Sanjana Iyer: Kicking off a new season with our new EIC

Hello and welcome to Hogging the Mic, the board's official podcast bringing you student journalism like you've never heard it before. We are back for season 2. We hope you all had a lovely winter break and have settled into the tomb. From now on, at least you will have a new Hogging the Mic episode every two weeks to help you power through to the end of the film. To kick off season 2, we're doing something slightly different today, and I'm bringing you a conversation with a current exact member to discuss the latest print and events that will be taking place this time. Term 2 is always busy at the board with two prints, Battle of the Bands, Barbs, Farsity, SU Elections, SPA Regionals and Nationals, and our very own elections to decide on your exec. So, if you're interested in getting involved with any of the upcoming events, then keep an eye out on our social media and WhatsApp groups. With that being said, let's dive into today's episode. Just because we have started a new season, it doesn't mean that we will stop spotlighting articles, so as we gear up for our new print edition next week, the articles that we are spotlighting today will be coming exclusively from Lab Charity Print. And yes, you heard us correctly, Charity Print. This print will be supporting the Teenage Cancer Trust, who have a charity week to coincide with the release of the print next week. So keep an eye out for all the events taking place across that time period, including a charity circle and a coffee morning. But let's go on with spotlighting, shall we start with news? Absolutely. So, as always, we've got lots of good features and articles in this print, including one that Nikolai did with Oli Ansel Hughes about a new project for Ukraine that's taken place in Lemonson from next week, so that's definitely going to check out that article. There's also some other really good articles, Rachel wrote an article for the print. I think I've got an article for the print, I'm not even sure myself. This has been such a busy print, but yeah, definitely going to check out all the articles. But the one I'm spotlighting today is by Armies again, it's Jack Thompson, and it's overwhelming support for pedestrianized Lem parade. So over the summer, a survey was conducted amongst residents in Lemonson to ask them whether they would support the pedestrianization of the main street through the town, and the survey revealed there was overwhelming support. And so, Jack has taken a look at the results of those polls. But also, what he noticed was the polls also showed that there wasn't many responses from students, despite living in so many students living in the town. So, he's had to speak to some students from Warwick to hear their opinions as well, so they're all in the article. So definitely go and have a read about to see how the town of Lennon could be changing in the coming years. So on to the sports section, again, we had a lot of really good articles in the sports section, including a really nice feature where a lot of people contributed and spoke about the charities that different sports societies at work are supporting. This was a really nice piece, actually, because it not only looked at charities as a whole in line with the charity print, but also at the individual work of different societies, so that is really good, and it's always good to spot like the societies at Warwick. The piece that I'm actually spotlighting today, however, is by Jack Kingston, and it's called The Bore Sport Investigates Sporting and Fitness Coles in the New Year of Resolutions, the solution. So this investigation looks at New Year's resolutions, particularly those surrounding exercise and fitness. It surveys a bunch of work students, so it includes some of their resolutions, how successful their resolutions have been so far, and kind of underpins why so many people focus on exercise and sport when they're starting the new year. It also looks at how to make these resolutions sustainable, and what you can do at university to get active, to get involved in a sport society, or to start going to the gym, to start off 2026. This sounds great, and we, again, in the cult section, had tons of fabulous articles in the music section. For example, we had a really good article about the grassroots scene, grassroots music scene, and also keeping with the charity theme an article about Live Aid, and how it was done back in the day, and how we perceive it now, and how sort of viewpoints of it have perhaps shifted over time. There's also a streaming investigation that I did in the music section, so if you participated in the survey, definitely go and check out, so you can see the results. But the article that I will be spotlighting this week sticks with the theme of charity, and it is from the Lifestyle section, so it's celebrity presence in charity by Tilly Armstrong. So within this article, Tilly does a really good job at arguing that celebrities should be using their power and status to draw attention to global and social issues in the same way that they perhaps emphasise their own brands and sell their own products and, like, consumerism. They should perhaps look at really fighting for social justice. She does a really good job at mentioning certain celebrities who are already doing this, like Michael J. Fox and Angelina Jolie, and it's just she's put forward a really good argument about how celebrities should start using their status and their power going forward. And they also look amazing articles, and if you want to read all of them and even more, then do check out the print which comes out next week. And if you want to be highlighted in the next episode, then also remember to join our WhatsApp chats. Each section has their own chat where pictures are released weekly, or twice weekly for news