Thank you everyone in Melbourne, finally being able to see some of my extended family has been an absolute blessing these past couple of weeks. How strange, the week my Grandma is able to come to dinner for the first time in a long time is the same week I can go to the pub with my mates and 30 odd strangers 🙃
Goodbye Covid hair, maybe I'll run a bit faster now??
Recording recitals isn't fun, but I am getting better. Fun tip - bring a lamp/candle into your "performance space". Sounds crazy, but it helped me feel like I was actually giving a concert rather than just playing the flute into the wall.
Have to get up and be somewhere in the morning for the first time in forever so I better pop off.
Tonight's Listening: Reinecke Flute Concerto in D Major Mvt.II
Exam season starts today 😥 Mine are in the second half of the month and maybe I'll finish my revision by then 🤞 Having done my time in the unforgiving IT industry, I am now a big believer in having more "life" in the work-life balance. Yesterday's 15-hour-coding marathon was a first in a very long time and got me nostalgic.
I had been wanting to study at UniMelb ever since I found out it was the only university in Australia that expected me to have a minimum of 65% regardless of my bank balance. That was almost 10 years ago 😒 But life got in the way and studies got parked. Years later, when I moved to Australia, I coincidently got my first apartment just near my dream uni. That was back in 2015 and I always wondered what would it be like to study here. Was not stalking, I swear!
Cut to 2020, more twists and turns later, I am finally here and finding it out first hand🥳 I never expected the studies to be easy, but I am still taken by surprise at how much efforts they need! I don't yearn to be crowned the best student of the year and I have come to realize that H1 is reserved for nerdy bookworms who really-weally want to be a researcher ⚗🔬🧬
My goal is to get enough marks to get me a job in yeah... finance and investment... that's me 🤣 Which may or may not take me east, one day. Melbourne simply doesn't have enough of those kind of opportunities, sadly. But until then, enjoying the coffee here.
And yeah, I am looking for option for next year. I am not keen on studying virtually where there is a lot of room for mis-interpretation 😛 I might change my degree to something more Cat-appropriate (management-y) or defer it to when normal studies resume. Worst case, study where the jobs are... we'll see. For now, I am super-charged 🔋 for exams and living my dreams 🤩
A whole 🍩 week but study for exams and forget the beaches this month.
-love,
MoneyOverMen
With no lectures and tutorials this week, I am spending most of my time at the Career and Employability department (virtually, of course), picking their brains on resumes, jobs and internships. The number of times I have been there, I am sure I’ll get a job as their ‘Official Doorstopper’, if nothing else 😜
Not yet enjoying my new found outdoor freedom because I don’t have a hangout-gang here. But there’ll be enough time to find one after exams. Speaking of exams 😰 I need to find motivation to study. I just go on from disinterestedly browsing through 📖 to watching 📺. Totally should have signed up for the study-buddy program from the GSA. Kicking myself for it now 😖
Cat is trying to help with my studies though. She keeps pointing out the correct keys to press when I code. She is very good at peer coding and bossing me around. She’ll make a very good manager one day. #BossCat 😼
Doughnut days, but still take care.
-love,
MoneyOverMen
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P.S. For all the flowery language I use around how helpful everyone is and how awesome things are, I am seriously considering alternatives for next year. If the hurdles are too high to cross, might just find something else that doesn't set me up for failure. After all, the whole point of my being at university right now is to find a career in finance and investment, not to be a snobby academic.
I would have loved to have been a Formula 1 racing car driver, leaning into those curves around the sharp bends in the track and speeding along the straights. Instead, I became a lawyer and then a teacher. I’ve had a number of different jobs, sometimes after one contract ends, I feel like calling out to the Universe and saying “next!”.
Anyways, back to the driving metaphor. Sometimes, you need to pass successfully through the lower speed zones in order to drive at higher speeds, like 100-110 km/h. So, I guess, I had to receive a P, then a H2B before I received my first H1. Although, it was only for a assignment that is worth 20%, it was a good boost for my system. Hopefully, the next assignment result will be just as good.
As a fellow blogger said that ‘Ps for degrees’ and it’s not all about the results, I have to echo their comments. Keep your focus on your studies, just like the driver keeps his/her focus on the road and success will follow. Keep the focus on learning and you will enjoy the ride.
1:36am, Singapore. I have just finished an assignment not too long ago, had a long chat and replied a long overdue email. I technically have 2 zoom calls scheduled for tomorrow late morning, and a couple over the weekend as well-- ranging from interviews for school stuff, job related calls (will be starting a new job after all my assignments, but first some introductory calls? Does this word make sense? I'm sorry... my brain is really fried), as well as volunteer tuition stuff. And of course, the bulk of it all, other upcoming assignments due.
I'm going to be honest here and say I absolutely have no idea what to blog about. And out of so many times to blog, here I am, choosing to do it tonight after a hectic evening and at an hour where everyone else in my family is asleep. I guess the only reason I can justify to this is that I just felt like it.
It's such a weird feeling. On one end I feel like everything's manageable and it will all turn out just fine, but on another I feel as if I'm having a midlife crisis. It's not just the assignments itself, but rather the whole aura and vibe surrounding this part of the semester that is worrying and suffocating. Especially so that it's my first semester in university, which makes me really unsure of what to expect.
I guess the good part of all of this is that I'm trying to find joy in the smallest of things. Even a video of mayo farting on Tiktok cheers me up.
