Hey peoples!
After reading a previous post I thought I might talk about my workload. In general, I haven’t felt it’s been too bad. I honestly don’t study like I should but I know that what I do have to learn is manageable. This is likely to also be due to the fact that I have 24 contact hours. Much of the work I do is done at the university and the set reading just goes over what has already been learnt in class (it’s hard to pick up the first time), so the books are only read when I find it’s necessary to understand. I’m also lucky in some ways that I have few assignments, and that I can divert more attention to trying to learn stuff that I have trouble understanding rather than a less constraining assignment.
One subject that has an annoying note system I find is Physics. Our lecture notes that we get on the web are incomplete and require us to fill some things in during class. The only thing is that it is inconsistent, and often my concentration is diverted to copying a formula rather than actually trying to take in what is being said and sometimes missing out because of a slide change. I’m trialling just not getting the printed notes and just copying stuff, and in some ways I’ve found less confusing.
This wasn’t the most fun week, I got a cold early in the season, and been feeling a bit sleepy. On Saturday night I went to a friends place, and watched ‘Saw 2’ (haven’t seen the first), and found it a little freaky, and would give it three and a half stars. It was also the first time I had been to this friend’s place, so it was nice to see where they were. I went back home by tram, but it turns out that getting home by tram at night may not always be pleasant. While waiting at the tram stop, some hoons who were driving past threw an egg at me, but luckily hit a bin in front of me. When the tram finally did come, fifteen minutes after scheduled, there were four drunk teenage guys on the tram, one of whom was very drunk, and later vomited on the tram. My plan was to get off at Royal Park station as so I could get close to my college without having to walk too far, but the four guys got off there so I decided I’d be better off just staying on and walking a further. Normally it wouldn’t matter but at this time the tram was only going to near the Children’s hospital (I knew this all along) and walked from there to my hall, which is a fair bit longer than what it would’ve been to most other colleges.
On Sunday I woke up late but expected to have lunch at 12:30pm, turned out it was only 11:30am due to daylight savings. It was annoying since I’d already held off eating anything before (for breakfast). (ie. I keep some bread for toast in the communal fridge at college.)
I’ve been looking in the ‘U Film Fest’ this week, and found it quite a hard thing to find information on. I first heard about it last Thursday on the TV screen they have at the live music, and tried to investigate. I found the url for a website http://www.ufilmfest.com.au/ which does not currently work, and was quite frustrating because a paragraph in the Activities and Entertainment leaflet was hardly sufficient to tell me what to do. Luckily my friend had picked up the leaflet for the film festival and was able to give me the copy. Eventually, after asking around in Union House I was able to find who could get me registed so I could see the DVD as to learn more. I hope to prepare an animation (if I get myself a computer) and/or create something with people in my college using the video camera we have here.
I’ve been finding that my commitment to ‘Socialist Alternative’ is quite a fair bit, with the stall on the Saturday and a meeting straight after. It’s ok now, but I’m not sure if I could balance it with a part time job and when I have a computer here still be able to work on 2D animation. The weekend just gone the stall that I was on was making a big point of Howard’s I.R. laws and how they have led to thousands of sackings since it’s implementation just this week.
I’ve now been going to my college tutes at Newman for Physics A (Adv), the first one I was a bit iffy about our setup, but this week I was quite able to contribute and learn something. One person that I’d met the week before at the college night was also there, so it was nice to see a familiar face.
Also, all this week I have been putting up red stickers to promote the student rally on Wednesday the 12th onto poles, lecture benches and poles. We are protesting against VSU, and I will be missing a tutorial for the rally. (In Intro to Programming, I’m not finding it a challenge, unlike maths and physics)
In my room I have a roller blind, and a few weeks ago I noticed a squashed spider sitting on it, which had obviously gotten stuck in it when I rolled it up previously. It remained there for several weeks and has since disappeared (presumably on the floor, must vacuum.)
