First Year Diaries

Smith’s crinkle cut chips

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)

H1 for Happiness

Exams are around the corner, taunting me with the amount of readings I skipped. Yesterday as the exam timetables came out, I realised I was screwed.

I thought I was clever for picking subjects where the end-of-semester assessments were an essay or even a take home exam, leaving me with only one real examination. I thought, cool - easy - no problem. SWOTVAC will be a breeze. I was wrong. They're all due in the same week and I've become a procrastinator.

Let this be a lesson (to myself as well) - do not, for the love of God or whomever/whatever you believe in, push things off for later. It's a trap.

I'm sure this reaction of being unmotivated and becoming a procrastinator has happened to many people this year as a by-product of the pandemic. But I also think that it is something that can happen to many First Years in particular. You're suddenly 'Just Another [im not sure if im allowed to swear] First Year', when last year you were studying your butt off, taking late caffeinated nights, your only social time being study dates, and you found yourself thoroughly stressed and burnt out. That was me in Year 12. I remember saying at the end last year, "I promise to be a dropkick next year, and not study so hard." What an idiot.

This idiot now is fumbling over notes, trying to keep up and is desperately trying to get her head around this crazy grading system. Am I the only one who doesn't know what her standards should be?

Prior to university, the goal was always 90% and above. That dream has died. Technically I'm not struggling and my grades are apparently decent. However, the adjustment to this grading system was one of the biggest transitions of all.

At the beginning, I looked at the grading and thought that I should maintain my crazy standards, which meant that I should only be getting H1s. As time passed, I realised how difficult that was as other students described attaining a H1 as practically unattainable. It's not, but procrastination does not lead to a H1 either. All people talked about was this bloody H1 and I thought - if you get anything below that, is that bad?

On the other end of the spectrum, I heard a lot of the phrase, 'Ps get Degrees' - even from a sociology lecturer. "I want you all to try hard, but remember everyone - Ps get Degrees," he reassured us at the end of the lecture. He dressed as Superman and had his children's toys to help him present the lecture though, and I really had to question whether I was dreaming.

Though some may see that phrase as encouraging laziness, I suppose it has merit though. It's great to aim for a H1. It's still awesome to get a H2A or H2B. But if you get anything lower, Ps DO get Degrees so it's not the end of your life. (Just minimise fails because of the new HECS-HELP reforms for domestic students though but that's a whole new rant)

Adjusting your standards might be the hardest thing to do as a First Year. Though it sounds like adjusting means yielding to mediocrity, its more about positivity. It's about accepting feedback graciously, and to keep moving forward.

(I watched Meet the Robinsons again recently, I just had to quote it.)

Good luck with exams - don't procrastinate.

Also if you really do want to get better grades, Academic Skills really do have bomb resources though. I've only looked at their brief info sheets and some online learning modules, and I've seen an improvement in my grades this semester.

Let it be a beautiful mess

“It’s a beautiful day”, (U2).

It’s Monday, the day that signals new beginnings, a new week and renewed commitment to our dreams and for some, diets.

In our new world, the world’s been rewritten, reinvented, and reimagined. The world seems a quieter place, at least for me. I move slowly about the world, practically on holidays until next year, as 2021 eagerly awaits the next iteration of me.

Today I browsed for 2021 diaries in the one shop that’s open at my local Westfield and ordered coffee from my favourite café. And no, I don’t only go there because I receive a free mini handcrafted square of delicious milk chocolate, okay, that’s part of the reason. Mostly, it was to fuel my day. Waking up late, I needed energy to fuel the nothingness of my days. There are no papers to write, no sentences to edit, no deadlines to meet, but there will be, come next year. For now, a well-earned reprieve.

I’ve signed up to help a friend mark practice essays for VCE English students this week, so that will fill a couple of weeks. And it will require more coffee. I see the marking as professional development, time to hone my feedback and assessment skills. Not much interest, to non-teachers, so I won’t labour my point.

Also in news around Melbourne, school’s reopened today and the majority of classes are full with mask-adorning students. I wonder what they think about learning in this new era, this world full of hand sanitiser and alienating testing required before all airline travel. How do they feel they have coped with the all the changes, the lockdowns and the limitations. What new freedoms have they found amongst the chaos? What blessings have they gathered in these greatly challenging times?

As for me, I baked, chocolate chip cookies, cornbread, banana bread. I gardened and planted sunflowers and strawberries. I wrote this blog and my novel. I shopped online, and acquired health supplements and clothes. I quietly visited friends, when restrictions allowed and shared cups of tea, and I walked in new local gardens and relished viewing lakes surrounded by people lolling about on the grassy green lawns. I also, ordered my flat whites, my constant first-world luxury item, not all the time, but now and then. To assuage my need to sit down and share a coffee with a friend.

Thank you for reading. Post a comment and let’s get this blog community going. Perhaps share your beverage of choice, favourite new hobby or pastime or a new skill you learnt this year. I love reading your comments.

Today’s post was created by a skim flat white, courtesy of San Churro. Thank goodness not all cafes have closed. Like that meme says, I wish I could drink coffee, read books and nap all day. The hot drink brightens my days and awakens my inner drive.

Today, I was instantly called to write, I hope that this blog post finds you well, safe and with a smile.

