A couple of weeks ago my Co-EiC Jamie sent me a text. He said that he was starting to realise the extent of all we had to do in the next fortnight. I agreed and predicted that it would be the most stressful two weeks of my life. Maybe I was overexaggerating there, but it does seem that running a newspaper is exactly as much hard work as you would expect running a newspaper might be! That doesn’t mean that it’s not also a good deal of fun. Having spent practically my whole summer holiday in the media office, you have to love it- and I really do! 

I’ve always said that my favourite thing to do is to write and, whilst I continue to enjoy this, the best part of the last few months has been meeting and working alongside some truly remarkable people. It was such a pleasure to make our way through applications this June and to find such a dedicated team. Perhaps it was because of this, that I found preparing for our online issue to be a strangely moving experience. Having so many talented people (from all over UEA) spend their free time contributing to the paper and our vision for it is actually a little hard to comprehend and I continue to be delighted at how lucky we are!

However, no tribute to the summer would be complete without mentioning the General Election. It was brilliant to see how many students actively cared about the outcome, so much so that we managed to publish every day for over three weeks! As someone whose interests haven’t previously been in politics, it felt like a bit of an intensive course in the subject and I don’t think I’ll forget my family’s surprise as I started to bring up politics at the dinner table…

Looking at the paper, you may have noticed that we’ve made some changes to Concrete this year! From the introduction of new roles and sections to the new design and logo, we hope that you’ll go on to find even more surprises within these pages! However, I would also like to give a mention to one particularly big change for us- the movement of our office. As the Media Collective gives the space to the postgraduates this year, we hope that they will have as many special memories in it as we have done. So where do you find the Concrete office now? Well, simply walk into Union House through the front entrance and look up. We have joked that we feel a bit like Big Brother up here, but trust me, we’re not that scary and we’d love it if you came and visited! 

Sometimes, when I find myself alone at my desk, I look around and it still feels slightly surreal. Concrete very much came out of nowhere for me and it has now become something that has a place in my every day. Therefore, with it being Welcome Week, I would say that I do have a message for first years, as corny as that sounds. And that would be- expect the unexpected. Nothing about my time at UEA has turned out to be anything like my initial idea for it and in many ways I think that’s really beautiful. It means that, as I look to the year ahead, I couldn’t tell you one thing about what it might bring, but I can tell you that it’s got off to a pretty amazing start.

So, here’s to a brilliant new issue and a wonderful 32^nd year of Concrete- I honestly can’t wait!

Fiona Hill

Co-Editor-In-Chief

Insta: fionaconcrete_uea

Photo Credits: Maggie Read