and sport, and you can join them via the links in each section's Instagram bio. You can also pitch your own ideas to editors if you do have any, so don't be afraid to reach out. But before you rush up to join our WhatsApp chats or hunt down something to add for next week's circle, stick around to hear more from today's guest. As we mentioned today's guest is a current exact member, and in fact, she has just taken on a new role as editor in chief. So if you are interested in hearing what's currently going on, and what's coming up with the ball this term, you will really enjoy today's interview. So sit back, relax, and enjoy today's episode. For today's episode, we are doing something a little different. Instead of talking to someone who is a boring lump, we are chatting to a current exact member. Someone who has been around the paper for years, but that you'll now find occupying a new position. Our guest today started as deputy editor of the comment section, or as we now know it the opinion section, before becoming editor of the section. During the Eurobroke in France, they kept a hand in by sub-editing for the art section, and since returning from the Eurobroke, they returned to the paper in person, holding the new position of head of multimedia. Now they are taken over as editor in chief alongside Martin Day, so we thought it would be the perfect time to chat to them to kick off season two of the podcast. Huge welcome to today's guest, Sanjana Arya. Thank you so much for having me. We will start the podcast by asking the question that we always begin the podcast with, and that is what do you to the poor? Oh wow, I think I was always so excited by the idea of not necessarily journalism, but just being able to write and express yourself in a medium that isn't really like offered elsewhere, if that makes sense. So I think the ability to write for a paper that has 16 different sections, you could literally talk about anything and everything. And I also think it just has such a low barrier to entry, which is what I think I really champion about the war in the four years now that I've been here. And so I think what drew me was just that idea of being able to talk about anything and a voice that was truly my own without having to like have experience or like having an existing portfolio or whatever it might be or these sort of like big journalism buzzwords that we find ourselves hearing and final year. I think it was so nice going back to my fresh yourself who just thought, I sort of write an article about my favorite TV show or I just want to talk about this cool thing happening on campus in a way that like really resonates with other students. And so yeah, I think that's what kind of drew me to the ball was just the welcomingness I think. And also when you have an exact fit is this big, you just are guaranteed to make friends for life. And I think I've definitely found that. So yeah, the people and just the opportunity I think were one you can't pass up. I mean, I completely agree. So you've began in the comment section as Tom said earlier as a deputy editor. And then you moved on to be elected as editor. What was it specifically about the comments section or as we call it now, the opinion section that appealed to you? I think it's exactly what I just said. The comment spans literally everything. So you can in the same day even have a super funny satirical like jokes piece about The Livington U1. But then also have a take on why is the U1 structurally so bad and what should we be doing to fix it? Do you know what I mean? And even just that one thing can be tackled from many different perspectives in the same section. And I think that the beauty of that diversity is what drew me to it because it was like on days that I don't want to edit a really hard think piece about like say sexual thought on campus. I can read like a wild style column that's just a bit more funny and like takes the edge off of university sometimes. And so it's just that ability to cater to literally every audience of the board that you can do just in one section alone. But I'm not saying there is a best section and I'm not drawing any favorites here. But I'm saying that there is a lot of benefit to being able to have everything in one place and know that you can go to the comment section and find a bit of like anything that you could be looking for. So yeah that's what drew me. It was just the like the ability to do so much and as an editor like as the person that reads pretty much everything will ask for the goes out. That's just what you want because it can again we all love the ball but it can definitely get tedious when you're just editing and editing and so having that variety of like code and topic is so valuable. It's not just the comment/opinion section which you have been involved in. You have also held the position of art sub-sub-editor during your year abroad. So you have held quite a few positions during your time at the board. Do you have a favorite role? And can you explain to us for anyone who might not know what do each of these different roles consist of? So I'll answer the second question first. So a deputy editor which is what I started off as is essentially I say it's the exact same job as the editor. You just don't bear the final responsibility and I think that's kind of the use of it. So an editor pitch was articles edits them upload them to the website and helps lay up or design what the print is going to look like. So you come into the office you can cry about how so the computers are you load up in design you design your pages. And as a deputy you also come in and help with that but the way you can leave it for PM as a deputy the editor can't leave until the page is done. So I think that's kind of where the difference lies. And in the same way at least with the way that I ran comments