Since I began my time at university, I’ve often found myself reminiscing about high school. I see flashes of a simpler time, when the anxieties of adulthood were but a distant future. In my first year at university, I found the adjustment to a new life particularly lonely, and a brief skim of Honi on the way home was one of the only ways I felt like I belonged.
This edition welcomes the beginning of Autumn. Apart from being the season of orange leaves and pink sunsets, I find that Autumn is a uniquely beautiful time. Sitting between the spirited glow of summer, and the greying scenes of winter, we remember the smiles we shared under the sun, and open our closets to warm ourselves for the cold.
In these pages, you will see slivers of history in the humble lives of students. Lucas Kao walks down memory lane for a sparkling feature (p. 14) on how Chinatown is at the heart of Sydney. Nicola Brayan reminds us that it is okay to have a messy room (p. 11), and Valerie Chidiac assesses the future of the streaming sites we find comfort in (p. 19).
You will also find a cross section of the absurd happenings at this university — a place where students are suspended for protesting an ex Prime Minister (p. 7), and where millions of dollars are spent on anticheating programs which are useless and harmful (p. 7). This Thursday, staff will go on strike, and I urge you to not attend class, and join the pickets to support the people who make this university run.
You may be a first year losing your way through mazy avenues, or even someone whose graduation has been packed away in a neat box of memories. Regardless, I wish for the careful words of the brilliant writers in this edition to warm your soul and challenge your mind.
One day, my time at university will come to an end, and I find it beautiful that these years will also fade and glow like my high school memories. At the end of May, Autumn too shall leave us for another year, only to peek its head around the corner of our warmest summer nights.