This weekend I’m going to ‘Marxism Today’, a conference by ‘Social Alternative’ and expect to enjoy it with an anti-war activist speaking from the USA. But it does mean I’m having a busy weekend. Also tonight (Friday) I’m going to go and see a former exchange student from Germany who is in Australia for a short time.
Next week brings me a Maths A (Adv) test and a Physics A (Adv) test. The maths one is my only other assessment apart from the exam for the semester, so I’m going to be ensuring that I understand what we’ve been told so far. The physics is not so bad, only contributing for a small amount, but still, I’ll be putting in some effort. Also, it’s the last week of the demi-semester, so we get a one week holiday for me to revise and maybe talk about some other things for this space.
Chao!
I feel alright. Not so great, but not wanting to jump out the window either. Last night, Matthew was my saviour.
Matthew is my boyfriend of a year and a half, and he lives in Geelong, doing 5th year Arts/Law at Deakin University. There is about 90 minutes between us, rather than 9 before I came here. Usually he'll stay with me on Friday and Saturday nights, but yesterday he had a job interview in Melbourne ... so he came for dinner! It was so nice, it felt almost like the way things were - just randomly turning up at each others houses and cooking together. We made tacos, or rather I made tacos, while he 'marked' my literature essay. I'm only now realising how useful it is to have a tutor as my boyfriend; he crossed out half my draft though. Oh well, he said it was a good essay and deserved a distinction even in it's draft state, so I can hope.
Oh but the tacos! I was so proud, I think it was the best meal I have made since moving out of home.
Afterwards there was much huggling, which made everything better. I think that sometimes I just need a 'fix' of all things homey, lovely, happy and wonderful. I feel now like I actually have enough strength to keep going, whereas I would have gladly dropped out and run home to my Mum's house on Tuesday night.
My job, however, is one thing that is simply not going to get better. I work at an icecream parlour cafe thing in Federation Square, but they also have a location under one of the bridges at Southbank. Like another fellow blogger, I have missed quite a few days of classes lately - I got sick, from working until late at night literally on the Yarra wearing only my uniform (a t-shirt). I hate it, I hate it, I hate it! The manager criticises me to the point of verbally abusing me: "No, you have to pour the milk faster, you're not doing it right, quickly, faster faster FASTER! No!!!!! You ruined it! I can't believe it, that's pathetic. Throw it out and start again. You'll never learn at this rate. Making coffee is just beyond some people." I've had shifts until 2am, and every time I come home, I smell of stale milk and burnt coffee. It's horrible, but I haven't quite got the guts to quit.
Oh well, I must cast my mind back to happier things! Like getting scholarship money tomorrow, I think. Yay.. I might finally be able to buy a computer of my own!
Perhaps over the past week or so i've had the chance to think things over...but i'm not sure if i'm content with all of the thoughts rushing through my mind at present.
I think i can accept what has happened, but then suddenly i just feel like i KNOW it's not right. But i have to accept it, i guess that hurts a lot.
I really don't want to sound like i'm having an all out emo rant...but i really do not know what to do.
What have i been up to lately? Well... i missed 4 or 5 days of uni...so that amounts to a lot of catching up and running around sorting out several special consideration forms.. Last thursday i went to Healsville wildlife sanctuary for an AIS field trip. That was interesting, yet it really saddens me that even the things that i'm most passionate about in life suddenly can't distract my mind from those that i'm not so fond of. Although i must admit a rather funny thing happened at the bird show; there was 2 wild wedged-tailed eagles circling the park proclaiming their territory or something, and the bird that was on show at the same time flipped out and flew away, so they had to cancel the show until "Mr. Brown" came back! haha. Fortunately all was well and Mr. Brown decided to make a reappearance which had us able to see another huge bird up close which threw a rock at a fake emu egg to crack it open.
