“Are you any good with computers?” asked the lady who’d knocked on my door. To take part in a photography competition, she had to compile her pictures into a PDF. She baked me cookies in return. That’s how I met Susan the photographer, my opposite neighbour. Supposedly, we have nothing…

I received a PhD in mathematics and then worked as a postdoctoral researcher at three universities for five years. Now, I am taking a one-year break from mathematics; I enrolled in a graduate program in journalism at Concordia University in July. Mathematics is an art; it’s about creating beautiful structures…

I am standing next to my girlfriend, wrapping my arms around her shoulder and pulling her towards myself. Her left shoulder touches my diaphragm, her head rests on my right cheek. We are in our sleeping clothes, looking at the camera and smiling drowsily. In front of us is a…

On a sunny afternoon in August 2012, I entered my supervisor’s office at the University of Waterloo in Canada. He greeted me, then got up from his chair and closed the door behind me. I became anxious a bit as he never did that — -have I done something wrong…

After two years of living in an apartment in Waterloo, my roommate and I decided to move to a new place. We found a third roommate and a spacious three-bedroom semi-detached house in a pleasant neighbourhood. It was a good deal as our individual rents would decrease and yet we’d…

In September 2009, I moved from Tehran, Iran, to Waterloo, Canada, to start a graduate program at the University of Waterloo. I was 23 and had been living with my parents. This move brought two major changes to my life: first, moving from a large middle eastern city to a…