Feb. 7, 2023

Week 4!                                                                                   Daylight 7:37:26

Congratulations! You are doing great. You are already one-quarter of the way through the term!

If you are here in Fairbanks, you can already feel the daylight coming back! Each day is longer than the one before and it is wonderful. If this is your first spring in Fairbanks, be prepared for an extraordinary experience. It feels most dramatic if you have stayed here all winter, but even if you slipped away to points south for a brief visit, you would find the coming experience transformative.

UAF is all about transformative experiences. In fact, a whole bunch of UAF faculty, staff, and students developed a new statement to capture our institutional vision. We settled on “Excellence through transformative experiences.”

There are lots of different kinds of transformative experiences. Some of our students will have amazing outdoor experiences doing research in far-flung parts of Alaska and the world. Others will build friendships and learn lessons for a lifetime.

Sometimes it is the little things that you don’t expect to remember. I remember being a UAF student many years ago and trundling down to what is now Hess Commons for a late-night snack with friends. Perhaps the most transformative experience came from my student job. I worked as a student employee for Animal Quarters at the Institute of Arctic Biology. There, I learned countless life lessons about work and management and found my first home away from home.

Does any of this resonate with you? Are you seeking and finding the transformative experiences you dreamed of? 

Have you:

• Gone for a walk by the light of the moon

• Viewed the northern lights (aurora forecast)

• Tried a new food

• Joined a student club

• Said hello to someone new

• Applied for a student job

• Gone to a new event (a lecture, a movie, or a social event on campus)

• Done something nice for yourself or someone else

• Joined an intramural team

• Sought out a tutor for a class in which you are struggling

• Studied twice as hard for your coming midterm 

Things to do: 

• You have until Feb. 15 at 11:59 p.m. to submit your application for scholarships for the 2023-2024 academic year. There are more scholarships than you can imagine (over 400, in fact). Apply now!

• Check out the Nanook Events page for all kinds of things happening within our community. Is something not there that you’d like to see? Let me know!

Transformative experiences are a big deal here at UAF. I’m curious to hear about your experiences, the experiences you would like to have, and the experiences you think we should create! Let me know at obguthrie@alaska.edu. 

— Owen Guthrie, vice chancellor for student affairs and enrollment management

P.S. Next week is our annual Show your love campaign. We’d love to hear your story!