OH MY GOD, IT'S FINALLY THURSDAY!
Usually, Thursdays are my Fridays pretty much. Why? Well, I have a day off tomorrow. Woohoo!
But! That doesn't mean I get to sleep in tomorrow. Nah uh. Tomorrow, I go to uni to practise, and study/catch up with my other mates at uni, which is super awesome!
THURSDAYS
6AM - WAKE UP!
"What time did we even stay up to finish ML?"
"11:30PM."
"Well, that was fun right?"
"HAHAHAHAHAHAA. No. WE HAVEN'T FINISHED IT!"
"OH.... buggar."
*Spooky voice* "MLLL. DO YOUR MLLL!"
"Shush you. I will, and we'll finish it together. Then after we finish our ML assignment, we'll have a cookie as a reward."
"OH MY GODD COOKKIES!"
*Does usual routine in the morning*
6:40AM - Leaves House
"MLLL. Don't forget to do your ML!"
"SHUSH YOUU! Jeez! We'll do it when we get to uni."
6:51AM - Express train to flinders
"Hello usual train, you're one comfy train. You'll always be, and my only usual train that I will go on. Mmmm... New modern trains"
*Sleeps on train*
I caught up on sleep on the train. I managed to get up to 7 hours in total on the train, and I'll continue to nap when I get on the tram.
7:30AM - Reach at Flinders
"TRAMM! WAIT FOR MEE!"
*Gets on tram and takes a nap again*
8AM till 10AM
Practise time!
Usually, I focus on my studies in this two hour practise. But today, oh you predicted it! I was doing ML for half an hour, and I managed to finish it! I never felt so proud of myself when I handed that assignment in that box. However, I have a feeling I have hidden fifths or octaves in my composition assignment. Oh well.
Before I handed my assignment in I was thinking, "WHATEVER! IMMA YOLO IT, AND PUT THIS ASSIGNMENT IN THE BOX. DONEE! GOOD BYE WEEK 5 ASSIGNMENT! I HOPE I PASS!"
Yeap.
After I had that moment of handing in my ML, I was helping out a friend with ML for a little while before practising. Everybody always suffer doing their ML assignments. So, I was more than happy to help... if I understood the assignment. Hahaha. Our cohort in first year usually gets frustrated over ML or WAM assignments, and we usually say to each other, "it's okay, we're all in this together! We'll get through it together. Let's all work together!"
*Cue high school musical, all in this together song*
ANNYWAYYS! After helping my friend out on ML, I did my usual 10 to 15 minutes of warming up, and then I proceed on my Étude by Chopin, and my duo piece by Mozart.
10AM - 11AM
Mind, Brain and Behaviour 1 Lecture 3
As usual, I practised till 10AM on the dot, leaving me to power walk to SMAC (Sidney Myer Asia Centre).
You're all probably thinking, "HAHAHA, classic Nicole."
Well, you got to play it perfect before doing something else, right? Hahaha.
I usually do this sometimes... when I needed to, or I that I forget to leave 10 minutes before 10AM. Oops.
Today's lecture was... a little confusing. I felt lost. My concentration was on the ball today, that I'm even surprised that I didn't even fall asleep this time. Maybe it's because I had a nap on the train. Yeah. I think that does the trick. Hahaha. People were either falling asleep, or procrastinating in today's lecture. I was also procrastinating as well; I check social media, LMS and our blog. I'll watch it again tonight. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine!
11AM - 1PM
Concert Class
Now, this is where it gets interesting. This class always, and will be the highlight of my day; watching other musicians perform at Melba Hall. To participate in Concert Class is interesting; we either perform, or write comments on each performances. Whenever we write comments, it has to be logical, not offensive, comments. They have to be suggestions, put in a polite, positive way. There's rules on how we should comment on each performances, and most of the rules are common sense, and self-explanatory. Mostly, we write encouraging, positive comments, because it's polite to do that.
Performing on stage in Concert Class can be the most intimidating experience you'll ever experience, in my perspective for the first time. You're in a different environment, and you can see the audience clearly... this time. Ugh. Very scary! But you'll get used to it! I remember my first time performing in a new environment, and that was in my high school's auditorium. During my first performance, I was nervous that my legs were shaking throughout the whole piece! Then as years go by, I feel like nothing when I perform. Well, as in I don't feel nervous at all! The audience is just a blur from the distance. Light shines at you like it's all yours. You go out there with a smile like you own it, and you play your piece like you're playing it for the first time - with passion and love.
Anyways, today was great! I love today's recital! There was a harpsichord, guitarist, trumpet player, piano trio and a vocalist performing today. They were all great and wonderfully expressed! Great job guys!
We finished pretty early today (12:15pm), which was great! I went to practise afterwards for about an hour. I felt satisfied with my practise after concert class. :)
1PM - 2:15PM
Break time!
Usually, I relax, take a break from all the stress that accumulated when I was doing my ML assignment. During every Thursday break, I feel relieved and satisfied about my week, and I did today like always.
Today, I caught up with my friends today for lunch. We usually celebrate about finishing our ML assignment, and talk about how awesome Concert Class was. Haha.
