Welcome to Concordia

Graphic Jayde Norström

You probably expect us to say something like, “This is the first day of the rest of your life,” or “You’ll cherish these times forever.” But since you’re probably reeling from final summer festivities and navigating the labyrinth that is MyConcordia.ca right now, we’ll hold off on the clichés.

We’re here to help, to offer you a beginner’s guide to Montreal, to tell you what we wish we knew in our first year at Concordia. We live in the biggest small town in the world, and you’ll learn what we mean by that soon enough. You can get pretty much anywhere you need to go by foot or on two wheels (at least when it’s not winter), and you’ll be surprised how often you’ll run into the same people. What may surprise you most about this city is how laissez-faire everything really is—for better or for worse.

Because all of us at The Link have been through that frazzled first week, we offer here a roadmap for what Mark Twain called the “city of churches,” focusing on student-heavy areas of central Montreal. But once you get to know these spots, explore the rest. This city reveals itself to those who wander through it.
We’ll be here to help you sift through the madness, online, on the airwaves and on stands every Tuesday.

Welcome to Concordia. We’ll keep you apprised on what’s going on in this colourful, crazy place we call home.

—Colin Harris, Katie McGroarty and Jayde Nörstrom, Special Issue Coordinators