in our opinion I did say three of the pictures a week and then you turn my depth to do the other pitch. So it's just the same job but a bit more as an editor. So in that vein a deputy editor is just sort of like a fraction of the editor job without the final responsibility of like if things go wrong it's not your fault is a deputy it's like the editors the one that kind of takes responsibility for taking charge of that. So yeah so the editor is the person that leads this action they have final say on like the prints on what goes out and that's especially important with common opinion because you can definitely get more questionable articles or things you're not really sure whether or not you can publish and the person that has the final say on that would be the editor or like the leader of the section. And then a sub editor so when you sort of edit an article as an editor you're looking for things like does this make sense you're trying to backtrack you're looking for tone you're looking for like more stylistic things of you know how would you phrase this just the structuring of it work does it sort of flow well as an narrative. As a sub editor you're then coming in after the editor editor before it gets uploaded to make sure that nothing slips through the gaps. So the spike is on point it follows the style guide the featured images like not copyright and we're not going to get sued like all those little tiny details. The sub editor is like an attention to detail job it's little things like is the full stop inside or outside the quote marks and as boring as they may sound we get really excited about that here as well we're like we had an argument about M and M that's just the other day in the office like that was our topic of conversation so we are definitely nuts over here but that's what the sub editor is for is to like tweak those little things at the end and they can also make stylistic decisions like if a sentence is way too long they can chop it up or if a paragraph will play too long they can spread it out checking your full quotes here in the right place and if they appear before the text appears in the article just those little stylistic things they're actually really important once you enter the big bold world of journalism outside of the wall those are the things that sort of like publications are looking for you to be able to spot and so sub editing is really valuable in that sense because it's like as much as narrative and style and that sort of thing is really important to how an article is it is I was really like this bag and you know like if something is misspelled and you publish it that immediately ruins your rep right no matter how good the article might be there's a typo in it that's what people are gonna remember and so sub editing is really valuable from that perspective so yeah the sub editing is kind of like the final stock point before an article goes out whether in print or online um so yeah I've basically been a part of everything was stage of the editing process um which makes me sound so old but yeah I do think I know the paper quite quite well by now and oh yeah so which is my favorite position yeah I think deputy because I think you have the variety that the editing position has without the responsibility and I really miss that like especially now as editor in chief like having final final say I'm like wait if something goes wrong like it is on me it's on me to fix it whereas first gave me his adept I'd walk into layout I'd add in a couple images and then what's my way out whilst my editor would like finish up the page at 7 p.m. and so I think just that freedom to like dip in and out um and it also just gave me the time to do a lot of other societies because I was only sort of like the time commitment isn't that great right as a deputy whereas as an editor it kind of became my main thing um because it just takes so much time which I obviously loved doing but yeah it was nice to have the options to sort of spread my time in more places as a depth so I think being a depth and you mentioned there about being busy and we know as editors we are really busy but we do also still find time to write some articles as well so on that note do you have a favorite article that you've written during your time at the ball oh um can I can I say who of course you can amazing um so wonder I really loved and I was actually discussing with a lot of my friends who none of you might actually write for the ball which is quite nice because I can sort of like go home and enter a non-ball con as much as I love the ball if I get a break um but even they were talking about this and so I wrote an article on galma and how it's like actually quite a sexist concept to be like oh you know girls don't understand how finances work and so we're like galma I think our way through life and it's like no we're actually very confident and if anything it's a really smart way of like looking at finances to just make to allow yourself to treat yourself so the concept to galma is basically like for example looking at like the cost per wear or something and then breaking it down that way and justifying buying say like a two hundred pound coat because it will only cost you one pound per wear if you wear it every day that sort of thing and it's like people are like oh that's so silly because you're spending two hundred pounds and like especially men really jumped on this debate and they were saying like they were just kind of perpetuating this idea that women don't understand maths and they just belong like in non-finance spaces um but then being able to question that and turn it on his head and like take this massive discourse at the time and like ask the questions that I felt that nobody was asking was really valuable to me and it was something that I ended up drawing discussions from my friends