It seems a little self-righteous to be complaining about the fact there isn’t a foam party, or a Village Green full of people out there this year. There are bigger issues than not getting free sausages and your chance to win a car, right?
THAT BEING SAID…
Nexus will have 24 unique issues to talk about things that are real and impactful. For now, we just want to stomp our feet like petulant children and complain about the lack of fun. And to some extent, we feel empowered to do it, because we are getting aggressively close to a generation of students who have gone from Orientation to Graduation without a proper party.
One that wouldn’t show up as a SoundSplash level event.
The WSU and Nexus have spent the last three years playing a game of magazine chicken, where we promise sponsors we will “try and deliver” an experience for them. Businesses are doing it tough everywhere, and we can’t help but feel like we are in one of those weird nature documentaries where we watch as students get taken out of the ecosystem and watch as bars, cafes, and places like Sal’s (who are reliant on the drunk student at 2am) start to struggle.
Don’t get us wrong – we aren’t even going to start on the mandate debate or joining the throng of protestors. We are firmly of the “life sucks at the moment, but it kinda needs to” persuasion.
Where does that leave you though? Well, we didn’t want to outright cancel O’Week, but we wanted to recognise that this wasn’t going to be your grandparents O’Week either. So the WSU have decided to call it (N)O’Week 2022.
And in the words of at least one Communications Manager, we are going to “just triple the number of fucking prizes and do everything online.”
So that’s what we have done. The WSU and Nexus have just thrown everything against the wall to see what sticks! Here are a few sample pieces:
- Every single day during (N)O’Week 2022, new “Walk before you can fly” clues will be released at 9am on Facebook and Instagram. Over the week, you can collect selfies of each station, and they should eventually spell #FuckCovid22. Tag us into the gallery or slide into our DM’s with the photos, and you will go in the draw to win $1500 worth of travel vouchers on Friday.
- Every day the WSU will do a major prize draw for two major prizes. All you have to do in both cases is “tag a mate who…”
- Each day will also see a major sponsor giving away their own prizes, either through a draw, or you can find them (safely) handing out prizes across the campus.
- Our Union Kitchen will be feeding 100 people a day, so make sure you look out for the daily form (because we are strictly limited and need to contact trace).
- We have rented what the aforementioned Communications Manager called a “Massive Fuck Off Movie Screen” (he really needs to buy a thesaurus) to host a Drive-In Movie on Thursday night. At time of print, we aren’t 100 percent sure what that the film will be, but we were told that Mean Girls, High School Musical, and Human Centipede had all been vetoed. So, in this order: “sorry white girls, other white girls, and engineering students.”
And that’s pretty much it. Over in our Tauranga Campus, you will be getting some bags and some prizes for three full days too. But, much like everyone else, we are trying to make up for your lack of social contact with TV’s and projector screens. We are buying your love with a Nintendo Switch and we are steadily going down the rabbit hole with you.
Since this is your first introduction to all things campus though, here are the simplest pieces of advice we would offer on any O’Week.
- Experience EVERYTHING! These are your formative years, or your re-formative years for our mature students. Take part in whatever you can, step outside of your comfort zone. Go fucking crazy!
- Immerse yourself in things that scare you, learn Te Reo Māori, join a club, talk to that hot person in your lecture theatre*
- Be safe.
- Know that no one you respect was ever afraid to fail. And also no one you respect ever vaped.
- Never turn down a free drink (but also make sure you see it get poured).
Other than that, the only meaningful advice we can offer is that you should absolutely support local businesses – they need it more than ever. Lastly, you should, at least once in your University experience, write something for Nexus.
*lecture theatres are those things the lecturer stands in while delivering your zoom call lecture.
