Why I write for The Tab

As a Fresher uninitiated into the complex conventions of Cambridge life but desperate to make a name for myself in this place of big shots and even bigger egos, I took the plunge to write for The Tab and have never looked back.

Little did I know what I had gotten myself into. Unaware of The Tab’s mass appeal to Cantab procrastinators or even of its fearsome notoriety within student journalism, I had entered the volatile world of student passions mixed with tabloid writing. It is exciting, it is dynamic. After all, there’s no fun without a bit of provocation.

So why write for The Tab?

Is there something that makes your blood boil and seethe with rage that you want to rant about? Maybe it’s boaties who never shut up about rowing and how they wake up oh so early every morning. Or perhaps it’s supervision partners who brag about doing no work and then know every damned thing. Whatever it is, The Tab offers you the platform to dissect, debate and then disseminate.

You name it- Tab’s got it

For those of us not edgy enough to don a Vantablack cape and head off to ArcSoc to have a sick time with our artsy friends, consider The Tab as a somewhere lit (pun tragically intended) with flashes of creative inspiration. If a picture is worth a thousand words, surely an ironically photoshopped one is worth infinitely more?

I’m sure there’s no need to reiterate how stressful Cambridge life is. You all know, you’ve all experienced it. But have you tried Tab therapy? Strange as it may seem, writing for The Tab is a great form of stress relief (although not clinically proven, might I add). When caught in the Cambridge whirlwind, or shitstorm might be the more accurate way to describe it, why not take a step back, reflect, and then smother it with satire and irony? Better than the alternative of wallowing in a pool of self-pity.

Got an opinion that you just really need to share and gyp room monologues are simply not enough? Need a bigger audience to preach to? Be it left-wing, right-wing, chicken wing, anything- The Tab offers you the perfect opportunity from the comfort of your own computer screen.

Don’t forget it’s never too early to start building those CV points. You can tell future employers you’re passionate about student journalism, write for Cambridge’s most read paper and have had thousands of views. Once you’ve written for The Tab, you’ll be skilled at making a story out of anything. Even if it’s completely nonsensical like ‘what fruit is your college?’, there’s never a dry day at The Tab.

There’s real diversity and a community spirit here. All newspapers might have the standard News, Features, Comments etc. but The Tab Cambridge offers something unique. How would we survive without Tab TV delivering a weekly cheer-up from drunken Cantabs and Agony Aunt Shearme to soothe our troubled souls? Not to mention Clubbers of the Week, Best Bums and Biggest BNOC. It’s an all inclusive, self-deprecating, sarcastic, dysfunctional family.

The Tab offers you a unique snapshot of Cambridge life. The comments really do reveal the brightest and the best amongst us. I’m not entirely sure how missing Cambridge is related to ‘a crushing sence [sic] of self-loathing’, but hey ho, it makes for an interesting read.

Hmm… Not sure if I fancy a postcard suppository

Have I managed to convince you yet? If not, here’s my pièce de résistance. So why do we write for The Tab? Probably because we’re all mad. But then again- all the best people are.

Want to write for us? Join our writers group here.