late introductions – Jane

First of all – Welcome First_year@UniMelb readers!

It’s taken a bit of time for me to get up and running and start writing in this blog – but I hope you will all learn a little something about the ‘First Year – fresher’ experience.

A little about myself…

My name is Jane and I am a first year Bachelor of Biomedicine student. I’m from North -West of Melbourne, born and raised here and came from an all girls school in city. Living at home and the eldest of 2 children (I have a younger brother). Striving for greater independence and all, I’m now a self-employed private tutor for VCE HHD and primary school – middle school English & Math.

I’ll make a sort of LEGEND to help you find what you’re looking for.
* – Any sentence beginning with this sign will signal a tiny bit of advice for when you get up to this stage in  Uni

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6 weeks into uni, I have a lot of say about a heap of things, so maybe a list will help me organise this post a little better.

Some things I plan to discuss include:

1.  O WEEK – Freebies, Living off free sausages, fanta and fairyfloss, Clubs & Societies, Host Group, Sunburn

1.  Lectures, Pracs, Tutes – the low down
2.  Breadth…What’s right for you?
3. JOIN JOIN JOIN – Extracurricular Overload. DM – Destination Melbourne
4.  BSS cAMP
5. Biomedicine Students Society
6. Exchange – Global Mobility
7. You’re third year? ASK ASK ASK ASK – GAMSAT, Interview…Med?
8. Favourite places
9. I miss high school T_T

I think I have much more to talk about but when they come to mind – I’ll continue the list to make it 

easier to find what you’re looking for (:

 #1-  O WEEK CHAOS
This week was pretty hectic I would say. Tuesday 21st of Feb – Friday 24th Feb – and for me, I wanted to cram every single information session possible. I’ll split this up into days to make it easier.

DAY 1
10AM – 2PM: Host Program
Melbourne Uni have this great program running whereby a 2nd/3rd year student of your degree takes you and a group of other first year students in your course on a tour of the school. Because they are doing the same degree, questions about ‘where to go for..’, ‘where to ask advice’ and specific questions about majors and such are really relevant to you.
* I encourage you to have  LIST OF PRESSING QUESTIONS to ask during O WEEK.
Beginning Uni was unexpected, I pretty much felt like I didn’t belong at uni for a few weeks before I started to feel at home. It is a great help to have all your questions answered before you begin! And even if you don’t find out where you can go so you can ask later on.

* Join all relevant MELB UNI FB PAGES/GROUPS – they keep you up to date, allow you to join events (great reminders to attend sessions), ask questions.
BBiomedicine Student? – Join: EPSC (Eastern Precint Student Centre), BSS (Biomedicine Students Society), First Year at Melbourne

Anyway, getting off track, back to O week – the next session on the list was the ORIENTATION CARNIVAL
– Performances
– Food: BBQ SAUSAGES, Fairyfloss, Snowcones, Krispy Kreme (Aa), 7 Eleven Slurpees (thirst quencher on a hard, hot day’s work of lining up for free things)  – You get so sick of sausages, it isn’t funny
– Photobooth (:
– Free pens everywhere. Line up to Officeworks for worthwhile freebies – note book, display folder, pens

It’s been a long time. I’ve forgotten most of what went on. But it was fun!!

* Use O Week as an opportunity to GET LOST and find your way around ( You have your timetables by now – so if you get the chance, suss out where your classes are to familiarise yourself about where to go on your first day!)

WORTHWHILE SESSIONS? –
– Welcome Lunches – for your specific course
– Library Tours (They occur at various times of the year, but for Biomed students – a tour of the Brownless Library “The Brothel” is great. It gained it’s infamous name from it’s colour scheme and mood lighting. Black, red, rich pink, sheer curtains? Yeah. you get the picture.)

*SIDE NOTE – Librarians are very helpful: In your first week, set up your devices you want to use wirelessly at uni. Learn how to print and how to book computers! ( where you can find computers to use too!)

– LIVE (Leadership involvement and  Volunteering and Experiences) (Run throughout the year)
– Exchange & Study Abroad (Run throughout the year, I missed mine during O week and went to one in my 2nd week)

* FOR BIOMED – In terms of subject information sessions, if you live a fair bit away (It was at like..8am ==), the one for BBiomedicine course in general – I found quite useless for those who already knew how to enrol and select their subjects, and course structure. It’s all in the booklet we all read to select Biomed as a preference in the first place..
Biomolecules & Cells, Calc 1, Chemistry and Breadth introduction were all informative. Go to those (: 

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ok. pause for now. that was a super long post. the rest will come another day soon!

x jane