As children, stories are central to our lives. Not only are they extremely beneficial for our development, but most importantly they allow us to expand our imaginations. They provide us with adventure, comfort, wonder, excitement, and empathy. I imagine every one of us (especially my fellow bookworms) will remember at least one or perhaps several favourite stories that they read as children. These stories have stuck with us throughout our lives and every now and then we redis

Mermaids’ student production of King Lear , directed by Eilidh Read, is an ambitious and moving stage production. Having seen both performances, it was clear the cast found their footing by the second night, settling into the rhythms of Shakespeare’s language and the emotional gravity of the tragedy.   India Kolb’s Lear is at the emotional centre of the production. Kolb gave a driven and powerful performance as Lear; Kolb breathes life into every scene she is in, displaying r

Years ago, I heard a story about a woman in a university seminar who would start or end any contribution to the discussion with a “Sorry”. It was a “sorry” of the excuse-me kind, like when you brush someone with your bag while boarding a bus: saying, “I didn’t mean to, and I regret my intrusion”. One day, the professor, fed up, commanded her to “Stop apologising!” Automatically the woman replied, “I’m sorry”, froze, and put her head down on her desk. This apology was differen

Is the furthest you’ve travelled lately from the Main Library to Pret? Has your idea of “adventure” become doing the weekly food shop at Aldi rather than Tesco?   Well don’t worry because luckily, BBC are offering the perfect opportunity to break out of the bubble that is St Andrews. The BAFTA-winning hit series Race Across the World  is currently looking for Scottish students aged 18+ to take part in its next season, set to start filming this September.   The show is searchi

Going home for Independent Learning Week never fails to feel like stepping into a time capsule. Like many parents, mine have turned my absence into an opportunity to transform my childhood bedroom into extra storage; each corner is now stacked with clunky cables and gadgets that haven’t been switched on in years. However, despite their long-dead batteries, these devices feel more alive than the technology I use daily to write notes, stream television and pay for a study-break

By Alexandra Ramsdale June 2011: that’s when I realised I had the autonomy to write whatever I wanted. I’d just been given one of those pink, sparkly, padlocked diaries for my 6th birthday. Barely legibly, I wrote my first line: ‘When I’m older, I’m going to marry [redacted]’...     Source: Getty Images I wish it had been an academic statement. Or perhaps a philosophical declaration so I could claim myself a child genius. But there it was, plain and simple - a 6-year-old gir

By Heather McLeod It is a unanimous fact among students (particularly us Gen-zrs) that there is never a reason too far-fetched to justify getting a sweet treat. Just survived an exam? Let’s go for a sweet treat! Made it to your 9am? You deserve a sweet treat! Managed to survive the week so far? (The fact that it’s only Tuesday is entirely irrelevant), sweet treat time! Perhaps it’s just my unrivalled ability to consume a superfluous amount of dessert without feeling ill but p

By Sabrina Stevenson Emerald Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights”  is, unfortunately, everything I thought it would be. (And yes, the quotation marks around the title are a non-negotiable addition made by Fennell, who claimed in an interview with Fandango  it is not possible to adapt ‘a book as dense and complicated as Wuthering Heights ,’ so is instead making a ‘version of it.’) This quote alone confirmed my skeptical assumptions of the film based on the teaser back in September, w

By Amy Lam If you placed a gun to my head 30 seconds before my research for this article, and asked me what ‘NFL’ stood for, I sadly wouldn’t be here to write it. If you then took pity on me (in this admittedly outlandish scenario) and asked me to name an American football player, I would only let you down again. And in all honesty, if you mentioned the extremely unambiguous term of ‘American football’ to me, I would think of the homonymous Midwest emo band, rather than the s

Which of these is the most performative? (a)   Reading a book in public, especially while walking down the street. Bonus point if it’s a title that people will recognise for its literariness, like Giovanni’s Room . (b)  Wearing paint-stained overalls with a beer bottle sticking out of your pocket. (c)   Citing some great academic in class who wasn’t even included in the secondary reading —you skimmed an abstract three minutes before the tutorial—to show off to everyone how

