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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.

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The Varsity •

UTM hosts fourth annual All-Nations Powwow

The Powwow brings generations together through dance and celebrationHundreds of people gathered at UTM on Saturday, October 3, for its fourth annual All-Nations Powwow, bringing together Indigenous dancers, singers, Elders, and community members for an afternoon of celebration, cultural sharing, and remembrance. Federal and provincial politicians also attended, including Minister of Women and Gender Equality Rechie Valdez; MPs Iqra Khalid and Fares Al Soud; and Ontario MPPs Sheref Sabawy, Silvia...
The Varsity •

Discovering Mississauga’s spoken word community — and my voice

“Why don’t you try performing?”Some things are easier said than done. In all my reporting to better understand Mississauga’s spoken word community for this article, I had never given performance much thought until my editor suggested that I take a break from interviewing spoken word poets long enough to become one myself.As a Vietnamese immigrant who proudly became Canadian last year, I have spent much of my life making peace with the English language. Literature, however, has not always returne...
The Varsity •

UTMSU approves up to $38,000 for student programs

The University of Toronto Mississauga Students’ Union (UTMSU) Board of Directors (BOD) voted to approve up to $38,000 for three student programs on September 25, including $30,000 for Free Breakfast Wednesdays.The vote came as board members pushed President Adam El-Falou for an update on his campaign proposal to introduce $5 meals at the Blind Duck. The board also approved up to $2,000 for Academic Advocacy Week and $6,000 for Halloween programming.During the 2026 UTMSU election campaign, El-Fal...
The Varsity •

UTM falls below domestic and international enrolment targets

UTM has fallen below its domestic and international enrolment targets for the 2026–2027 academic year. According to administrators at the September 10 Governing Council’s Academic Affairs Committee meeting, a shrinking international student market may require the campus to rethink its long-term enrolment goals and spending plans.In a statement to The Varsity, a UTM spokesperson wrote that the university had set targets of 2,662 domestic and 1,032 international full-time, newly admitted students....
The Varsity •

UTFA, PSSAR, LCPal urge Ottawa to act on Gazan student permits

At a June 2 press conference on Parliament Hill, advocates called on Prime Minister Mark Carney and federal ministers to urgently resolve delayed study permit applications for students from Gaza. Representatives from the Palestinian Students and Scholars at Risk Network (PSSAR), the University of Toronto Faculty Association (UTFA), and the Legal Centre for Palestine (LCPal) attended.According to these organizers, 15 faculty associations across Canada, including U of T’s UTFA, signed letters to t...
The Varsity •

Gazan students accepted to Canadian universities remain trapped in visa delays, advocates say

Advocates and members of the New Democratic Party (NDP) gathered on Parliament Hill on April 14 to escalate pressure on Ottawa over alleged discriminatory immigration delays. This comes more than a month after The Varsity reported on 12 Palestinian students admitted to U of T struggling to secure Canadian study permits. At last month’s press conference, NDP leader Avi Lewis and Jenny Kwan, MP for Vancouver East and the party’s critic for immigration, refugees, and citizenship called on the feder...
NAOC •

What the Iran War Means for China’s Taiwan Calculus

On February 28 2026, U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran began a conflict that has rapidly escalated, with global implications. Iranian retaliation through missile attacks, maritime disruption, and strategic threats to the Strait of Hormuz quickly transformed the war into a global security issue. While the immediate battlefield remained concentrated in the Gulf, the broader consequences reverberated across international energy markets, alliance planning, and military readiness. For Beijing, the war off...
The Varsity •

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...
NAOC •

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...
Her Campus •

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...
The Varsity •

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...
The Varsity •

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...
The Varsity •

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...
The Medium •

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.
The Medium •

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.
NAOC •

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.
Her Campus •

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...
The Varsity •

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...
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