Yours,

Raspberry & Rocks

How does ‘Zoom university’ affect our test scores

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, face to face lectures have become unachievable. In order to handle this unprecedented crisis, ‘Zoom University’ is deemed to be currently the only viable option we have that allows students to continue their education without the threat of COVID-19.

The University of Melbourne is undoubtedly no exemption. Ever since March, the uni has begun to transfer to a virtual teaching classroom. Then here comes one amazing topic: how does ‘Zoom university’ affect our test scores?

In this blog, I will briefly answer this question by giving you some novel observations combined with my own survey and experience.

To begin with, the online teaching narrows the gap of test scores between students. Technically speaking, the standard deviation of test scores becomes smaller. Since students save commuting time to the campus, they can spare more time studying when they study from home. Their study plan can be more flexible because they can just click the mouse to start studying whenever they want. Moreover, because of the strict travel restrictions, students have no choice but to stay at home and spend more time acquiring new knowledge through the Internet.

Meanwhile, e-learning can enhance learning efficiency to some extent. According to my own observations, a large proportion of my friends choose to divide the lecture recordings into several parts followed by the section and study these topics one by one. Pausing the recording and taking the notes instantly help them grasp the concept better without wasting extra time to revise the content repeatedly. As a result of the various factors listed above, it is likely that the gap in exam marks could be narrowed.

My other observation is that self-discipline students tend to make greater progress in academic performance and take the lead in all aspects(including soft skills, personality,etc.) during the lockdown period. Habit is a tenacious and large strength. Sleeping on time, getting up on time, following a schedule that is suited to your own lifestyle, and being serious about your own learning (keeping in mind that nobody is supervising you) will define your future growth. As for me, the process of making and following daily plans is really tricky at the beginning, but later, the sense of achievement of making full use of time gives me the incentive to insist on pursuing higher efficiency by making detailed schedules. Apart from studying, participating in business competitions, conducting charity activities online, or listening to a public webinar are all meaningful activities that we can join to improve ourselves during this special period.

At the end of this blog, I just hope that the vaccine can come out as soon as possible so that we can return to normal. After all, we all miss the face to face classes.

Look out

I'm really not sure why I was regarding mid-semester break as a holiday last week, and in the many weeks preceding. I was in that mindset until Tuesday, three days ago, when I realised that I actually DO actually have 4400 words to write by the 30th, and a presentation to prepare for, and my research had barely been touched, nor had my preparation begun—was a really fun realisation, that one! Now, I have one weekend to finish reading and cram in 2000 words and probs not start my presentation and maybe, just maybe, learn to actually do things rather than passively stressing and picking at my skin and crying inside (but maybe outside, too). Another source of my tears are the policies emerging from the current Commonwealth Government—the Higher Education Support Amendment is NOT IT. Absolutely disgusting.

Uni aside, I saved my dog's life today (Hall-of-Fame me, pls)! There are these two eagles that have been circling my house in recent months and I've been super suspicious, and have been body-guarding my dog whenever she's outside because I'm afraid that she's going to become their next meal (context: she's white and fluffy and very lamb-like). ANYWAY, my suspicions were not unfounded because today I could see a bird peripherally flying overhead and my subconscious mind just MUST have known that it was an eagle because I scooped my dog up, took her inside, and then the eagle genuinely flew back into the direction that it came from and that, is the story of my heroism, a certain heroism that both deprived an eagle and its babies of a meal and ensured that my family is still of four, not three.

Look after yourselves, your friends/fam and your DOGS!! DOn't let the eagles encroach upon your domestic environments!!!

Song of the blog post: How to love by Lil Wayne (a bop, truly)

Coming Home

Lectures, Orientation Week, and student theatre – it’s was all online. It’s like the whole world took a massive Swot Vac and we had to learn the basics again. Everything was transported online, and almost overnight our same-same lives became very different.

Studying at my new virtual learning hub - The University of Melbourne, feels like home. There is great student support, which is what the University is renowned for. Enrolling and starting to study was enjoyable, constant emails from lecturers about readings and welcome to the subject emails. Some lecturers even held special Zoom catch-up sessions for Semester 2 newbies.

Logging on, almost daily, the user-friendly sites instilled a sense of belonging. It’s such an honour and a privilege to be asked to document the first-year experience here, because I feel that it is an honour and a privilege to be studying here. I had a lot of expectations from the University and myself.

Let me leave you with some thoughts about the power of expectations - raise them too high, and you might be let down; have none, and you may be pleasantly surprised; have an expectation to be delighted, and you surely will be.

More importantly, have high expectations of yourself. You can make it. You can dream and reach those impossible dreams. When I enrolled, I dreamed of having great grades, after my first essay, I dreamed of simply passing. After my second and third essays, I almost cracked the H2A. You can do what you set out to do.

Life might look different now, and so do we. That’s because we’re all changing along with these challenging times. Let them make you, the best version of yourself.

Yours,

Raspberry & Rocks

Wominjeka

Welcome to the First Year Diaries Blog.

I'm Raspberry & Rocks.

I am a lawyer.

I am a teacher.

I am a Master of Education student at The University of Melbourne.

I am a musician.

I am Australian.

I am a writer.

I am a student.

I am on my way to somewhere.

I am not trying to be anyone else, but me.

I am here.

I am a first-year.

Welcome to the blog.

Yours,

Raspberry & Rocks

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First Year Diaries

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