It is so amazing how exams seems to hit you right BAM SMACK in the middle of "more important things".
This semester has been no exception from the rule.
I am glad that I am generally the kind of person who thrives on high stress environments, because life always seems to put me on it's worst paths during the exam period.
There is a lot on my plate right now, but I'm biting off just as much as I can chew (if not a little more), and swallowing with a glass of water and some multi-vitamins.
A little thing just happened as well....basically I just received a phone call from one of my dear old friends.
They are in the region on business....but cannot make it to Melbourne - so I've been offered free flights up to Sydney for a night of partying and staying at one of the best hotels in the city.
AND I CANNOT GO BECAUSE OF EXAMS.
They leave the country Sunday afternoon.
I've thought it all through, in every possible way and I know the realities. If I go, it will take 2 days out of my exam study and I cannot afford to miss that right now when so much relies on my results e.g. ability to find an internship position.
I just try to liken it to one of my mentor's many stories of staying focussed to find success.
-He is a surfing addict....and he would be studying on 40 degree days for exams, in a room with no air-conditioning while his friends were out surfing the best waves available.
Now he is living my dream career.
HARD WORK PAYS OFF. *repeat* HARD WORK PAYS OFF.
I still hate how these things happen.
S.
I have my first EVER university examination tomorrow.
Genetics and the Evolution of Life.
And I feel a tad... stuck.
Ohhhh dear. My BRAIN ISN'T working anymore !!
Will report on it sometime after it's been and gone, unless it turns me into a hopeless emo haha!
Good luckkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk, I know I need lots of it!
Lara. x
Day 1 of exams:
I'm actually feeling pretty damn good. It's Macro and I am READY! I am so studied that I can't sleep because Macro knowledge is running through my brain!
It might sound weird, but in a way I am excited. I am totally on edge, the adrenaline is up and I can't wait to perform.
From this point on, everything will go so quickly that it will be over before I know it!
On a side point, I am obsessed with Ciara's latest single "Promise" - the video clip for it is so fantastic. It's inspired by so many Aaliyah and Janet Jackson moments...it is just HOT! And I would give anything to be able to dance like Ciara!!!
Anyways,
I have to run!
Cheers.
-Sophie
I think Dad summed it up best. I'd come home rather bedraggled from a fun day's work, slaving behind a dishwasher for a sum of money so small even the ABC would knock it back, and I launched into an enormous tirade about the boss. I try not to speak ill of my previous managers and I generally try not to lower myself for the sakes of that egocentric f***wit, but obviously that day had been one of his bad-mood days. (If life was a toilet roll, that man would be sandpaper). Dad summed it up very succintly; "If he wasn't such an a***hole, son, he wouldn't be your boss." Welcome, everyone, to the world of hospitality, and, in particular, the world of the dishpick.
The thing that defines dishbitching is that you are at the very, very bottom end of the food chain. The cockroaches wipe their boots on your rather-wet apron. Being a kitchenhand means one thing in particular; that you are the perfect target for pent-up middle management frustration of people who are simply upset that the world hasn't recognised their unlimited and untapped wealth of talent yet. (Presumably they were looking in the wrong orifice). These are career-hungry people, the limits to which they will go to please their boss are only defined by legality and possibly the reaction of said boss's spouse and children. So, when it comes to the time to vent out their frustrations upon the world, their appalling sex life (though I never asked), the fact that they were never asked to be first-year bloggers, and, most of all, the fact that they're not working in Grossi Fiorentino yet, there is one target who cops it all from a bad manager.
El Dishpick.
"What is THIS?" says Bad Manager, pointing to a tiny, miniscule stain in a coffee cup. I think, sir, that you were making coffee, and the steam melted your brain and it leaked out your nose. "Sorry about that", I reply. "I pay you to wash dishes and do food prep, for Godssakes, it's not rocket science!" Neither is being nice, actually. Excuse me, sir, but, pay peanuts, get...
