Dear Reader,

I find it ironic how winter, a season of apparent stillness and silence, is often the busiest time of year for students. I’d like to encourage you (through what hopefully is not too cheesy of a letter from the editor) to imitate the season and practice intentional stillness in your days as we approach the end of the semester. 

As academics, we spend the majority of our time either learning and consuming new knowledge or frantically writing and working to meet various deadlines. I fear, however, that we too quickly forget that most of our learning occurs in silence, in a careful digestion of the knowledge which we have been fed over the course of careful study. As students, we must allow for silence to be incorporated into the ritual of our daily lives in order to bear the fruit of our education.

I hope that today you can find the time to relish in silence, even if it is just for ten minutes. Perhaps you might choose this issue of The Forum to accompany you into that silence. Perhaps also make time over winter break to reflect on the knowledge you gained this semester. 

Go forth into silence and enjoy the prose, dialogue, and musings,

~ Gray Turner, Editor-in-Chief