That Thursday night was also the college ball. I went with my....ex-boyfriend...which made me happy that he was there...but it really was a night full of mixed up emotions. I spent the rest of the week and weekend back at uni and with my parents, as my dad drove down for 2 nights with my puppy to see me too. At least my parents will always care and show their unconditional love!. I stayed at the apartment on bridge rd with them which my mum had been in for a week already. On friday night my mum took me to Dracula's cabaret theatre restaurant, which was awesome in itself, and i will go back one day to try and enjoy it more.
On sunday my dad and Floyd (dog) left for sydney, and that night i went to a restaurant on lygon st with my mum for dinner, which was full of crazy ferrari fans. After that we caught a taxi back to my college where i said bye to my mum as she caught the train to wodonga till friday to stay with my grandma who just got let out of hospital after spending 4 months there and having 4 toes amputated. On friday she'll come back here for the weekend before she flies back to sydney on monday.
Suprising for myself, despite all of the things that are happening, the marks i've been getting back have stayed fair. i've got 9.5/10 for 2 of my 3 chem pracs, and 9/10 for the other one...which makes me happy in a way cause i was never too good at chemistry in year 12. Also in my maths tute today my lecturer seemed to be pretty confident in me, saying how she thought i could try and top last year's top mark of 97% or something...that's a high expectation but i guess it gives you a little bit of a boost knowing someone has faith in you.
So on monday night i went with nick to his sister's musical, we were originally going because it was our 4 month anniversary or whatever, another night of harshly blended emotions. When he dropped me back here we both decided that we'd have a break from each other for a bit and "have fun with all our other friends and other stuff in our lives" so that we can go back to being the same sort of friends we were before anything happened. Easier said than done....well for me anyway.
yeah and basically apart from all that i've been trying to catch up with myself. i'm going to sydney next thursday..which i cant wait for cause i'll be able to make a decision about what i want to do and look properly at the options i have.
well hall is calling and i dont feel like being late and sitting on high table.
ciao.
Well finally: the week that was, is now over.
By last night I was so exhausted that at 5pm I felt I could have fallen asleep then and there!
I just had what can only be described as one of the most amazing weeks of my life. From here to there I was rushing in attempts to finish off my Management and Microeconomics assignments. Handing them in on Thursday and Friday was what could only be described as the meaning of the word 'relief'! Struggles with Accounting tutorial homework were greeted with success when I found out in my Accounting tute that I HAD DONE IT RIGHT! Nothing like a feeling of success over a challenge.
Of course apart from my favourite QM1 tute this week, the subject I dislike the most -Managing people and Organisations ended up being a great experience this week. I hold a deep respect for my tutor, Trevor White, who is a very experienced businessman. I feel our class has so much we can learn from him. This week he began our tutorial by bringing up a corporate event he had attended the night before concerning a certain Australia woman - Gemma Rice and her dream of a school in Tanzania. I was immediately interested as I remembered the Australian Story I had seen on her about a year ago. He brought it up because there was an ethical dilemma facing the issue of corporate sponsorship which she was trying to cultivate and the way in which she ran her school. This ethical dilemma related directly to the topic of managerial ethics we had been discussing the week before and was a fantastic practical real-life example. Later on in the class Mr White and I had a great in-depth discussion about Gemma and her school, both of us holding an admiration for her vitality, and optimistic naivety which were characteristics needed for such an endeavour as the school, to be attempted and succeeded in!
During the class a scenario with the solution that occurred was explained and Mr White asked the class who would do the same thing as suggested in such a scenario. Clearly we were ‘meant’ to say we would do something different, but I raised my hand in lonesome defiance amongst a class of maybe 16 other people who all stared at me and my hand wavering in the air. Mr White acknowledged my choice then asked what other people would do. A ‘perfect’ answer was given by another student and accepted to be as a great choice by Mr White. I then however went on to explain and justify why I considered my decision to perhaps be superior.
I was nervous and full of unsureness to be alone with an opinion in the class, but it paid off! Mr White was very pleased with my response and said I was exactly right in my thinking. Later after class he re-iterated this again to me, which made me feel very pleased that I had taken the risk to say what I thought.
