Obligatory end-of-year post (Suzanne)

Well, the results have come in, and I have officially passed first year. I originally had a long, very detailed blow-by-blow essay on each and every aspect of the transition from high school to university, but reviewing the draft just now, I realised it was overly wordy, completely pretentious, and filled with trite, largely meaningless platitudes. So, with a few pangs of pain (I spent hours writing it) I have deleted it and resolved to write something much shorter, but Of Substance (TM).

This year in summary

This year, I have

– moved more than 5000 km from home
– learned to navigate the abysmal, abysmal public transport system of Melbourne
– been accosted by pirates in O-week
– learned to fresher dance
– discovered Max Brenner’s, Koko Black, and Brunetti’s
– discovered the considerably less impressive tacky Westernised sushi
– started lessons with a new clarinet teacher
– watched and laughed at people who put woollen blankets in the laundry machines
– felt the full karmic retribution of the above after accidentally shrinking half my pants in the dryer
– really been very stressed at certain points
– considered dropping law, switching degrees, switching universities
– gotten over it and carried on with current degree
– been elected unopposed to Secretary of the Music Students’ Society
– finally managed to run a whole lap around Prince’s Park
– spent many hours playing clarinet in a small room with white padded walls
– smuggled a LOT of nuttella out of the country (It’s a lot cheaper over here, and my mother insisted on me taking advantage of the bargains)
– caught all manner of communicable diseases from college
– realised that in Australia, a thong is actually a pair of flip-flops, and not a pair of underwear
– spent far too much money
– watched a lot of concerts
– gone to parties
– bought new stuff for the clarinet
– learned that people actually still play harpsichord and that the instrument isn’t obsolete yet
– joined: UNICEF Club, Chocolate Lover’s Society, African Drumming Club, Dancesport Club, JCH Historical Society, SALP, MSS, volunteer tutoring
– actually showed up at: SALP, MSS, volunteer tutoring, JCH Historical Society
– founded: JCH Choir
– accidentally frozen my bank account
– unfroze it again
– learned all about the 17th-century Florentine camerata and its influence on monody
– learned all about the distribution of legislative power between the States and the Commonwealth
– learned absolutely nothing at all about non-delegable duties.
– gotten the worst grades ever in my life
– gotten the best grades ever in my life
– changed my mind several times on what I want to do with my life
– been to protest marches, guest lectures, public debates, formal dinners, and plays.
– spent a lot of time alone at home
– had an awesome year!

Things I would like to say to future first years

1. Don’t kill yourself over deciding what course to study at university. I ended up in law for pretty much one reason only: my parents didn’t want me to be on welfare for the rest of my life. And I went in pretty much determined to hate it. Except I didn’t end up hating it (well, actually, that’s not strictly true. I resent the amount of work, and I resent the fact that if I took straight music I’d have straight H1s, but that is not hate). It grew on me. So much that I might actually seriously consider being a lawyer or doing something law related as a career now. If I had to do it all over again, I probably still would have picked something different. But I’m happy where I am. First years, pick what you love. But if that doesn’t work out, don’t sweat it. It won’t make or break your university experience.

2. You have to actively seek out things you want here. This is a large university. It’s multiple times the size of your high school. For some of my friends, it was multiple times the size of their home towns. It’s also highly decentralized. The Law School, Student Union, and the Physics Department are going to have completely different events, different social networks, and different classes. They will have no idea what the other is doing, and in plenty of cases no-one’s going to know you exist either. If you want to enter a competition, attend a guest lecture, join a club, whatever, you need to keep an eye on all the opportunities yourself.

3. Join all the clubs that catch your eye, and that you can afford at the clubs and societies fair, and if you can’t afford them, just sign up to their mailing lists for free. You probably won’t turn up to most of them, but it’s easier to get them all when they’re in the same place than it is trying to track them down later and finding out that their email address is five years out of date.

4. Now is better than later. Start your own club now. Do your assignment now. Run for election of your faculty student society now. Trust me, this will make your life easier in the long run.

5. Never pay full-price for any form of entertainment. They all have student discounts.

6. Rest assured, unless you’re a psychopath, you will make friends. If you are a psychopath, there are enough students in this school for you to be able to find other psychopaths to hang out with.

7. Don’t wash wool blankets. You’ll regret it.