The beginning of the end

Tuesday 7 May marked one of the first milestones that I will meet as I prepare to leave student life over the next four months. Four months may seem like a fairly lengthy period to be preparing to leave, but most of these ‘lasts’ will occur before the end of the summer term in June, rather than towards the end of my time in Southampton in September.

Anyway, back to my point; Tuesday marked the beginning of the end of my time on the Wessex Scene editorial team. We held our AGM (Annual General Meeting) at 6pm, which was effectively the biggest event of the year for the committee. With over twenty positions up for grabs, it’s a chance for students to get involved and become an editor, or for current editors to re-run and stay on the team.

The Wessex Scene AGM 2013 this week!

This year, most of our current third-year editors would not be re-running, which meant that the new committee for 2013/14 was guaranteed to be made of more new members than ever before. As this was my first AGM in two years where I would not be running, I was excited to see this new group form and enjoy seeing the changes take place. It was a brilliant evening, with some editors elected who would be working from their year abroad, and some elected via video link! But it was a huge success, with a lot of bonding in the Stag’s with pizza and cake afterwards, and we even gave our Editor Ellie a little gift which I hope she will cherish. I myself was surprised with some flowers and chocolates from the team as a thank you which was so generous and I was so shocked.

My lovely thank you gifts from the team; such a surprise!

I have posted a few blog entries about the Wessex Scene before on here, but it’s very important to me that I emphasise this:

“The Wessex Scene has been the best experience, and it got me through my Master’s.”

My Master’s degree has been a challenge but has been brilliant at the same time, and I am sure I would have enjoyed it even if I had not been Deputy Editor for the University’s official student magazine. However, I am positive that having a team of twenty-five brilliant people around me made my year all the more incredible. Of course, don’t get me wrong – I have good friends outside of SUSU Media! My fantastic housemate Rachel and I get on very, very well and though we are both very busy, we ensure that we have regular ‘date nights’ where we sit and eat too much food with a trashy film and let ourselves relax. I also have old friends, old housemates and my fellow postgraduates!

However this year my friendship groups dwindled significantly compared to last year, since everyone I had grown to know and love over my three year undergraduate course graduated. Continuing to be on the Wessex Scene editorial team provided me with friendships I would never have expected, and more involvement in SUSU, and it has been an absolute pleasure to know so many talented, dedicated and enthusiastic people! I honestly think some of the people I’ve worked with this year could be the next big thing.

I had no involvement in extra-curricular activities for my first two years here at Southampton, apart from occasionally writing live music reviews for The Edge and supplying artwork for Theatre Group show scenery. Taking part in SUSU Media made my third and fourth year so much more fulfilling without taking away my attention from my degrees, and so I really do think that getting involved in things outside of your studies has a great advantage. In my opinion, the busier you are, the better you do your jobs. It also gives you a huge boost of confidence, not to mention a wider friendship group and experience you can’t get anywhere else. So my advice for this blog entry is this: get involved, don’t be scared. You can cope with the extra commitment In your life; it will be worth it!

Some of the editorial team and our writers on a trip to the Daily Echo offices last week

This blog post really has been a mish-mash of everything, but I’ll end on my main point. I will be very sad to leave the Wessex Scene team at the end of May, and I am sure the urge to help out will be strong while I do my dissertation here over the summer. But it’s time to let the new team take over, and I am more than certain they will be brilliant. Congratulations to everyone who has been elected – make sure you do us proud!

I will be saying goodbye to the team in just under one month, but not until I’ve been to the Media Ball next week; we’ll be celebrating our achievements with the Edge, SUSUtv and Surge on a boat (a boat! How exciting!) with live music, food and an awards ceremony. It will be one of my final celebrations at uni (since I won’t be going to Grad Ball this year) and I am determined that it will be a night to remember with many of the people I care about.

I suppose the end of my time on the Wessex Scene team shouldn’t be such a bad thing. I may be ending one of the best experiences of my life so far, but I will be leaving with (hopefully) lifelong friendships and an enthusiasm for the future. Who knows what the next few months will bring?

Joanne