2:15 till 3:15PM
Music Language 1 Lecture 2
As usual, each week we discuss a main topic, that is broken down into subtopics every week, or for two weeks. Today was the last day of explaining the main topic of chords and intervals?
Today's lecture was pretty interesting! I managed to get my daily giggles from ML like always with my mates, while learning a lot of things during our Lecture. You can assume we're the loudest, bunch during ML, just because we laugh a little tad too much. Hahahahaa. I enjoy ML lectures so much. :")
Kudos to the lecturer for making it so interesting and entertaining. *Claps for my ML Lecturer*
3:30 till 4:30PM
Practise Time!
Quick one like always! Today, I continued working on my studies, and AMEB studies, all in an hour. My attention wanted to switch to something different. So, I was thinking, "fair enough, let's work on some other pieces." I reserved 10 minutes of warming up, 20 minutes of practising on Scarlatti, and then 30 minutes on AMEB Studies. Fun, fun, fun, fun!
4:30PM - HOME TIME!
What I usually do on the train, or when I get back home?
- RELAXING.
- A little bit of studying? If I have energy to. Hahaha
- Reflect about my week.
- Naping on the train back home?
- Do Sudoku puzzle on the MX on the train.
What did I do today, after I got back home?
I went to my physio appointment for another check up. As I said, I sprained my ankle on my first week of Uni. That was fun for two weeks on crutches. Hahaha. My physio today released tension and pressure on my weak ankle, showed me how to tape my ankles and gave me a nice massage on my calve on my weak ligament. Mmm... Massages. Hahaha.
I had to ride to and from my physio, which is about 15 minutes. As usual, on the way back home at night, I turn my music on speakers up to its maximum, picked a playlist that I feel like listening/singing to. Hahaha. Tonight, it was my usual upbeat/indie rock playlist, which I love it always, as I repeat that playlist so many times. Hahaha. :)
After when I arrived back home, I had a nice shower, chilled out, wrote this blog post, and packed my bags for tomorrow. :)
BED TIME - 10:00PM, or tonight, 11:00PM. XD OOPS!
Summary?
- I love Thursdays. I don't think I need to make any further comments :)
- I'm relieved about my classes ending after Thursdays
- Could I please have another cookie after completing that ML assignment? Pretty please?
- Can I hug Thursdays figuratively? Thursdays always brightens up my day!
Music to chill out? To End With Me by Train Robbers
I'll see you guys tomorrow! :)
Wednesday - the day when everyone thinks, "What the heck? It's only Wednesday? Whut?"
Look bud, it's going to be alright! I'm pretty sure you are all surviving very well so far. Just take a breath, and take it one day, one hour, one lecture at a time, and you'll be alright. Trust me. That's how I survive my day and uni so far. :)
WEDNESDAY - YAY!
6AM - WAKE UP TIMEE!
Conversation in my consciousness:
*Lightning strucks*
"Uhh... Is that what I think it is?"
*Thunder*
"Well... crud. It's raining... stormy? Better rush to the train station as early as possible!"
"WAIITT, NIC!"
"What? Don't yell at me in the morning. Jesus christ!"
"ML ASSIGNMENT! DON'T FORGET THAT!"
"OH buggar. COM'MON. WHYYYY?!?!!"
Yeap.
*Does usual routine*
6:40AM - Leaves Home
6:51AM - Express train
Had a casual chat with the volunteer at my station. We both agreed that it's a fine, typical, Melbourne weather. Hahaha.
As you know, I'd usually like to catch up on sleep. But today, I had to catch up writing on that blog post that was suppose to be posted on Tuesday (yesterday). Sorry guys! But it's done and posted for you! :)
8AM - 9AM
Practise Time!
"Holy god. It's deserted at the basement (practise rooms at the con)!"
"Well, it's Wednesday dal. It's always deserted."
"Oh yeah... huh..."
I usually practise my extra pieces such as my AMEB studies or other pieces. But today, I wanted to work on my ML assignment. I was so into it last night, that I actually had fun doing it. I didn't get to finish it though. Oh well, I'll finish it after my Psychology tutorial!
9AM - 11AM
Mind, Brain and Behaviour 1 Tutorial
A typical MBB tutorial is always relating to the topic that was discussed from either last week or this week. But today, we were discussing about our assignment, which was really handy!
Okay, so what usually happens in MBB tutorials are discussing with the people around you on your table. In our tutorials we were assigned into groups based where you sit on your very first tutorial of MBB. So, if anyone is going to do this subject, trust your instincts on which group to sit with. I just simply sat on a table with three other first years, because why not? There's no harm in making new friends and introducing yourself. The number one tip of making new friends are, "be optimistic and opened minded about others". You never know whether they are going to be one of your great friends, or somebody who you would hang out everyday... or possibly who would work with you in the future. Oooohhhh. :)
Remember guys, your tutorials is a chance to expand your knowledge from listening to what people think, say about the topic that is being discussed, or simply asking questions about it. So, I suggest to think about questions to take into your tutorials, if needed.
11AM - 12:20PM
Study time!
This is when I'll be studying on any subject that I needed to do. Usually, I read back from what I wrote during my MBB tutorial, or simply doing my ML assignment.
