Tuesdays with Eyre?

It’s been a week, and thankfully, it’s non-teaching period for whole week here in Melbourne. Time to finally catch up on those lecture recordings you promise you’d watch tomorrow, get a serious dig-in/leg-up on your assignments, and if you miraculously get to the bottom of the work pile, you earned yourself a breather for the rest of the week (thank you for sparing your time to read this btw :P). With that said, I’d like to share a little bit of reflection for the past 4 weeks.

While I think it’s dismissible as one of those typical “newcomer” thoughts, it is still mind-boggling to go a bit through the sheer size of this University, both physically and spiritually. The University has over 40,000 students, hailing from around the world, with over 600,000 more enrolled in the open courses online. Coming from a high-school environment overseas, the 40,000 number alone is enough for a shakedown, and like many others including me, getting lost or left behind somewhere is inevitable. Fellow first-years (particularly those just starting their first semester) would have shared one of those moment when your non-VCE qualifications screwed up your class enrolments, your lecturer talking and scribbling so fast your mind starts spinning, your tutor felt too far apart to talk to because of 30-40 other students wanting the same thing, the list goes on.

Despite the overwhelming flow of anxiety, I learnt that it’s perfectly normal to worry about those things. After the initial rush, I realised that I’m not the only one experiencing this. I’m not one to say that it’s the exact same thing with other universities, but for those just settling in to uni life, my advice is to relax. Initial perceptions might leave you thinking everybody is streets ahead, when in fact most newcomers would be on the same league and pace as you are. At this point in time, if you still find there is something missing, it is helpful to console your subject tutors or to your nearest student support centre.

Hopefully you enjoy my little banter/advice. Do you think I should make this a Tuesdays thing?

If you’re a Melbourne Uni student, and you find yourself still having issues with your course(s), both logistically and objectively, I recommend consulting Stop 1 for support. They very likely would be able to tackle a solution for your issue.

Eyre (Peso)