And no, I'm not going to say generic things like: "you got this!" "this will pass!" "try to keep a positive mindset but not worry about that H1!" Haha, idealistic, ain't gonna happen. But here's a wild thought: maybe when we are lying at home bored stiff during the holidays, maybe after university when all this madness is over and the new madness comes that is in the form of jobs... maybe, just maybe, we'll miss this feeling. This worrying, suffocating vibe, that hundreds of freshmen face (and probably not just in Unimelb).
But till that day comes... enough said, better rush out my next essay.
Honour the work that you’ve done so far.
Draw strength from your failures and use momentum to create your next masterpiece.
Enjoy the rhythm of working, of studying, of writing assignments.
Write essays when you feel inspired, when the words pour forth from you effortlessly.
Edit papers in quiet solitude and reveal the gems in your writing.
Proofread assignments, in peace, and not right before the deadline. Leave a week between editing your writing and come to it with fresh eyes. And ask, does it still make sense?
Write when you can and when you feel called to. You might find a talented writer within, yearning to write elegantly about your subject matter. You might find that you receive a H2B instead of P next time. You might find that in being more creative, you become more yourself, more you.
Phillip Pullman, said “Read like a butterfly, write like a bee”, (Stylish Academic Writing, Sword, 2012). So, dip and dive into your bookshelf, spend an afternoon simply reading, return to your assignment when you’re refreshed, and then write your little heart out. Celebrate your writing, regardless of what mark you receive, honour yourself for finishing something. Honour yourself for being you.
I thought after completing my Bachelor degree I would never have to write another 3000-word essay again, yet here I find myself writing a few, and in quick succession. Writing assignments don’t have to painful, you can make them into pieces of art; write interesting titles and sub-headings. Most importantly, write from the heart, so your mind feels at peace.
Today’s my last lecture for the semester and then I am a free bird 🦥
But I think I’ll miss them and the sense of normalcy they brought to my chaotic world where I couldn’t tell what would happen the next day but could always count on the lectures to be there, on time, like clockwork! Now I have to figure out my study schedule for the next few weeks and devise ingenious ways of sticking to it 🤓
I am not as good as Cat at plans and management, who was understandably sulky last weekend but is now back with her game face on, holding performance review meetings with Magpies in the backyard. The pies couldn’t stop singing about how awesome they were and how they swooped in and all, but Cat just showed them the droppings all over the garden and told them to shut their beak because they did a shitty job, quite literally 🧐 So much for good sportsmanship 😜
Other than that, mood’s 🤩 ‘cause the lockdown’s lifted. Finally! Looking for mates to go bar hopping, window shopping, door knocking or any other fun activity. Don’t care what it is, just wanna go out 🤨 If you are too, hit me up and let the adventures begin 🥳 But safely, with social distancing and 💩
-love,
MoneyOverMen
We're SO close to the end now!! This semester's passed by very quickly, but that's usually how I feel once something is over, so maybe that's my relief speaking. I've almost made it through my 2000-word essay grind, too, and, once again, my relief is piping up!! What the end of this semester AND the soon-to-be conclusion of my Essay Stress Fest means is that my first year at UniMelb is winding up—insanity, I tell you! I'll unpack this proclamation of insanity in the days (but probs actually in the weeks) to come, and reflect on my journey (ick) as a 2020 UniMelb Jaffy !! In the meantime, if you're Melbourne-grounded, enjoy our newfound freedom (assignments can wait)!!!
Song of the blog post: Latch by Sam Smith 🥔
Last week's experiment of not attending lectures totally blew up in my face. Turns out, I missed out on really important details about the assignment. I found it out over the weekend while going through the recordings, 3 days after the due date. Of course, I had to make the mistake that the prof specifically said not to 😒 Hoping I won't lose marks over it 🤞
This week, I'll be joining all zooms 5 min before start. Besides, all the time I saved last week on lectures was wasted in fantasizing about men. I don't think it's exactly prescribed school activity. At any rate, it does nothing to contribute to my marks 😜 And given that there are just two more weeks to go before the study break, I gotta focus!
It's not just me focusing this week, cat's supercharged too. She's prowling the garden with 'Eye of the Tiger' playing in the background, ready to scratch out any eye, tiger or not 😼
And we can now go out and bump into some unwelcome kiwis, but still not open for business. Am I the only one who smells hypocrisy here 😷
-love,
MoneyOverMen
So I'm sitting in my room, listening to some angry guitars noise because there really isn't a lot to do right now. Honestly, what the hell was going on the in 70s and why did it stop. See tonight's listening for a fat riff, yodelling, whistling and a flute solo because, prog rock.
Doing group projects with people overseas has its challenges, but I can't imagine what it must be like for you guys who are studying a degree in a completely different timezone! I suppose most lectures and classes are all pre-recorded these days. I heard we only had one new case today, so hope is on the horizon?? Kinda hard to be optimistic after the last 6ish months but there it is. God, maybe I'll even be able to visit my Grandma by Christmas. That really would be nice. It really would.
My recital is due in a few weeks and I do not feel great about that. I don't know if there are any musicians out there, but there is nothing worse than feeling that your pieces just aren't improving. My family are completely sick of me practicing that's for sure. Just a month more and I promise there'll be less noise!
Tonight's Listening: 'Hocus Pocus' by Focus (Best version - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFDW9b_ejfI&ab_channel=Tarkus888)
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