Sitting the lecture theatre, I nibbled on a chocolate chip cookie and waited for my chemistry lecture to start when I looked up and saw a familiar face.
“Bez!” I nearly sprayed crumbs all over her. “What are you doing here?”
She jumped in the seat next to me and said, “Bio, duh.”
I frowned and wondered if I made a mistake. I was sure chemistry was first, as it had been all semester. Did the lecture time change without me realising? It wasn’t impossible and it seemed like something I would miss.
But Bez saw my confusion and also frowned. “Wait, what time is it?” She pulled out her phone and looked. She was actually one hour early for the bio lecture. “Oh, crap! No wonder people looked at me weird when I said I was leaving early for bio.”
I cracked up laughing and she did too. That was actually the second time Bez has done something like that. Last time, I went to her psychology lecture. She discovered halfway through that it was some biology lecture about the gut. Yeah, we’re real smart. Melbourne uni and all ;)
So while Bez worked on her biology assignment, I was scrawling sidenotes and drawing wonky arrows everywhere as the lecturer droned on about some old guy called Nerst who won the Nobel Prize and didn’t smile in the one existing picture of him. Currently, we’re learning about galvanic cells. It’s about electricity and ions—not exactly the most engaging topic but I was keeping up alright.
All of a sudden, people in the back started mumbling and giggling and I looked up in extreme annoyance. I hated it when people talked in lectures. If they wanted to socialise, they could do it somewhere else.
But they had a good reason to talk. On the other side of the lecture, a line of guys ran down the aisle and they were shirtless. At least, that’s what I thought until I saw a bouncing boob. Then I realised there were also girls.
“Oh my God,” I whispered. The nudies ran down to the front of the theatre and I saw wobbling bums. Holy cow, they were pantless too.
Bez’s face went bright red and she stuffed her face into her laptop. “Oh my God,” she mumbled and could not stop giggling.
The nudies lined up at the front of the theatre and cheered, “YEAH!” before jogging out another exit.
Bez let out a whimper and I went into hysterics. I was slightly sad they didn’t crash the biology lecture—maybe our lecturer would have started talking about reproduction or something equally suitable.
I admit I was shocked by the nudie runners but I also have nothing but respect for them. It’s still winter and the morning was quite nippy. I’m surprised the girls didn’t freeze their boobies off…. I don’t even want to think about what the guys might have freezed off.
It’s prosh week— and I’m looking forward to more surprises!
Wow. I can't believe it's been a year since that rainy day in August when I gathered my things and my boyfriend and went to Parkville decided to know, once and for all, if Melbourne Uni was really for me. It was the day when everything changed. If getting in was the goal before then, it became the only option afterwards. Not even the rain could spoil that day for me. I remember walking around marvelling at the buildings, the atmosphere and the options Melbourne was offering me. It was heaven - a very gothic-looking heaven, that is, which made it even more paradise-like in my eyes.
One of my fondest memories of that day was going to an information session on Creative Writing. Back then, it was a toss between this, Psychology and Fashion for me. I know, my interests aren't very broad. At all. But as I stood up in that crammed room, listening to Kevin Brophy go on about what his course encompasses, I knew my interests had been narrowed down to one. There wasn't any choice left for me, really. It was Melbourne Uni Arts with a Creative Writing major all the way for me. I needed to live that, listening to professors who looked just as stereotypically writer as him, and learning the craft from the best in the business.
Less than a year later, I sat in an auditorium for 5oo people, listening to Kevin Brophy's writing advice.
A year later, I was selected as a guide for Melbourne Uni's Open Day 2011, and I couldn't be more excited. This upcoming Sunday I get the chance to give back and help students, just as I was helped, to realise their potential and hopefully choose our university as the home for all the brilliance their minds will - for sure - come up with in the next few years. Sure, I'll be up at probably six a.m. to be there on time, but it's all worth it. I just can't wait for the fun - and the unusually sunny and warm day that the weather forecast has been predicting - to begin!
