11/22/2025
Hi everyone! Madara Mason here, Director of the Honors College. I want to wish our Honors students, UAF students, all of our colleagues and collaborators, Fairbanks community members, and all of our donors and supporters a Happy Thanksgiving before the holiday next week. I'm grateful for each and every one of you. Safe travels to those going home to see family, and best wishes for a successful finals week once students return.
The winter holidays can be a simultaneously beautiful and difficult time of year for people, but I'm been inspired by what I've seen from our students: the generosity, empathy, hard work, and perseverance they show for one another makes me hopeful for their futures and my own. As darkness descends on our latitude up here, they keep showing me where the light really comes from. Last night the Honors Student Advisory Council and ASUAF - Student Government collaborated to put on Friendsgiving, which was so successful that they're planning on making twice as many turkeys next year. These students know what it means to show up for one another, and I hope anyone reading gets to experience that feeling too this year.
With all the gratitude I can muster: thank you, Honors College students and staff for being you. -Madara
