Editorial - Welcome Back

Welcome to the first edition of the UCC Express for 2018! Writing this has probably been the most work I’ve done all Christmas, and I have plenty shame in admitting that, but sure look, it’s Christmas. Or it was. Motivation has been bleak this past week (month? What year is it?). The second week of January is always the most grim of the year. This is an undisputed fact. The Christmassy atmosphere that lingers on into the first week of the year is dead in the water, and there’s none of that ‘New Year New Me’ optimism that you’ll finally become your best self this year because you’ve already broken all your resolutions. You’re definitely either doing Dry January and acting smug but secretly worried about how you’ll keep it up at college, or not doing it, like me, and feeling like your withered corpse of a body probably would have appreciated it. Plus, it’s baltic out, all the good biscuits are gone, and you’ll never admit it, but you’ve actually started to get a bit bored of arsing around the house all day in pyjamas now society’s upstanding citizens have all gone back to work. This is all mixed with a substantial dose of uncertainty about whether you’ll actually be able to successfully integrate back into college life and return to the structure of study and 9am lectures. I’ll be entering into the dreaded final semester of my college career, so I am blessed enough to couple this feeling of general unease with the knowledge that I still have yet to materialise a concrete plan for my post-graduation life that will satisfy my entire extended family. Excellent. That said, I can’t wait to go back. There’s Refreshers Week, RAG, and spontaneous house nights out calling my name, while the library is either being suspiciously silent on all fronts, or else I’ve gotten very good at being selectively deaf again. I have great intentions, of course, like I always do, but what the reality of my study/sleep/work schedule will be is anyone’s guess. Sure look, that’s college. Best of luck on another semester everyone! We’ll be GRAND.