The Aloysian Means of Bonding
A day in the life of a first year student: ‘Excuse me if I’m saying this yet again, but we’ve met before, right? I can’t seem to remember your name… It’s right at the tip of my tongue…’
Let’s face facts: no matter how many times you’ve introduced yourself to me, I will forget your name (although funnily enough, if I were to call you 'Matthew' there is a very high chance that I would have got it right). Relatable? I know. So how are we supposed to solve this blessed problem? Expect miracles to happen, and calculate the perfect chance to meet new people? Who’s the girl in the Nirvana tee at the back? At this rate, you’ll never know. Well here you go; we’re being given a chance to mingle because realistically, unless the craziest of memories are made, a name just won’t stick. And yet we’re expected to remember the free-fall acceleration at which Desdemona dropped her handkerchief, and the way it smelt of ethyl ethanoate. We were called ‘the cream of the Maltese Islands’ after all. So let me give you a simple yet effective way to solve this in 2 simple steps: 1) Stop shaking hands! I’m not the President of Malta, and you aren’t Kylie Minogue. Bonds are made over love not formalities as such. Besides, people will only remember you for the way you were outgoing, not for being ‘tal-pepe’. 2) The Live-Ins! There is not one single Second Year student that I’ve asked about the SAC Live-Ins that said they were boring. Each and every one of their exhausted faces lit up as I mentioned the very words, as they sat and each described their favourite parts.
And this is the part where I quote our Editor, Denise Gatt, “Let me tell you, it was one of the best weekends of my life.” She stated the way she truly bonded with new people, and better still, the way she was dragged onto the stage for a karaoke session.
One of her friends nearby literally opened her bag, fetched out her diary, and unfolded a crumpled piece of paper, which once was the Live-In programme. But it gets so much better: she showed me a few photos (which in my opinion could be considered blackmail had they not been best friends) of their group, and the way one of them was even zipped tight into his sleeping bag, and dumped in the toilet, only to wake up there – wild nights right?
Apart from the zillion couples which have apparently formed last year (and to which we wish a very warm-hearted GLB), all Aloysian bonds that formed or developed further in those weekends were as strong as the chemical covalent ones, as our Science student editor cleverly pointed out – and I could tell from the way they spoke in a cacophony of laughter and memories, all with a spark in their eye.
Sciences & Commerce – 17th-18th Arts & Maths – 24th – 25th
They are not to be missed.
Zoë Louise Gatt
