Things are starting to come together for something special that The Voice Magazine is going to do later this month and into March. If you’re not subscribed to our reminder list for when the magazine comes out, you may want to consider doing that. It’s only one email a week, after all, and sometimes it’s even pithy.
This week our feature article is an interview with another AUSU Councillor, Amber McDuffe. It might seem strange that you need a distance university to help you get closer to home, but that’s exactly what this EMS professional is doing with her AU education.
Also this week, we’ve got the debut of another new writer, Jessica Young, who’s opening up with a personal tale of her marijuana use, and what leaving it behind has done for her. I’ll be honest, I was a bit unsure on first receiving this article, because, like any controversial topic, I know there’s always some contingent who finds anything about marijuana, whether it be positive or negative, to simply go against what they want to hear. But Jessica’s done a good job of keeping her experience related just to her. And in doing so, given us some insight into another student.
Plus, Karen Lam wishes us a Happy New Year, Chinese New Year, that is, which happens on February 12th, this year, changing us to the year of the Ox. Her article contains various lists of things you might do to learn about or celebrate the occasion.
Not being heavily into Chinese culture myself, I was surprised to find out how much I enjoy much of the celebrations around Chinese New Year, as many of the stores in this area celebrate it and have a lot of special dishes and tasty treats for sale. And of course coming across a dragon dance parading through the mall while you’re picking up a bowl of “treasures” isn’t something you can do every day, but certainly something you should do at least once if you have the opportunity.
I have to wonder though, what the celebrations will be like this year, under increasing restrictions because of COVID-19. I can’t imagine it would be legal (or safe) to be a part of a dancing troupe stuck underneath a large, plastic dragon, leaping down a mall concourse. And a virtual dragon dance just doesn’t have the same spontaneity that made it so special the last time I happened to come across it.
But, in addition to those stories, we also have the first installment of Milica Markovic’s “Women in Fiction.” Inspired by our own “Women of Interest” column, Milica proposed a column where she looks at various women through literature and film and brings to us some ideas of what we can learn from them. Let me know what you think of it. A quick warning, though, this is a column that will be full of spoilers each week, though usually for older or classic pieces of literature and film. Still, if you’re the type of person who waits a long time to see movies or read books, you may want to read judiciously.
Plus, of course, scholarships, events, advice, recipes, thoughtful articles and news are all right here. So enjoy the read!