I know I'm making the job sound horrible, and, in all truth, it probably is, but sometimes it can be fantastic, too, with the right set of people (and what a caveat that can prove to be). There is often good along with the bad, it just takes a little bit of searching, that's all. The best manager that I ever had is somebody who I still occasionally catch up with today; someone who was generous not only with his possessions ("Here, have a muffin! Let's face it, I only pay you $13 an hour. Grab a pannini too. Do you even know how cheap those things are to make?"), but also emotionally generous too, in that he was always willing to listen to his staff, consider their opinions and always took a genuine interest in their wellbeing - which is more than what I could say for some other managers that I've had along the way. I think the thing that most defined him as a good manager was that he tried to make as little discrimination between boss, to manager, to barista to dishpick and whilst the work could be busy people never complained about him. I can highly recommend the muffins, too; Cafe No.5, Central Place. Tell 'em I sent you!
Oh well - I'm off for an interview now. Floor position; waiting, not dishbitch, and probably all the better off for it. Sometimes, when I've dealt with my umpteenth degrading and pretentious customer, I might find it a bit much and wish I was out back again, singing the filthsome lyrics to "Sir Psycho Sexy" with one of my favourite assistant managers. But really, I've done my time amongst the soap suds and I need to get back out on floor again. Still, doing a crappy, monotonous job, sometimes for a crappy boss, and always for a crappy wage, can teach you something about life. It certainly teaches you something about the infrequency of golden opportunity and the luck that brings a chance to go to University, at any rate.
Best of exam luck (I'm studying, hence the low posting frequency);
Jez.
THE HORROR!!! Two weeks ago, I went into a surf shop to try on some jeans I'd spotted. After I worked out I didn't like them, I had to wait for my brother to finish trying on his stuff, when the music started to play Justin Timberlake's Future Sex. ARRRRGGGG!!!!!!!!! It was at this moment I realised I'd been avoiding hearing this song since it's realease a month before. I desperately hope I won't be hearing it again for a while. (My poor brother has to put up with it almost daily, apparently. The school bus has a pop station on and my brother's CD player and Mini-disk player don't work!)
Last Thursday we had our valedictory dinner. This time I'd managed to finish the Applied Mathematics assignment so I didn't have to worry about it that night. There were lots of speeches by students and staff, and were thankfully all quite amusing, interesting and not overly long.
We went out after to a local pub, JC's just around the corner. We had free access to the Juke-Box, but early on someone chose a bunch of songs so never got to some of the selections I made earlier. (There really wasn't much there I was interested in, being full of pop-music and Justin Timberlake, which thankfully wasn't played. (at least Future Sex, I may have missed a song that wasn't quite so bad.)) Due to lack of funds I kept myself at one pint of beer for the night, but didn't mind too much since the money could be spent on what are much more important things.
We later went out to the Spiegeltent at the Arts Centre. With kooky Jazz music, many mirrors and wacky lights (which in turn reflect off the mirrors) created quite a unique experience. Some songs were much easier to dance to than others, but what I didn't quite understand was why there needed to be two DJs, considering most of the time it looked as if they were just sitting there? Nearly all the men there wore trilby hats, just to make the place even more interesting. I danced with a drunk girl from college, but we couldn't seem to keep time with a beat that meant you either had to go slow, which was boring, and going fast kept ending up in comotion since she was too drunk to dance in such a way. (It would also be in part of my lack of dancing experience.) After we left, I heard the DJs just starting to play Herbie Hancock's Chameleon. I so wanted to go back, but no one else wanted to. I had to convince myself it wasn't that important and I could hear it in the Rowden White. It would have been nice to have it in the Spiegeltent though.
