This past weekend, seven members of The Cascade’s dedicated team attended NASH 88 — Canada’s largest annual conference held for student journalists. The theme of this year’s NASH was “Cultivate.” This word holds many different meanings — to grow, to create, to keep company with…
So what does cultivate mean to us?
Over the three days of the conference The Cascade did a lot of cultivating, whether that be newfound friendships or skull-crushing hangovers from one too many tequilas at the afterparty.
Cultivating to us at The Cascade means sharing the fruits of our labour after working together as a team through many late nights and a shared mission to create and put our paper out into the community every other week — since 1993.
To quote the conference’s closing keynote speaker and founder of Paper Rag zine, Blue Jay Walker, “Stories are the connective tissue of human culture.” The Cascade is here to serve the students, yes, we cover hard truths, yes, we sometimes cry, sweat, and stay up all night agonizing over our little publication, but somehow, someway, in the process (maybe in spite of the process) we are having a hell of a lot of fun.
So finally, we want to thank you, reader, for you are the reason we are here, for your stories, for your community, to talk about you and your life here at the University of the Fraser Valley. We love you.
Darien Johnsen is a UFV alumni who obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree with double extended minors in Global Development Studies and Sociology in 2020. She started writing for The Cascade in 2018, taking on the role of features editor shortly after. She’s passionate about justice, sustainable development, and education.
