Columns

Issue one: Mission accomplished

Orientation Week is a blast.

Even spending the majority of it in an office trying to figure out how we’ll come up with a 48-page magazine in a week, it is still a very special time of the year. Reuniting with friends, finding new ones, partying every night, and avoiding the books for at least another couple of weeks. What’s not to love?

Aside from the morons who set your house on fire.

This year, we’ve done it again with the nuttiest Orientation in the country. Before the week had even begun, some flats already had nearly 4000 people set to attend their parties … this is before the university attempted to have them cancelled and then collected over $4500 in fines later in the week.

But while national news and the Otago Daily Times were busy highlighting the pyromaniacs of Dunedin, Critic was witnessing the good times of Orientation. Roaming the streets of Castle and Hyde, we captured countless new romances blossoming, as young love found it’s place in North D. We saw bros finding new bros, dance routines being formed and we had friendly banter with the cops.

There’s a reason we love O Week; we devote the entire week to having a great time, without getting engrossed in our own singular lives. Grades aren’t everything and another shift at the café isn’t going to make your loan disappear or a grad job land in your lap. Spend your time here finding your passion and spending time with those you love. Whether it’s your family, flatties or that cat that’s probably going to kick the bucket any day now, realise that it’s these connections we are here for.

With a wild week kicking off the year, I’m so excited for 2015. This week has been one of the steepest learning curves (or slides? or cliff drops?) of my life. And this brings me to another point. Great content isn’t what got me excited about this issue. There’s some good stuff but there’s plenty to improve on, and we’ve got the rest of the year to figure this out. What got me excited was that everyone left print night passionate about the next 26 issues, merry on pizza, and buzzing to be a part of the team.

Give this year your everything, and so will we.

Josie Cochrane
Critic Editor