Today, oh you read my mind so well, I was doing my ML assignment. HAHAHA.
This time, it's with my friends who is doing B Mus. We were hanging out at Burkley in one of the practise rooms, writing/composing up on our assignments. It's a little tuff at the moment in one of the bars. We all worked it out eventually. It takes time to finish ML assignments all the time!
12:30PM - 1:00PM
Lunch
I usually catch up with one of my other friends from other faculties during lunch time. But today, I was hanging out by myself. It's alright! I needed the time to reflect on my day and on my ML assignment. Haha. :)
1:00 - 2:00PM
MMB Lecture 2
I tried so hard to concentrate, that I had to pinch myself in order to wake myself up. I usually be very focused. But today, nah uh. Maybe it's because of how the lecturer presents the topic, or maybe it's just me. I'm just going to say it's just me. Haha.
I was slightly procrastinating, as I was checking our blog (First_year@UniMelb), and the LMS for messages. Oops.
It's okay, I'll be watching it again. It was a lot to take in like usual. Heck, I probably knew what was going on, but I probably didn't take it in. Oh well. No worries, I'll watch it again like always every week.
2:00PM - 4:00PM
Practise Time!
I had to work hard today, because I didn't practise early in the morning. So, I had to give it my all pretty much. I always follow this advice that my mentor said, "If you're busy from doing all those extra-curriculum activities, studying and practise sessions, you must give it 100% effort every time you study or practise."
Very helpful advice for college students, and pretty much for everyone. I always stick with that advice whenever I get very busy.
As usual, I do my studies, Hanon exercises, scales and arpeggios, with a nice break for five minutes after an hour practise. :)
4:00PM - Home time! Not exactly...
You must be thinking, "OOOHH. Early day Nic? But you said -"
Hahahhaa. Nope, I have Netball training by the time I reach home.
What I do on the train?
I either sleep, or study. Today it's writing up this blog post, and relaxing? Hmm... maybe? Yeah. Let's just say that. Hahaha.
5:20PM - 6:15PM
Getting ready for Netball training
I usually have my mum to pick me up from the station. But today, I feel like getting the bus. So, I'll be reaching home at 5:30PM. Yeap, so in total, it takes me about an hour and 20 minutes. Without express, it would probably be an hour and 30 minutes. When my mum, or a relative picks me up, it's an hour and 15 minutes of travelling back home.
What do I do when I reach home?
Have a snack, change into sporty clothes, pack necessary things for netball.
But today, eat -> change and pack -> nap -> let's go for training!
I usually ride my bike to training. It takes me about 10 to 15 minutes. It's not so bad.
6:30PM - 8PM
Netball training
8:20/8:30PM - Reaches home
It's pretty dark at night, especially when daylight savings ended. I swear, I need to get a bright yellow vest when riding. I usually ride with my lights on, with my music on speakers. I usually blast my music with 80s music, or which ever playlist that I choose. Tonight, it's a mix of 80s and 70s music. It's nice having your music blasting on speakers, while singing the song out loud. It's so much fun. Hahaha
9:00PM till 10:15PM... or 10:30PM
Studying... ML of course. HAHAHAHA.
I need to sort out my ML assignment problems. I keep on finishing ML every Wednesday night. Seriously. It's a bad habit of mine.
Between 10:00 or 10:30PM - Bedtime
Summary/thoughts?
- I think I had a good day. I like doing this assignment for ML.
- Tutorial for Psych was pretty good. I really enjoyed it today. :)
- I swear, I need to get a hot drink before my MBB lecture on Sensation and Perception. I keep on dosing off to sleep!
- Sometimes silly things make my day - I had a tram driver who forgot to open the tram door. HAHAHAHA. Okay, the tram driver opened his driver door. Then when the tram driver looked at the passengers, the tram driver was thinking, "Ohhh... Oopsy daisies." *Opens the tram door* HAHAHAHA.
It's okay! I'm a clumsy person as well; I sprained my ankle on my first week of uni by getting out of bed. HAHAHAHA. Oops.
- Mums are the best. Thanks mum for everything this week!
Music suggestion for today? "Pick Me Up by Air Traffic Controller"
I'll catch you guys later!
Hello! I hope your second day back at uni was alright for you! Mine was alright today. I had a really long day that I probably don't really know what to feel now. :|
But, it's okay! There will be a brand new day tomorrow, and I'm excited for the future. :)
Alrighty, today! Here's my typical schedule for Tuesdays!
TUESDAY
6AM
Conversation with myself in bed
"Wake up Nicole. Time for another day!"
"Oh, what? Brah, that's not fair. Can't we get 8 hours today?"
"Well, too bad sweety. You could sleep earlier tonight."
"Oh boy... HAHAHAHA. I hope that happens tonight... If I could finish my ML early. HAHAHAHAHA"
Yeap. Me in the morning every Tuesdays.
Today, I did my usual routine: got out of bed, made my bed, quick shower, etc.
OHH! I had time to eat half of my breakfast today. Achievement unlocked... for this morning! Hahaha.
