By G.A, I mean Group Assignments.
I should have known better. Just because your group SEEMS to have it 'together' doesn't mean that members will not stuff up. Now the majority of people did their thing well but in a group of 6, about 2 wrote their delegated parts up without bearing in mind TQM (Total Quality Management). Instead I think they missed that class and took up LFI (Logic for Idiots).
Thanks to the last minute timing of some members, I was unable to proof read our assignment before it was to be handed in like I wanted to do. Instead all I could do was cross my fingers and hope that the conclusion writer had, had enough sense to at least edit while she read through drawing her conclusions.
Now, while I prepare the Presentation reading through our submission, I find myself facing the question of whether to laugh or cry.
I have decided to just accept reality.
Maybe we'll just pass.
Brutal.
So my one problem with university life: dealing with people who don't have standards as high as yours. Maybe a reason I crave to work for an organisation where standards are fundemental to success? The attraction of an industry where focus is everything, raw intelligence is a neccessity or failure will mark your ultimate end? [Yes. I am a freak.]
It's frustrating.
It's my own fault though.
Obviously in group situations someone has to be the eagle watching over, making sure everyone comes through on their side of the deal.
I don't know.
It's just a bit of a downer. Doing this presentation has taken a lot longer than expected as I've had to fix up stuff ups.
At least I got a laugh over the suggestion that the intercept term 'Beta Zero' is in fact called "Beta Two".
J will tell me off for writing this blog entry. I have been banned from wasting time writing entries. LOL.
I heart him. : -)
P.S
The FMAA Women's Forum on Thursday night was FANTASTIC. If you have the opportunity to go next year, I reccomend it completely.
I had a good chat with the dean of our faculty - Professor Margaret Abernethy
I adore her! She has had a fascinating life. She was so lovely too. Very down to earth, friendly and welcoming. I think I will definitely take up her offer at some point to ask her for advice "anytime". And to any other Commerce student wanting to ask something, I am certain she will welcome you with open arms. Her passion for educating young people was ferociously inspiring!
Must run....finishing of presentation calls.
Last week brought the Medley Hall Masquerade ball. At the great venue of San-Remo Ball room in Carlton. My mask was green in a V shape with these shiny round things. A bit over half of people had masks, and about half were made by the person wearing it. One of the most interesting included one that was a leaf from a tree with two holes poked out for the eyes. When I was there I had people telling me to slow down with the drinks after only sitting down for five minutes. But my attitude changed as I decided to not act like an idiot as I found there was someone I had a first level interest in. We had some major things in common, but once I dived into more of the details I found it impossible to really elaborate on what was being said and in the end was unable to sustain conversation, and that she was not for me. Worth a try though. When I realised this I decided to get a drink from the bar, like some raspberry and vodka, but got there after it was closed. (No-one told me that was going to happen!) I was looking forward to that.
In terms of dancing for the night, I dance more wild when I drink less. I was having dance offs with other guys and skidding across the great dance floor. I enjoy dancing, and often get complements. My favourite would be that I just let myself go, and not afraid to bring out my emotions. Then again at another performance I was dubbed ‘the headless chicken’. (Note these are both at different events.) Anyway, after the ball I went to the after party somewhere on Brunswick Street. I had a Carlton Draught, (nice beer), and just chatted both to a fellow college student friend and also asking some people I knew how they enjoyed the night. The atmosphere was good, but I had to go home at 1:30am morning as to be ready for the 9 O’clock later that day. (Had to go, 2% easy marks would’ve been lost.) I stayed up until 12:30 on Thursday night for another nine o’clock start, and then on Saturday night at 2am for a big sleep in until 12:40, almost missing lunch. (Nooooooooooo!)
Now that I’m one of the people who have said to have there name down to help with the MUMS (Melbourne University Mathematics and Statistics Society) (think about the University of Sydney version…), I’m now also getting department e-mails from Mathematics and Statistics. This involved many exciting things about when certain rooms are not available for staff, when the heating is not working in the building, and many seminars for the teaching staff.
Also, at the Richard Berry Building (home of the practically dynamic subjects), I have noticed two cats living on the west side. I was there with Jim just this Wednesday and we were talking about them, and also as we were discussing exactly what we were planning this lunch time, as there were activities we were both planning to go to, but were enjoying the conversation.
I have also found that the last two weeks I have exceeded my internet quota limit of a puny 50MB. I don’t understand why not before though, as I’m sure that other weeks I’ve been much more wild. I might just ask a school friend if they could be so kind as to tell me their unimelb password so I could check e-mails on weekends! They are less likely to need it by the time the weekend comes as they have access where they live.