Oh, and I also helped shooting this Visions video podcast to promote Open Day. Because of it, I was actually allowed to jump the chains and get into the garden in the Old Quadrangle. That was something I wanted to do ever since I took a picture in front of it on Open Day 2010. (That was the very picture, by the way, that hung on my inspirational wall for the rest of the year, keeping me motivated to study and get my desired ATAR score.) Check out the video and don't forget to select "Attending" on UniMelb's Open Day Facebook event page to get a free coffee on the day. If you see me there, come say hi! ;)
Brenda.
Edit: For some stupid reason, Wordpress won't let me show the video here, even though I've done everything I would usually do to make it work. So here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6E8FiRQIME
If you're ever in primary school or some event with little kids, take a look at how they put their hands up. Instead of asking their question, they say, “Miss, I have a question.”
I’ve had the urge to do the same thing lately. A thought has been niggling at my mind and I want an answer. But I don’t even have a clue who I should be talking to.
So instead of being a smart, techy girl and using Google to stalk the people responsible, I’m going to rant about it here and hope the next person will be smarter.
The question I want to ask is: WHO THE HELL MAKES BUILDINGS OUT OF MATERIAL THAT INTERCEPTS PHONE RECEPTION?!
What century are we living in now? Do they not realise we are uni students with many friends and the fate of our social lives lie in their hands? Do these architects find it amusing to watch our self-esteem drop like an asteroid onto Earth? Do we poor uni creatures exist for their entertainment?
I am quite aggravated. I like to meet up with friends when I have a break and yesterday was no different. I was all, “OMG, yay!” when my goat ringtone sounded and I received a message from Jobe, the big, friendly giant (who tried to toss me through a roof earlier this year).
With the skills of a ninja, I texted him back lightning fast: going to union house with hugo, wanna come?
After buying lunch and getting no reply from Jobe, Hugo and I headed to the chem building and settled in for a two hour break. We thought nothing of it.
When I exited the building three hours later (I had a class there), my goat went off again. Puzzled, I checked the message and my heart pummelled down into the depths of my gut. A message from Jobe, asking me where I was in Union House!
Oh daaamn.
I shoved my phone back into my pocket and sprinted to the bus stop. I was going home. If Jobe found me, he’d probably try toss me through a window this time!
But no, even at home, I was not safe. Damned Facebook.
Was it possible to use cruel words to make a person feel so bad they’d weep? To make them apologise wholeheartedly over and over, begging for forgiveness and promising it would never happen again? Okay, I didn’t cry, beg or promise. What kind of a story would this be if I didn’t exaggerate a little? Jobe (eventually) forgave me but still, I felt plenty guilty.
The chem building isn’t the only one without reception. There’s a few others as well. I bear a grudge against the people who made those buildings and I hope future architects will spare a thought for us. This week, I learned: when I’m in one of the no reception buildings, I should walk out every now and then to check I’m not unintentionally dissing my friends.
Sowwy again, Jobe D:
~Silvia
Oh my God, it is so good to be back.
Two months of doing nothing is great, it really is. But my brain needed a good defrosting, and uni returned just in time.
I didn't ended up going to Cairns - I realised that the money was needed elsewhere...in other words, the Maths course I'm required to do if I want to apply for Commerce next year. Still yet to sign up, but I will definitely be doing so in the next week.
What else is new? Well, after much (and I mean MUCH) nagging from my parents, I sat myself down for a completely focused session of writing up my resume and actually applying for a job. So far I've submitted online applications to Kmart, Safeway, Sanity and Starbucks...and I just printed out some copies to hand into as many stores as possible. It's kinda funny how once I started applying I realised how much I want a job. So fingers crossed I get a response sometime soon. :)
Uni, uni, uni...YAY. I am taking better subjects this semester, it would appear: Globalisation, U.S. History, Modern and Contemporary Literature and Principles of Business Law. So far, so good.
One thing I am UBER excited about is the Arts Ball. I need to party, and I need to party NOW. As soon as I got the Facebook notification I was forwarding like a crazywoman. ;)
This is a tad short, I must admit, but I will definitely be trying my hardest to update a little more frequently than I'm used to... *ahem*... my other New Semester Resolution is getting the assignments done ASAP. I don't like high blood pressure at all. It was an interesting experience, Semester One, but now that I know exactly what to expect, I am seriously glad that we're in a new Semester with a (hopefully) fresh start.