6:40AM
I left home on time, and that felt great for once! Haha! I didn't even have to run today, and I had a nice chat to a volunteer at the train station. What a legend that volunteer is! This volunteer stands at my train station every morning, since start of April from 6AM till 8AM. Then I think, that volunteer will be in the city to do more volunteering work later on this week. This volunteer is raising money for ANZAC Day. So guys, if you ever see a volunteer, doing charity work for the ANZACs, go say hi to them, or give them a gold coin donation. Pretty friendly people!
6:51AM
"Hi usual train, you look fabulous like usual. I love it how you're an express train. It makes my train ride so peaceful like always. ;)"
8AM - 10AM
Practise time!
Usually, I practise to get ready for my piano lessons for today, and that is my studies for Semester 1 (Étude by Chopin, technical studies and Sonata by Scarlatti). My thoughts today were, "I better practise hard, because I think I didn't practise hard during my mid-semester break!"
I ended up practising till 10AM, and I had to power walk to my MBB Lecture. Silly me.
NOTE: This happens a lot because it's either I want to practise more, or that there's this part I kept on stuffing up, and I wanted to get it perfect for once. Hahaha.
10AM - 11AM
Mind, Brain and Behaviour (MBB) 1 Lecture
Usually, MBB breaks up into sub topics that we'll be studying for this semester. So, from Week 1 till 4 we studied on Behavioural Neuroscience, Week 5 till 8 is Sensation and Perception, and Week 9 till 12 is Learning and Cognition. So far it has been very interesting, but a lot to take in! I found Behavioural Neuroscience was a lot to handle with because it was connecting with chemistry (at one subtopic in one of the lectures), VCE Psychology (which was fine), and biology (which was also fine). I did Physical Education and Psychology during my VCE studies. So, when those two subjects interplay into Psych in MBB, I was doing fine... excluding when they introduced chemistry terms. Oh dear lord...
Today, it wasn't so bad. Although, I did ended up slightly dosing off to sleep. I sometimes can handle a lot of talking, but not today. Nah uh. It was very interesting! But today my brain said, "let's dose off to sleep, goodbye world," while my consciousness said, "BRAHH! WAKE UPPP!"
It wasn't a good start with my day. But it's okay.
11AM - 11:30AM
Break
I usually do my ML during my break, or have a quick snack. But today, I wanted to work on my scholarship application. My laptop kept on closing my tab to do my scholarship application during the break till now.
11:30AM - 12:30PM
Piano Lessons
Piano Lessons at uni is a blessing. They are all great, wonderful teachers to have! I really like my teacher so far, and I think my technical skills are getting better. But today, when I showed my scales, arpeggios and my Hanon exercises, it sort of didn't go well. Oh well!
However! My teacher said that I'm going well anyways; my teacher expects us to memorise our pieces for out technical exam this semester. I personally think it's a great idea! I've been trying to play my pieces without the score in a performance, ever since I started playing Classical pieces. But I have been hesitating to, ever since I had a memory lapse during a performance, and that traumatised me. So, I think it's a good way for me to push and challenge myself to do so. :)
Typical piano lessons for me are:
- Showing my knowledge and technical status on my scales, arpeggios, double staccato octave scales.
- To play my studies in front of my teacher
- Getting feedback from my teacher and my thoughts
- Fixing a problem in my studies or my technique
12:30PM - 2:15PM
Break
I usually hang out with my friends to work on ML, and then we have lunch together before our ML Lecture. But today, I was catching up with a good friend of mine, and I attempted to do my scholarship application... again.
2:15 - 3:15PM
Music Language 1 Lecture
Oh! I SERIOUSLY HAVE A BALL IN EVERY ML LECTURE! I'm not even joking. I always have a good laugh in ML with my friends. There's one time my friends and I couldn't stop laughing during the entire lecture. That was some lecture back then. :")
ML Lectures usually breaks each topic in each week. So, you would have to learn very fast, or else you'll be screwed for the assignment. It's very fast paced in learning new things such as counterpoint and new information on music theory. But it's okay. As long as you're passing your assignments, you're all good.
3:15 till 4:15PM
Practise time!
It's a quick one like always. Usually, I work on my extra pieces, or my studies. So today, it was my AMEB Grade 7 studies and my duo piece.
4:15 till 6:15PM
Art of Piano Teaching (AOPT) Lecture/Seminar
Don't be too overwhelmed about a 2 hour lecture. If you did VET in your VCE studies, you'd be a gun for concentrating for a long time. But today, I wanted to finish my scholarship application, and I FINALLY DID. RIGHT BEFORE 5PM. I usually do things early, not last minute, and that was the most stressful feeling ever - doing things last minute. I think I was being very rude during class, because I was freaking out on sending in my scholarship application before 5PM. So, I'm so terribly sorry I was being noisy. I still feel bad from today, but it's okay. What's done is done. I'm so happy I finished it and got it out of my way.
OKAY! Typical AOPT lecture is usually explaining about piano teaching. We have three assignments, and two of them are oral presentations, while the third one is an essay. Not too bad. But I heard it's hard to get a good mark, I think. We'll see when I get my results back from my first assignment.
