OPINION: Are Canadian Students Apolitical?
Avoiding politics until the consequences catch up.
Hi there - I'm Han. I write public-interest stories that connect lived experience to systems of power.
Han is a University of Toronto Political Science student and reporter covering campus affairs, politics, migration, and social justice. Her reporting focuses on how institutional decisions, public policy, and political movements affect students and local communities. She has published news coverage with The Varsity and The Medium.
Latest Articles
UTMSU hosts town hall and rally over OSAP changes and tuition increases
Over March 18–19, students gathered at UTM to protest recent changes to the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) and the tuition freeze lifting. In interviews with The Varsity, organizers warned that the shift toward loans will make postsecondary education less accessible.Town hall outlines concerns over affordabilityAt a March 18 town hall, University of Toronto Mississauga Students’ Union (UTMSU) leaders described the Ford government’s OSAP restructuring as a significant threat to afforda...
Border Flashpoints: What NATO Can Learn from the Thailand–Cambodia Crisis
The 2025 border crisis between Thailand and Cambodia serves as a case study in how unresolved territorial disputes can rapidly escalate when political incentives, historical grievances, and weak conflict-management mechanisms intersect. While the fighting itself remained geographically limited to contested areas near the temple complexes of Preah Vihear Temple and Prasat Ta Muen, the dynamics that drove the crisis are broadly applicable to many contemporary security environments.
For policyma...
For policyma...
Why Gen Z Is Romanticizing Healing Without Doing the Hard Work
Gen Z loves to talk about healing. We talk about protecting our peace, setting boundaries, choosing ourselves, cutting off toxic people, and becoming the best version of ourselves. We post journal prompts, morning routines, solo date vlogs, and captions about growth. We know the language. We know the signs. We know how to describe emotional wounds with almost clinical precision.But knowing what healing sounds like is not the same thing as actually doing it.
Somewhere along the way, healing b...
Somewhere along the way, healing b...
Highlights from 2026 UTMSU all candidates forum
On March 5, candidates from the IgniteUTM and ServeUTM slates participated in an “all candidates forum” ahead of the UTMSU election. The entire debate can be viewed on the UTMSU’s Instagram page.Voting will take place from March 10–12, with polling stations open each day from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm. Students can cast their ballots at five campus buildings: William G. Davis Building (DV), Communication, Culture, and Technology Building (CCT), Instructional Centre (IB), Deerfield Hall Building (DH), a...
OPINION: THE ELITE NEVER WANTED US EDUCATED
Ontario says it’s investing in students—so why does it feel like we’re paying for it?
SHE WAS A GIRL BEFORE SHE WAS A MOM
Mothers have existed before you and continue to exist beyond you.
Estimated 12 Palestinian students accepted to U of T face difficulties securing a study visa
There are currently over 130 graduate students who have received offers of admission to Canadian universities, but cannot complete the biometrics assessment required for a Canadian study visa.The Palestinian Students and Scholars at Risk (PSSAR) network is a nonprofit organization that has helped Palestinian students facing barriers to higher education following the destruction of Gaza’s universities. It helps connect Palestinian students with institutions abroad by forming a direct line of comm...
Breaking barriers: Black Future Lawyers UTM hosts BHM student success panel
On February 4, Black Future Lawyers UTM (BFL UTM) hosted Breaking Barriers: A Student Success Panel to support Black students as they navigate pathways to law school and the legal profession. The panel, organized for Black History Month with the University of Toronto Mississauga Students’ Union (UTMSU), brought together undergraduate and law students, U of T alumni, and UTM community leaders to discuss mentorship, LSAT preparation, and the challenges Black students face entering competitive and...
Comedy, music, and dance take centre stage at MHSA open mic charity
The UTM Mental Health Student Association’s open mic night showcased student performers and raised funds for CAMH.
Lost in Translation: Terms of Endearment
Love is a universal language. But, what does it sound like across the globe? Whilst love is in the air, here are three terms of endearment across three different languages and cultures.
Nguyen Bao Han Tran: In Vietnamese, love comes with caution.
In Vietnamese, love is rarely loud.
There is no casual “ I love you,” no easy phrase tossed at the end of phone calls. Instead, we have thương, a word that sits between care, devotion, and quiet responsibility. It doesn’t sparkle. It doesn’t flirt. It stays.
Growing up, I rarely heard the word yêu–the direct translation for love. My mother never said it. Instead, she said, Mẹ thương con. At the time, I didn’t recognize it as affection. Only later did I realize that thương carried something heavier than romance: commitment without performance.
Nguyen Bao Han Tran: In Vietnamese, love comes with caution.
In Vietnamese, love is rarely loud.
There is no casual “ I love you,” no easy phrase tossed at the end of phone calls. Instead, we have thương, a word that sits between care, devotion, and quiet responsibility. It doesn’t sparkle. It doesn’t flirt. It stays.
Growing up, I rarely heard the word yêu–the direct translation for love. My mother never said it. Instead, she said, Mẹ thương con. At the time, I didn’t recognize it as affection. Only later did I realize that thương carried something heavier than romance: commitment without performance.
Who gets to love, publicly?
Valentine’s Day is often framed as a universal celebration of love. Each year, it arrives with familiar imagery: pink storefronts, romantic promotions, and social media posts that suggest love is something easily shared and widely accepted. Yet this version of Valentine’s Day tells only part of the story. A problem with the holiday is that it promotes a narrow idea of what love should look like, heterosexual, monogamous, public, and socially approved, while quietly excluding those who do not fit that mold.
