Hello readers of this blog…

…My name is Wageesha (pronounced Wag-ee-sha, except in a less robotic manner) and I’ll be one of the first year uni students giving an account of life at Melbourne Uni and my experiences throughout this year.

So, who is Wageesha? Well she’s an 18 year old female, (she knows you had no idea!), who was born in Sri Lanka and migrated to Australia in 1994. She has only been to her land of birth once (6 years ago) and experienced a culture shock upon arrival; chaos on the streets, exotic smells, humidity, mosquitoes, intense heat and three-wheelers! As a result of her inability to survive for the two weeks in unfamiliar surroundings, it is proof that she is basically 100% Aussie (she will not, however, drink beer, eat meat pies/sausages/sausage rolls/anything they would serve up at the cricket and because she cannot think of anything else, she will leave it at that). As far as studies go, she is undertaking an Arts degree in which she is participating in the following subject areas: Political Science (which she is enjoying thoroughly; love how the lectures are interactive), English Lit (loves the fact she is finally able to read and gain a deeper understanding of the classics including Great Expectations, Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Romeo and Juliet and much, much more), From Homer to Hollywood (she also loves the subject but became frustrated and confused when reading The Iliad as she had difficulty in following which character was which and who they were affiliated with) and An Ecological History of Humanity (which she has a love/hate relationship with; she liked the intro because it prompted her to think about new things, such as the notion of a “unified history of humanity”, but found chapter 5 too science-based and difficult to hold her interest).

Now, back to the way I really talk/write…

I chose Arts because I only undertook science/maths (plus English, which was obviously complusory) subjects all throughout high school and really struggled to engage with the three science and maths subject in year 12. As a result, I didn’t do as well as I could have, largely becasue I didn’t have a passion and interest with the subject matter. So towards the end of year 12, I reflected on the past 6 years of my life and decided I wanted to head in a different direction. And that direction is in the form of undertaking an Arts degree; since I had obviously completed English, I knew I had some skills in order to succeed in the subject, so by choosing Arts, I haven’t really gone too far out of my comfort zone (I hope!). In terms of career aspirations, last year I did contemplate becoming a journalist, but now I’m not so sure…I think i’ll see how this year pans out first…But one thing’s for sure (at least for now anyway) and that is I want a career in writing; I want to perfect my skills, expand my vocab and express myself through the written word in a coherent, eloquent and engaging manner. I guess that’s partly why I wanted to join this blog, although blog writing and professional writing may be sliiiiiightly different!!

On a completely different note, I’ll give a brief run through of my O Week experience:

  • became a Student Union Member
  • got lost and had to consult my map numerous times
  • walked around aimlessly with my host group (my host group leader was lovely, but the planned activities sucked…I didn’t make any friends with the poeple in my group because I felt it was too artificial and I had nothing in common with them)
  • joined the following clubs: PIS (Political Interest Society), ALP Club, Labor Club and MUSLSA (Melbourne University Sri Lankan Students Association (I think that’s what the acronym stands for), which turned out to be a waste of five bucks, because in order to get into their events you have to pay…I’m not a stingy person, but I thought these clubs required no further payment after joining. The lesson learnt here is: don’t join MUSLSA inquire before handing over money!
  • attended a mind numbingly boring info session called “Beyond Google and Wikipedia”. The first half hour was how to use the library catalogue, in which some lady proceeded to go through the whole process of typing the words into the box through to what each of the results mean…Needless to say I left after that.
  • disovered the Baillieu Library’s quite study areas
  • explored Union House and laid eyes upon its array of edible delights.

So that’s it from me for today. I hope my blog was somewhat interesting (if not I’ll make sure of it next time!) But before I hit the hay, one quick comment: I loved reading what last years bloggers had to say; it made for entertaining reading, so keep it up guys!

2 thoughts on “Hello readers of this blog…

  1. I didn’t like my host group either, I’m glad I’m not the only one!
    Good luck for you first year!

  2. Heh. I made the same mistake last year with the African Drumming Club and Dancesport Club … it was like !@%?!^& more money?! Nuh-uh, no way.

    Anyway, welcome to the blog!

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