Lectures have been very interesting, and I have applied that in my job, 'Piano Teaching'. My student loves the memory game, where you memorise a particular part of the piece. We usually get a 5 minute break, and it's nice to have one in a two hour lecture. :)
Today we finished AOPT lectures early, because Assignment 1 is still on going. So, we finished at 5:15PM today. I was go happy that I literally ran out of the door celebrating. As you can tell, I don't have early days, and I'm usually hyped up about an early day for once. Hahahaha.
6:15PM or 5:15PM (for today) - HOME TIME. MY GOD.
As usual I do...
- ML assignment
- Sleep on train
- Chill out
- Catch up with family, and etc.
SUMMARY
- I had an alright day
- The only things I was happy about was ML lecture, hanging out with my friends, finished my application and a little small gift (hair clips for performing) from my mum today. So sweet of my mum. :)
Wow, that is a lot of things I enjoyed today. Huh. That's not so bad. :)
- I finally understand assignment 4 for ML - so happy :)
- I need a brand new day now.
Music of wanting a new day? You guess it, 'Brand New Day by Kodaline'
NOTE: Sorry about the late post, I had to do my ML assignment! I'm so close to finish it!
Hello readers! I hope you all had a wonderful mid-semester break! Mine was a pretty nice break! I seriously loved staying up late for once. But now, we're back at uni... Sooo, now I have to wake up very early from now on. Oh bugger. :(
You must be wondering, what does my weekly schedule looks like for a B Mus Student?
Well, this is what this post is all about for this week. This week, I'll be blogging about what my typical weekly schedule look and feels like as a music student (in my perspective)! Yes, of course I'll be blogging about my experience for the entire year! Butt I think it's time to show you what my typical weekly schedule looks like! :D
MONDAY
6AM
Yeap, you all must be thinking, "SO EARLLYY? WHAT?" Well, as everybody says, "if you start your day early, you end early," and that's what my typical weekday is looks like. As usual, I sometimes snooze for five minutes, or actually forcing myself to get up in the morning. Hahaha.
So, getting ready is pretty easy for me; I always pack and organise what I'm bringing, what I'm going to wear tomorrow, what would I like to snack on for the day, etc. However, I tend to rush every morning; I have a quick shower, dress up, making sure I look nice and neat for the day, pack or eat half of my breakfast, leaves house. I'll be doing a post on how to rush like a bad ass. ;)
6:40AM - Leaves house
My mum usually drops me off early in the morning. Luckily, my mum is a early riser, and she's happy to drop me off at the train station early in the morning. Without my mum dropping me off, public transport early in the morning would be difficult and longer (1hr and 30 minutes by ONLY using public transport). Plus, I'll be ending my day pretty late (7PM), if I began my day at 9AM in Uni.
6:45AM
*Runs to my train*
Traffic lights to cross at my usual station is a pain to wait, and it's ridiculous. I might as well YOLO it, and cross when there's no cars. Sorry mum for scaring you all the time in the morning. Hahaha.
6:51AM, Express Train to Flinders
I usually catch up on sleep, instead of reading. But today, I think I'll be fine.
*Does my readings. Nek minute, writes blog post about my day. Hahahaha*
8AM - 9AM
Practise piano
I'll talk about my typical practising sessions next week... Even though, I'll be talking about it in today's post, as well as any other day. :)
Usually, I would be practising my pieces for my technical exam (Étude by Chopin, or Sonata by Scarlatti), following by Hanon exercises, scales and arpeggios. But today, I wanted to work on my duo piece, since I have a rehearsal later on my day.
9AM till 10:30AM
WAM (Writing About Music: Australian Issues)
Every week, we discuss a topic that relates to Australian Music. The topics we have discussed about so far are interesting. However, sometimes we tend to get sleepy, and have thoughts about burning our WAM books by the end of semester. There are many moments where the class gets interesting. So don't worry about the negative things about WAM. We (our cohort) all have a love and hate relationship with WAM.... and ML (Music Language). Hahaha.
Today, it wasn't that bad. We discussed about how 'Corroboree is still considered a landmark in Australian Music'. It was interesting on how we listened to the piece, and then watched the performance of Corroboree. In my perspective, I found it slightly horrifying as it is politically incorrect. It was ridiculous! Hahaha. I was looking at my friend thinking, "what is this? The piece made sense when it's played alone, but when it's collaborated with dance, nah uh. Nope!" You could search it up yourself, and let me know what you think of it. Hahaha!
Oh, and I just got my marks back for my first assignment! Reaction? Laughing it off as I clearly just pass. Hahaha. I thought I did pretty well actually. But oh well, better luck next time!
11AM till 12PM
Music Language (ML) Tutorial
This class is very important, as you can discuss about the assignments given each week. It's so helpful, and you get a clear understanding of it by the end of very tutorial. So, future music students, I suggest having your ML tutorials on Mondays. It really gives you an advantage to give you time to check, and understand your weekly assignments!
Today's tutorial answered my silly questions, and now I finally understood the use of intervals in a three-part counterpart. I'm so slightly relieved now! But then again, I might probably get stuck on it again, and suffer while doing my ML assignment.