Next semester I will be playing with the IC MUSO (Intercollegiate Council Melbourne University Symphony Orchestra), which should be fun and allow me to meet people doing quite a different degree. (Most at the meeting were music students.)
Sunday I went to see my grandmother and great grandmother. First my grandmother and her partner went to a brilliant Chinese restaurant near Dandenong. I had chopped fish with mushrooms, and ate all of it, along with some vegetarian noodles. After we went to see my great grandmother (95) where she now lives. They talked about some of the times of old back during the war, and how at one point she was jailed for not wearing a ‘P’ when going into town to indicate she was Polish. It was interesting but I have shamefully under slept and concentration was hard. I came back on the train, just in time for dinner that night.
I had my last physics prac this Wednesday, and am reflecting on my partners. I think working with others like this can make you dislike them. I’m quite friendly with my first partner now, but I found her harder to work with, although she did get better, which was great. My current partner seems to like to get stressed and seems to want to take over the experiment. Once again something that can be annoying, but feel quite ok to talk to him at other times. Then again physics labs are also made awful by the small amount of time you have to not only do the experiment, but ensure you cover everything that’s required in your log book. And even then it’s not clear what they want as the lab tutors seem to want something different from what the lab manuals say they want and web resources. It’s definitely been a very mixed experience, and looking and not looking forward to it next semester.
On Wednesday night I first went to a talk on the Australian Synchrotron being built at the moment, and the synchrotron ‘light’ it will produce. (They say ‘light’ because people associate radiation with radio-activity, of which this has nothing to do with.) It was interesting, but I had to leave early as I had won tickets from Triple J for preview tickets of the upcoming film ‘Candy’. It is about a couple (Candy and Dan) who are hooked on drugs, and neither has any proper jobs. They get their money from thievery, prostitution, and often find themselves having to borrow money as to fund their addiction. Money tensions affect their relationship and also get Candy’s parents worried that Dan has no real job. (They don’t know about the drugs and how they fund it.) I did enjoy the movie, and might consider watching it again, and would give it 3.5 stars.
This upcoming Wednesday brings a debate between the Labour club and Socialist Alternative titled ‘Reform or Revolution’ as to whether we should try to modify our current social system (‘Capitalism’) or scrap it altogether, as to give us one that is fair and just. (Similar goals, different tactics)
I was looking forward to a surprise birthday party this Saturday, but got cancelled, as the person planning to be surprised was going home for the weekend. (Problem with surprise) I’m instead going out with high school friends either to a club or to see some music in Brunswick Street. (So I’m seeing some of the people I was going to see anyway.) It’s also the last week of classes - my ego is telling me to do something crazy. (In a funny way)
I made a decision.
Well....I think I made it.
On advice from the head of my course, counsellors, and a few other people... I have been withdrawn from all 4 of my exams. This is as to not jeopardise my future academic/working career.
However...somehow the option that became decided, not concretely (not a word but explains what i mean), is that I will return to Melbourne next semester, and probably only do 2 subjects whilst doing work at various places such as aquariums, zoos, veterinary clinics, work with farm animals, etc., organised by the ever-helpful Julian Hill, the head of my course.
I think I'm okay with this....I think. I didn't expect it, but...I think. The next 2 months or so that I spend in Sydney should hopefully help me to settle down...I hope.
Emotionally, I guess I'm still somewhat....numb to an extent. Funny thing, how you have such strong connections with some people. This is what I feel with Nick, whether he be a friend, or anything else.
Yesterday, I thought to myself "Imagine if Nick unblocked me today, the day before I make this decision...that would be some sort of....miracle."
Do you know what happened?
He unblocked me last night. (I was never blocked in anger, I was blocked because in his opinion it helped, or whatever. Even though i repeatedly said to everyone, that it wasn't helping me, and just pro-longing the pain. I mean, yeah. There's still pain, but...argh. Something like that.)
I typed "Thank you"
Although I got no reply, I just hope that...stuff will turn out okay, in that sense and in the whole wider scheme.
I guess staying on in Melbourne means I can pursue my interests whilst studying and gaining credit for my study next year, whether it be in Sydney or Melbourne. I will also be living a full year of college life, I'll be able to pursue my Victorian water polo experience, which seems to be flourishing, and I won't be pushed straight back into something that I was in such a mess with. I just have to really find myself, and make sure I'm doing what I want to be doing.
Still feeling numb...The unexpected...hurts.
Well I'm at a hotel and have 1 minute left on my internet card so I'd best be off, more on this later :(.
Lara.