Japan’s Military Revival and North Korea’s Escalation: NATO’s New Indo-Pacific Challenge
As North Korea’s military cooperation with Russia intensifies, security dynamics in the Indo-Pacific and Europe are increasingly intertwined. Nguyen Bao Han Tran analyzes how these developments have accelerated Japan’s defence transformation and prompted NATO to rethink its engagement with Indo-Pacific partners, highlighting the growing importance of transregional security coordination.
Why Wanting Reassurance in Relationships Is Not a Weakness
For a long time, I thought wanting reassurance was a flaw.Not something dramatic, just a quiet insecurity I tried to keep to myself. The kind that shows up when you reread texts before sending them, or when you hesitate before asking a simple question because you don’t want to sound “too much.”So instead of saying what I mean, I soften it.I add a “lol.”I downplay how I felt.I tell myself it isn’t that deep.Somewhere along the way, many of us learn that wanting reassurance makes us seem weak. Tha...
Muslim Students’ Association Green Square Campaign marks 2017 mosque attack
On January 29, the UTM Muslim Students’ Association (UTMMSA) participated in the Green Square Campaign to mark the National Day of Remembrance and Action Against Islamophobia. The campaign, which takes place annually in the week leading up to January 29, honours the victims and survivors of the 2017 Québec City Mosque attack and is led by the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM). “We all wear green felt squares pinned to our clothes to represent the green colored carpet of the Quebec City...
New POSts, residences, and student fees coming to UTM in the 2026-2027 academic year
The Campus Affairs and Academic Affairs Committees convened to approve new budgets and to discuss academic life at UTM.
Black liberation is an example for us all - The Medium
The world loves the language of justice until justice becomes disruptive. We praise resistance once it is safely in the past, while refusing to recognize it in the present. Once its leaders can be quoted without discomfort and its demands no longer interrupt power, liberation becomes something to celebrate rather than confront. But when Black resistance insists on action in the present, when it disrupts comfort, challenges authority, or refuses politeness, it is quickly reframed as excessive, di...
UTM Young Liberals panel talks Palestinian student visa delays, youth political participation
On January 21, students at UTM gathered for a panel hosted by the UTM Young Liberals club. Elected officials addressed youth political participation, and responded to student concerns about immigration delays affecting Palestinian students.The event brought together MP Amandeep Sodhi, MP Fares Al Soud, and MP Iqra Khalid, alongside Liberal Party of Ontario Chair Qasir Dar. The discussion focused on pathways into political leadership, representation in government, and the role students can play i...
Lost in Translation: Groceries - The Medium
Grocery shopping is a mundane, everyday activity. But, the choices—the products you consume, the shops you choose, the rituals you commit to—of shoppers reveals much more than you’d think. Here are two grocery shopping experiences to follow!
Nguyen Bao Han Tran: Plans lost in translation.
I go grocery shopping with a list and a plan every time. I tell myself this is the trip where I’ll stay disciplined and save money.
That plan usually collapses the moment I walk through the door.
Be...
Nguyen Bao Han Tran: Plans lost in translation.
I go grocery shopping with a list and a plan every time. I tell myself this is the trip where I’ll stay disciplined and save money.
That plan usually collapses the moment I walk through the door.
Be...
Eight arrested during anti-immigrant protest and counter-protest
On January 10 at 1:00 pm, anti-immigrant protesters gathered at Nathan Phillips Square before marching through downtown Toronto to the Eaton Centre, drawing a strong counter-protest and police presence. During the protest and counter-protest, Toronto Police Service (TPS) arrested eight individuals, three of whom were charged with assaulting a peace officer.Anti-immigrant demonstrators held signs that read “Make Canada Great Again” and “Stop the invasion” as families spent the Saturday afternoon...
Women Deserve Partners, Not Projects
Emotional labour, mental load, and male incompetence have become common struggles in heterosexual relationships. When women speak about these issues online, they are often blamed instead of supported, turning accountability into shame and leaving women responsible for problems they did not create.
Virginity Is a Choice, Not a Measure of Worth
Growing up in a traditional Vietnamese household, I was taught that a woman’s virginity is tied to her worth. Losing it meant losing something important about myself. That belief followed me through childhood and into adulthood, lingering even when I no longer resonated with it.In my family, sex was never a topic of discussion. The word itself felt forbidden. There were no conversations about consent, no explanations of safe sex, no room for curiosity. Asking questions was met with criticism: go...
Steel or Fish? Wealth, Power, and Environmental Accountability under Authoritarian Rule in Vietnam’s Formosa Steel Plant Disaster
Vietnam Policy Proposal on Enhanced Non-Aligned Hedging in the South China Sea
The South China Sea remains one of the world’s most contested maritime regions, where escalating coercion threatens regional stability and Vietnam’s sovereignty. As great-power rivalry intensifies, Vietnam must adopt a strategy that protects its territorial integrity without sacrificing autonomy. This memo argues that an Enhanced Non-Aligned Hedging approach offers the most sustainable path forward. By strengthening deterrence through targeted military modernization while deepening multilateral cooperation and strictly upholding the “Four No’s,” Vietnam can manage risks, counter coercive behavior, and preserve strategic flexibility. This balanced strategy positions Vietnam to defend its interests effectively while avoiding entrapment or escalation in an increasingly volatile geopolitical environment.
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C. S. Lewis