Editor's Note #37

I am delighted to welcome you into our little world that is Issue 37! After an arduous month of brainstorming, I present to you an edition I am immensely proud of, despite it being the first of the academic year (I know, quite presumptuous!). The ambitious team that we are, we have already encountered so many new faces in events we introduced this year, such as Intro to Media Reporting, and furthered our interaction with you by hitting the ground running on our socials, not least without the help of our media co-ordinators, Iman, Iris, and Sara. What may surprise you is that this team harmony had not been established until recently, since, well, we only met this summer. 

Coming back from a year abroad, I was fearful of a feeling that many newbies perhaps relate to: aloneness. The majority of my friends had already left London, and even the people on campus with whom your interaction was limited to the wave of a hand had graduated. 

Frustratingly so, the conversation on loneliness in a big city isn’t uncommon; it’s the solutions that we encounter for loneliness on university pages, short-form explainer videos, and advertisements that are ignorantly common. What I found was that the solution for me was the unknown force at work when I first stepped back onto SOAS grounds in September: this gargantuan entity that we call ‘SOASian culture.’ 

Whilst I hate to be a cliché, the version of myself I come to when I am at SOAS is the one I feel most comfortable in. This is not a perfect institution; if anything, it is far from it. Take, for instance, Anya’s article on SOAS’s extremely low ranking in 2027 university guide tables,  and Midnight and Iris’ article on SOAS’s positioning on sexual misconduct following the Cornell 7 atrocity. 

It is people you can meet within seconds, through a short conversation in the queue at the Hare Krishna stall, or yet another queue waiting for a module change, that can help alleviate that loneliness in London. Kiran and Gabriel’s article on the identity of the SOAS SU Bar encapsulates this notion well: how SOAS is not the same without its networks of social connection. 

What I hope for this upcoming year is that The SOAS Spirit can become such a place for anyone who is reading this. Though our online and magazine expansion is quite new to us, it is a necessary step to showcase talent, offer guidance, and build more connections through it all. Whatever medium your work is expressed through, we are here to support and platform the student body. 

Beyond the SU bar, Kaitlyn explores the significance of sport within SOAS, despite the institution being notoriously known, put crudely, as not being sporty. Anon also walks us through the SOAS Gallery exhibition currently on view. Off campus, Zara offers us a London guide to free cultural events, whilst Hyunseok travels to Seoul to discuss the exhibition on view at the National Museum of Korea.

Finally, I urge you to read the front page closely, Anna’s article on the SOAS 2 victory this past month. We must follow in the steps of our SOAS predecessors and protect our right to protest in light of recent events. A personal favourite of mine this edition is also Chinda’s article on the art of conversation, or lack thereof. 

Obviously, a massive thank you to my girls, Kristi and Camilla, for their brilliant ideas on visuals and content, and for picking up the pieces when I was double-employed.

We hope you enjoy the first issue under the 2026/27 Spirit team!