A couple of nights ago, for the first night in a very, very long while, I got home in time to watch the news. Of particular interest to me was the article on Bracks' brand new plan on spending for public transport until 2010. Good ol' Steve and Peter looked straight at the camera and told us all that they weren't going to spend very much money on public transport whilst they used voices that sounded as though they were going to spend lots of money on public transport. Then we had a shot of Steve and Peter taking the train and we know they weren't regular passengers taking the train because they weren't being showered in toddler spit, leant on by the next passenger drifting off to sleep, and they weren't even fare evading. How UnAustralian is that!
Generally I try and avoid the news full stop if I can - there's always a danger that one of George Bush, Jeff Kennett or the Queen could be on it, and I'd rather keep my appetite for dinner - but this was a fairly pertinent article to me. See, as wonderful as Warrandyte is, filled with birds and trees and the sort of babbling brooks that could have kept Enid Blyton writing for fifteen months straight, and perhaps the occasional pot-smoking relic from 1968, there is one issue with it. It's a bloody long way from Melbourne Uni. For those of us who can't afford to move out of home (thankyou very much Centrelink for the "independance" qualification on Youth Allowance), that is an issue, although it's not exactly life-threatening.
As such, I have become an absolute black belt in using Public Transport. I know the system backwards. I know the answers to all the questions you could possibly have about public transport; for example, what should you never do on Melbourne's Public Transport System? (a) Read the MX, (b) Catch the train to Belgrave, (c) Take a bike on the train and put it somewhere where it actually won't get in anyone's way, or (d) Wear deodorant? (The answer is All of the Above, especially answer A. I am convinced that the MX sucks out your IQ as you read it. Seriously, you could walk onto that train as a Law/Arts/Science student, and by the time you get to the "Boring But Important" section you'll be walking off that train to discover that you're studying Commerce**. Don't say I didn't warn you!).
Of course, putting up with the Public Transport System means putting up with Connex. I do not publicly say things like this too often, so let me put it succintly like so; I would rather put up with a mother-in-law. The sign that you've been travelling on Connex trains for far too long is, as I was saying to some friends yesterday, when you can recite and intonate the following phrase syllable-by-syllable: "The 4.38, Belgrave, train, has been delayed, and is now expected in, ooh, *&$%, a really long time. Connex apologises for any inconvenience caused." That, and when you master the art of getting on the correct carriage at the first station to be in line with the escalator at the next. In retrospect, that's probably life's way of telling you to buy a car.
But, for all my whinging about the public transport system (and oh isn't it a lot of whinging), you know what? I wouldn't go without it for the world. Sure, it's not always smooth, and it's not always the most comfortable of journeys (nickname of "DVT" would suit best), but compared to the strictly black and white world of car travel, catching the bus is like a world of colour. I've met so many fantastic people on the bus; (and I'm sorry to initialise you all, you know who you are), people like C, K, M, L, P and of course "that" C. I've stood there watching K and M alternating between hyperventilation and near-incontinence with laughter as the old busker with the violin decided to test the theory mid-bus that excruciatingly bad violin playing for an hour solid makes your ears bleed. (My ears remain intact but I carry the mental scars with me). I've been lynched by small toddlers who decided that I looked like the nicest guy to play with on the tram, I've been told that I was a Lovely Young Man by old ladies whose shopping jeeps I carried (and how wrong can people possibly be?!?) and I've been told by many a drunk man late at night that She Looks Like A Bit Of Orright. My personal favourites are raunchy phone conversations mid-train (the phrase "YOU'RE just jealous because YOU didn't get any last night!" sticks out in my mind) and catching somebody picking their nose (and my oh my isn't it just amazing how itchy the OUTSIDE of your nose feels all of a sudden when I catch you, hey?), but Zone-2 beggars can't be choosers. It makes up for spending that much more time in transit every day, regardless.
And hey, in the end, I even learnt something. Question six, the MX daily quiz, a couple of days ago. What traditionally signifies a couple's sixth anniversary of marriage? Sugar. (My answer was "divorce", but there you go). See? I told you, public transport is a world of colour. You wouldn't learn that from the inside of a car now, would you?
take care
xo
jez
** = Sorry Soph!
ps - my photo is now up on the website so please feel free to come up and abuse me at University. I really wanted one of me gettin' down with Glynn Davis though, so Glynn, if you're out there, give me a ring. Call me. Call me now.
pps - I have obtained a copy of Frank Zappa's album Hot Rats (1969). It is so good it is INSANE. How could you not love a man who wrote the following lyrics (not on this album):
"Be a good little Eskimo,
Watch out where them huskies go,
And don't you eat that yellow snow!".
