Welcome to UP! Sort of?

Welcome First Years! (And weathered seniors like me). The academic year is officially starting, but in a way that is foreign to us all. The pandemic continues, and we begin the year in a strange mix of online learning, physical residences and ambiguous student life.
There’s a lot we don’t know and questions we have unanswered, but we still need to prepare for our respective degrees. While we may not know how the pandemic will continue or whether the entire year will be online or not, there are some aspects of being a student that remain the same. And so, PDBY presents the First Year’s Edition, the first issue for 2021. In it you will find an extensive guide to being a UP student, and navigating the jungle of a tertiary institution.

You’re going to hear this a lot, but first year can be overwhelming, frightening and stressful, and it is a big jump from high school. But there are ways to ensure you minimise the stress, and maximise the enjoyment and success. In this edition of PDBY, you will find articles that seek to offer guidance on student life, and assist you in building a positive experience. This includes safety information, student societies to join, introductions to UP sports, meeting the SRC and some features on local and student artists and musicians. Student life is varied and broad, and PDBY hopes to offer students a diverse and engaging view into campus and student affairs. If you’d like to see something in PDBY that we haven’t covered, let us know at news@pdby.co.za or @PDBYMedia. We’d love to hear from you.

While we start the year in lockdown and away from our campuses, student life can and should continue. The various student societies and structures are all working to continue online and offer students as much access to student life as possible. I really encourage you to be involved and join societies, political parties, student groups and sports clubs, and really immerse yourself in the student experience as much as safely possible. We will return to campus one day, and we need to ensure student life still exists when that day comes.

On the note of being involved, PDBY is always looking for passionate students interested in journalism and joining a newspaper is an exciting jump into student culture and affairs. You can find an application poster to join PDBY in this edition, and you can apply via the links posted on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook at @PDBYMedia. PDBY is published every two weeks, and our social media platforms feature frequent online content, and all ten sections are open for applications (so don’t worry if you don’t write, in addition to news, features, entertainment and sport, you can also apply to copy, layout, visuals, multimedia, web or social media).

I may be blatantly self-marketing, but follow PDBY for independent, accurate and exclusive news, and stay involved in student life with your campus newspaper.

All the best for your first year at UP!
Until next time,

Kayla Thomas
Editor