call Me Lucifer

Words by: Kiera Eardley 
Art by: Naiya Sornratanachai

“…as heads is tails / just call me Lucifer / ’cause I’m in need of some restraint”

‘Sympathy for the Devil’ (1968), The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones have courted controversy for their entire 60-year career. The British rock & roll band was marketed as the anti-establishment antidote to the saccharine Beatles — and they didn’t shy away from living up to that bad-boy image. 

… Just Call Me Lucifer
Politics Edition

Democracy Sudoku

Words and Art by: Callum Johnson

If this year’s federal election has shown us anything, young voters can have a drastic impact on the political landscape. But how do you figure out who to vote for to begin with? Adrift in a sea of old men in suits, it’s all too easy to lose yourself amidst the myriad of political parties, the differences between which can seem like little more than shades of grey (or caucasian, more accurately) to the uninformed. 

… Democracy Sudoku
Politics Edition

Environment Woes and Climate-Activist Hoes

Words by: Alice Wright
Art by: Molly Burmeister

In the past year, Australia was ranked dead last for its climate policy, with no current plan in place to work towards transitioning to renewable energy on a national level. No new policies have been announced to reach zero emissions by 2050, and each and every year we watch on as houses are burnt down and flooded, leaving Australians left with little hope for the future. 

… Environment Woes and Climate-Activist Hoes
Politics Edition

Too Big To Be Cancelled

Words by: Juliette Capomolla
Art by: Carla J. Romana

Whether or not you believe in cancel culture; whether or not you think people, places or things should be ‘cancelled’; whether or not you are yet to find someone who’s actually been ‘cancelled’ — it’s undeniable that there are some meteorically popular sensations that are simply too big to be cancelled. Before you tell me I’m being hyperbolic, hear me out. 

… Too Big To Be Cancelled
Politics Edition

Reverse-engineering My Thoughts on Plastic Surgery

Words by: Felice Lok
Art by: Natalie Tran

“You see, more often than not, the people who shame women the most are actually women themselves.”

I remember first grappling with the notion of internalised misogyny while preparing for my Year 12 oral exam. My topic was about why all men play a role in eliminating violence against women, and the way I wrote it fixated heavily on how men were always the main perpetrators. While I was rehearsing in my English teacher’s office after school one afternoon, she said something that I didn’t really understand at the time, but has stuck with me ever since. She said:  “you see, more often than not, the people who shame women the most are actually women themselves.”

… Reverse-engineering My Thoughts on Plastic Surgery
Politics Edition

Table Manners

Words by: Sarah Louise
Art by: Lauren Easter

You spot him seated at a small table in the corner. Thank God, he looks like his Hinge profile. The restaurant is dimly lit, so hopefully he won’t notice the pimple that rudely decided to pop up this morning. He stands up to greet you, pulls your chair out and fills your glass with water. Tick. 

… Table Manners