By Grace Johnston – Contributor 

The grim reaper looms over the word death and its human nature to feel anxious about it. Zach Fry, however, will reassure you that your fear of death is natural, “We all have death anxiety, we’re all afraid of death, and the absurdity of existence”. Fry is a PhD student with a Bachelor of Arts and Master’s in Psychology in progress at Bishop’s. He studies thoughts around death, existentialism and suicidality, and wants to demystify the conversation around the end of life.

Fry was an introspective kid—an obvious prerequisite for his line of work. He has always been an existentialist, questioning who he is and his purpose in life. However, he never anticipated intertwining his research or profession with this personal curiosity. 

In 2021, Fry graduated from BU with a major in Psychology and began working at the Wales Residence Home for senior citizens as a psychosocial support worker. In the home, he naturally developed profoundly close relationships with people at the end stages of life and was exposed to a lot of sickness and death. After two years at the Wales home, Fry was laid off, which came as a surprising opportunity to slow down and reroute. During this time he began reading a lot on the topics of philosophy and dying. In September of that year, with the guidance of Dr. Catherine Malboeuf-Hurtubise, Fry decided to “take a plunge into the darkness” of death and existentialism and undertook an individualized Masters program at Bishop’s. 

His degree focused on one big question: Do kids think about death? The answer: Yes, they do. 

However, unlike the refined perspective of the elderly folk at the Wales home, kids offer an unfiltered, innocent outlook on life and death. When asked if death could be beautiful, one child depicted a dog watching a colourful sunset. When asked in a group setting if they would want to live forever, the kids unanimously declined. Fry did not expect to enjoy working with kids so much but realized how overlooked they are on this topic and appreciated their refreshing outlook. 

Following this project, an opportunity arose for a research internship at Wollongong University in New South Wales, Australia. Dr. Malboeuf-Hurtubise connected Fry to her colleague Professor Vida Bliokas who would supervise the internship. Although Fry had his reservations about Wollongong, he ultimately packed up in September 2024 and moved his studies across the world with the generous support of the B.E.S.T. Project Fund. 

In the internship, Fry studied the effectiveness of peer-based suicide prevention and aftercare and thoughts of death among clinicians in two separate research projects. Although this area of study is rather dark and anxiety-inducing for most, this project was extremely illuminating in his career path. 

Fry was awarded a substantial scholarship to continue his research in a PhD program at Wollongong. He plans to centre his career and research around death anxiety and the meaning of life and death. He hopes to one day use his research to diffuse the fear in conversations around death and provide optimal training for clinicians. 

Fry is excited to return to Australia in July but is enjoying his brief intermission of projects in the Eastern Townships. He has a newfound appreciation for the Canadian cold, knowing his time here is limited.