With Thanksgiving right around the corner, we, The Et Cetera staff, have a lot to be thankful for.

Since 2020, Dallas College has experienced so much turmoil from the pandemic and consolidation. Student life was low on our campus, but we’re grateful to see our administration working closer with student organizations.

At The Et Cetera, we felt this strain firsthand. Despite our ongoing struggle to rebuild our team, our publication does its best to provide news.

Dallas College student journalists won 15 national journalism awards this year. Two weeks ago, our editorial team was able to collect some of these awards at MediaFest 2022hanks to funding from the vice chancellor of student success.

Our editorial team attended presentations with media figures such as former Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Berenstein. They returned to our newsroom feeling inspired to work.

But we’re not the only students Dallas College recently supported.

Organizing a week to support DACA students was a meaningful gesture for recipients who might feel worried about the future of their education after an October court ruling paused the acceptance of new applicants.

Embracing various cultures through dedicated celebrations help minority student groups feel valued by our administration.

The inclusion extends to student identity too. Our reporters were amazed by the amount of work that went into the LGBTQ student summit at North Lake.

We’ve seen additional events crop up for our LGBTQ students, helping them know they are welcome at Dallas College. The administration is doing an excellent job promoting dialogue about gender and sexual identity.

Even displays such as the ofrenda in The Hive show the sincerity in representing our diverse student body.

These demonstrations are needed, and we must include students from all walks of life. It’s important that Dallas College reaches out to students who might feel underrepresented.

This is the path Dallas College should follow moving forward – for the good of our student body.

We are thankful for Dallas College’s work in promoting and bringing back student activities. We’ve come a long way since the pandemic, and we’re excited to see life returning to our campuses.