into and stuff and so yeah that article sort of means a lot to me because I was able to not only incorporate my non-ball friends into my sort of ball life but also um talk about something that I just thought nobody was talking about and I think that comes back to what I was saying earlier like the ball gives you that opportunity to express those things that you don't really have another avenue to express but then to also get them officially published like that on that article will be online forever and it will be part of my portfolio forever and I'm really grateful for that um and then the second one I just wanted to mention was recently me neckliving user editor and Ben who's our chief service that covered the George Finch um protest and it got major engagement on social media and I think there was just everyone was talking about it and I really appreciated that as passionately as I may have personally bounced off of it I was still able to report back to the and honestly going into it I was really scared that I would be able to because I felt so strongly about certain aspects of that article that I was like how am I going to be able to I was just saying to Tom before like I'm not a news person news isn't my thing and we published the article and I met him immediately being like think I can do news like really I'm not as bad as I thought um so just that reassurance that like I can do things was really nice for me to see and to see them like succeed and to see people saying like I feel like you had a neutral and like factual take on it I was like thank you because I was really worried that I wouldn't be able to so yeah I think just in that sense of like proving to yourself that you can do things that you think that you can't it was also really valuable to me definitely and I think um that's a really good thing with the team as well like we've mentioned is we all support each other as well like you said with the news article and we all pull together and really support each other sections as well and we do that through the whole hog as well I just want to ask how is your whole hog going so as of yesterday I completed it yeah so my final article was a film article which I submitted so it hasn't been published yet so it's not like officially complete hopefully by the time this episode comes out it is out but if you see a film article from me recently you just know that is the nail in the coffin of my whole hog so I have written for all 16 sections of the floor you've done that in plenty of time as well like you had time to see that's a funny thing is I think I did over half of it last time I didn't really wrote anything because especially as an editor it's so hard to find the time to write because you're so busy sort of running the section whereas in the period when I was head of multi media I think I just had a little bit more time because it was less of a demanding role um so yeah I was able to bang out my articles um and I shockingly didn't write any on my year of road that that's a confession I have to make um would you expect like is the most time of the world to be able to write but I just didn't seem to take take that up um it isn't massive because I finished it I mean you're serving as inspiration to me because I have so many sections left like whenever I look at how many articles I've written I'm like oh but I've only written for like five or six sections so now I know it's still possible I think the whole hog just like struck the competitive spirit that I have like someone posed that to me as a challenge and I said right let's run with it so I think I was genuinely like that was my main aim with writing last term was I need to cover all the sections not like I want to cover certain topics um so yeah it definitely has been the reason that I've written and I think it's amazing challenge to like force you to write so write in different ways as well like I never would have written a game last school but I wrote one on um like board game charity marathons and it's also like a really one of my favorite articles that I've written I got to reach out to like write tables up for comment and stuff and I probably never would have bothered had the whole hog not existed so if anyone listening try it out it's really fun but highly recommend I mean you've given me some motivation to get it done before I cried right so there you go as you mentioned you did go on a year abroad and while you didn't write any articles apparently you were so registering and you also then ran in elections in March from your year abroad in France and do you have any advice for anyone who is looking to run for a position who's currently on a year abroad or might be considering considering running but thinking it wouldn't be possible and we know like that nervous about getting back involved in the ball when they return I think that's an amazing question because it was something that obviously definitely weighed on me as well when I was running because I think it's hard going into an election knowing that you don't know that many people there because obviously I've made some incredible friends from the ball but they were graduated and so I was coming back into it so you were functioning fresh faces and I think what carried me was the knowledge that I was running you don't run for a position unless you think you can do it right and so you have to remind yourself of the reasons that you are running in the first place whether you're running as like head of business or a section editor or in the senior team whatever it might be you would never put yourself in that position unless you thought you deserved it and I think you should treat pretty much anything in life this way like you only enter rooms because you know that you belong in them and I think you need to remind yourself that you would always belong in the rooms