Usually, when my ML tutorial finishes, we find out our assignment marks from last week. It's kind of cruel to give assignments at the end of every ML tutorial, because you're so curious on what you get. My mark for my fourth assignment? Pass. YESSSSSSS! I'M SO HAPPY! THAT ASSIGNMENT WAS HARD! Made my day brighten up so much!
12PM till 2:15PM
Break
After class, I usually ask further feedback on the assignment before, and the current assignment that is due this week. Then, I usually work on my ML assignment with my friends, or by myself, depending on who's available, or willing to work together on this week's assignment. Every lunchtimes is usually hanging out with my friends, depending on who I bumped into at union house, or wanting to work on our assignments together while we eat.
Today, I understood my tutor's feedback, and this week's assignment (woohoo!). But instead of working on my ML assignment, I had a rehearsal with a friend of mine, whose a first year pianist; we're doing a duo piece, which it is a Sonata in D major for Two Pianos, K. 448, Allegro Con Spirito, composed by Mozart. So far it's going really well, when we just had our first rehearsal together! Woohoo! Another reason why my day is great!
2:15 till 4:15PM
Piano Class
Our Piano Class is usually a lecture about either performing or practising. I managed to perform twice so far during Week 4 and 5, which is pretty good. I think about one quarter of us (first years) were ready to perform by Week 5 (First Year Performance Class). At some occasions, there is a time we write down notes when we need to. Likewise, we all observe and give feedback to other pianists on their performance, or the lecturer gives feedback.
Today's lecture was pretty nice; we had a Master Class today. Master Classes is when a guest, who is a pianist or musician, is invited to our lecture at our university, and gives each performance feedback/comments. It was great seeing our friends play! They were great today! It was interesting on how our guest musician gave out feedback. It made me think about how I should perform in the future.
4:30 till 6:30PM
Practise Time
Yeap, three hours of practising in total for today. Remember pianists, 2 hours minimum, 6 hours maximum. 1 and a half hours is for a busy day. :)
Today, I worked on on my Hanon exercises, scales, arpeggios, all that jazz for warming up. Then, I did a little bit of everything: AMEB, my studies (Étude by Chopin and Sonata by Scarlatti) and my duo piece. So, that was a lot done today. I kind of over shot my practising time though till 6:45PM. I wanted to work on a particular section in my duo piece! I wanted to get it right before going home. :)
6:30PM onwards?
- Nap on train, if I need to. Hahaha.
- Do ML assignment, or a little bit of studying
- Chilling out at home after a long day
- Organise myself for tomorrow (packing my bag, snacks, outfit, whatever I need to do for another long day tomorrow)
- Catching up with my family about my day
BEDTIME - 10PM
Summary?
- I had a pretty good day.
- I screamed in happiness when I found out I passed one of the hardest assignments for ML so far.
- Everything was super great! Please let it be another good day tomorrow.
- Tips for enjoying your day? Cherish the small gestures, then as you add up those small gestures, you get one good day. :)
Music suggestion for having good day? A Beautiful Life by Tim McMorris
Alrighty! That's it for today! Check out tomorrow for my next post!
You may know me from the time I fell down the stairs walking into my AusPol lecture, or perhaps you’ve seen me nestled under a tree on South Lawn, enjoying the plethora of free food opportunities we always seem to have on campus. For everyone else, an introduction is in order!
I’m Katherine, another newbie joining the 2015 First_year@UniMelb team. I’m very excited to be able to share my first year experience with you and hope that my insights prove entertaining. It’s a pleasure to be blogging alongside such a talented group of people and I’m sure you will love what we have in store this year.
A few things about me:
- I’m a Bachelor of Arts student and am looking to major in Politics and Criminology.
- After my BA, I’m hoping to undertake the JD.
- I work at a cinema, but I never have time to watch movies!
- I love music (Hozier, Arctic Monkeys and The 1975 are a few of my favourites) and pizza (hello Pronto Pizza!) and my ‘to-watch’ list of TV shows is getting out of hand (Parcs and Rec, House of Cards, Game of Thrones, The Office, the list goes on).
Now onto my Uni experience so far!
It's really been fantastic. I've had my heart set on Melbourne since Year 9 and my involvement in the Kwong Lee Dow Young Scholars program only fostered a greater love for the University. So when I received an offer to UniMelb, I was over the moon.
I also don't have to take 2 buses and 2 trains just to get to campus like my Monash friends, suckers.
My subjects (Australian Politics, From Graffiti to Terrorism, Power and Principles of Business Law) are all highly engaging and I'm really relishing the freedom to expand my academic interests and take more ownership over my own learning.
One thing that was a pleasant surprise for me was the abundance of social activities around campus. The University of Melbourne is like a microcosm, a city within a city where there's always something to do in that 2 hour break between a tute and a lecture.
"Both the SSS and M-ASS have BBQs today."
So in some of my posts to come I'll be sharing my growing knowledge on the various clubs to join and awesome places around campus!
Until next time,
Katherine Olivia
Hello, everyone! It's me! Yeay! For those of you who are wondering where I've been these few weeks, rest assured! I haven't fallen off the face of the earth yet, - I'm just on the edge and hanging on for dear life.