I've applied to be a student host for next years orientation. I went to a group interview yesterday, where we had to first talk about something in one of thirteen topics, myself choosing to talk what I like most about my course. For me it's been the people I've met in it. They're people I've found very easy to get along with, and although I'm friendly with people outside, I can just relate to those in my course just so much easier, and am starting to make some really good new friends. The next thing we had to do was a weird game in which we had to try to find out stuff about other people, but without talking. We were given certain things to look out for, such as if they had a cat, played a musical instrument, were vegetarian or had been bungee jumping. Bungie jumping proved to cause alot of difficulties, as trying to act out bungee seemed to imply to people that they had been bungee jumping, rather than trying to ask a question. With one partner we went through things very quickly, and then felt uncomfitable because we didn't know what else to do. (and the interviewees were watching.) After about six of us were talking after the session for a while on various stuff, and chances are I'll be saying hi to some of them next year. (just around Uni, I'm not implying that I am getting in.)
I've been leaving my USB stick in the room a few times in the computer room lately at Medley Hall. Then later I think I've lost it because I can't find it in my room. I went back for it a few days ago, and realised the lid had gone. I thought it was gone, until, for some bizarre reason, it was sitting in the dining hall on the table where all the food for lunch usually sits. (and this bench is cleared several times a day after it is wiped and the food put away.)
Now finally, Angry Man.
The venue, date, and everything has changed!
Here are the official details:
U Film Fest Vic State Final
Wednesday 15th November
North Dining Room
Union House
University of Melbourne
Doors open 7pm
Event starts 7:30pmJames (the U-Film Fest Co-ordinator) says
"Sorry for the delay in this. Everything is now locked in! The venue is
going to be (this may be boring for you...) the North Dining Room again,
but I'm going to put lots of effort into making it awesome. For example,
we're going to have three projectors! Big sound! and, er... FREE booze."
I really just wonder what the hell are they going to do with three projectors, but I'm guessing it's a joke. I have slight doubts as to whether the sound will be any bigger than last time. Hopefully we'll have a funny host and James will probably do the usual mocking of the host to make a great night.
James (the U-Film Fest Co-ordinator) says"I really just wonder what the hell are they going to do with three projectors, but I'm guessing it's a joke. I have slight doubts as to whether the sound will be any bigger than last time. Hopefully we'll have a funny host and James will probably do the usual mocking of the host to make a great night.
Edit: Friday morning: Something I found very inspirational to those of us struggling with current learning circumstances.
"He who learns must suffer. And even in our sleep, pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart. And in our own despair, and against our will, comes Wisdom by the awful Grace of God."
-Aeschylus
Continue reading "Okay…so sometimes exams are bad, And sometimes… (Sophie)" →
Most of my ideas about what is going to happen next year are prefixed by this - "If I pass..". It's worrying. In high school people would go out of their way to make me pass.. there was a particularly nasty time I remember when I was coughing up half a lung from a horrible chest infection whilst in the midst of absolute despair, a teacher locking me in a room and saying I couldn't come out until i finished the SAC. She also gave me an hour and a half longer than she was meant to. That was in Year 11, and she was determined to stop me from just throwing in the towel, as I do so often. Matthew described my approach as this - running forward enthusiastically, falling over, and being so distraught by the fact that I could have a setback that I end up ruining any progress I made.
Mmm. I'm currently writing an essay that is due tomorrow. Still writing due to an overwhelming feeling of word traffic jams in my head, and an irrational (maybe rational) fear of just not being able to write anything worth handing in, like most of my other essays. They are so tricky. I recently wrote an essay for my French Revolution subject on Marie Antoinette and the defamation campaigns against her in the lead up to her execution. It was a hell of an essay - it took several days of work and nothing else past the due date to get it all done, sleepless nights, scouring it for grammatical mistakes and ambiguities. When it was finally done, I was proud. Even though it was late, I figured it might just get a nice mark (I have been too scared to go and collect it, so I don't know what it got). But I read over it last night and found heaps of mistakes. There was even a bit where I left in a fragment of my plan... after a quote I had (cite) written, as a note for myself that I never picked up on. I couldn't believe it.
So it's making me feel so nice about the essay that has to magically materialise tonight.
