However, I’m happy to present you with the newest issue of the griff. This month, all of our stories were written by our amazing volunteer writers. These folks have worked hard this year, and I’m really proud of the work they’ve done for us. I hope you’ll take the time to check out their stories this month.

In this issue, a theme kind of presented itself to us: the various ways that our university interacts with people who are new to Canada. First and foremost, we have a significant population of international students. Courtney Bettin interviewed an international student, Mareleine Ngo Mbeleg, to discuss her experience at MacEwan.

Lydia Fleming sat down with Aden Omar, a student refugee sponsored by the Students’ Association of MacEwan University (SAMU). Learn more about his story.

While Aden Omar came to Canada alone, some refugees are fortunate enough to be joined by their families. Thanks to a group of dedicated MacEwan community members, another Syrian refugee family will soon be living in Edmonton. Merna Schmidt, a psychology professor at MacEwan, is leading the sponsorship effort. Read more about the project.

Feminists at MacEwan, a student club, is another group of individuals aiming to promote equality and opportunity for everyone. To find out more about the club’s mandate and events, check out our Q&A.

We also wanted to pay tribute to our university’s athletes in this issue. It’s been about two years since our Griffins teams began transferring into the big leagues, leaving the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) for Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS). Christopher Moreau talked to Coach Ken Briggs, Coach Eric Magdanz, and Megan Wood, a player on the women’s basketball team, in order to find out more about how the transition to CIS has been going.

If you’re tired of all this reading, and you just need a frosty beer, make sure you stop to check out our campus pub reviews.

Speaking of beer, the city’s new Brewery District continues construction just a few blocks from City Centre Campus. Find out why the district has faced significant criticism since it was first proposed.

In this month’s Final Thoughts, Thai Sirikoone writes about growth and how to become a better you. He also talks a lot about trees.

Speaking of growth, this issue of our magazine also marks the end of another year for the griff — a year of transformation. In September, we moved from a weekly newspaper format to a monthly magazine, and a lot of change came along with that transition. We changed our look, our website, and the type of articles that we publish in print and online. All this change was rewarding, but I would be lying if I said there weren’t some growing pains.

I hope that all of our hard work has paid off, and that you’ve enjoyed reading our magazine this year. We tried to include stories that captured your interest and challenged your assumptions, stories that offered a laugh or some information about campus services, and stories about your fellow students. I can only hope that we’ve succeeded, and that we continue to grow next year. Thanks for joining us in this journey.