The ham’s been digested, the Christmas cards recycled and 2013 seems like a blur. Just before the New Year stress sets in, why not take a look at the bygone year at Kungsholmen through our ever-trusty KZINE lenses?
In early spring, after lugging ourselves out of bed and making the trek to school, we geared up for every bureaucrat and democracy lover’s favourite events of the year: the annual meetings. After KZINE’s elections in February, it was the Student Union’s turn. The campaign season turned out to be quite the political rollercoaster, with posters plastered around the school, flashy websites, interviews, debates and just a dash of dodginess. The actual meeting gave us a brand new Student Union Board, complete with new positions and a new direction (farewell, dear pear!).
The annual Läroverksfejden was, as usual, mired in controversy. In the Rhetorics round, Kungsholmen was disqualified, due to what appeared to be a technicality. Enraged by this, we then went on to win the whole thing, despite not having come first in any of the rounds! It was a true victory for Kungsholmen students, many of whom helped bring their school to victory by completing the obscurest of mini-rounds.
2013 was a remarkable year for social activism at KZINE. […] This was, perhaps inevitably, accompanied by impassioned discussions, and at times chaos, in the comment fields.
Summer approached on an unsettling note, as an alleged former student wrote about the futility of academic success, having gone from studying at Kungsholmen and Yale to being a waiter at O’Leary’s. But this was forgotten by the time we got back, and the new first-graders were welcomed to our school by a printed issue of KZINE. They also partook in a host of Student Union events, including a Gangnam Style-heavy Insparksfest.
2013 was a remarkable year for social activism at KZINE. Feminism was cast into the spotlight (1, 2, 3, 4), as were issues such as the Steubenville rape case, being gay at KG and homelessness. This was, perhaps inevitably, accompanied by impassioned discussions, and at times chaos, in the comment fields.
As the tree in the playground saw its final days, so did the year (and our sanity). The Sweden Democrats paid us a visit, and received about as much support as there was snow at Christmas. The school (and KZINE) were criticised by representatives of the party for their supposed culture of anti-SD hostility.
The term came to a close with a scathing critique of censorship in this year’s school catalogue: S3A’s spex photo, which condemned the Government’s GY11 school reform, had been heavily edited. KZINE basked in national attention for a couple of hours, as the story was picked up by Expressen, Flashback and a number of other papers (1, 2)! Eventually, Svenskt Skolfoto admitted they’d made a mistake and promised to send the unedited photo to the class.
Now we’re back at square one: January. First graders will soon get to attend the circus of their first annual meetings and Läroverksfejden. Second graders will do their best to avoid drowning in a sea of schoolwork. Third graders will look to the end of their time at Kungsholmen with sorrow and relief in equal measure. But what else will this New Year bring? What will grace the front page of KZINE? Here’s to another hopefully hectic year.