By Archie Thomas, BA Politics and International Relations
Amidst the stress of deadlines, the dreams and fears for what comes after uni, and near-daily annoyances at the misguided management of SOAS, the overriding feelings in my third and final year at SOAS have been of sentimentality and fondness. This confluence of experiences and emotions has got me missing the library and sobbing over past memories. So here’s a soppy reflection on this weird and wonderful university.
The overbearing security is so off-putting and irritating, yet when I leave campus most days I’m filled with optimism. Seeing the political spirit on campus is invigorating. Hearing chants of “Free, Free Palestine” in the distance while in a tutorial can be distracting but it always makes me smile. I’m proud to be part of a cohort that won’t tolerate injustices, near or far, and will certainly never be quiet about them. For all the management’s attempts to quash effective protest and activism on campus (while also cynically using it to brand the uni and attract students), we are undeterred and this should be a source of hope.
At the time of writing, I have six assignments yet to be marked. One I submitted all the way back in November. This uncertainty, with just a couple of months left of my degree, is infuriating. I can’t exactly find much of a silver lining for this though. Is it sort of unifying as students that we can all complain about this together? Nah, it’s just annoying. I just needed to rant about that one.
How about the much-maligned SU renovations? Nothing made me feel more like a third year than reminiscing about the SU of yesteryear, with its Friday late licences and charming graffiti overflowing every surface. I felt like a proper conservative for the first time in my life, resistant to any sort of change; “Have they no respect for our traditions?!”
While memories felt like they were stripped away, new ones have started to fill the space that at first felt cold and sanitised. I do still yearn for that old SU bar, for those cocktails and Lebanese wines, but I have also grown a guilty affection for the new SU, for we have again filled it with the character and charm of SOAS students, all the friends, strangers, and lovable weirdos.
I’m not sure what the point of this short piece was, it sure was soppy. Perhaps a weird parting letter to the campus that has been evoking such an odd mix of emotions from me lately. Maybe I ought to just start journaling instead?
“While we should never give the administration or SU a free pass for its faults, let’s also appreciate SOAS for its strengths, for its culture, for its people, students and faculty, and for its spirit.”
I leave you with this thought: While we should never give the administration or SU a free pass for its faults, let’s also appreciate SOAS for its strengths, for its culture, for its people, students and faculty, and for its spirit.