This Editorship has sailed: An insight into Anna and Patrick’s time at the Tab

This academic year has been eventful to say the least. The Tab covered the UCU strikes, the Corpus clock getting smashed and King Charles visiting Cambridge.

But it also did what it does best and entertain Cambridge students in times when they just needed a laugh. We ran the annual BNOC competition, provided a student take on C-Sunday and got an inside peak into John’s May Ball ’23.

So as editors for the final term of this Cambridge year, we saw no choice but to do a round-up of our favourite experiences at The Tab, in the hope of feeling proud and somewhat nostalgic to keep Tabs on the chaos of Cambridge.

What were your favourite Tab quotes this year?

Patrick: “My favourite quote has got to be from Freya’s article: “The top 10 best decisions I made as a Cambridge fresher.” It reads: ‘Who cares if you get something completely wrong in a supo? Who cares if you look bad in that photo from Revs? Make the decision to care about important things like your happiness, rather than what others think.’

“I just think it sums up Cambridge as a fresher perfectly.”

Anna: “One of the most entertaining articles I read this year was David’s incredible attempt to see ‘How many people can I play rock-paper-scissors with in a day?’

“I’m obsessed with the concept, the dedication (the man woke up at 5am!!) and the closing quote: ‘It’s nice to think that there are so many beautiful people, living their beautiful lives, and playing their beautifully stupid games of rock-paper-scissors. And I get to be there too.'”

And your favourite article?

Anna: “… I’m going to have to keep up hype for the Sidge girlie content with Kirsty’s ‘Are you the ultimate Sidge Girlie? Take this quiz to find out’ article.

“The term has caused such a stir this year and little personality quizzes are my guilty pleasure – was not expecting to be called out by numbers 7, 24 and 29 and- yeah it’s a pretty comprehensive list. Oh the feminine urge to play into the stereotypes!”

Patrick: “Favourite article has got to be by Emily’s: ‘Cambridge freshers you’ve met this year: Which one are you?’. Somehow I’ve had the pleasure of meeting every single one, and multiple versions of each.

“I’d be interested to see what other freshers would put me as. And now as we lose our identity as silly freshers, it’ll be time to welcome a new generation of The Tab.”

What was the article you most enjoyed writing?

Patrick: “My favourite article I wrote was ‘12 reasons why I’m convinced Cambridge is a social experiment.’ It started off as a joke between me and my friends that we were in The Truman Show and when Revs played Mariah Carey in March, I just knew that our concerns had to be materialised into a piece.

“We’re sad to leave the Cambridge bubble for the summer, but I’ve heard London is an extension of it if you fancy. Who knows who you will bump in to?”

Anna: “I have a special place in my heart for my first ever article and play that I previewed and reviewed. Enron is my favourite thing that I’ve seen at the ADC ever, and I just remember the absolute joy it was to get a glimpse into the inspiration behind it all, getting to ask the questions that rattle around in your head as an audience member – it’s a real privilege.

“Enron was a truly special show that really made me love what I do and made me really passionate about getting the wonderful people behind shows recognised.”

Tell us about your favourite interaction this year

“Having to go for comment with Andrew Tate’s manager was certainly a brush with fame that neither of us thought we’d ever have to come across.

“It was, surprisingly enough, one of the only times that a public figure has actually responded to us going for comment too, and all we have to say about that is The Tab takes you down some unexpected roads in the name of objective journalism.”

What’s been the best experience you’ve had?

“One of our aims as Editors-in-Chief this term was to try to get more of an in-person endeavour going when it came to weekly meetings and the like, which had up till now been via Teams since Covid.

“It was an utter joy to meet so many wonderful people in person for the first time and get to know familiar faces, so the social side is definitely a work-in-progress project that really made us feel a lot closer to the team now that we saw the faces behind the incredible articles.”

Any scandals?

Luckily, we seemed to have remained out of Varsity’s firing line this term. And we would like to keep it that way.

Patrick: “Is it too soon?”

“Slight throwback to when my article covering the Pembroke May Ball wasn’t as well accepted as I had hoped. In an objective attempt to remain sympathetic to both the committee who could have simply not changed anything and to Mr Harding’s family who were unfortunately dealing with their relative as missing,

“Camfess and my dms were still not having it. Take this as my apology video (I won’t be playing a ukulele, thank you very much) and please see my slightly more light-hearted articles as proof I am not a horrible, cheap journalist.”

Anna: “Literally could never be me, stay safe Paddy <3”

Patrick: “Yes, maybe I should just stick to theatre reviews.”

And finally, your highest and lowest point this year

Anna: “Lowest is definitely going to have to be the 3am writing/editing grind. I’m a busy gal, and sometimes it just gets to that point amidst an essay all-nighter. Also writing reviews for a show the night after a crazy ADC bar sesh – not fun.”

“For highest honestly I’d just say hearing all the irl feedback for The Tab this term. I’m really proud of the publication and how far it’s come this year since coming back from Covid, and I’ve randomly been stopped in the street a couple times now by people throughout the year who just want to say what an amazing job The Tab is doing.

“It makes my heart almost burst with pride for such a talented bunch of writers – without them it obviously could not have become as wonderful as it is, and having written since Easter 2022 I’ve seen brilliant changes that have only further elevated the principles The Tab was originally built on – we did good guys!”

Patrick: Lowest point was cringing when people read my articles in front of me. It’s like hearing your own voice on a recording. And then of course you have the grammar neeks who notice an apostrophe wrong and you have the shame of having to edit the article.”

“In terms of highest, it’s got to be working along the social media team to film the Tiktok videos. I particularly enjoyed watching the Rumboogie queue ones. I less enjoyed watching the one that was filmed of me and quickly made sure that stayed in the archives !”

 

As editors, we are extremely proud of our team this term (and this year!) and cannot thank them enough.

We’d also like to thank our readers, local and national, for giving us a reason to write these articles, whether it be on the serious side of the university experience or if it’s simply rolling with college stereotypes and providing comedic relief.

Feeling inspired now?

Internal applications for Michaelmas 2023’s Senior Team are now open. Applications to write and section edit for The Tab will open in September.

Featured image credit: Anna Peterson

Related articles recommended by this author:

• Repaired Corpus Clock returns in time for Cambridge graduations and its college’s May Ball
• The ultimate post-exams watchlist
• Top five weirdest intellectual conversations I’ve had at Cambridge