I think in life, you are on the winning side if you know how to differentiate yourself from the crowd.
Outside class hours was spent catching up with some of my friends who I owed time with, frantically trying to find an 18th birthday present on Thursday afternoon for one of my best friend's birthday party on Friday night....and getting everything organised for Saturday where I met up with a dear friend whom has become a great influence on my life. We had a charming meal at Cafe Di Stasio on Fitzroy St in St Kilda and a lovely night visiting many different places for drinks, and of course icecream at Trampoline! A note to all: Tony Starr's Kitten Club has a great vibe on Saturday nights!
So after almost no sleep for two days, last night I was finally blessed with sleep last night after the holding of a going away dinner for my cousin and his girlfriend who are off to Europe for a few months!
With all that said, life is going amazingly well. I have this plan I'm doing my best to keep focussed and not get side-tracked. Of course things here and there interrupt it but overall I feel very lucky with all the opportunities falling my way right now, particularly with the great people I am continually meeting and enjoying the company of.
I must run. A lunch reservation calls.
But before I go I am just going to copy and paste my tips for making friends which I wrote earlier as a comment to a fellow blogger's journal.
Hopefully someone might find some help in it...just remember it is NEVER too late to make new friends.
TIPS FOR MAKING NEW FRIENDS AT UNIVERSITY
NB:all have been tried and tested and WORK (at least for me!).
a) Talk to EVERYONE. Whoever you sit next to in a lecture or a tute. Pretend to be confident. Act friendly. Introduce yourself, ask for their name. Start a conversation. Either ask some kind of basic question relating to the subject (even if you know the answer!!!!) or comment on something they're wearing (people love compliments and it's fun to give them if you for example adore the necklace they're wearing.)
b) ALWAYS GET A NUMBER. After you've spoken to them for a few minutes and even if you hardly know them, just ask really casually saying something like "Do you mind if I get your number because it's always great to know someone else doing this subject?" or "Can I get your number because we should catch up some time/meet up to study" ect ect. Every single time I have asked someone for their number, they have given it to me! And 99% of the time they have asked for my number in return!
c) MAKE the effort. Human beings are known to be lazy, so with that said, make the effort to call someone and organise to meet up, even if its just for a 20 minute coffee. Don't be afraid to call them because people are social creatures and most people appreciate someone taking an interest to get to know them. Go out of your way to say hi whenever you see them. Do a favour if the opportunity arises -eg. if someone needs help with their homework, sit down and help them understand - good people worth knowing will appreciate your effort and repay you with friendship.
d) Attend events OUTSIDE you course. Join clubs, go to public lectures...basically any kind of social event outside your course where you can meet different people. Even if you're not really 'into' something, force yourself to go along. I am not, and never will be, a member of the Liberal Club but a guy I hardly knew (who is now a friend) saw me walking by, called out to me to join the BBQ and it was here that I ended up meeting a really great guy! I have found the Tennis Club to also be a great meeting place. Doing Social Sundays, I've met some really nice people so far and it's only been running for 2 weeks. The people that attend are of all different ages up to about 28...so the scope of personalities is wide. Plus the Tennis Club has a lot of social events you can attend to meet other people.
e) Last but not least; be as open-minded as possible. Step out of your comfort zone. Be aware of the vibes you are giving off to others, be aware of how you carry yourself eg body language -sometimes I have a tendency to talk with arms crossed - this gives off a negative vibe and unintentionally will make someone feel uncomfortable. Don't necessarily judge people straight up by the way they dress or a way they are acting. Sometimes first impressions are right, but other times they can be wrong too. Be positive in your thinking. If you think you will only meet awful people, you probably will. But if you expect/hope for great things...sometimes they happen.
Ultimately I think it's the people that make university a great place to be above all else.
Best of luck to everyone in the coming week.