Anything Goes is over. It's a nice feeling to have that off my shoulders... during production week there was a lot of ill-feeling in the cast... but it was soon forgotten on opening night. The show meandered along until the last number before interval, which was Anything Goes, the title number. The whole ensemble were on stage singing and looking excitedly at the tappers who came on in droves.. they danced, we sang and danced a little too, and suddenly the whole theatre was on their feet! Probably 800 people standing up clapping, cheering, screaming for more - this didn't feel like we were performing a 1930's musical, it felt like a rock concert. The sound of applause and knowing that it's for you is incredible. The curtain went down after that number and my friend Michael had to help me off the upper deck of the stage where I was standing.. my legs were shaking so much from adrenaline, too much sugar and pure joy at the fact that we had pulled it off.
Here are some photos, luckily I'm not really visible in any!:
Three of the leads (Hope, Evelyn and Mrs. Harcourt) - I was understudy for Hope
The 'Bon Voyage' Number - complete with orchestra on the upper deck
Billy and Reno singing "You're the Top"
Moonface Martin, Erma and the Captain - her legs are 'hairy' for a reason, she's actually hiding someone under her
The Anything Goes number - ok, I'm in this one.. if you look on the upper deck, I'm standing directly behind the round thing on the left. The lights hadn't come up on us at this stage
Reno showing off her tonsils in "Blow, Gabriel, Blow"
Erma at the end of "Buddie, Beware"
Evelyn singing "The Gypsy in Me"
Some of the awesome choreography in "Blow, Gabriel, Blow"
So many links.. but here is one more - a review of the show (click "Anything Goes").
So there. That's as close as many of you will have gotten to seeing the show. It was good in the end. So come and see Beauty and the Beast next year.. hopefully I'll be in it. Auditions are in about 16 days, wish me luck!
I'm alive.
That is basically it.
I'm studying like a maniac....and am embarassed to say HOW DAMN HARD I FIND ACCOUNTING. I just find it so trivial remembering which account to debit, which account to credit....I like it when it's more theory based. That is definitely more interesting rather than the physical calculations side to it which merely confuses me.
Anyways,
I really need to go sleep.
Two good things:
*Have applied to be a student host next year!!!
*Have applied to be a first year mentor next year!!!
Make that 3:
-17 MORE DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FREEDOM!!!!!
BEST OF LUCK EVERYONE IN THE COMING WEEKS!!!
-Sophie
sorry for the late blog entry, i promise i write more once i finish my exams. then i have plenty of time to reflect on my experiences and share them with u guys.
Procrastination
Oh man this is the trigger for my depression. i hate it. This evilness deserves our blog attack.
Cause: I am not determined to study sometimes. Too easily get distrated doing other things, finding excuses for not reading.waste 2 or 3 valuable horus per day. I absolutely hate wasting time because i cant afford to waste time and still i do it. But i am not goint to stuff myself, give up.
Solution: do a really fun activity to freshen up/ revitalise ur positiveness?
2) i tried to have a flexible or a strict study timetable. Not work well in 2nd sem where my determination is weak. No complacency. !!!!!! Got to reinforce the goal,i want to pass this year. Maybe i need a mind of steel. (look i am only talking about studying when i am not tired. I want to use these "fresh/energetic" time to study. )
The problem is drawing a line when to play. I know this is my own unique problem, the answer lies with myself.
Just remember to have confidence is to perceive positively about urself. (no need to feel jealous/envious of others) in fact we want people to be as smart as possible, make a better world for all of us. :)
(imagine if this is my last day, i would not even bother looking at other's result, i want to feel happy , stop comparing with others)
Only been to one other MIAF event since last week - crazy Japanese performance-art-dance-theatre-i-dunno-how-the-bloody-hell-to-categorise-it company Dumb Type's "Voyage". It was very Japanese, and absolutely nuts. I enjoyed it, though I wish I had been more sober when watching.
Otherwise, I no longer have the internet at home as my housemate who's parents paid for it has moved out. So my entries will dwindle from now on. There there, caring readers. We'll get through this.
ASSESSMENTS ARE KILLING ME. But only 9 days until I am free. I have a performance assessment on Monday, then an essay due on Friday, then seven assessments due on the Monday. THEN I AM FREE. I can't wait.
Good luck everyone!
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