This past November, QWIL’s Print Team – Sara Guo, Malaeika Khan, and Reem Gharib – launched QWIL’s third-ever WilPower in Print. Like the previous WilPower in Print editions, the third issue includes inspiring untold anecdotes and stories aimed to empower and uplift readers in various avenues in their lives, including academics, career, community, and personal values and attitudes. But what made the latest WilPower in Print edition so unique and impactful is the various dimensions each story explores and the thought-provoking and creative questions and activities included after each story that ..read more

“When we don’t think deeper about what exactly the trend is promoting, we fail to change harmful dialect and discourse.” If you’re on TikTok often, you might’ve heard the term “girl math”. Or how about “girl dinner” or “girlboss”? These concepts arose from various social media trends. Though intended to be funny and relatable concepts among female viewers, they can be extremely harmful to the perception of women. We hope this piece offers a new perspective by taking you away from your algorithm to look at these trends through a lens of equity and empowerment. Let’s consider the critical effect ..read more

For Indigenous students, stepping onto campus kannena’ké:ne (in Autumn) once meant diving headfirst into student-life while challenging the inner-turmoil of not knowing whether we will be othered while achieving our degrees due to the bloodline we were born into and the culture we were raised in. It meant finding other Indigenous students to find comfort with, finding a routine with the new course schedule and environment, and taking in the changing colours of the scenery as the semester rolled on. These days, Indigenous students experience the same feelings, but are now quickly met with remin ..read more

Welcome back to school, WILs! Let us introduce ourselves: we’re Ashley and Galiya, and we’re beyond grateful and excited to be the 2023/2024 Co-Chairs of Queen’s Women in Leadership. With an unreal and talented group leading this year's initiatives, we can't wait to make an even greater mark on the Queen’s campus and beyond this year. Our Vision & Goals for QWIL Heading into QWIL’s 27th year of operations, we have built a vision around three key pillars: impact, education, and empowerment. To impact our communities, we are passionate about supporting the student body, community outreach wi ..read more

Everyone has a story and personal journey unique to their own experiences. After looking back on my own, I recognize how much I’ve evolved and grown through each challenge and obstacle. I grew into myself and became a person I am proud to be. The purpose of this piece isn’t to tell my story but rather to show others that each hurdle thrown at us isn’t meant to bring us down. Instead, we should use experience, good or bad, to learn and grow. When we change our mindset from “Why is this happening to me?” to “What is this situation trying to teach me?” we can become more capable of understanding ..read more

As a child, I was a tomboy. I have an older brother, and my mom often recycled his clothes for me, which I had no problem with. I liked to play sports of all kinds, and even though I had friends that were girls in elementary school, I found myself playing sports with the boys in my classes and hanging around them more often. I would mostly hang out with my brother and his friends during recess. Around the age of adolescence is when it's normal to see a social divide between boys and girls groups in schools. Looking back on my experience and comfort with boys growing up, I realize now it's not ..read more

With the academic year at a close, and Queen’s students reflecting on their successes, challenges, growth, and experiences this past year, it only makes sense that QWIL reflect on its own progress over the last several months before setting goals for the upcoming year. QWIL’s empowering and hardworking team worked passionately and intensely to provide diverse, resourceful, and impactful experiences and opportunities for Queen’s students and the external communities. The team broke through new barriers and increased access to academic, career, wellness, and other educational resources while pro ..read more

So, you got your first internship…now let’s make sure you are ready for it! Going into your first internship can be a rollercoaster of emotions between feelings of excitement and nervousness. The good news is that the hard part is over. The bad news is that you need to prove yourself now. This can be a scary feeling, but don’t worry – it’s easier than you think! There are five main tips to keep top of mind when navigating through your first internship: 1. Take everything as a learning experience It may not always be smooth sailing but that is the point! No one enters their internship knowing e ..read more

As an incoming student into the class of 2024, I started my first undergraduate year at Queen’s in my small childhood bedroom in the suburbs of Vancouver, BC. Being the only student from my graduating class that applied to Queen’s, I felt like going to an out-of-province university would give me a fresh start. However, this also meant that as I began my university experience from my bedroom at home, the closest connection I had to my peers were the silent Zoom icons during each tutorial. I felt very isolated and began to fear that I was missing out on the friendships and memories that I was so ..read more

“I got here out of luck.” Sound familiar? We are inclined to focus on our role models’ successes and achievements. We analyze their trials, turbulences, and obstacles undertaken to reach the position they have today and how they overcame them. Personally, I can think of several individuals that I look up to as a young woman, such as Michelle Obama, Zaha Hadid, and Amelia Earhart. What may be shocking to hear is that despite a variety of achievements, many successful individuals suffer from Imposter Syndrome. Imposter Syndrome can include feeling like a fraud and worrying that an outsider will ..read more