Sophie
On Sunday night last week, on a whim, I caught the train back to Geelong even though I had to come into uni on Monday morning. It was so nice to be back, even if it were only for the shortest while. I got to sleep in my own bed! My puppy was so happy to see me, my brother and sisters were just as bratty as ever (how lovely!) and my Mum made a gloriously homey meal including her famous potato salad. *SIGH!*
It was great, but I was so sad when I had to leave. I cried and I didn't want to go; I'm not quite as happy as I was when it started. Literature is full of .. well, brats (in reality, I would substitute that word for one beginning with 'w' and ending in 'ankers'!). Everybody goes on and on about 'existentialism', and I doubt that any of them know what it even means.
When I was working on The Wizard of Oz last year (I played a tree - stop laughing now), I always thought Dorothy's little speech at the end of the second act was stupid - "If I ever go looking for my heart's desire again, I won't look any further than my own backyard, because if it isn't there, I never really lost it to begin with." I used to put so much energy into estranging myself from my hometown and my family, because I assumed that something ANYTHING else would be better and more exciting. But now, all I want to do is go home and be surrounded by familiar things and familiar people who I love. I guess more than anything else, it's loneliness that is getting to me here. I haven't made any friends yet, which makes things infinitely harder.
I handed in my first assignment last week - a philosophy paper. It was so HARD! Imagine being asked to critically evaluate an entire philosophical article in 500 words - hell. I struggled with it; so many things to say, and such a constrained limit. This week holds two more due assignments for me, alas.. I haven't started either of them. An essay on a Mesopotamian or Egyptian object, as well as a poetry analysis paper for lit.
Uni just isn't really turning out the way it was supposed to. I imagined that it would be this forum for brilliant, learned people to meet and discuss ideas and learn things together... but to be completely honest, a lot of the people in my classes don't seem to be 'right' for university. There are show-off brats, and people who don't care, and rude people, and malicious people. On Friday, I had my first case of bullying since junior high school ... what a shock. Nobody is half as smart, diplomatic, mature or open-minded as I imagined they would be. In all honesty and bluntness, I don't like university. Maybe, hopefully, this will change next year when some of the people who have been nasty to me have dropped out or changed courses, but at the moment, I am not having fun.
A few weeks ago I went to an anti-war rally at the State Library. I thought I was going to go alone but I found one person who was also planning to go from my college. It was quite a big rally with about one thousand people. We marched down Swanston St. to Federation Square. I was yelling “No war on Iraq” and enjoyed the atmosphere. (I get a thrill from these things.) I got talking to some more of the people from ‘Socialist Alternative’ and decided to go to their meeting the next day.
That Saturday I went to their meeting, and after agreeing with their politics, joined ‘Socialist Alternative’. We basically see society split into two classes, an upper, ruling class and a lower, working class. The working class generates the wealth in society, as in ‘they do the work’. The ruling class (such as those in high positions of big business) is forced to be only concerned about maximising profits, and to do this they must make their workers have longer hours, and less pay. The ruling class has control over what our governments often do as they can threaten to leave their businesses from the country, affecting our economy. We look to the working class to make change, because when the working class threatens to and doesn’t work, businesses can lose millions of dollars in profit. So now every Saturday I’m going to a meeting and helping out with their stall in the city.
That Saturday night I went to a friends house warming party in Brunswick. It was the first time I’d seen their house and also the first time in a while I’d seen quite a few people from around my hometown. I’d organised to stay at another friends place. Three of the four people that were at that house for the night wanted to go home earlier, so I took them home and then went to the party again. By this time things were starting to get quieter, although there had been some bottle smashing out the back. When one of the people living in the house realised this was happening he told the people smashing to quit it and clean it up. One person was fairly happy to while another just acted smart. He was asked to leave and there was a small fight. (Really just a bit of shoving and yelling). I also got the chance to see the work sone so far for a ‘What’s Going On?’ video clip that we did the filming for last year. (It’s still being edited). I later went to my friends place again, also taking someone else to their place and also another friend also staying where I was for the night.
