BY: ISABELLA BOURQUE

February in the Aboriginal Student’s Office is full of fun events! Our next community meal and paint night is on Feb. 20 from 5 – 8 p.m. Come out to our monthly drum circle, led by Michael Fraser, Feb. 21 at 7:30 p.m. The Moccasin Making Workshop is back and it will be held on Wednesdays in March! Contact Megan at mcaldwel@ulaberta.ca  in the ASO if you want to participate. Dream catcher making will also be happening March 30 from 1 – 4 p.m. in the Rashmi Bale Learning Commons, so sign up by sending an email to the ASO at augustana.aso@ualberta.ca!

One of the new clubs on campus is the Indigenous Club, which aims to foster Indigenous learnings and activities for Indigenous and non-Indigenous students at Augustana andanyone is welcome to join the club! They will be meeting for the first time Tuesday, Feb. 19 in the Wahkohtowin Lodge to discuss further meeting times and what club members would like to have happen at club meetings. If you would like to join or have any questions, you can email the.indigenous.club@gmail.com or stop by on Tuesday to have your say about the kinds of activities you’d like to see happen. So far, the club is thinking of having activities such as bannock making, sewing, beading, tea time, and language learning.

The other new club I wanted to mention is the East Asia Club, which aims to help international students at Augustana feel more at home by having opportunities for them to meet and hang out with other students to share their cultures. The club will be holding meetings once a month and the next meeting will be Tuesday, March 19 at 6 p.m. in F-315, which will also serve as a bonding night for members. The president of the club, Hyun-Joo Lim, informed me they will be eating Chinese sweet rice balls, to celebrate the end of the Spring Festival, and they will be watching a Korean TV show, Running Man. Everyone is welcome to join the club!

Clubs are a great way to unwind once a week or once a month with a group of people who share the same interests as you and  to partake in activities that are fun and non school related. They are an awesome opportunity to make friends around campus with who you might not normally see in class, or even be in the same year. I really encourage students who have the free time to join at least one club and commit to going to their meetings as much as possible. Being active in the school environment will really help your university career be rounded and your presence in extra-curricular activities, such as clubs, will help make your experience here at Augustana pleasant and dynamic (and not all about the academics side of things)!