Letter from the editors

In this issue, we’ve tackled a topic that often gets people’s knickers in a twist: life after high school. There always seems to be so much pressure to make a life plan. For many folks, it seems that university is the only option — maybe because you’re interested in academia, or because your parents have threatened to disown you if you don’t go. Either way, writer Kathryn Borel has some smart, sassy tips on how to survive your first year (page 18).

Of course, university isn’t for everyone. It’s a big financial investment and several more years inside a classroom, without any guarantees that it’ll improve your life or land you your dream job. So what else can you do? Plenty. Writer Michelle Balaban has some suggestions (page 22).

Speaking of graduation, many of our teen advisors finished high school last year, leaving us with spaces to fill on our editorial collective. We put out a call on our e-mail list for some new shameless girls to help with the magazine and were thrilled by the responses. Here are just a few highlights:

“I was born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and when I was two my family moved us to Boston, then Germany, then Edmonton, then Turkey and then Saudi Arabia. I spent much of my adolescent life in Saudi Arabia and as a result I have developed a keen understanding of women’s rights.” (Esmahan Razavi, 16)

“I’m shameless because I speak up. It may sound like a simple act, and for me, it is, but for many women around me, it isn’t.” (Nessa Trenton, 18)

“I try to act as my own inspiration, and do the things I want to do. Role models are unreliable and if you depend on other people to tell you how to live or what to achieve, then you’re not being true to yourself.” (Julie Sadler, 15)

“I did a speech in my English class about feminism last year, and though I and some of my classmates liked it, my teacher didn’t agree. I joked that he docked a point every time I said ‘abortion’ or ‘lesbian.’” (Maddie Lee, 15)

You can see why meeting with the collective is one of our favourite parts of this job. When we first dreamed up Shameless, we were convinced that these kinds of girls were out there — girls who felt ignored by mainstream teen media and who had something to say. Three issues later, we know there are hundreds of you reading the magazine.

In case you haven’t heard, we’re proud to announce that Shameless was named Best New Magazine of 2004 by Toronto alt-weekly NOW, and was nominated for two 2004 Utne Independent Press Awards (Best New Title and Best Design). Thanks and congratulations to our amazing writers, artists and volunteers — we’ve always known you were awesome, but we’re glad other people are noticing, too.

Don’t forget to drop us a line and let us know what you think of the magazine. As we write this note, we’re already making plans for issue #4.

Yours shamelessly,