Fiona Sjaus

Colourful lights flash wildly back and forth in the nightclub Celebrities, stunning Nicole Pan. She leans over the lighting booth, taps the shoulder of the lighting guy and yells over the music.

On a rainy evening, a handful of students gather around a table adorned with leaflets and worn-out copies of The Communist Manifesto. The conversation is animated — rent hikes, tuition increases and labour strikes dominate the discussion. The student group UBC Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP) holds these public seminars weekly to talk about interpretations of the philosophies of Marxism and the politics of communism. UBC RCP is not just an ideological club.

This article contains mentions of grief. “I think I was always an academically-minded child,” said Kinesiology Associate Professor Dr. Eli Puterman. “I loved information and I loved learning.” When Puterman began his post-secondary studies, he was on track to be a doctor. Yet, life experiences he endured in his early 20s prompted Puterman to pivot the academic direction of his pursuits, and he later pursued a master’s and PhD in clinical psychology.