To Second Semester! :D
I just watched Pirates of the Caribbean. Jack Sparrow makes me laugh and Johnny Depp is pure magic to watch. I'm a big fan of pirates, especially with the pistols they carry—very fancy!
Anyway, my bag is packed, I am jumping up and down in anticipation and I keep looking at the clock, wishing it was seven in the morning. Yes, finally, finally, FINALLY it’s time go back to uni!
“Crazy girl,” I hear you say. “Who wants to go back to school?”
Yes, I am slightly nuts. But as you can see, I haven’t written anything for the past month or so—that’s because NOTHING has happened. Without uni, there is simply no action and when there is no action, life is very boring. *nods wisely*
Another thing I’m looking forward to is later starts this semester! I won’t be waking up at six in the morning for eight am starts. No sir, this semester, my earliest class is nine o’clock! I can sleep for an extra hour *weeps in joy*
Ohhhh, I can’t wait to see Bez and Hugo again! I have to give them great, big, monster bear smothering hugs when I see them again. You know the type—when you haven’t seen someone in forever and the second you lay eyes on them, a wicked grin spreads across your face, you sprint the remaining distance and tackle them like a pro rugby player, laughing and screaming and hoping the two of you won’t fall over. It sounds a bit extreme, but in the two month holiday, I haven’t seen them once and that’s just too long for me. No amount of facebooking, texting of MSNing makes up for face-to-face.
I really should have met up with them, but I just couldn’t be bothered organising another event. I was already doing a picnic (A picnic because it doesn’t involve money. Hello, poor uni students here!) and that turned out slightly disastrous. We weren’t familiar with the public transport and we arrived one and a half hours late. Not good, especially when others had to leave early. However, the sun shined, the food was good and the playground was filled with screeching children. Lovely, simply lovely.
Other than that and a catch-up with Emily (the girl who gave me the mini-bandaid years ago), I haven’t been out much. I’ve gone out of the house about four times. Four out of about fifty days. Eight percent of my holidays. Yeah, I’m not a very let’s-go-shopping-to-spend-all-our-money-go-clubbing-later-get-totally-smashed-and-do-embarassing-stuff type of person. Maybe in the future when every last ribbon of my dignity has been shredded ;) Joking, I’m joking.
Oh hey, I just remembered, I got my semester one results back. Uh, let’s just say I passed.
“How well did you pass?” You ask suspiciously and I shrink into the corner, quietly sobbing and rocking back and forth in the foetal position.
I think I’ll leave that to your imaginations! I’ll give you one clue though: this semester WILL be different. I swear to the gods of education and motivation I will work hard this semester!!!
Oh good grief. Feel that chilly breeze? Yeah, train ticket prices have shot through the roof and now all the cold, winter air is flowing in.
Till next time (when something totally awesome happens)
~Silvia
Hey y'all :)
This will be my last post on the first_year@unimelb blog, as I am now a student of Arts and Science at Monash University (OMG traitorous!).
The reason I've moved is to follow my dreams :) when I was choosing courses last year, I really didn't know what I wanted to do at all. I chose Melbourne's Bachelor of Science because it seemed to generally include my interests, and also Melbourne is fancy. Throughout the last semester, I realised that I wasn't actually studying what I wanted to, and I thought that would have ended by the time I got into university. When I had a look at other options at Melbourne, there wasn't anything that would get me where I want to go. I don't think Melbourne was a bad choice, I just didn't know what I wanted.
I don't want to seem like I'm propagandising, so I won't write about how to change universities or Monash-specific things like that in this post, but if anyone would like to know more about transfers, you can ask in the comments and I will try to help as best I can.
I liked having the opportunity to blog here, and meeting the other bloggers at uni :) I hope you guys get all you want out of your time at uni.
Bye!
It has been a fair while since my semester one has terminated, hurrah! You’d think I’d be out partying every night like some alcoholic, teenage, party-animal but you know me, my social life is obviously non-existent. So while my friends are watching the new X-men movie and clubbing, I am enveloped in my blanket, wearing warm, woolly socks and happily sipping a mug of hot chocolate.