This album, however, is just incredible - and so far ahead of its time. It features Jean-Luc Ponty, a French electric violinist (which works surprisingly well in a blues/rock/jazz tune), and Captain Beefheart in a vocal cameo, who even Frank Zappa said was A Bit Weird. (As Dad said, when a man who names his children "Dweezil", "Ahmet Emuukha", "Diva Muffin" and "Moon Unit" Zappa says you're weird, then you've probably got some issues). As you can tell, I love this album. If anyone else has even heard of Frank Zappa, give me a heads-up. The man is a musical legend.
Sorry to readers that i have been "sooking too much" most of the time. My experiences so far have been wonderful. let me unravel these to u in particular The educational side and social side.
Getting back to my old "habit', the reason i complaint too much is that it is easy to find faults of something and also it is a way to release my stress. Sorry again if i scare u off from doing law.
It is a FANTASTIC course!!!!!. :)
SO let the collection of fun time begin....
I cannot thank my law teacher Ian and simon and also the faculty enough. Class environment is similar to a high school class. It is not only a learning place but also often a comedy showground. Ian and simon are very passionate about teaching and learning in their class makes me feel privileged and want to try hard so i do not let them down by wasting their effort of teaching us.
You dont believe me? Listen to the I-lecture( recorded lectures on internet if u are in law).
furthermore i feel i can get help if i am stuck with any content of law.
Maths faculty is wondeful too. teachers are really good at explaining. Also there are 3 or 4 hours of consultation time everyday for students to seek help.
The Philosphy subject Religion, responsiblity is pretty bad with its resouces, maybe because it is a small subject.
I have mentioned studying is really hectic but what i learn now is really interesting and useful. Laws apply to the whole society. The consequence of laws are far reaching.
In "legal method reasoning", i learn although our law system is advanced but there are areas of law still discriminating racial minorities, such as old people, children and women. For example under tort/civil cases, these people would probably get much less compensation compared to men even if their circumstances are similar. There are many fascinating things taught in this subject that relate to our daily life, eg dangerous products, cases involve victims of traffic accident, doctor and patient cases, mother and foetus, etc.
My impression so far is that laws are based on common sense as it apply to people.
In principle of public law, i learn about in depth of the legal system in australia, which involve how Australia operate democratically. This is fundamental to our life. It taught me that there are also good and bad aspects of our law system.
law are really influential in our life. This is what i learn. With this skill and knowledge, all law student can change AUstralia positively. So i can't complain learning about it.
Lawyers are not bad people. Some are bad. But if we use law positively, lawyers can be a valuable member of society, upholding justice.
Besides class time, i also participate in law competition, acting as "lawyers in court" to solve cases. Moreover, there are peer menotoring, stduent contacts (4th yr law students giving advice to us) and other law related activities offered to first yr law students. See, law has a great learning enviornment
The vibe in the law faculty is really friendly too.
Sorry, i am going to talk about the social aspect next time. Run out of time today. See u next time.
Ummmmmmmmmm...
Well I have to make....a decision....in the next 2 or so days.
Basically my life has been a mess for almost 2 months... and it's gotten to me really badly. It just seems like bad things come in not threes, but three-thousands. So, the decision, is whether I am going to do only 2 of my 4 scheduled exams then either stay on here or go back to Sydney and have 6 months off then either come back or stay, or completely withdraw and start again next year, again whether it be here or Sydney. Of course I can opt to do all 4 exams, but after being told I’m clearly not in the right state mentally and emotionally to do ANY exams at all, it is kind of off-putting. If I did all 4 exams and passed I would be able to go into the course I was offered in Sydney mid-year, IF I chose to move back.
*Sigh*....you see. The only thing....is that. I feel I can't make this decision until a certain someone decides that it's right to talk to me again :'( seeing as our relationship was my driving force for the move, even though I didn't know it at the time. :(. Without this sounding like an emo-rant, I just can't understand how someone who was so into such a great friendship, then a great relationship, could want to walk away from even just the friendship, after saying there was nothing wrong with "us" and it will all be fine :'(! I mean, he still reckons (well the last time I talked to him, almost a month ago), that it will be fine....but how can everything just be fine ALL OF A SUDDEN when it's not even given a chance?!?! I JUST DON'T GET IT!!!!!!!
Argh. I really do feel like I am in a room packed to the brim with people where it's so silent, and I am screaming my lungs out, yet nobody at all will listen to me/hear me. :(!!
I just hate the fact that I may have to make such an enormous decision and be unhappy with the outcome either way, and the fact that people won't listen to me when I say I know what can help me.
ARGH. The day that I figure out life, I will feel completely accomplished, whether I have achieved any other long-term goals set for myself or not.
