WITH this note from myself I bring you the 2000th installment of high-quality, locally-grown, hand-reared news from our website! For the past five years an ever-changing group of students here in Aber have been putting pens to paper, fingers to keyboards and ears to the ground, in a hunt for the latest campus goings-on and finding the news that affects you. There’s been a lot to write about in the last half-a-decade; changes in student fees, constant elections, some memorable Varsity triumphs (which we’ll be repeating again in a fortnight’s time, BANGOR) and all manner of happenings in town.
The ASM before you today is still a fledgling society; five years ago some bright sparks had the idea to haphazardly mash together the recently restored Courier with Bay Radio and form something greater than the sum of their parts. Since then we’ve made it online and even established our very own Bay TV. Before I took over from last year’s Online Editor, Andrew Simpson (we’re lost without you Andrew, don’t be a stranger) gave me a sit-down briefing of all of the roles responsibilities and emailed me more documents than I’ve produced for my degree in the last three years combined. I’d already gone through the same thing a few months earlier with Illtud Dafydd (previous Sports Editor and all round good egg) when I was given the how-to guide for Sports. As is customary with any introduction to a role of responsibility, I felt so out of my depth. All there was to do was cross my fingers and start.
As it turns out that’s how you get a lot of things done. There’s often a lot of pressure going into a committee, or any new role for that matter, and so much of it is self-imposed. At university in particular, we’re here to learn and that goes doubly for what we make ourselves; in lecture halls and seminars we’re learning from and with someone who knows what they’re teaching and what you should be getting out of it, but societies and clubs, student-born projects, are much more of a fumble through the dark. We’re all volunteering our time to make something great and as much as it sounds like a motivational poster, as long as you give it everything you can you’ll get the best out of it, and you’ll sleep better knowing you gave it your all.
This has been a very real year at the keyboard, a very full experience. It’s been as challenging as it has satisfying, and I see the merit of everything that’s happened to help me do what I want to after I graduate. Thanks to everyone who has been involved in any part of the society; every show and video and article makes us better. It’s a wonderful thing being surrounded by like-minded people. We’ve all got that opportunity this term with end of year meals and for us third years, some final farewells until the next one.
And the year’s not even over yet! Keep your eyes on the site in the coming weeks as we report on the biggest events of the end of the year. We’ll be bringing you live updates all day for Varsity, and you can check out all the Summer Ball goings-on in May as well as a regular slew of news and reviews on anything that moves. Have a merry last week of Easter!