Okay, drama aside, never, ever, ever do four second year science subjects in one semester. EVER. If you're masochistic enough to ignore my warning, the result is this: sleepless nights of stress-fest and back-to-back mid semester exams. Oh, and a virtually non-existent Easter break and a rapidly dwindling social life. Then again, cramming and panicking together makes for valuable bonding time with friends!
I should probably clarify - yes, I'm still a first year technically since I came in midyear last year, but a few credit points and a summer semester means I can do second year subjects this semester. Just in case anyone is confused.
Stress-fest and copious amounts of caffeine aside, though, second year is great fun! I'm learning loads of new and interesting stuff, and all the lecturers are very warm and engaging. I just need to pull myself together and hopefully survive this semester with my sanity intact, is all.
See you all on the other side!
Well, I hope uni has been going well for everyone so far, and you’re all enjoying the mid-semester break. I submitted my first written assignment on Wednesday - I was quite nervous!
Now, I feel it’s time to reflect on what were three awesome days at the start of this year…
Destination:Melbourne took place at St Hilda’s College in late January. Basically, you and around 100 other students get to spend time at the residential college, participate in many activities and enjoy making friends and learning tips about uni before it all starts. It was great because the directors and hosts (group leaders) are all uni students just like you. Here’s some highlights…
Gelati crawl: We headed down to Lygon St on the first night to explore the local area surrounding our university. We were treated to some free gelati, which made for a fantastic outing! There was an interesting flavour… Vegemite… only one person was game enough to try it!
Trivia Night: We all dressed up (I was Hermione) and played a big game of trivia in the dining hall. We had to come up with a team chant and perform it in front of everyone, make up jokes and more! There was also a lip-sync battle which included a heartfelt rendition of “Let it Go”.
Amazing race: We had the chance to adventure into the city and discover even more places to go near university. There were definitely some challenges not for the faint of heart – some things our group did were: dyeing our hair, the boys waxing their legs, starting a random queue, dancing with a busker, performing a flash mob, singing Let it Go in Fed Square…
Exploring campus: We went on a scavenger hunt/amazing race around the campus. It was then I learnt the difference between the buildings Redmond Barry, Richard Berry and Raymond Priestly, and for that, I am forever grateful.
BABY ANIMALS! JUMPING CASTLE!: Our surprise activity on the last day - enough said.
Great advice and information: Most importantly, we were lucky enough to listen to speakers from various areas of the university: Academic Skills, Disability Liaison Unit, Study Abroad/Exchange and more. Our hosts also gave us tips on being prepared for lectures and making the most out of university. Comment below if you’d like some tips in a future post.
Not a highlight: getting woken up by bagpipes at 6:45am to exercise on the second day... I was so tired... funny to look back on though!
I highly recommend this program to everyone – if you’re starting university next year, sign up! If you’re a current university student, sign up to be a host! Obviously I’ve only got room for a brief overview of the experience – but it sets you up for uni so well – I’ve caught up many times with my amazing new friends I made from the program!
Bella :)
PS - We also got to wear fabulous yellow shirts.
I hope everyone is enjoying the Easter break!
So at the end of last week, it was totally my intention to use this week for some hardcore reading, studying, catching up on missed lectures online and writing the two essays that I have due next week. It is now Thursday evening, and I have done NONE of that. I honestly can't tell you what I have been doing in this time. Eating chocolate, having naps... probably watched some videos of cats doing funny stuff online too. With each day that passes, I recalculate how many words per day I'll have to write in order to get my essays completed - I'm now up to 1000 words per day.
I'm just so good at coming up with excuses not to do it. Yesterday, my four year old son didn't want to go to holiday club, so I figured that cancels out the day for study (even though he and his big sister literally spent the entire day sitting on the couch eating Cheezels and playing Minecraft). Today my husband worked from home so I could study while he watched the kids, but instead I took advantage of the opportunity for a morning nap, then figured that given I had to pick up my car from the repairers later in the afternoon, there was no point starting study, so I literally just sat around wasting time for four hours. In good news though, I have my car back after an accident EIGHT WEEKS AGO. No more cramming three kids into the tiny backseat of the little hire Kia we had!
In other good news, I had my first ever assignment graded and ended up with a H2A! I was stoked, especially after my initial confusion at reading the grades and thinking I had somehow failed (as all I could see under "grade" on the LMS was 0.00 - cue panic)! You'd think getting a good grade would really motivate me to get started on my essays and keep it up, right? Well, there's no motivation like the last minute....
PS: I just started thinking about all the study I could get done tomorrow, but wouldn't taking the kids to see the Spongebob movie be more fun?
Hello, I'm Nicole, and I'll be one of your First_year@unimelb bloggers!
I'm super honoured to be a part of this wonderful committee, and hopefully you'll be enjoying reading our lovely posts about our experiences this year.
Few things about myself!
- Well, I'm a Bachelor of Music student, majoring in Music Performance and Classical Studies on piano.
- My major instrument is, of course, piano, while my minor instruments are voice, guitar and drums. Hopefully, I can get into Cello, or a string instrument one day. But, we'll see in the future. Haha.
- I'm a very athletic person - I swim, cycle and play Netball.