that you find yourself in and so on that note I also want to say to anyone who's not sure whether or not they can do a position trust me you can like we're student news favour at the end of the day we're all here to learn we're all here to grow we're all here to support each other and so the only sort of like criteria I think you need to have to be on the exact is passion and to even consider running for a position you have passion enough and so like I said you put your you're always going to put yourself in a room that you do belong in because by even considering running you've already put yourself in that room because you know that you want to be that and so I think that's what should really drive you and I guess for me it was like knowing that I've been at the ball for four four sounds it literally makes you sound agent but four whole years and knowing that I've held all these positions made me confident to be able to run but like I said even if you haven't just knowing that you care enough about the board to even try is enough and I think on the note of like running from abroad it doesn't matter that you don't know everyone because I think passion always shines through in who you are and yes it's like scary to do a speech and much scary to do a speech when you can't even see the people are like watching you because it's online but if anything I kind of made it nicer because I was like I don't need to focus on people's reactions like I'm just looking at me I'm focusing on me and what I have to say and I think when you do the like question section as well it's nice to be able to engage with people and like they ask really sort of valuable questions of like probing exactly why you think you're good for that role and so I think like I said if you're if you go in with the knowledge that you are good for it and the reasons why and you're gonna have to do that for your manifesto anyway um I think that's exactly what will carry you is just a confidence is a very easy thing to say you should have but I think this is where you really you really get the chance to prove to yourself that you can be confident in yourself because it's like I said you and everyone's people you don't know and you can barely even see them um but if anything that does actually help a little bit because it's like you're kind of just in a little bubble where it doesn't even feel real like I felt like a simulation I was like what is happening right now but I think yeah it's just um having that trust in yourself and again I know I'm like preaching and it sounds like it's such an easy thing to do and trust me it's not I know I didn't necessarily feel like it but fake it till you make it is my biggest piece of advice like if you fake confidence you have confidence and I think anyone can fake it so yeah that would be my advice don't stop yourself from running because you deserve to be here even if you consider just by considering doing it you want to be there and fake the confidence even if you don't feel it because no one can tell the difference linking into that do you have any advice to anyone who is hoping to join exec fresh off their year abroad like rape chill and I have discussed and like how do you easily slot in amongst the new faces as you say like a lot of the people you were on exec we've now have graduated so how do you just you know come back in I think the biggest thing that I found to be valuable is the boys are very sort of online run things like all the pictures happen online or the sort of like communicating within teams happens online like most announcements are on WhatsApp like on the Instagram that sort of thing and so I think really engaging online that's kind of what we've you have to do as a year abroad student with all of your existing UK friends anyway right and so I think it's just carrying that exact same energy into your exact position and so it's making the effort to like have a catch up with people like even if you get elected to say like a section editor but you're abroad have multiple like facetimes with your team and get to know them and like have facetimes that are just business related like when you have a team chat don't just be like so can you edit this article and then we cannot upload this then we're gonna get pictures out by this it's how is your weekend like what's the recent trip that you did or like what's your favorite movie or even if you organize like an online social like oh let's watch a film together this night and I get to know each other better like just those the same ways that you maintain friendships um while abroad you can also build friendships while abroad and I think that sets you up perfectly for when you come back it's like people are strangers they're still familiar faces like comes a great example like we spoke loads over 10-3 in the summer and I never actually met him in person I mean we've probably been in the same like rooms a couple times we don't properly spoken in person and so I think the society is first all but I found it already new here because we'd spoken enough over 10-3 in the summer that like you have some kind of basis and then obviously it gets a lot easier once you're in person so I think knowing that you're gonna be with those people in person eventually also just incentivizes you to build that friendship because you don't want to go into those in person meetings and already I'm like no nothing you want to have a basis on which like to bring forward that friendship and so yeah I think it's the exact same way that you maintain any online friendship um you just sort of have to put in that little bit of extra effort but we're also connecting online anyway that I really don't think it takes that much more out of you I definitely agree and I mean like you said um you come like I have not been on your abroad but just like meeting you as