I miss being the happy, crazy person that I was, I feel like that is being held away from me and I’m not allowed to have it back. I was happy during our relationship, yes...extremely....but more so....I was happy BEFORE it! When we were friends! And I would love to go back to that. I hate having things like this in my life. I just love to be happy.
Ahhh.
On a uni-related note, well, the above is related to uni somewhat I suppose, but anyway. Today I had my last biology practical for the semester (possibly for my unimelb experience?) and it was ....BORING. Yes. The most boring prac and everyone thought so too. Perhaps if it was a touch more practical than looking at computer screens and slides, I don't know how....just somehow...it needed to be made more engaging, more hands-on.
I also didn't go to uni yesterday, surprise surprise. Emotions really knock you over. (Yet remember I know how to fix myself, I am just not..."allowed!!!!!" in a sense!!)
On a high note, I bought tickets to Splendour in the Grass yesterday, I’m going with 3 of my best friends from Sydney- Alex, Kristy, misty and we will have a ball. I hope. It’s at Byron bay. We missed out on camping tickets though, so we've got to book accommodation somewhere soon, and flights and all will be good. Woop woop. It’s scary to think that what my academic and living status will be at that time is completely unknown for now :(. Wow, the whole festival sold out in less than 2 days.
Today my new keycard arrived, so I finally have access to some thousands I haven't been able to touch for ages. Although I won't be touching it much at all, I don't really have any material wants at the moment, only emotional. I guess you could call it.
Last Wednesday I went to the chocolate lover's society bbq, which unfortunately turned out to be bread with nutella, sprinkles, and of course lots of chocolate, as their barbeque was locked in the sailing shed or something!! Still yummy though, I was talking to a couple of girls from America who had just returned from a trip to the Cadbury factory in Tasmania (I think?) Then I saw a girl from college so we ate some more chocolate and made fairy bread, then bought sushi and parted ways, her back to college, me back to a biology lecture in which I literally fell asleep with my head lulled to the side in, due to my recurrent lack of sleep nowadays.
Tonight I have my third water polo match, we won last week and it was a really good game. I missed training last night at the last minute because...yep...you guessed it- mood swing!. Also tonight, infact in an hour or so, my dad will arrive from driving from Sydney, and my puppy will be with him :) yay. Don’t you just love unconditional love? My dad's aunty passed away on mother's day, so he is stopping in Melbourne for the night before continuing to drive on to Warrnambool. It was also my dad's first mother’s day away since his mum died :( I told you bad things all happen at once!!!
My mum is also coming back from Wodonga on Wednesday... I was there for the weekend with her, visiting her family, mothers day lunch, etc. I caught the train back by myself on Sunday night to Melbourne, and for the entire 3 and a half hours I was contemplating jumping off at each stop and calling someone to come and save me...I was so upset because I had nobody to talk to so all the usual thoughts just kept on running through my head :'(. ahh. on the train trip up to Wodonga, a girl sitting with me and my mum is at a college too...and guess what. she’s doing the same course as me, hehe! except she's 2nd year. All 6 of us in our little seat section thing passed the time well, by just chatting about anything and everything. Interesting group of people. Oh and the guy sitting with us was on my train trip back too, yet we didn’t talk, just sat there being mute doing sudoku puzzles, and of course me with the added brainstorm.
This is really messy and out of order but anyway Haha... when I caught the cab from college after uni to the hotel I had to meet my mum at before going to the train, the hotel we had stayed in the night before, I met Ryan O'Keefe from the swans and he wrote me a note hehe. We also met his grandpa and father, and found out his grandpa knows my grandpa, as they are from Wodonga. My mum saw the whole team but I was still in the taxi and only Ryan stayed back to meet me lol :(.
Well I am terribly sorry for that rant...it just sometimes makes me feel a tad better to get it on paper...err...screen o_0.
Better go back to...life. And stuff.
Lara.
EVERY Friday afternoon, tucked deep away in the far corner of that anonymous brown monolith that we call the Arts Building (the one on the corner of Grattan and Swanston), sat high on the sixth level, staring over the traffic and the people, roughly fifteen artistic, bohemian sort-of-people, attempt to have a French Discussion class. Two of the students (on a roster) lead the specified theme for that week and we all attempt to have a nice, long discussion in French.
Might I repeat; it's mid-afternoon on a Friday.
This particular Friday wasn't going so well. It was nothing to do with the fault of the two discussion leaders who were running the thing. It was that everybody's brains had well and truly ground to a rusty halt over the last four-and-a-half days of study and no-one felt up to having a nice, long, in-depth discussion in French. The two leaders bravely ground on nevertheless. "So," one of them said, in French. "What do you think of this text? Do you agree with our interpretation?" The sound of silence ensued as glazed eyes all stared somewhere into the middle distance. "Anyone?" And, then added a little more plaintively, "Jez?".