The next night was the day before Canberra day. Apparently this is a holiday they have in Canberra so someone in our college had a few friends come up from Canberra. Unfortunately they were partying well into the night, and I could hear them for quite a while since I live so close to our games room. I’m not really sure if they did really bother anyone else though – they might have not been close enough.
On the next Tuesday Ash Grunwald was playing on our main stage. And what an act it was! His music is lively and easy to listen to. During the performance my mum was sending some text messages to my phone asking if I was seeing Ash Grunwald playing, and then sent another text message stating the name of the song he was playing at that time. I then realised that they were giving a live broadcast of the show on PBS radio which I know is the main radio station she listens to. About half way during the performance there was once again lots of dancing, just this time there was a very, very big crowd.
That night there was a college night at a club in Melbourne. There were about a dozen people from Medley and proved to be not a great deal from other colleges probably about eighty people in total, apart from Janet Clarke Hall, which had almost twenty people. (And they are the second smallest college.) I stayed until very late for a Tuesday (1:15am) and felt very tired the next day.
This Wednesday night I got to sit on the high table at Medley Hall. As I was still tired from the last night I was less engaged in conversation than usual and found it harder to take things in.
On Thursday I had to go to a college tute at Newman College. I arrived at 8:31 at the room I was supposed to be in, and found that there was just a person playing a piano in that room and I let them know they’d have to leave. No-one else was coming, but I knew I was in the correct room because it was clearly posted on the door. I eventually decided to leave but found that it was a devil of a place to get out of if you don’t have keys. I even managed to get myself into deeper trouble when I locked myself outside where the car park is, and not being able to get back. Eventually I found someone wandering around (when I was also thinking that I didn’t know how to get out) and got out after fifteen minutes.
Recently I enrolled in some one off classes on the software Dreamweaver for website design and Flash for animation and interactive experiences. As I’d already had some experience with Dreamweaver the first class didn’t have much I didn’t know, but fortunately (and as I expected) the second class helped me to find out about some of it’s features which I did not know about or had used. I only went to the second flash class but unfortunately I didn’t find out anything I didn’t already know. (I was hoping to find out about some things that I might have missed.) At least I didn’t have to pay anything for them. :D
The weekend a week ago I had my brother and Mum around. We were wanting to see some reggae music but unfortunately my brother was not old enough to be able to get into the place, so we went to Lygon Street in Carlton instead. We had ice – cream and found a Latin-American place to have breakfast the next morning. The breakfast we had there was fantastic. I had a rice porridge with vanilla and lemon, while we also shared a plate of a variety of food and very different cereal like dish that I wasn’t such a big fan of.
That Sunday night the leader of our choir took those in the choir out for dinner on Lygon Street. I was the only person who had pasta, while some others had some fish and chip like dishes, and quite a number had pasta. That night I had signed myself up for playing pool against the other colleges. I unfortunately did not get back to the college in time and missed the group that went, and even when they did go they were heading off late.
Wednesday of the week just gone brought a ‘Bad Taste Party’. We had to come dressed up in some bad-taste clothes and were encouraged to do some bad dancing. (although not many people tried) I got told that I wasn’t capable of dancing badly, but they didn’t comment after my efforts. During the night I decided to show off my two songs ‘In a Cage’ and ‘What’s Going On?’, and was enjoyed greatly by all. As usual I used all the space I could and tried to act out my pain in ‘What’s Going On? (The pain of not knowing what in the world is going on!) Annoyingly there wasn’t enough people willing so that the pie eating and bad-taste dancing competitions could go ahead.
Hello people
The object of the heading is the source of problem for the majority of students. Uni is so hectic. A 13 or 14 weeks semester is too short to cover contents of 4 subjects.Under this time constraint, many fellow first yr students including myself are struggling. The school term doesn't serve the ultimate purpose of uni, learning. We want a change!!
