Dear Dr. Piper,
A recent email from you, which is still in my inbox, closes with the UBC motto “Tuum est”. My understanding is that this means “It is yours,” as in UBC belongs to us (the faculty, the students, the staff, and yes, even the administration).
At the moment, I feel this motto is misplaced. Just as misplaced as the offhand remark “we won’t miss a beat,” by the BoG Chair in describing the “Leadership transition” – ouster – of President Gupta, who was a mere 13 months into his term when this “resignation” took place.
I do not feel UBC is mine, or belongs to me after the recent unexplained and trivialized events. Like other faculty members, I am demoralized and in shock. I am not ready for the cheerful upbeat sugary words of celebration, nor am I “looking forward” to...
Lifestyle
Dear Assholes,
You attempted to strike a blow yesterday in Paris for your nutbag radical twisted form of Islam. You failed. You failed worse than Putin trying to show compassion. Yes, you claimed the lives of 12 people. You did. From everything I have seen and read over the past 24 hours your strike on Charlie Hebdo was well coordinated, thorough and tactical. On that front you succeeded.
But in every other form you failed miserably. I assume your goal was to strike a blow against those who would insult the prophets of Allah by killing a few people who drew cartoons for a living. I assume you felt this was a noble cause and that it would strike fear into those who dare desecrate Muhammad by drawing a picture of him or mocking him in any fashion. I assume you realize at the point...
2,515
Dear Cancer,
F You. You put me through hell. You put me through my darkest days. You made me put my body through more than anyone could ever imagine. All I wanted to do was get rid of you, but in order to do so, I had to go through months of tests, hardcore treatments, surgery, laying in a hospital bed, and feeling sick every single day.
I had to put up with countless trips to emergency rooms and admissions to the hospital.
The hospital and doctors’ offices were pretty much my second home.
I was constantly in pain.
Since my immune system was so compromised, I was always worried about coming in contact with someone else’s germs and getting sick.
I became so used to needles, shots, and tests that it was just another typical day when it was time for me to get blood drawn again....
11,449
Dear David,
Oh no, don’t say it’s true – whilst realization of your death was sinking in during those grey, cold January days of 2016, many of us went on with our day jobs. At the beginning of that week I had a discussion with a hospital patient, facing the end of her life. We discussed your death and your music, and it got us talking about numerous weighty subjects, that are not always straightforward to discuss with someone facing their own demise. In fact, your story became a way for us to communicate very openly about death, something many doctors and nurses struggle to introduce as a topic of conversation. But before I delve further into the aforementioned exchange, I’d like to get a few other things off my chest, and I hope you don’t find them a saddening bore.
Thank you for...
2,548
Dear Dad,
With Father’s Day approaching, I’d like to take a minute or two to express my never-ending gratitude for all that you do.
Being a father is no easy task. A father makes a huge impact on his daughter’s life. He is the first man she says “I love you” to, and the first man to really show her what love is.
To be honest, I can’t remember a time when you weren’t there for me — not only as a father, but as a best friend. As a child, you were my favorite playmate. I know now that your favorite movie was never really “Cinderella,” and that you would have much rather been watching the game than playing with Barbies.
You did those things solely because you loved me; showing me that when you love someone, you do what you can to make them happy.
From teaching me how to walk or...
2,614
While I recognize that I have a better chance of contracting dengue fever in my suburban city than there is of you actually reading this, I will try anyways. Here it goes.
My name is Megan. I am a family medicine doctor practicing in Northern California, and I love my job. I’m nothing fancy. I don’t spend my day in the OR. I don’t spend my day in the emergency room treating gunshot victims. I spend my day (my often 12 hour day) in a quiet office where I see 18 to 22 patients all with various complaints.
Some have a cold. Some have abdominal pain. Occasionally one will come in with a complaint of chest pain that ends up being a heart attack. It won’t be me that whisks them off to the cath lab for an angiogram with stent placement nor will it be me to perform an appendectomy if...
2,497
Hey there, stranger.
It’s been a very long time, which I’m sure you’re aware of. I’d like to say that it was your decision alone to keep this distance, but I think we both know it was for the best. I’d like to say that I’m glad you are well, but as we both know I have absolutely no idea how you are.
The one thing that can definitely be said is that when we cut ties, we leave no strand behind, but slice right through until we no longer remember how to find each other. It’s amazing to think that once we were inseparable, the best of friends.
You knew me inside and out, and I, you. We were there for each other in the best of times and through the most difficult of times. We definitely managed to put each other through hell on occasion, but when support was needed the most, support...
2,533
How’s school going? Do you like your classes? Have you picked your major?
Are you staying healthy? Are you eating well? Are you sleeping enough?
Have you made any new friends? Have you met any girls you were interest in? Did you sleep with any of them and if so did you do it without hesitation?
To be clear, I’m not asking you these questions because I care, but I want you to think about each one and answer honestly. Then, I want you to go back to last year and think about what your answers would have been back then.
Chances are there are some discrepancies. I’m sure your interests have changed and your feelings are different but overall I think it’s safe to say that your life is pretty much the same as it was a year ago, if not better. That’s a luxury you have that you don’t deserve...
2,407
Dear Everyone,
I can only imagine the unglamorous manner of my death. Perhaps I’ve suffered the consequences of considering myself an expert at orienteering after viewing a single instructional YouTube video (which, it should be noted, I watched while stalking ex-boyfriends on Facebook). Perhaps I drank from a stream that contained the remains of a dead goat, which caused some kind of putrefying goat illness characterized by lethal, bowel-rupturing diarrhea. Or maybe I’ve been captured by mountain people and am currently living in the hills somewhere, birthing twelve-fingered babies and learning the banjo. If this is the case, then I’m not lost at all, merely transfiguring myself into the next Stockholm superstar with an over-used vagina. One day I will emerge from the woods with my...
2,599
Dear You,
You are a forever friend. We have a friendship that is unlike any I have met here at college. All through high school we had dreams of going to college together, living together, and having the time of our lives. Unfortunately this didn’t happen. We go to different colleges and have different friends but THAT’S OKAY. I am beyond thankful to not have gone to school with my best friend from high school. Sometimes it is hard when you don’t see each other for months at a time because your schedules never seem to match up.
Our friendship has beaten all odds and I know you will always be apart of my life. We have a stronger friendship now that we are apart and that wouldn’t be possible if we went to the same school. High school was a hard time for us. We both were new to...
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