Farewell

I couldn’t leave without a proper goodbye. I usually run from those – i.e. never showing up for my last day at the many schools I’ve been to, or saying I will catch-up with someone before they leave but never doing so… (Maybe I’m just guessing that since this a virtual farewell it shouldn’t be too hard.) For those of you who dedicated even one minute of your time last year to read one of my scarce blog entries, a big thank you. Whether it was because you hoped I’d have some good advice concerning a first-year uni student’s journey or because my mommy anecdotes were funny (one can only hope!), it’s been an honour writing alongside some very insightful, hilarious and smart bloggers. Being part of this blog was indeed a blessing… so much so that it is not farewell – it’s a see you soon instead. Truth be told, as I just found out I might graduate only in 2015, I figure I still could have another four years of blogging ahead of me. Hopefully by the end of it my posts will encompass more tales of what-to-do than what-I-should-have-done. From next month onwards, you will be able to follow my academic adventures at Back For Seconds. 🙂

I just wanted to leave this blog telling everyone about my latest developments as a perpetual (so far) first-year. After all those regrets and fears and self-doubts, I finally decided it was about time to start making good use of all the student services at Melbourne. That’s why I decided to stop being silly and go talk to the advisors about my future. I believe I kept thinking that seeking help was admitting I was weak and had failed – now I wish I had done this much sooner. Via the portal I scheduled two meetings – one with an academic advisor and another with a careers counsellor. It was time to figure out, for certain, if Arts or even Melbourne Uni was really for me after all.

Talking to an amazing academic advisor about my difficulties with the subjects I had completed in 2011, I was able to figure out a whole study plan, up to the very last semester of my undergraduate degree! (Yay for a five-year plan – just the way I like it!) While the thought of only finishing a standard 3-year Bachelor of Arts in July 2015 would terrify me under any other circumstances, it actually came as positive news. I was shown the structure I could have with my subjects and figured out I could even complete my Diploma of Languages at the same time. This was something I’ve wanted from the beginning but ended up sidetracked and didn’t really pay any attention to during my first two semesters. I left the room with the certainty that sure, it is still a long walk, but there are people to help me through it every step of the way… even if I change my mind time and time again.

From there I went straight to my careers consultation, being lucky enough to schedule them back-to-back. That was the toughest for me. It was about time to be asked “but what do YOU want out of your degree?”, and I wasn’t sure I could answer. Having decided a long time ago to follow the artsy route, by choosing to become a writer, I’m not the first or even the last to be conflicted with the what-to-do-for-a-living dilemma. But the oh-so-fantastic counsellor talked me through everything I liked and every single plan I ever had, career-wise. To my utter surprise, I was shown that Arts, or even the first year by itself doesn’t have to be a miscellaneous mess of interests. I could narrow down those tangents! Turns out that together we came to a conclusion that was so logical I should have been able to see it ages ago.

Since Creative Writing was the reason I actually got into Arts, I’ve wanted to do something else that would maybe allow me to have a job that would cover the rent. Writing, as any other artistic career, is something very unstable and even if I was sure to be the best writer on Earth (which I’m definitely not), I shouldn’t fall back on. So what to do? What would be something I would enjoy working in, trading a lot of the time that should be spent on writing so I wouldn’t be penniless at the end of every month? Translation. Languages. After all, I did come from a Portuguese-speaking background and had already ventured into Italian and Spanish for a few years, without even mentioning the whole transition to English as my beloved second language, or the fact that I actually work as a Portuguese tutor too.

Thanks to the support of an amazing university and its specialised services, I am a very happy, excited and hopeful first-year. It’s almost like my feelings right now mirror exactly the ones I had last January, when I first got into UniMelb. Except this time around I’m more experienced and sure that I’m going in the right direction. A semester of Linguistics and two different languages not only sounds way more enjoyable than I ever hoped a semester in 2012 would be – it is also way more me. It’s the me I thought I had lost along the way…

Brenda.