First hand experience
.Right now my brain is clouded with negativeness. I am not upbeat, dont have the driving force to study. Probably this is stress AND It is the result of the hectic activities. I feel rushed during these weeks at uni. The amount of studying for each lecture accumulate higher, even though i am doing my best, spending so much time on study already. My situation is really good, considering i live at home only 50 mins away and i dont have to do any house work, all i need to do is to study. I dont waste time much, watch tv for like 30 mins per day, only go to societies for about 3 hours per week. The point is I HAVE PLENTY OF TIME LEFT TO STUDY. Yet i still can't get on top of things! I am behind in maths. (one thing positive about uni is that there are so many help available, only the time is crap. ) I am ok with my law and philophy subjects. Though i am feeling depress because of the pressure put on me by the time. THis is common to many other first year students. My friend, Elisa told me she did not sleep for about 2 nights to finish her creative art assignment. The stories go on and go.
why is uni like this?
Extend the school term to make it easier for the students. With the current setting, we cant fully study the subject. For me i am just going to focus on my law subject (it is my major), and do the bare minimum for maths and philosphy because i dont have enough time for them. Even worst, some students may just give up. I understand that shorter terms mean a longer holiday. Students can earn money or go home during that period. but this will compromise the learning. Shorter school term=difficult, stressful study.
i want to study and hf in uni. But the time is not allowing me to do that. How about a policy change for future, longer school terms like high school?
Anyway, i am addressing my mental problem now, lol i talked to my relative, friends and my teachers as well as writing about it on the blog. Soon i will find a solution.
Just writing to say that i reached a point of my life here where i feel stuck....my boyfriend/best friend and i broke up last friday...which has been a massive shock to me because i well...love him so much? Our relationship was the thing that drove me and motivated me to move to Melbourne. My mum has come down to help me through stuff and as funny as it sounds he is helping me too. life is confusing. sorry to sound so emo...i just feel really lost...i went back to uni yesterday after not going on friday or monday. Have to get special consideration now for assignments and the like. i guess last week is a week i don't want to remember in a way, what with the death of my friend...the loss of a cherished relationship, and the shock that i moved to melbourne seeing only good things ahead. i'm confused about my course...i have to do a whole extra year now before i can move into vet science because of the non-equivalence between my NSW maths and Victorian maths. i was happy to do that because i was so happy to stay an extra year even if i didn't want to academic-wise, but happy to stay for the wonderful time i was having here, aka- the relationship between me and nick which holds such an intimate bond.
i guess i just have a lot of decisions to make about my life- uni, college, sports, relationships, everything.
on a slightly better note, the whitley ball is tomorrow night, which my boyfriend is still coming with me to, and i'm going with him and his family to his sister's musical.
i just realised i called him my boyfriend.
wowwww. seems like cloud nine has suddenly let the rain fall. i just hope i come back to the earth as i fall with it someday soon.'
'til next time,
Lara.
What on earth am I going to eat tonight?
I kept meaning to update last week but the days have been rushing by so fast. Uni life is crazy in the sense that things are so incredible fast-paced. You really have to be so organised or everything will collapse beneath your feet.
Since my last post I went through a few days where I started to doubt my ability to manage everything but soon enough I realised that despite how challenging I've been finding Uni life, I wouldn't change it for anything. My whole life I hated the structure of primary and high school, and the only place I ever wanted to be was university; where I could be my own person and completely in control and responsible for everything. It's a great feeling to finally on the path to where I want to be.
So with that said, I handed in my first Accounting assignment last week which was incredibly nerve-racking, handed in my first lot Quantitative Methods homework the other day and did my first piece of assessment (and online multiple choice test) for Microeconomics. I have received positive feedback on my QM1 homework and Microeconomics online test, so fingers crossed all goes well with the Accounting assignment!
