Dear beloved readers,

At Pearson we oftentimes have casual, and yet extremely meaningful conversations about our lives, our cultures, and our countries. However, these conversations are sometimes lost in the whirlwind of Pearson life, and relegated to our distant memories. We wanted to create a space for these conversations to flourish with more permanence than ever. The articles in this publication will come from the members of our community, including students, teachers, staff and alumni. However, it is important to remember that the opinions presented in these articles belong to the individual writers, and do not necessarily represent the views of the College as a whole.

This month, the publication will be focused on the theme of first contact. This is relevant for many reasons. First, this theme promotes the exploration of stories, ideas, and even planets we have never before seen. In many ways, this collection of pieces explores the untouched and unknown. For example, as you will read soon, one of our pieces is about a little-known community of Somalis in Minnesota. It provides a first person perspective on the complexities of modern immigration. It is stories like this, hidden, and lesser known in the mainstream narrative, that will fuel this publication. A publication dedicated to making the political, personal. And of course, in the most literal sense of our theme, this issue is our first contact with our readers, and likewise, it is your first contact with us. Please enjoy.

With love from your managing editors,

Omar Farah and Anna Beebe