When I Become a Panther

Foreword: This fictional piece was inspired by my interest in the psychological and neurodevelopmental effects of childhood trauma, which began after reading The Boy Was Raised as a Dog by Bruce D. Perry and Maia Szalavitz. Throughout this story, I have attempted to touch on the powerlessness felt by victims of child abuse and the…

ByLucy Smith22 September 2025

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The ‘Brown One’

I have become accustomed to walking into a room and questioning if I belong. That was very much what I felt like on my first day of primary school, my first day of high school, and ultimately, my first day at college. Amongst the sea of faked tanned skin, my chocolate complexion dobbed me in…

ByArya Moodley4 December 2023

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Lessons

Jack Lynch reflects on the impact of his parents for Drew’s News’ ‘My Story’ writing competition. “Young men think old men are fools, but old men know young men are fools.” - George Chapman, All Fools. A person is moulded by the influence of others in the same fashion as a sculptor moulds his sculpture.…

ByJack Lynch18 November 2021

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The Meaning of Grace at Formal Dinner, Among Other Latin Phrases

Resident Fresher ‘Latinist’ Jules Vahl does a deep dive into the mystical world of Latin mottos, interrogating everything from Sydney high schools to St Andrew’s College itself. It’s Monday evening: Formal Dinner at St Andrew’s College. All the normal pomp and circumstance. Before we eat, Principal Wayne Erickson speaks an ancient, supposedly “dead” language that…

ByJules Vahl3 August 2021

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The Challenge Within

An anonymous student discusses their brother’s transition and some of the responses that their family has faced. When I completed my HSC in 2019, my parents took me aside to describe the scenario that my family would soon have to confront. My brother was about to undergo his social transition from female to male. I…

ByKiran Gupta28 July 2021

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The New Normal: Existential Risk and Utmost Reward

Elliott Earnshaw reflects on the future of humanity and the challenges we will face in the future. We walk along a path cut into the edge of a cliff. It goes up. But as the path goes up it narrows. With each step, the road behind us crumbles. There is no turning back. There are…

ByElliott Earnshaw21 November 2020

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My Time in Australia: Adventures of an American Exchange Student during COVID-19

Scott Newman details his travels through Australia as an exchange student in a global pandemic. I’m not Australian, and before February 8th 2020, I’d never been to the country. Never to New Zealand, never to Japan, never this far East, frankly. I’ve visited nearly forty countries and have lived in New York, Antibes, Paris, Amman,…

ByScott Newman21 November 2020

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The Endless Stream of Photos: Have we taken enough?

Zoe Kemp discusses the ethics behind photography in a world where we are constantly bombarded with images both online and in our physical lives. In today’s image saturated world, one simply has to type the words ‘photojournalism 2020’ into a Google Search to be overwhelmed by photos of horrendous bushfires, a global pandemic and people…

ByZoe Kemp8 July 2020

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The Collapse of Compassion: Collective Apathy Towards Mass Suffering

Rob Abadee discusses why we are often numb towards mass suffering and posits some ideas as to what we can do about it. On Sunday 24th May 2020, the New York Times printed a front cover that attracted worldwide attention. To mark the grim milestone of the United States passing 100,000 deaths due to…

ByRob Abadee13 June 2020

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The Forgotten War

Netra Hawkins recounts the story of her mum's encounters with the terrors of the Khmer Rouge in 1975, Phnom Penh Cambodia as an 8 year old girl. Written from the perspective of her mum growing up in the war, this is an emotional recount of having lost family members and fighting every day to survive…

ByNetra Hankins8 May 2020