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Editor’s Note

from Quench Magazine, Issue 191, February 2023

from Quench Magazine, Issue 191, February 2023, page 46

Instant(aneous) Connections

Returning to University in the new year is always exciting. You might take this time to mentally or physically reset, to reflect on the last 12 months, or to set long-term goals. It’s common to feel unsettled in your final year as an undergraduate and everybody I knew told me that these years would fly by, but I can’t help but feel surprised that my final term has come around so quickly.

Upon returning to Cardiff, I thought a lot about what I’d like to achieve this year. I spent New Year’s Eve hand-in-hand with some of the people that I care about the most, and realised just how lucky I am to be able to call these people my friends. Racing towards getting that dissertation in and completing my studies means that the next few months will be challenging, but amid the stress I’m going to indulge in the warmth of friends who I may not see much come July. There’s so much more to life than just working and studying, and it’s taken me a long time to realise it - I don’t know how much longer we’ll have to hold each other tightly to Don’t Look Back In Anger, before we eat cheesy chips and people-watch on St. Mary’s Street, so I’ve got to make the most of it now.

I’ve always been rather in touch with my emotions, and more often than not I’ve been convinced that it’s a bad thing. Last term reminded me that it’s OK to take life as it comes, and that it’s not always easy. Sometimes things will take you off guard, and change can often be scary, but you’ll always get through. This term I’d like to remind myself frequently that it’s okay to just feel, and to take everything as it comes. Life happens, and if you need to cry at the CIA while The 1975 sing All I Need To Hear, then let it out!

This issue of Quench is dedicated to everyone who’s stood by me these years. Maybe we went to an impromptu gig, bought caramel lattes in between seminars, or even listened to me throw up almost a whole bottle of Jack Daniels - diolch (and sorry about that last one, you know who you are). There are no words to describe how much every one of you have shaped the last three years, and I can’t wait to see you all for our final season of causing absolute riots together.

Every edition of Quench is special, but this one feels even more so.

Good luck this term, I’ll see you all soon,

Alexa Editor-in-Chief

Hello and welcome to issue 191 of Quench! The theme of this issue is Feeling; a subjective and somewhat intimate theme, one that is particularly fitting as we bring you our first issue of 2023.

Entering a new year seems to evoke different feelings within different people. Some may feel excited for the year ahead, eager to see what is around the corner and ready to embrace it with open arms. Yet some may feel as though they’re drowning in new year nerves, governed by the pressure of resolutions that they promised to keep. On top of starting a new year, this issue also coincides with the start of a new academic term. Complete with starting new modules, meeting new lecturers and navigating a new timetable, it is no wonder that this time of year can feel a bit overwhelming. With all of these changes in mind, it is important to allow yourself to ‘feel your feelings’ and all that comes with them. Some days may be high, some days may be low, but please remember that the way you feel is always valid.

Our team always takes a refreshing and creative approach to the themes that we provide, and that is particularly true of this issue. From considering the songs guaranteed to get you in your feels, to the psychology behind dressing for pleasure; from asking the age-old question: ‘what is love?’ to embracing the rollercoaster of emotions that comes with travelling, this issue reflects the complexities of feelings.

The beauty of this theme, for me, is its open-nature. Feelings are personal, subjective and self-contained; they differ for everyone, yet they are a universal experience. To be in touch with your feelings is a beautiful thing, and the ability to embrace, validate, and share these feelings is even better.

I hope you enjoy this issue of Quench, and that it inspires some feelings of happiness within you as you read!

Deputy Editor

Welcome back, readers. Thank you so much for picking up this edition of Quench. I hope you had a lovely festive season and are ready for a new year and a new term. As I am writing this, we are approaching the end of exam season, hopefully, everyone is achieving and on their way to some well-earned rest. Deadline season can be extremely stressful, especially over the same period as Christmas, the new year and the icy Cardiff winters.

It is no accident that this edition’s theme is ‘feeling’, with everything from romance, as we anticipate Valentine’s Day, to music that ‘gets us in our feels’. This is the perfect edition and time to analyse our thought and feelings and welcome emotion. I, myself, am a lover of Valentine’s Day, and a little bit of a hopeless romantic. I love flowers and chocolates and telling people how much I appreciate them, for me, it is one of the small joys and a way of brightening up the February gloom. However, I know that not everyone feels the same and this can be a time of resentment, loneliness and discontent. Hopefully, this edition can inspire some of you to see ‘feeling’ in a different light, whether you are finding out about some self-help books over in the Literature section or finding out the relationship between diet and mood in the food section.

Every single one of our writers, editors and designers have all worked extremely hard to bring this edition to you, including my fabulous co-Deputy Editor, Maddie, and the wonderful Editor-in-Chief, Alexa. I wish you all an incredible start to 2023 and the new academic term, it is going to be a great one! Look after yourselves

Deputy Editor