- I performed in various events such as Choir (from Year 2 to 10), Musicals (from Year 7 to 11), formal and informal performances (from when I started playing the piano).
Why did I choose University of Melbourne?
In the future, I'd like to become a Music Therapist, which is (in a nutshell), helping people regaining their mental and physical state by playing or making music. Which is pretty cool, right? You can search it up if you'd like. It's a very interesting career for music!
Furthermore, Melbourne Uni has great subjects for Music Therapy and Music Performance. For instance, Music and Health, Music Therapy, Music Performance in Science, Piano Duo and Duet and more, which is really interesting! I'll be looking forward to study all these subjects in the future!
And lastly, the freedom of choosing breadth subjects. I personally love having a chance to explore subjects from other faculties. This year, I'm taking 'Mind, Brain and Behaviour 1 and 2', to tick of one of the prerequisites to apply for 'Master of Music Therapy' at Melbourne Uni. So, pretty much, I'm getting the prerequisites done and dusted before things get intense and busier for musicians, as I heard. Then, later on during my degree, I'll be doing some Education subjects, and possibly another Psychology elective.
Some people love it, hate it, or have a love and hate relationship doing Breadth subjects, but it's okay! If you're finding the workload too much for you, there's summer and winter intensive subjects available.
How am I doing in Uni?
Actually, I'm doing not so bad. It's almost half way into the semester and surprisingly, I'm surviving uni pretty well. I'm used to the environment and the atmosphere of our university ages ago, ever since I went to VCESS (VCE Summer School) when I was in Year 12, which was an unforgettable experience I had last Summer.
I started uni with my great, close friends who went to VCESS , O'Week and DM (Destination Melbourne). So, I wasn't alone hanging out at uni in my first week, or pretty much every day. I had met so many lovely people at one point, I was overwhelmed to learn so many names in the first few weeks. But it's okay, there's no harm in asking their names when you forget. Hahaha.
I've been passing my assignments, which is a pretty good start. However, I would like to achieve more than a pass, which is somewhat hard to do at the moment. I'll get there someday. I'm optimistic and hard working person with my assignments, and everything else. I always have a good laugh at my marks whenever I just pass my assignments, because I thought I did pretty well. Hahaha.
I've been very busy for the past few weeks. For instance, I had many rehearsals, leading up my first, ever duo for Concert Class (cue the ooh and ahhs). It's a huge thing whenever First Years perform, or a harpist (it's very rare for a harpist to perform at Concert Class)! Melba Hall was probably about three-quarters full when I walked out on stage I believe. It was a little bit intimidating, but I had so much fun performing with a wonderful, talented harpist from first year.
Balancing was a hard thing to do, as we're all entering a new chapter in our lives, but it's all good now... For now. Hahaha. I had to reorganise my schedule twice (and still counting), and I'm still having troubles with balancing with uni! (Jeez, Nicole, what is wrong with us, get it right man!)
I'm still having difficulties finding a balance for sports, music, social, and studying life. But it's okay! I finally have time to do all these during the mid-semester break, which I'm so grateful of. Hahaha.
Alrighty, that's all for now - can't wait to update you guys soon!
- Nicole :)
Music to celebrate for our Mid-semester break?
Good Vibrations by Beach Boys
My name's Bella, and I'm super excited to be a part of the First_year@unimelb blogging team!
Hopefully this post gives you an insight into who I am... aside from uni I enjoy dance, drama and indulging in various forms of the wonderful beverage that is coffee.
Why did I choose The University of Melbourne?
It's been my dream to attend this university since I was 15 - I really like the course structure and the beautiful campus, but most of all the atmosphere. It's a motivating environment and it's great being around like-minded people.
So what am I studying/future plans!?
I'm studying the Bachelor of Arts, planning to major in Psychology and Media and Communications. I loved Psychology in high school and have always had an interest in it. After working at a public relations firm for work experience, I've developed a love for the media and communications industry! I feel the BA will prepare me for a variety of graduate pathways, as well as many careers. The BA also allows me to study so many things I'm interested in - along with my majors I'm pursuing Business Law, a bit of Philosophy and French.
As for the future, while it's still early days in my undergrad (although I still can't believe it's week 5 already - that's over 1/3 into the semester, people!), I'd love to do the Juris Doctor or obtain my PhD in Psychology.
So how's uni been so far?
It's definitely a huge change that takes a while getting used to - I've already fallen over on the tram AND gotten lost. However, from the desperate clicking of the 'refresh' button/lining up in attempts to secure event tickets, to talking to many new people and having a blast at O-Week, uni has been a whirlwind adventure and I'm loving it. My favourite thing so far is all the amazing people I met, especially from Destination:Melbourne (stay tuned for my next post about this awesome experience!).
One thing that I'm trying out that I encourage others (yes, you!) to do as well - take the opportunity in lectures and tutes to sit next to someone you don't know... start a conversation with them! I've been doing this and found it really rewarding. I used to be extremely shy, and now I'm loving opening up and being really outgoing and getting to know people. It can be daunting, but it's so, so worth it.
That's all from me for now - can't wait to update you soon!
Bella :)
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