To many reading this: welcome back, suckers. To the freshers who have gone back and collected old issues of Critic Te Ārohi once you realised it exists, is free, and is the best thing you’ll ever read: kia ora, I’m glad you made it. Here’s a wee introduction.
Critic Te Ārohi is part of OUSA, the organisation running O-Week - not the Uni, an important distinction - though we’ve been around almost as long as they have. This is our 99th year. Except for the two full-timers at Critic Te Ārohi (Editor and Designer), the magazine is run entirely by students, for students. Rock up to the office to get involved if you fancy trying your hand at cosplaying as Carrie Bradshaw and writing an opinion on Dunedin’s dating scene (a word of advice: no bed frame, no root), contributing an art piece, submitting a confession, or reviewing the best spots on campus to have a private mid-exam season meltdown.
And send news tips! Even if it turns out to be a wild goose chase, we will investigate literally anything. That’s our job. I spent two weeks harassing Dunedin liquor stores last year following a rumour that Nitro was being phased out by the police, only to out a business owner fraudulently hiding behind their logo and taking it off his store shelves because of a personal distaste for the RTD. Nitro hands were drunk in celebration.
OUSA doesn’t only run O-Week; they fund Critic Te Ārohi and many other things on campus. Many students take their entire university careers to realise that OUSA is more than a board of overachieving students looking to add “student advocacy” to their CVs. It’s a fully fledged organisation with a CEO and everything (love you, Debbie) that exists for the sole purpose of making your experience as a student outside of study and Castle St hosts the best it can be - even something as small as helping you furnish your new flat if you found yourself sitting on the floor of your lounge drinking tea out of a bowl.
Also, don’t be put out if you find that Castle St isn’t your vibe. Despite it being the only part of Otago Uni that the media shows and probably the reason a lot of you chose to study here, it represents a very small part of the student population. OUSA President Keegan has some great advice in her column on how to make the most out of your uni experience, even if that means spending it all on Castle, which we all ended up doing at some point anyway. But for this week at least, go to Tent City, fill your bag with free shit (there’ll be heaps, there were several meetings about it), and join a club. Waiting until third-year to do so made me pick up a panic-postgrad course just to stay a student.
As your new Editor, I look forward to getting stuck into another year of calling landlords out on their shitty behaviour, yarning to students at street parties, debunking myths, investigating flat break-ins, making the Critic staff sick reviewing every fish and chip place in town, and using the Takeaways column to air my hyperfixations and gripes of the moment.
Kia kaha,
Nina <3