Well Golden Hawks, we are back and better than ever! The Sputnik is hot off the presses of our summer break and we are ready to provide the Brantford campus with the latest scoop, like we have been since 1999.  

The Sputnik prides itself on consistently providing the students of Wilfrid Laurier University Brantford with the hottest news, opinion, arts, sports and fiction stories.  

After a particularly hot summer with temperatures reaching the 30s for days at a time, this O-Week issue is themed “Heat wave” because our team of writers, photographers and social media managers are hot, hot, hot!  

During our Brat summers, The Sputnik has been very demure and very mindful that we want to crank up the heat in our newsroom!   

This issue, we are starting off strong with a compelling opinions piece on dreaded situationships, exclusive interviews with Laurier alumni Olympians and a spine-chilling feature piece involving a particular painted lady.  

Putting this issue together has been such fun and I am so proud of the amazing work the Sputnik team has done and will continue to do for the entire 2024-25 school year.  

Returning to campus as an alumni and working on The Sputnik is so special and I am excited to take this legendary paper to new heights. However, returning to my old campus does pose a question for me.  

“Am I technically going back to school?” 

 September, for as long as I can remember, has been back-to-school season. Now that graduation has come and gone for me and my class, I can’t help but wonder, “When will I fully adjust to no longer being a student? Or am I programmed now to think of this month as back to school season?” 

Despite this minor existential crisis, September has always signaled new beginnings for me and for all of us because it marks the start of a new school year: a new slew of classes and professors, a new bedroom to sleep in and new people to meet. This month represents a new chance to excel and challenge yourself so Golden Hawks, enjoy your fresh start and embrace all the newness that September has to offer.  

For the 2024-25 school year, we want to shine a spotlight on bigger issues in our society while keeping a pulse on local issues in our local community. It is important to recognize the hot bed of issues that are happening around us as we head into the new school year: an ongoing genocide overseas, tumultuous elections which directly affect our nation, temperatures rising all over the planet, union strikes that jeopardize all our commuter students, just to name a few.  

As the next generation, it is crucial to stay involved in both local and national news to stay informed and “heated” about the wrongs that are being done in our society, and of course, do something about it!  

This is our challenge Golden Hawks, to do something! 

This article was originally published in print Volume 24, Issue 1 on Thursday, August 29.