Sweet niblets! Life is a rodeo!

I may be a student in one of the largest cities in the world, but I’ve spent most of my life in small town Ontario—so I know a thing or two about country living. Well, okay, I’m from Milton, Ontario, so my experience was more like this weird blend of urban and rural life. Aside from volunteering at my elementary school teacher’s farm and hanging out with my friends at the one mall in our town, my favourite hobby was watching Hannah Montana. I mean, I could totally relate to how Miley Stewart was caught somewhere between embracing her country roots and breaking away from them to be a city girl.

And, of course, being on the Disney Channel, all of the songs on the show and in the movie had great messages that kids could relate to. Songs about how being an “Ordinary Girl” is totally okay, and about how a “True Friend” is all that really matters in life, and about how the “Single Dad Blues” can really suck. But I’ve found that a lot of the songs are still relevant to my life. Let me give y’all some examples:

Whoever says that hybrid learning is the “Best of Both Worlds” has clearly never had an online and an in-person class back-to-back.

Taking off my pyjamas to put on my “Old Blue Jeans” feels so wrong now.

I’m “Gonna Get This,” I say as I take my first in-person exam after two years of writing take-home final assessments. (I got about halfway through before time was up).

“Nobody’s Perfect”—except all of the dogs that walk by the Vic quad. All of them!

“I Wanna Know [Who] You” Are, I think to myself as I add more red string and pictures to my New Vic President evidence board in The Strand’s office. (Laverne Smith & Associates, please give us the scoop on who the new President is).

“7 Things” The Strand did this year. (Okay yeah this one isn’t a Hannah Montana song. But I’m not even trying to be funny in this section, so just let me go off the rails here.)

1. Return to our regular print production schedule in a fully remote newsroom
2. Introduce an investigative news portfolio called Unravelled
3. Publish a nine-month-long award-winning investigation
4. Collaborate with BLVCK and VicPride
5. Interview some fantastic people (including Cheri DiNovo and Eric Walters)
6. Win two John H. MacDonald awards (out of four nominations)

And the seventh thing I love the most that we did: Work together to share the stories that are important to Vic students.

Mother trucker, dude. Writing all that sentimental stuff hurt like a buttcheek on a stick. I’ll stop horsing around and officially welcome you to Volume 64’s edition of The Strand’s annual humour issue—the Yeehaw Issue. Thank you to our Stranded team, Victoria McIntyre and Sarah Burns, for taking the reins on this one. This issue includes some hard-hitting Neighws about the VUSAC President’s scandalous secret life as a cowboy; Unsaddled features an exclusive interview with TikTok sensation Corona Cowboy. In Moopinions, y’all can find a definitive ranking of the sexiest cowboys we know. You’ve heard of Aritzia’s Melina Pant, now get ready for the very scientific Melina Milk—read about it in Stallions. This issue’s Yeeture story is for all the former horse girls out there. The Agriculture section includes a yeehaw-themed playlist and a new, original country song that will soon be topping all the charts. And in Stranded @ the Ranch, we say goodbye to Saucy Suzy through her final column and we help you answer a very pressing question: Which cowboy ranch is your dream home?

In my Orientation Issue editorial back in September, I wrote that navigating university and life in the midst of a pandemic feels like wandering aimlessly through a never-ending maze. Well, now I’m writing to let you know that “You’ll Always Find Your Way Back Home.” Sweet niblets, yall!

Special shoutout to The Strand’s Staff:

Albert Cheng, Faith Dong, Adriana Goraieb, Ashvini Giridaran, Helen Ho, Aida Javan, Stefania Kuczynski, Yoon-Ji Kweon, Amie Leung, Angie Lo, Davide Sallese, Roy Shi, Natalie Song, Tammy Yu