Three things you must know this week…

The summer before I started St Andrews, I decided to do some research on the university. As I trawled the ever active St Andrews Class of 2015 Facebook page, I found that we are referred to as ‘The Bubble’ and had garnered this nickname because it’s easy to lose touch with the outside world in such a little town. At the time, I assumed the term was a bit of an exaggeration; in the age of social media, one can hardly check their Facebook without seeing even major news. So, St Andrews was a little remote, but how could students be uninformed in the Digital Age? I vowed to disprove this notion and make an effort to remain knowledgeable about current events even when I had entered this ‘Bubble’.  But the task was not as simple as I thought. During Fresher’s Week, I spent so much time at the Union, I read hardly any news until I flew home for Winter Break.

Don’t get me wrong, I love that St Andrews is referred to as ‘The Bubble’; I love that our daily news revolves around coursework and the opening of a new grocery store. I would never want to change that aspect of our community because it is a part of what makes St Andrews, well, St Andrews. But ‘The Bubble’ is a term based on a reality. It is too easy to lose touch with current events and get wrapped up in our little world – even despite our opportunity to discuss global issues with an international student body every day of the week. Once you start to lose touch, getting back in touch with it all is a daunting task; in fact, it can be so overwhelming that sometimes it’s easier to become an ignoramus.

‘Three things you must know this week’ will explore the current global events and explore how they affect our lives in ‘The Bubble’. I hope that it will encourage discussions about major (and perhaps not so major) issues/events of the week; from Will’s and Kate’s rumored pregnancy, to the war in Afghanistan. At the least, I hope it will force me to read the New York Times instead of People.