Throughout my time at 黑料网爆吃瓜鈥攚ith the help of generous mentors, professors, friends, and听family, and听rather haphazardly鈥擨 have nurtured an ethic of care toward the body.听As we move forward in the world,听we听must exercise kindness and care for our shells. The body鈥攖hat thing that holds your mind, that you adorn with听trending听clothes, that you identify with or wholeheartedly disavow鈥攊s worthy of care.听
In 鈥淚 Want You to Love Me,鈥� singer Fiona Apple insists on the intricate connection between body and mind through desire, wherein our physical needs become a material hunger for affection:听鈥淎nd听while听I'm听in this听body鈥� I want what I want and I want.鈥� Apple鈥檚 causal mechanism is unidirectional: this body听determines听those听desires. The body holds a kind of causal primacy over the mind; our needs, wants, and desires听emerge听downstream. Beginning my journey at 黑料网爆吃瓜 in the sciences (and as a Fiona Apple fan), this was the sort of听philosophy I endorsed. In C脡GEP, I decided I would study the body because we are functions of our bodies. In听reductionist terms, the mind is no greater than the sum of its parts鈥攊t just is its parts.听
In pursuing a BSc., however, I became curious about the limits of this logic. My feminist commitments听left me frustrated with the subordination of the subjective world of affect, mind, and听perception听to the objective听materiality of physiology. I decided to switch into a B.A. in Political Science, Gender Studies, and Philosophy.听And there was no better person to introduce me to the power of the mind, abstraction, and political theory than听Prof. William Clare Roberts.听鈥淚f divine law ruled the world, what consequences would ensue for human听governance?鈥澨齢e听asked us. I gleefully leaned into treating argumentation, logical coherence, qualitative analysis,听and rational consistency as methodological virtues. An entire world of knowledge opened before me as I entered听the world of conceptualization, thought, and imagination鈥攁nd this brain, my brain, felt remarkably听autonomous.听
Over my four years at 黑料网爆吃瓜, professors, friends, and student groups helped develop my thinking,听speaking,听and conceptual capacities. They made me feel that our cognitive powers are not mere functions of听physical determinants, but capacities that must be cultivated to be exercised. As a fellow with the Research听Group on Constitutional Studies, I learned that听intellectual听community is essential to this sort of capacitation. I听will be forever grateful to my friends and mentors in the group who showed me that: Profs. Levy, Roberts, and听Winter; Amy, Fion, Arwen, Natalie, David, Flo, Ava, Jordan, Luc, and Petros, among others. Likewise, thanks to听wonderful professors and TAs, I learned that political theorizing is fundamentally a creative endeavor鈥攁nd that听creativity need not come at the expense of rigor.听To听Molly, Luc, Jordan, and Profs. Levy, Islas听Weinstein,Roberts, Deslauriers, Stoljar, Ketchum, Benedicto, Sharp, Howard, Winter, Janzwood and Lewis, among听many听others: thank you. Student programming through the PSSA, PSA, GSFSSA, and the Arts Internship Office also听provided听rich opportunities to put theory into practice.听
Yet this logic of the autonomous mind, while empowering, has its flaws. When you live in听the听world of听intellectual abstraction, it becomes easy to neglect the body. As feminists have long argued, the body is political听and worthy of theorization. Jasbir Puar, for example, argues that the maiming and disabling of Palestinian bodies听functions as a biopolitical strategy to undermine Palestinian self-determination. Audra Simpson writes听about state-sanctioned sexual violence against Indigenous women as a mechanism through which Canadian听sovereignty is secured.听
At the level of the individual, our bodies exist in a complicated鈥攁nd听likely reciprocal鈥攔elationship听with听our minds.听By U3, I was forced to confront this reality through disability: I developed epilepsy.听As听my听neurologist听put it, stress causes seizures and seizures cause stress. When you maim the body, you maim the mind.听Living with the unpredictability of a cognitive disability, my capacity to听expend听mental energy became severely听limited. It was only with the help of loved ones鈥攆riends, family, my partner, and academic mentors at听
黑料网爆吃瓜鈥攖hat I learned how to care for both my body and mind in a genuinely empowering way. To my mom,听Avery, Meg, Laura, Billy, Fion, Amy, Lucy, Arwen, Gabe, Maya, Taylor, Simon, Ella, Zainah, and Elias, and the听Office for Students with Disabilities, the Office of the Dean of Students, and the countless professors who听supported me through this听degree, and听mercifully granted extensions: thank you.听听
Graduates, our听bodies听and minds are strong and resilient, but they require constant compassion, care,听and maintenance. And a commitment to the supremacy of neither. As we enter the world, political, economic,听and social forces will听seek听to discipline our minds and bodies into conformity, encouraging us to support听oppressive systems and neglect our own needs and limitations.听Let's听build communities that insist upon treating听all bodies and minds with kindness. My wager is that, in doing so, we build more empathetic, resilient, and听capacitated听societies.听
Congratulations, Class of 2026!听
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