well I didn't really know you like you said um but we come back into the offices and it feels like you're just picking back up a friendship that you already knew um we help like lift that shed up this stays like if anyone's listening to the podcast rather than watching there's a box behind Sanjana which is one of our new sheds and um it's quite it was quite a struggle carrying that up the scenes when we realized it was uh it was a lift um we could have taken like 10 humbling moment of my life if we're seeing that lift up 10 top 10 high top 10 highlights to the board I say highlight low point who's to say we've talked about your time at the board now um but we want to talk move on to talk about what's coming up with um the board this tomb so next week is a bit of an exciting week as we've touched upon and it's going to be our first ever charity print in history of the board I think no one go into the archives and quote me on that one but it's a very exciting time what can you tell us about the print what what can we expect it might be slightly different from normal oh it's super exciting so our print um you might have mentioned we're raising money for the teenage cancer trust and so we held an executive vote on charities that sort of just we hold very close to our hearts as members of the board um and teenage cancer trust one by quite a margin I think and I think it's because it's an issue that is so close to us because we are the same age we'll have known someone who has gone through cancer at this age and I think obviously cancer is a really hard thing to go through at any age but especially when you're say a school or university and you're trying to balance everything that comes with being a young person on top of being diagnosed with something this sort of life changing is something that we want to do everything in our power to help ease that process for anyone that does go through it and the teenage cancer trust are particularly incredible charity because they're one of the only UK charities that specialise their nursing and care and support um on young people and so as a organisation run and like entirely dependent upon young people we thought this was the perfect sort of charity to support so in the print there will be a QR code to our just giving page so anyone who picks up a copy of the print if the cause resonates to the US as much as as it does with us any amount that you can donate would be incredible so if you just open the print the QR code would be right there and we've also got a super exciting series of events so we've got a coffee morning a craft night a film night a charity circle um we may or may not be doing a social media journalism workshop that's a teaser that's not on instagram yet so keep your eyes out for that and yeah just going around campus doing challenges we're going to have members of the board exact as we reach different um like donation what's the word amount we will be taking on different challenges as the exact um so yeah if there's any challenges you want to see us do definitely send them in and also once you um the more you donate the more like can we are to do some crazy things over the next couple weeks so yeah I think that's kind of how we're rallying together as an exact to just try and fundraise and awareness raises as much as we can and in the print itself we'll have a page dedicated to the new cancer trust and everything that they do we've got some testimonies and stories from people that have gone through cancer as well so yeah there'll be a really sort of touching read I think so definitely pick up a copy of the print when it is out around campus um and donate any amount you're able whether it's five pence or five hundred pounds we truly don't care we appreciate any amount and speaking of the print edition before we started recording we were talking about subbing the print pages and how you've got over quarter done so far and it's only one day um so do you have an article that has stood out as always we spotlight an article at the start every episode so we're wondering if you have an article that you'd like to spotlight yeah absolutely so I was literally serving this today um the side tech section now has a new column which is super exciting so it's called well technically and it's kind of like a tech column breaking down sort of the big things that people are talking about and tech in a really successful way and so the first column article which is in the print is all about the AI bubble and how people are talking about how AI could sort of burst in the same way that the dot com bubble burst like around um the internet and it's kind of just breaking down is that the same case for AI what are people saying about it but in a super easy-to-read accessible you can let you not even know what AI is and understand this article kind of way um so would highly recommend checking out not only that article which is the first installment of the side tech column but also the rest of the column as it comes out over the next few weeks um because I'm really really excited about it and I think I never thought the side tech could have a column so I think it's really cool to see columns coming out not just in sort of lifestyle in the arts but also are more technical sections which aren't even technical at all and just yeah anyone can read and anyone can engage with so I'm really excited about it so it sounds really really good definitely go check that out so another exciting event which is coming up very soon this Sunday actually before charity week begins is SBA regionals and they are being held on Warwick's campus so what can people expect from this event oh that's a good question I think just a big hangout all with people that love journalism that wants to find out more about journalism we're so we have a panel with some incredible journalists from