It's 2023, Time for Reinvention!

Kia ora e hoa mā! 

We are Maia and Fran, your new Salient Editors.

New year, new opportunities for self-reinvention. And what better time to find yourself than your uni years? In the first issue of Salient for 2023, Expression, we are exploring all things identity. Whether you are a veteran Salient reader, or it’s your first time picking up a copy, we want you to ponder: what does self-expression mean to you? 

Do you feel the most yourself when wearing your favourite fluffy hat, when you’re decorating your bedroom with magazine cut-outs, or sharing the wacky story behind your new tat? This issue is all about celebrating the core parts of your identity, whatever they might be.

We both have different ideas about expression and finding your identity, so we’ll split off here to share. 

Maia: I came to university in search of a new identity. I’m not quite sure I ever managed some soul-shattering identity change where I became unrecognisable from my earlier self (apart from an over-inflated sense of change when I cut my hair short). But I definitely did change in small parts; in the ways I dressed and spoke; in the people I surrounded myself with; in how I expressed my passions. Pōneke has become foundational to this new identity, so much so that going home to Tairāwhiti disrupts the sense of self I’ve built.

Fran: So, I’ll get it off my chest, I’m a Te Whanganui-a-Tara local. I started my uni journey in 2019 at Massey, on the same campus as my high school. I thought I had my life and expression already figured out. To be honest, it really limited me. I only really made friends with my  flatmates at The Cube and didn’t attend any O-Week or Hall events. I had to realise that it’s not cool to peak in high school, and that I still had a lot of finding myself and my place within Pōneke left to go. 

In this issue, Fran dives into her post-graduate Gunge Gal era and attempts to unpack the vibe of the 2020s . Romanticise your degree with Kiran as he looks at the subversion of dark academia. Unpack the fuckery of the law school lecture recording debacle with Bridget. 

Our news team, Ethan, Zoe, and Niamh, are here to walk you through the latest developments on and off campus. This week, they’re asking what will be left after Vic Books closes, what went wrong with the Tītoko enrollment system, and whether we will still have access to lecture recordings. Also, meet your VUWSA President Jess Ye in our first interview with her for the year. 

You might notice that PM Chippy wanted to say hello, so the benevolent editors generously gave him a page. 

To our freshers: it’s your first year of a new beginning. It’s the time when you begin to form your identity away from home, family, and high school. It’s time to explore your expression and individuality. Let yourself be weird and awkward. You’re 18. And if you’re 30, same goes. Don’t be basic and have fun! Embrace it with open arms. 

To our returning students: welcome back. Don’t let your head get too big now that you’re a second year. We’ve all still got growing to do. 

Arohanui, 

Maia & Fran