Yep. That's the sort of person I am. The guy with the opinion on everything. To be honest, I try to talk as much as I can in French class because there's not many better ways to learn how to speak French other than actually doing it.
Saturday night was a rockin' house party. If there is such a thing as fashionably late, then I assure you that I was very, very fashionable. Having come straight from work, I arrived at the nice, early hour of roughly 11.30 to be confronted by a small Carlton terrace house filled with what had to be at least fifty people and probably more. I was immediately confronted by set on by the House Drunk. He satisfied all criteria; staggering around like it was O-week, bottle of Bundy in one hand, the other draped in a half-hug, half-choker-hold around a wincing innocent bystander, breath that could probably kill small children from ten feet and a willingness to Share The Love with pretty much everyone in the room. People parted in front of him like the Red Sea as he pitched and swayed, trying to avoid the potential VLOF (Vomit Line Of Fire) as he uttered the classic Pissed Out Of Your Head line - "I'm sorry," he said, in between burps, "I think I've had a couple!". Finally, in the manner of all true drunks, he simply disappeared. He was last seen staggering down Lygon St, holding a roaring conversation with the air, with a slight list to starb'd.
The party was fantastic, though. Great people, nice place, cool setup. It's the friendliness of the people that make a party; I walked in knowing no more than two people, and found one more who it turns out is in my Maths lecture (and yep, Soph, you wouldn't believe it, it's another person whose name starts with J) as well as a whole friendly bunch of others. I ended out crashing on a bed with a friend at five, all set and ready to wake up at the nice chirpy hour of eight to catch the bus back home for Mother's Day brunch; on the back of two and a half hour's sleep, I didn't even make it halfway down Victoria Parade before crashing out! Next thing I knew I was alternating between forcing down scones with jam and cream and blacking out into the middle distance on various occasions. That's Mother's Day!
Hey, something else did happen today (and I'm concious of keeping this blog within readable length). In a total fit of insanity I have now been elected as the president of the Chocolate Lover's Society, and whilst I would love to say that it was a landslide victory, it's not so exciting to admit that I was unopposed! It was a sad day for the CLS on two counts; one, democracy died, and two, they elected me as President. I think we probably need a new slogan - "Chocolate: The diabetes is oh so worth it", "Chocolate never asked me to analyse the relationship" or "The difference between chocolate and an orgasm is that I never let a block of chocolate last a minute." I'll be surprised if that last one gets through the Power That Is here! It'll be interesting to see what the extra workload is like but to be honest if I can't handle it in first year then I think I need to get a grip.
Just as a last and final note, earlier this evening I was playing indoor cricket, and as I sat at the side of the nets reading up on some Chinese (I was a little early), a small girl ran up beside me and asked Exactly What I Was Doing. We began to chat, or as much as you do with a hyperactive seven-year-old in a pink dressinggown when you're trying to study, and she asked me to read some of the Chinese story in English to her. The piece went (from memory) something like this; "I do not speak Chinese often, because my Chinese is not very good", and so on and so forth. She looked me in the eye, with an expression of confusion on her face. "Why does the book say that when it's YOUR Chinese that is bad?"!!! As though to demonstrate that such things come in pairs, she asked me what my name was. "Jeremy! That's my boyfriend's name!" (Keep in mind that this was coming from a seven-year old. I realise that they start them young in Doncaster, but that's bordering on the ridiculous.) "Can you keep this a secret?" I nodded. "Yesterday," she said, as she whispered into my ear as though it was a State Secret, "I kissed him... ON THE CHEEK!" "Ooh," I said, going red and thinking of all the girls I've kissed on the cheek over my lifetime. "AND..." she said, continuing on nonetheless, "I kissed him again in the afternoon, because Bianca wanted to see me do it, AND we're going to kiss together over at my house on the weekend!!!" I left it there, though I think one of my ribs may have cracked from surpressed laughter.
Anyway, I'm hitting bed now. I'd like to catch the early-morning bus with a girl friend (note the spacing in the word) of mine and I'm going to make sure that I give her a kiss on the cheek as SOON as she gets on!!!
Enjoy your day;
jez
Excuse the horrid emo style title of this post but I feel the following word requires some sort of emo style emotion -
*EXAMS*�
Because of this word I will be in a fairly strong hibernation over the next 3 or so weeks. I'll try to get some updates in but they will be irregular at most. I'm really scared and stressed about this whole exam thing. I have desperately high aspirations for what I want to achieve and my greatest fear is somehow despite putting a ton of work into study...failing to meet my expectations/hopes.