the Midlands and just to spot like a couple of things that they've done one has made a documentary but they've worked for the BBC um another one has so her career has been in PR for the last or I can't quite exactly I think like 20 odd years and she's now switched into journalism which is so cool because I think another thing that I at least I found really scary is journalism feels like it has a very high barrier to entry um at when you start up as a young age like say you was going to journalism straight after university if it was like everyone under the sun wants to do that and so how do you get your leg in and so it's really cool to see that you don't have to break it in immediately you can do it down the line or you could say you have more support interest you can pursue a different career and then switch in later and so I think just being able to talk to all of these different people um about their various career paths or like what they think makes a good article or even things like they're all locally based and so the ideas on how do you cover local news like obviously you can have massive sort of like nationwide issues that say the main BBC covers but it's just important for local people to hear about like you know improvements to their bus service or whatever it might be and so it's like how do you report on those in a meaningful and useful way um which is something all of the journalists on the panel would definitely be able to touch on so I think yeah a really insightful panel hopefully all of the guests seem to be amazing and we're going to have a speaker reveal coming out very soon to keep an eye out for that on Instagram and then we're hoping you can have a squad shot so publications across Warwick campus because obviously the board is not the only one we have a history magazine a politics magazine an arts one an LGBTQ+ one so they're all going to bring copies of their editions and we can see how different people on campus itself are approaching journalism and reporting which is super exciting um we have drinks tokens if that's it if that's a draw for anyone you will get a drinks token included in your ticket so yeah the event is being held in T bar which I think will make firstly for relaxing and fun environment so even talking to the speakers it would just be super chill like what's that about how you know it's not it's not a serious event but it's a really invaluable opportunity so not only to talk to people already in the industry but also to talk to your fellow peers looking to break into the industry and see what you can learn from everyone um and we've also got a pub quiz so we've got different rounds on like local news local publications student publications um which yours truly will be making so yeah I will hopefully I think I should be hosting that so if you aren't sick of my voice yet definitely come to see me host a pub quiz and yeah it should just be a great time I think it's just a chance for us all to get together um dress a little bit nicer and just chat all things journey so yeah I'm really excited I mean it sounds like a very good event and I'm sad to be missing out as a year but we're sad that you're not coming but it's okay there's always more SPA events in the future which I'm sure we'll get on to discussing in later episodes too but SPAs aside what else can people look out for in time too what other events are going on what's happening at the ball amazing question I mean we've always got many a circle planned um we are hoping to do more socials as well so we're going to have potentially another coffee morning another fundraising coffee morning um for a different charity so that's something super exciting I think like we societies across campus really sort of um emphasize fundraising that's something that we're trying to bring back to the board and like really push ourselves as well so as much as we're doing our charity we we don't want it to be a one-and-done it's like a continuous effort to continue fundraising and just show our support um so that should be coming up and then honestly elections are a lot closer than we think they are so we don't really have much time we're probably like a month and a half out from the next exec so really excitedly we have ball 101 coming which is another chance for people to get involved try figure out how to write for us or how to join the team in many different ways and especially we'll be answering questions on what does it mean to run what do all the positions actually entail how can you sort of like prepare yourself for the election and all that fun stuff so yeah if you're interested in joining the ball whether as a writer whether it's maybe holding an exact position definitely comes a ball 101 on it's this Thursday and all of the slides and info will also be sent out in the newsletter and stuff so and also on that note never hesitate to email in if you have a question for anyone no question is too silly email the wall on Instagram that will be me martin or i head of social media Abby will reply to you or any of the what any of the million numbers you see in the WhatsApp community or the group chat message any one of us who is exec we are so so happy to ask your questions that's why we take these jobs um so yeah if you ever want to get involved never never never hesitate to message because we don't expect you to know and also it's a bit more of a complicated system than we let on so we'll definitely show you around like the WhatsApp community and all that sort of stuff um so yeah that's kind of everything we've got coming up but i think one thing we love at the ball is a bit of the last minute so i'm sure that many more things will crop up that haven't been planned yet um so just keep an eye on at work for on all of our socials and that's where we sort of update everyone on everything that's happening