So, the strike is over. Was anything accomplished?

You, reader, might have to answer for me, because I’m from the past. About two weeks out of fashion, because the nature of magazine writing is that we’re always behind. (You may have noticed that The Watch doesn’t tend to cover breaking news, because it’s damn near impossible.)

Right now, I’m standing amidst a whole lot of buzz. The strike is set to begin in a few days, the vote passed by a margin of three people. It’s the talk of the town. We’re currently waiting to see if academic amnesty will be granted. Brave souls meekly ask their professors whether or not they will push their midterm. Professors answer with their typical sass: “Well who was going to tell me about this?”

It’s fair. I had to break the news to multiple people that the strike was happening. This is to say, the student strike committee needs a new marketing team, because no one knows what the hell is going on.

The King’s Student Union (KSU) said it’s up to the students to make their own decisions on going to class or striking. They have to say this, because the KSU holds no power over us and no power over our professors. But the point is, we’re supposed to be striking.

Everyone’s divided. We’re completely on our own. It all feels like a choose-your-own-adventure hellscape.

Play along with me:

You heard about a prospective strike. You:

1. Endured sitting in the Wardy for three hours to vote yes. (Brave!)
2. Endured sitting in the Wardy for three hours to vote no. (Still brave.)
3. Voted online.
4. Didn’t sign up for online voting in time (whoops!)
5. Didn’t notice the vote was happening until it was over.

The strike happened. You:

1. Pretended it wasn’t happening.
2. Skipped your boring classes, stayed at home and thought solemnly about the housing crisis, rising tuition costs, etc.
3. Picketed and participated in the various strike activities.
4. Enjoyed a week off.

Your friends asked you your opinion on the strike. You:

1. Brush it off: “I don’t know what the hell’s going on, man.”
2. Make them answer first. If they’re in the class and going, you’ll go.
3. Educate them on it.
4. Freak out about how stupid it is.

For most of these questions, I think your answer probably won’t affect the strike’s outcome. No, the strike probably won’t achieve anything. As The Dalhousie Gazette said in their editorial board opinion piece, we’ve already paid the tuition. And we’ve put an end date to the strike. That’s not very Billy Elliott of us.

But at the same time, does missing one week of class matter? I’ll remind you, I’m from the past. But I want to skip past your timeline and talk to future you. In a month, two months or ten god damn years, will the late grade on that assignment matter? Did missing your FYP tutorial matter? Did taking a hit to your impressive attendance streak matter? I haven’t met this future you yet, but I think they might say standing up for yourself and the feeling of making a difference mattered more.

If you haven’t noticed, we’re living in some pretty dark times. Our own city is slowly joining in line with the rest of the world. Institutions we pay thousands of dollars a year and trust with our education aren’t innocent either. It gets to a point. 

So before you upvote that post on the Dal Reddit page pointing out the logical fallacy in the strike demands, just know that we are trying something, somehow. Student unions have existed for a long time. You may not notice them, they may be the butt of the joke and you may skip their FYP announcements because you’re simply tired of hearing them, but they’re trying to do something. And their outreach is working. 

The turnout at the special general meeting for the strike was incredible. I couldn’t even see past the crowd to watch frequent Wardy dwellers play another round of pool. That alone is a win, because they got people who wouldn’t normally be caught dead at the Wardy to come and vote. It’s the most impressive thing we’ve accomplished since getting FYP shirts back. And we actually got a whole lot of votes on very short notice. A total of 173 votes, which is roughly 17.3 per cent of the student body. Compared with Dal’s measly one per cent of the student body, that’s pretty good. 

The whole point of this strike is to show that we can come together. We know we’re capable of organizing. Likely none of the demands will be met, and we’re not going to change the world within one week. But we need to start somewhere. Whether or not you went to school during the strike, I get you. As long as you think about what it is we’re fighting to achieve, why it matters and what it means to exist and resist in this uncertain world, I respect you.