Identity Journeys: Stories from the Pacific Diaspora
There is a plethora of research out there that evidences the link between ethnic identity and well-being. Many of us reading this right now are the evidence of this. We are the next generation of New Zealand-borns, who have been dealt the challenge of navigating our acculturation to Aotearoa while trying to keep our ethnic identity secure and whole in the process.
Hauora Needs to be Reintroduced at University
Hauora, the Māori paradigm that describes the foundation of well-being as a whare with four walls, needs to be reintroduced at a university level.
The stupid things that make us smile
These are absolutely things we need to address and talk about, but sometimes it can get a bit overwhelming, and we can lose sight of all the beauty and good in the world.
Going the Distance
For some, this experience is all they have ever known. For others, they’ve seen what life on campus is like and for whatever reason have switched to distance study of their own accord. Today, we gather intelligence, insight, and information from some of these people.
Aotearoa Needs Constitutional Transformation
Through an online petition, party co-leaders, Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, called for the removal of the British Royal Family as head of state, as well as for the creation of a Te Tiriti centric Aotearoa through constitutional transformation.
Being alive is expensive
We didn’t ask to be put on this earth, yet we still have to suffer under the crushing weight of capitalism, inflation, and the stock market.
The Taste of Home
Growing up, food tends to just be food. We have a palate of flavours we’re raised on until one day we move away from home. From here, the doors open to the wonderful world of food and we meet flavours we never knew existed.
A Definitive Ranking of the Instant Meals I ate in my Childhood
The holy grail of lazy dinners for me was when we’d be left to fend for ourselves as we got a bit older. Instant meals were the light of my young life, making a mess of the microwave, feeling like I was on MasterChef when I seasoned the packets of pasta or added cheese all by myself.
Unequal Food Distribution is Putting the Blame on Pacific Islanders.
I’m sure many of us have felt exhausted and frustrated as the health inequities of Pacific communities are framed as the individual failings of Pacific Islanders themselves.
What the Fridge?
I dropped the ball in issue one by not introducing our lovely team. So instead of sharing a picture of their beautiful faces, and a corny paragraph about their fake hobbies, I thought I’d let you judge them based on the state of their fridges!
Depression Meals: When the big sad is too big
We all have a special something we turn to when times are tough. When the grind is getting too much, or it’s not easy to leave the house, we all have a special meal we can rely on to get us through our bad patches.
The Conversion of Laws
Conversion therapy is the umbrella term for any practice which has a common belief that a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity can and should be changed. Any practice which falls under this umbrella term is incredibly outdated, designed to suppress a person’s rights and feelings about themselves for the sake of another or a group’s ideology.
The rise of the locally-made podcast
In a world where the demand for media is constant, where we can’t eat dinner without watching something on TV because, God forbid, we are alone with our own thoughts for 10 minutes, there are constantly new forms of entertainment and new tools to distract us from the pain of being alive. One of these glorious new forms of media is the podcast.
Massey Millionaires
It’s come to Massive’s attention that the Massey University Group has recorded an unaudited profit of over $25M during the 2021 financial year.
REPRESENTATION OR ROMANTICISATION
CW: This article covers topics of drug abuse, mental illness, abuse, and suicide. HBO’s Euphoria is popping off at the moment. Covering abuse, drug addiction, mental illness and a whole heck more, it definitely leans on the morbid side. Even the cast agree the show can be hard to watch. Euphoria dares to tell the stories many shows would never touch. The line between romanticisation and representation is one that Euphoria walks like a tight rope.
Drag King Hugo Grrrl says “It’s Time” to Step Away from Drag
After almost seven years of drag, the iconic Drag King Hugo Grrrl is semi-retiring to find his love for the arts again. George Fowler, known as Wellington’s Drag King Hugo Grrrl, announced to his 14.9k followers on Instagram that he would be leaving drag for the foreseeable future, instead working at South Pacific Pride in Auckland, crafting, playing with pets, and just being ‘boring’.
Too Little, Too Late
“What did everyone do during all these lockdowns around the world? They listened to music, they watched movies or TV shows, they read books. All these things to fill up everyone else’s time was an art form which has now been left in the dust.” - Roxy Leppan. These feelings were reflected in the conversation I had with Carlos McQuillan,
The ULTIMATE O-Week Alternatives
So, you just left high school, moved into a flat or halls in a new city and now you gotta deal with Omicron getting in the way of everything? Maybe you’re like me, a third year who’s trying to navigate an ever-changing landscape of alert levels, while still wanting to have an absolute banger of a time with their mates that ultimately ends in 3AM trauma bonding, or just someone wearing a Jim Beam box on their head.
Why You Should Care About Prison Abolition
Prison abolition is a subject that is generally considered utopian or idealistic – something out of reach and unachievable. For this reason, it is usually overlooked and dismissed with a sweep of the hand that implies without prisons, our society would be reduced to anarchy. This is actually far from the truth, and it is becoming ever more essential that Aotearoa divorces itself from its reliance on the prison system.
Daddy Dopamine
Most of us are familiar with sitting down to watch a couple of TikToks and blinking forward a couple of hours; or putting off an assignment we were excited to write until the thought of touching a laptop makes you want to drop out and pursue a career in stripping. These experiences are all to do with dopamine, a chemical most of us haven’t heard of, but have spent our lives chasing.