sounds good and yep definitely keep an eye out on the instagram and also the new TikTok that has been launched by Abby go and follow that because there's some great videos going on there so the next part of the episode we're nearing the end but something that we always do before we finish is our quickfire questions so we have a series of questions and you just need to answer them as soon as as quick as you can with the first unit comes into your head so i'll kick us off so are you a tea person or a coffee person or can i say I'm a tea person so it's taking deep deep vibes so i'm going to say tea nice i agree with that answer are you a morning person or night owl um very much night wish i was morning what who is your dream interview guest that's actually a really hard one um i think i'm going to have to think about this you can edit this bit out while i'm one wait can i look someone up because it's an author but i forgot her name yeah yeah oh wait i remembered oh my gosh i can't find the tab there you go back okay so my dream interview guest would actually be one of my favorite authors is is called elif chefak and so she wrote the 40 rules of love and um the island of missing trees and the island of missing trees is this incredible book about like um a sepria and um Turkish like relationship and family drama and it's like there's like there's chapters of the book told through the perspective of a fig tree and i just think how levels of creativity and imagination and framing of political context in fiction are so unreal i just love to pick her brain about it what is one thing you always carry with you your journalism non-negotiable wait as in so like something i can't always carry with me that's related to journalism yeah yeah oh i'm gonna be really pretentious i always have a notebook because for me sometimes writing something down just sticks in my head or like i'm able to frame ideas so much better when they're written down because you can like draw arrows and like make a mind map super messy that you can't do when you're typing so yeah i risk of sounding like a form a formative male what's uh your favorite thing to do uh to unwind after a long day in the offices uh go to the students cinema and what is your favorite memory so far at the ball oh there's too many you can give us a couple or it doesn't have to be your favorite but something that stands out as a really good weapon i think honestly my favorite memories will always just be that i was that we spend in the office chatting and like acting like we're laying up but actually being completely unproductive i think that's kind of where the true friendship is formed because you really bond over like the stress of getting the paper out and it's um it's just such a lovely environment so i can always walk into the wall office and know that i have a home here even i don't know even what's i've graduated assuming the like door code doesn't change i can i can rock off and it would always be um like a safe space for me and i think i've just been an insane amount of my university life in these four walls and so they'll always like hold a really special place in my heart um but a second mention has to go to the board's 50th anniversary party we had it at the orangery in levington and it was a really cool it was like the board doesn't really have a ball but we do these like awards evenings that are just a really nice way to get dressed up hang out with everyone outside the offices um and just unwind so i think that party was incredible it was a really cool way to celebrate all of the achievements we've had at the board but honestly it's just that every day in the office that i really love and like you said you have spent a lot of time in those four walls and you've been at the board for as we've mentioned a few times not to make your old cabinet for four years and you started writing this starting your time at work and i think you're perfectly placed to answer this final question we're going to close the podcast on the question that we always finish with and this time it's from one current member of the board to another and that is what is your one piece of advice for current members of the board always say yes if there's an article that you want to write but you don't know if you're good enough for it say yes if there's a section that you want to try out that you've never written for say yes or if you want to try it out social media but you've never done it for say yes so i think don't ever let the idea of i don't know what i want to do that because the entire ethos of the board is this is your chance to learn we hope you enjoyed our chat with sanjana it was wonderful to speak to her fresh in a new role as the icy and it was also great to hear about all the events coming up this term at the ball we know only be seven also weeks away from a new exec but things really aren't slowing down as we mentioned in our chat with sanjana next week is our charity week here at the ball where we'll be raising money for teenage cancer trust make sure you grab our charity print which will be hitting distribution bins across campus and also come along to some of our events for more information on those do go across to our instagram at work goal and while you're there make sure you're giving hogging the mic follow to keep up to date on all the things that we launch into this new season we've got lots of great conversations to bring you over the next couple of months so make sure you stick around for those and on that note we'll be back in a fort next time bringing you an interview with a boring but in the meantime make sure to catch up with any episode you missed from season one of the podcast and show whatever I'll see you up to whether it's locking into the library spending too much money on sweet treats or of course donated to the teenage cancer trust