Welcome to the final issue of The Voice Magazine for 2020.  Our writers got in the holiday mood this year, so beyond our feature interview with student and new Voice writer, Karen Lam, we have a number of holiday themed selections to help get you in the mood as well.

One of the things that AU does that often flies below notice is how it brings together people of various cultures to the same goal of learning and attaining a post-secondary degree.  Even if we don’t see or interact with those people, they are fellow students, and interacting with AU.  It can be hard to really get a feel for how a culture not our own generally celebrates the holidays, so this week, we’ve got a look at the various celebrations going on this holiday season.  But what does celebrating Kwanzaa or Diwali or some other holiday tradition really feel like?

That’s why we’ve got short interviews from various students, so that you can, perhaps, see those holidays through their eyes.  And in the process maybe we realize how the details that differ still add up to the same overall feelings and celebrations.

But what will you remember from this past year?  It would be easy to roll your eyes at such a question, giving everything that’s happened, but Barb Lehtiniemi reminds us that, despite how this year has been a particularly trying one, it hasn’t all been bad.  And maybe what can make the holiday season seem better is a real look back, a look back to all the things we’ve managed to succeed at despite the adversity thrown at us throughout the year.

And while looking back at the year, consider thinking about which articles in The Voice Magazine over the past year have moved you in some fashion.  I still need help picking out the best of 2020 to feature early in the new year, so if you have any ideas, you can still send them to me right up until the end of this year.   And after all, what else are you going to do while you’re diligently keeping your social distance and your gatherings remote?  You’re going to be on the computer anyway, right?

Of course, that’s not all we have for our final issue.  Even Chazz Bravado has come in for a final appearance (although he came in late, I couldn’t just let him slide by).  But we’ve also got some ideas of some of the lessons we can take from this year to the next, advice on how to stay happy regardless, how to take a stand for your wallet, a look at how your destiny is written in the stars—depending on  how you read them, and, of course, egg nog.  Because you can’t have a good holiday issue without some form of libation.

So mix yourself up a batch of Chef Corey’s egg not, throw on your comfy slippers and your Zoom-approved onesie, and settle down with this final issue of The Voice Magazine for 2020.

Hope you have a great holiday season, and better next year.

Enjoy the read!