Hello my friends. As some of you know, I’m Arya. I’m a second year English student. Love my medias, love the arts, simple as.
The media societies have always been there for students in our university to build their creativity, from silly comedic skits to hard-hitting journalism and everything in between. Our members are boundlessly creative in mind-boggling ways, its very inspiring seeing all the different work that is done. This creative prowess is something I want to help maintain and help cultivate in anyway possible. I believe that as a media officer, the best way I can do so is by clearing as many of the hurdles that get in the way of the productions of the societies.
There have been two seismic changes in our societies this last semester. Firstly, our greater collaboration with each other, from the little actions, such as creating a joint media groupchat, to creating shows together, one lovely example being Air on Air. This collaboration is at its early stages, with there being much more to do, and so, as we keep creating, we will further grow the links between our societies and grow our understanding of our different mediums. The second impactful change has been the more proactive role we have begun taking. Being at the forefront of current issues within the university, such as the strikes to the plant-based vote has led our societies to expand to new fields. Maintaining the journalistic spirit of showcasing the truth, no matter what it leads to will help all of us free from disinformation. If we students don’t do it for ourselves, who will? This is greatly important and is something I will work to cultivate further.
As a person, I adore making pals, and so I have many friends outside of our media circle. These friendships while fulfilling to me as a person, can also mean more collaborations for our societies as I have those connections already - be it through something more political such as SSY, or more artistic, such as SUDS. Whilst it is lovely to see more collaboration between our societies, our media oriented work is widely applicable to so much, and thus we should use that to our advantage, to show others what we can do and to be shown what others can do.
I hope to continue and develop the life work of the current media officer, Ciaran Sweeney. His work as media officer and AirTV secretary is something I aspire to emulate. The work he’s put in through revamping the media office, to working incredibly hard in attaining a studio for AirTV has given me a model to work towards in this role!
Seeing how hard the members work for their societies is inspiring to me as a person. I want to give back through a position I believe I’m suitable for, in which I can be there for all the media societies, as a person they can turn to for support in their creative endeavours.