Right now I'm in the process of ensuring I'm fully up-to-date with all readings so far for every subject. Then it's going to be a week of practicing things like tutorial questions, things I didn't quite get ect....then hopefully 2 solid weeks of practicing past exam papers.
Feel free to share any advice for the upcoming study process.
I realise I have to make a few fundemental changes to my current lifestyle.
Firstly I'm focussing on my health. That means tonight I didn't attend a party B invited me to. *cry*. I wanted to see people and socialise. J did come over for dinner however, which was nice - and he left early so I could do some more study.
Secondly I'm doing my best to get rid of time wasters - such as cutting the internet from my life except for 15 minute daily email checks (neccessary for my committements). Plus tomorrow I'm telling Target I can't work until after my last exam. My social life is probably going to become fairly non-existent too - but there will be time for that after exams I know. Stilll; I realise the importance of taking a bit of a break now and then, so will try to fit a few things in.
This Wednesday I'm being 'sworn in' as Social Secretay of the Political Interest Society! Exciting exciting! Our new President seems totally fabulous, and all the other people elected seem very cool too, so it should be a great team to work with.
Anyhow,
I can't believe the time already. I need to sleep. Tomorrow is a busy day. It's mother's day, i'm working at Target for a few hours and I'm playing tennis immediately afterwards. Gah! I get SO SICK of being at tennis clubs sometimes. After being at the local club every Saturday morning by 7:45am...there comes a time when tennis courts remind you merely of the fact you lack sleep these days!
Lol...not that I would change anything.
On a side note: I got my black boots from DJs. I love them!
Take care everyone,
Sophie
"Actually", said Mum, as we lounged out around the sofa sometime in February, "What I'm really looking foward to this year is seeing you work for the first time in two and a half years."
"WHAT?" I yelled in response. Actually, my mouth was half-full of Vegemite Savoy at the time, so what I really said was "Mmnf?!!" whilst trying my hardest not to decorate the loungeroom with bits of salty biscuit. Swallow; try again. "I'm sorry Mother dear," I said, putting on my sweetest butter-wouldn't-melt voice. "What was that, please?
"You know exactly what I said, Jeremy!". In a way, it was true. Although I hadn't exactly been stagnant for the two years that I spent in educational hiatus since the end of 2003 (and oh what an old man I feel now amongst all those fresh-faced eighteen year old JAFFYs), having lived in China for eight months and worked for a fair bit around that, it was true that the word "study" had slipped out of my own vocabulary after really putting my nose to the grindstone in Year 12. The break had done me good; it had reinvigorated my desire to learn again. Working in a base-level job will do that to you.
So, it was with that aforementioned desire to learn again, my Met ticket in hand, and my incredible (and insatiable) ability to talk to anything with two legs that I set off to Melbourne Uni.
What's been the changes that have struck my mind most over these last few months or so? The number one change that most people talk about of course, especially for those fresh out of Year 12, is that the teachers aren't there to hold your hand anymore. (I don't know what goes on in the rest of Victoria, but that was generally considered illegal at my school). In a way that's really not true. Sure, you don't do the work, nobody's going to be on your back about it but you start to fall behind; to say that the teachers/professors aren't there for you to the same degree is to undersell the work that they do, and that they are willing to do for their students.
The real difference that I have noted is that the amount of people you want to make time to catch up with triples at the very least and the amount of time that you have to see them - if you're doing Uni the right way and getting involved - halves. Between study, work, and naturally parties the time you have to yourself drops right away from underneath your feet. Of course, not seeing them is a really good way to halve the amount of friends you have again and so that naturally solves its own problem.
The subjects have proven to be interesting and invigorating (and given that I chose them myself, they'd want to be). I would tell you what the Undergraduate Handbook said about them, but I didn't read it. In fact, I think it's still sitting somewhere on my desk, ready for me to unearth sometime in late 2008 when I next get around to organising my room.
Introduction to Programming 433-171 (Stone-Age Neanderthal Stream)
The Subject: Chock-a-block full of people like me who are doing the subject because they have to as part of Mechanical Engineering.
The Lecturer: Alistair. Alistair, Alistair, Alistair. Comes up with some pretty decent one-liners and some deliberately appalling self-abasing jokes which cause random students who happen to have medium-length hair, a penchant for guitar and a full-time loudmouth to throw pens at him. In all truth, he puts himself out on stage so that we remember exactly what he's going on about and it works and I appreciate it.
Might I add as a little footnote that I sincerely hope that Lecturer A.Moffat has more than one item of each of the following at home:
Black and yellow CSSE cap
Beige pants
Polo shirt
Polarfleece jumper
as I would otherwise be very worried about the health of anybody who has sit within a few metres of him on public transport. Still, he must be the easiest person to shop for on birthdays.