By Sabrina Stevenson For much of his career, Michelangelo was not considered an artist. Painters and sculptors of the Renaissance period were instead classified as artisans, or skilled craftsmen. Art was a technical skill, crafted over decades of hard work in workshops with no expectation that anyone would even know your name. Yet, with the rise of humanism in the 16th century, artists started to be recognised for their intellectual and creative capacities as well, finally do

By Bethany Dowell It’s undeniable that the final season of  Stranger Things  looks and feels nothing like the show that premiered on Netflix a decade ago. Like many viewers, I felt disappointed after waiting so long for what proved to be a lacklustre conclusion. This prompted me to revisit season one and question whether nostalgia had blinded me. However, it hadn’t at all; there genuinely was a loss of visual charm as the show progressed. Source: Yahoo Entertainment Both the

Choosing the right song is key to ensuring your run is an absolute hit. Choose the wrong song, and you’ll come away feeling like a one- hit wonder. As a competitive runner, I always get struck with “Alex, don’t you get bored running?”. I usually dismiss the question, shrug and say no. Yet recently, I was asked the more engaging question of “What do you actually think about when you’re running?” This got me thinking. How do  I manage to persevere when my lungs are burning, and

As I sat in my seat, waiting for the Barron Scriptwriting Competition Showcase to begin, I was pleasantly delighted to be surrounded by such a warm community. People were chatting amongst themselves, with writers and directors hidden in plain sight alongside casual theatre enthusiasts. This crowd meant for an inviting and creative atmosphere that was my initial impression of this event and I had high hopes. Five short performances were to occur, each written, directed and per

The Gilmore Girls  re-watch is an annual ritual. However, many find Rory Gilmore, one of the main protagonists, quite infuriating and say the show becomes unwatchable after she leaves high school. So why is it that Rory goes from becoming everyone's favourite to everyone's most hated character? In short, what really leads to Rory Gilmore's academic ‘downfall’ and does she deserve the hate or are viewers being too harsh? Source: Pinterest Throughout Rory's entire life, until s

By Amy Lam It starts so slowly, you’d barely realise it. At first, the changes are subtle, and maybe even welcome after a long summer. You wear an extra layer one day perhaps, or a singular orange leaf falls on you on your way to class. Are you more tired than usual, or is that just your imagination? And then before you know it, you’re stepping out at 5pm into the pitch black, the nights feel longer than the days could ever be, and you’re wearing a full winter coat in your ho

By Bethany Dowell As October’s Halloween excitement fades and I’m pulled into the reality of deadline season approaching, my social media algorithms have been flooded with the idealisation of “locking in” for the final stretch of semester one. As a consequence, alongside completing readings, writing 3,000 words and attending society meetings, I feel burdened with the daily reminders to walk 10,000 steps, drink 2 litres of water and journal before sleeping for nine hours. On s

When she announced her engagement to the football player Travis Kelce on Instagram, Taylor Swift captioned the post: “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married.” She echoed a lyric from her love song “So High School”: “You know how to ball, I know Aristotle.” But the origins of this particular self-styling are fairly recent. Swift had always been acknowledged as a talented lyricist, but, until around five years ago, “writer,” let alone writing teacher , h

For those who aren’t familiar with Gossip Girl , let me enlighten you: 121 episodes of a skilfully crafted, dramatic masterclass. The addictive show follows teenage billionaires Chuck, Nate, Blair and Serena as they navigate the skyline of New York’s 2007-2012 Upper East Side. Without giving away too much for those who have somehow survived (surely with difficulty) without seeing Blake Lively repeatedly muttering 'I have to go' upon their screen, Gossip Girl beholds affairs

By Ella Prieto In middle school, I almost failed French.   My teacher was this peculiar lady who taught yoga in her free time, spoke seven languages, and always enjoyed pulling me to the front of the class to call me an idiot. She would prowl into the auditorium where we waited before school to force us (her worst students) into extra grammar practice. She often called my mother to tell her what an awful student I was, without any sort of solutions nor empathy. Tears never mo