This week I have to hand in an assignment for Microeconomics and the three 800 words essays for Management. I must admit, I have been writing the Management essays during the weekend. I think by now anyone reading this knows that Management is my least favourite subject at this point. HOWEVER! Last week we had the first of a series of guest lecturers. His name is Dr Adam Barsky and he is a great speaker with the cutest American accent (please note: I am very partial to American accents!). So with that said, he has managed to grab my attention and keep me focused. His specialty is human resource management and I am looking forward to hearing him speak over the next few weeks. I don’t know what it is, but perhaps because he is obviously not Australian, he works just a little bit harder to keep the attention of the class?
So what else have my days been filled with? Despite the fact I only have 12 contact hours of Commerce a week, I have found I have been spending 5 days a week on campus so far; usually from about 9am or 11am in the morning til about 1 or 2pm in the afternoon….so it definitely feels like I am there a lot more than I expected.
Mainly this has been due to my committal to some of the free first year programs/events they have been running on campus. I have been on library tours, information lectures on facilities available and academic writing classes being run through the Teaching and Learning Unit of the Commerce department. Some people might ignore the idea of attending any of these things, thinking that they can’t be bothered or that they’ll figure it out themselves, but I feel for the small amount of personal time I have sacrificed, it has given me great value in return. For a start I now know where everything in the Ballieu Library is and I have my friends (who didn’t go on the tour) asking ME for help to find things! I felt confident enough the other day to easily find a series of books in the library to use as references for my management essays, where as a lot of my friends have just turned to the internet for information (a source that is not always as highly regarded as published books). The academic writing class I have attended over the last few weeks has been the most invaluable so far. Even if you received a great score in VCE English, this is definitely worth attending for a number of reasons. Firstly it helped me brush up on my writing skills after the massive break between high school and the commencement of Uni. This gave me a great confidence boost when it came to writing my first essays for assessment. Secondly the quality and style of writing expected at a university level can be a bit different to what is expected in VCE level writing. This class helps you understand the different expectations. Thirdly, it’s another way to meet people and make new friends. I met a lovely girl here who later happened to be in my QM1 tute class, so it was great when attending my first QM1 tute where I thought I knew no one, to see a friendly face. Lastly, it helped me truly understand what help is available with your writing when you are having trouble – knowledge that I know will be useful for years to come.
Surrounding these activities, my schedule is still constantly full of meetings with friends and catching up with people I met at one place or another. I really feel so privileged to have met so many great people so far. I continually find people to be so openly friendly in behaviour.
This is quite different to my experience of high school where there was a very strong competitive element to do with academic scores that placed great pressure on the ability for people to feel relaxed and comfortable in their environment. I tried to avoid falling prey to this pressure as much as possible and did make some life-long friends at my school, but it seemed someone was always trying to out-do you in something….kind of like Survivor but High School style- “Outwit, outplay and outlast”!
In comparison, I feel university is much more of a relaxed environment where people are much more comfortable in their own skin, and there is much more of a “We’re in this together” attitude- one where people help each other out, rather than the individualistic attitude of high school (which I feel can be very much attributed to the fact you are ranked against other students for your VCE scores).
So overall, the last week has been quite enjoyable. I have particularly enjoyed the company of my friend J whom I met through the Melbourne University Liberal Club (I insist I am NOT and NEVER will be a member no matter how much they try to convince me to join!). J and I saw the film “Crash” together last week at the Nova on Lygon Street and I must say it was truly breath-taking. There was a reason it won an Oscar!!!! If you enjoy a deeply thought-provoking movie that makes you go “WOW” then see it!
Another reason why I mentioned this experience, (that some may term trivial), is to make a case in point. I’d never been to Lygon St in my whole life despite attending a city based high school! I love how University gives you this opportunity to meet so many different people from so many different places who can teach you about things you don’t know, or take you places you haven’t been before. With that said, I would have probably never gone to Lygon St if J hadn’t taken me!
Anyhow,
I must end this chit-chat for now.
There is work to be done!
Have a great week everyone!
Sophie
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