BY ASHA SWANN
With Donald Trump becoming president at the end of 2016, many Sheridan students felt like all of 2017 was filled with political turmoil.
â2017 has been a mix of strange, bad, and good,â said first-year Visual Creative Arts student Sam Sedillo. âBad as in terrible things happening, like all the prejudice, Donald Trump – of course, and racism and shootings.â

According to Gun Violence Archive, the United States experienced a total of 343 mass shootings this past year, killing over 13,000 people.
âYou donât want to be like, âOh 2017 sucked because Trump got elected,ââsaid Caitlin Rego, a second-year Animation student. âBut itâs one of those things where thereâs so many crazy things happening.â
Since Trumpâs inauguration on Jan. 20, the world has seen a highly controversial travel ban against Muslims, his declaration of a âpotentially majorâ conflict with North Korea in April, and the lowest presidential approval rate of all time.
But despite the issues, Sedillo finds comfort in the togetherness that comes along with the tragedy.
âEveryone is out here supporting each other,â she said. âAnd I find that to be the sweetest thing. It makes me feel like 2017 wasnât completely hopeless.â

Canadian politics also werenât without conflict. Another issue affecting Sheridan students last year was the five-week long faculty strike, the longest in provincial history.
âThat Ontario strike, I feel like that was a defining moment [this year],â said Rego. âWhen I think of 2017, I think, âOh man, where did my education go?’â
The strike, which began in October, led 10 per cent of college students to drop out, and seek a full refund, according to an analysis done by the Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development.
âAll the shit thatâs been happening has been pretty demoralizing,â said first year Bachelor of Game Design student Charlie Post. âWith the strike and everything, it makes it hard to keep going.â
Many students felt helpless during the strike and found that it made the good things last year get ignored.
âI feel like this was the year that I had to fend for myself,â said Rego. âAside from things politically being unsavoury, Iâm sure there were good things that got overshadowed.â
But after such an eventful year, students agree that they want 2018 to go as smoothly as possible, focusing on self growth, new opportunities, and positivity.
âIâd like to focus on inner peace, focus on myself, and self growth,â Sedillo said. âAnd help others because theyâre probably in the same boat as me.â
âIf you try to stay positive, itâs the smallest thing that you can think of to emphasize that, like itâs the new year, that means I have so many more opportunities and I donât know where it will bring me,â said Rego. âIf 2017 felt like kind of a free fall, then in 2018 we either grab onto something, or hit the bottom and start running again.â
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