620-121 Mathematics A (Suicidal Stream)
The Subject: Nine o-clock stream highly recommended for those who wish to experience every sort of coffee available on campus. This is the sort of maths subject where they tell you that your chance of passing your midyears is roughly equal to root negative one, and everyone who laughs gets to pass.
The Lecturer: Ah yes, Richard. How could you not like a lecturer who talks about Ancient Greek letters in an Australian/South African/British accent? Knows his subject, which is lucky, because at least it makes one of us.
Enjoy your weekend guys - mine's looking pretty good so far -
jez.
This is just a little update…
Must firstly vent my frustration – ESKIMO JOE ARE SOLD OUT FOR THEIR MELBOURNE CBD SHOWS! *cry* I am absolutely obsessed with their new single since I heard it on Rage a few weeks ago. The music video for it is quite dark and spooky - I love it!
The usual excitement and fun has been going on. Yesterday I literally had NO time to eat….which in part I admit was probably due to me not being game enough to shove food down when I was in the middle of lectures/important meetings.
Being up at 6am that morning, by the end of the day I felt like I was going to collapse. Luckily ran into J who feed me a donut while I stood, books struggling to be held in one hand, bag in other, and (his) phone to ear in the foyer of the Babel Building as I called Motorola desperately hoping they’d fixed my phone. I must have looked a bit crazy to anyone who saw me!
As I mentioned in my last entry, I had nominated myself for Social Secretary of the Melbourne University Political Interest Society. Yesterday was the Annual General Meeting where people who had nominated for positions had to speak, followed by a vote. I was very nervous about running….I love public speaking but seconds before I was to speak, it dawned on me that the majority of the people in the room I was about to make my nomination speech to were highly articulate and fiercely intelligent; many law or double degree students. I suddenly started to question my ability to face them, my ability to make a coherent speech that would impress. My hands started to give away my nerves and I worked desperately to keep them still. I did it though – I stood up (sounded confident I hope!)…and made (what I thought to be!) an ok ‘short but sweet’ speech. The most important point I made was my hope to improve the female representation within the group and as I said - “What better way to start than within the committee?” So the votes were counted and by some stroke of luck, I managed to get the number of votes needed to win! So now I’m in this position of responsibility and it’s a bit scary to be honest, but I’m hoping I can meet the expectations of others and fulfill all that is required of me.
I finally got my phone back today (Thursday) from Motorola, all fixed and pretty. Being without it has just been a nightmare. You never know how necessary your mobile is to your every-day functioning until it’s not there anymore! I was thrilled to get my little baby back! DJ’s has also been darling and sourced some beautiful boots for me that I wanted in black – god I love the service there! Added to this, during the afternoon I faced hell at the Sass n Bide sale, accompanied by my dearest J.
We arrived about 2:20pm, got inside about 3:10. They gave out free Red Bull while we waited in line which in drinking; amazingly enough made my headache go away. I questioned how wise it was giving out energy drinks full of caffeine to women who were already high on adrenaline and desperate to get a bargain!! The stories from past sales are truly frightening and make a good read (check out Vogue forums for more info). I had a chat to a security guard who told me all about the mother and daughter team at the last sale who went on a rampage!
I must admit defeat in attending the sale – having always said I would never purchase Sass n Bide and that I hate their clothes! I guess my only excuse is that I got over my stubbornness and went to the sale to buy a pair of their jeans, simply because I was in desperation for a new pair, didn’t want to pay a fortune and $80 is better than the $180 most places charge for a decent pair. I happily steered clear of the ‘fashion pieces’ though! I truly promise…I will always keep away from purchasing those!
I was surprised at the number of young school girls at the sale. Some looked as young as 13 or 14…I guess the edge of the ‘tween market’? Considering the sale was in school hours, I wondered how many had skipped classes to attend.
The funny thing about these designer sales is the number of people you always see there decked out in designer gear - cheapos! If I had the money I would never bother going to sales. Then I guess, maybe these people simply attend designer sales so they can afford to be decked out in expensive clothes all the time?
The most amusing thing though is the number of women I saw ambling around the warehouse room in their stilts (3 or 4 inch high heels). I don’t know how they do it! I am a major fan of high heels myself but for long queues standing on cement ground for hours, with millions of excited women surrounding me, I could opt for nothing better than my Addidas pink Superstar sneakers. Sometimes I will sacrifice fashion for comfort because my feet thank me for it!
Anyhow,
I must run now.
Accounting and Microeconomics fun call.
I can’t seem to avoid or escape it.
-Sophie
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