Pleased To Meet’cha!

Hello!  My name is Sara Gallagher and I am the humble successor of Sarah and Co.’s extraordinary work of art, DON’T PANIC! As the new editor of the blog, I intend to keep the general ambiance that Sarah set over the past year.  The blog’s name, DON’T PANIC! and mission statement (below, written by Sarah) captures the essence of what it means to be a Trent graduate student.

I do have a clause, though.  I love Douglas Adams, but also will be showing an appropriate amount of appreciation to Joss Whedon, with an especial focus on his masterpieces, Firefly and Serenity (for all you folk who are unfamiliar with these works of brilliance, please either (a) download them on you computer, the quickest option, or (b) buy a legal copy from your nearest big box store). Firefly and Serenity are more than just your average space westerns, they also function as parables of sorts for our postmodern times.  The characters are interesting and dynamic, the plot lines fuse humor, drama, romance, and horror, and the many cultural references both the show and film make provide the audience with more than just entertainment.  We are let into a Verse where, in order to be good, sometimes the heroes have to play both sides.  The heroes ultimately seek justice and are connected by love and devotion.  I am not so sure about the justice part, but I do know that what grad students share is the challenges they have to face during their time in their respective programs.

I should also provide the following reminder:  DON’T PANIC!: The Trent Graduate Student Blog is inclusive to all of the Trent community.  As Sarah notes, if you are a graduate student, undergraduate student, professor, or other member of the Trent community, please feel free to use the blog as a forum of sorts.  Contribute by sharing your thoughts and ideas.  Comment and critique, as well.  However, please keep you comments positive and your criticism constructive (sarcasm is allowed ).  The Trent community shares a respect for the interdisciplinary nature of our studies and community.

MISSION STATEMENT, written by Sarah Smith-Eivemark

DON’T PANIC: The Trent Graduate Student Blog has as its goal to foster a sense of community among Trent graduate students and: undergrads, prospective students, clubs and groups, faculty, alumni, and the Peterborough community.

The Trent Graduate Student Blog strives to maintain a positive, constructive atmosphere so that the space is one not only of community, but also acts as a forum in which students articulate and contribute to the Trent experience, academically and otherwise. Here, students can help shape public perception about our school, an institution to which we will all forever be linked.

DON’T PANIC: The Trent Graduate Student Blog is not in competition with excellent publications such as Arthur and Absynthe, or Showcase but contributes to the ongoing conversation. The focus on graduate students sets it apart but also connects it to the wider Trent and Peterborough communities, and the lack of space constraints means that it can be updated more often, in smaller chunks, and offer content that is beyond the traditional focus of other publications. This allows DON’T PANIC! to offer students more space to talk more about internships, theses, favourite pubs, hilarious anecdotes, juggling school, work, and/or children, and what students are reading, calculating, painting, or otherwise engaging, in “spare” time.

Amen.

I aim to misbehave.

Sara Gallagher