Well, I admit that’s not all I’ve been doing. I have been coming out of my room a few times when the heavenly scent of my mum’s cooking comes wafting through the gaps of my door and I open it a crack, squinting in the sudden brightness and peering out suspiciously like some creature of the night. Well, not only that, but I also became a tour guide for an hour at Melbourne Uni!
I enjoyed that very much. The girls were in year ten and I managed to gross them out by describing in explicit detail how a preserved toad floats, spreadeagled, in a jar of alcohol and what the soon-to-be-dissected mice look like when they’re lying motionless in a stainless steel tub: eyes horribly squinted, bleeding from the nose and body curled in pain. You know what confounds me? Why couldn’t we learn about the reproductive and digestive systems at the same time? Why did we have to dissect two different mice? If we had done it my way, half the mice population could have been saved. Mouse genocide, that’s what it was.
Anyway, back to the tour. I got along great with the girls and one of them complimented my chucks. Everyone loves those: someone once passed me a note saying that :P The girls told me they wanted to be in uni now because of the freedom and independence one gained. I couldn’t deny that, but sadly, they still have to wait two years.
It was a miserable time when the tour came to an end. I definitely won’t forget them and I hope they won’t forget me!
I’d say that just about wraps up my holidays so far. Wait, not true. I’ve also been working. I got off early today because no-one showed up for the late classes! I still have to write reports, but I’ve only got one to go. Out of three. Haha! I’m having enough trouble doing those: they have to be detailed and outline everything the student has done from the start to finish of term. I don’t have a clue how teachers manage thirty and still make it so detailed when all they can go by are test scores. If my high school was any indication, tests did not show the students’ capabilities, rather how mean the teachers were -.-
But yeah, that’s it for today. I’ll write again when something happens. Knowing me, it’ll be soon ;) But it’s also the holidays, so maybe Lady Fortune (or Unfortune, in my case) might cut me some slack.
~Silvia
Well, tomorrow marks the last day of semester one for me. It'll be my last exam: chemistry. It's the one thing I have not studied. I was going to do it after my biology exam today, but I forgot I had work. So now, at 9:45pm, I have decided to just give up and wing the exam. I could pull an all-nighter, but I've never stayed up past twelve before. I like my sleep. Whenever I'm up till eleven though, I get massive headaches the next day. So yeah, eight hours of sleep is the way for me.
I'm looking at weird symbols and nonsensical values. I wish I could turn back the clock and focus a little less on physics and more on chem instead. But what's done can't be undone and I'll have to live with it. You know what? Next semester WILL be different. I'll study whenever I have a break and I'll look over my notes at home. Ahh, I wish I could blame my tardiness on the transition from high school to uni, but the truth is that I've had no problem at all. I love being at uni, minus the exams. Who in their right mind enjoys exams? Useless stress that causes irritability, pimples and craving for angry food, not to mention getting those lovely panda eyes.
A friend and I once said we'd be able to sleep off our eyebags once we start uni. I'm still waiting for those dark circles to fade. I have a feeling it's not happening anytime soon.
Anyway, once tomorrow is over, I'll have *freeeeeeddoooooommmm*!!!! I shall go to the library and borrow several good books. It's been months since I picked one up and I'm suffering desperately from 'reading a good book' withdrawal. Then I shall go to my local shopping centre and buy those amazing wedges I have worked one month for. They're white and super duper high ;) My mum warned me not to buy them: she says if I trip in the streets, she'll pretend not to know me. Well, though they are a potential tripping hazard, they look absolutely gorgeous and it'd be a fine way to spend my first paycheck.
Wish me luck because I'm going to need it pretty bad tomorrow.
~Silvia
Trust me to be away when something exciting happens. When I say exciting, I don’t mean the events that usually leave me red-faced. Oh no, this time, when I say exciting, I mean: DAMN, I REALLY SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE.
From what I heard, there were some drunks in the chemistry lecture theatre. One of them jumped over a row of seats, nearly kicked my friend and hurled his lunch up on the carpet. I’m no psychic, but I’m guessing it was something cheap like a ten dollar pot and parma. Judging from how drunk he was, it was probably several ten dollar pots and parmas.
Then another guy stood up and took off his shirt. He stripped down to his birthday suit and paraded around. As another friend said, “You could see his doodle and butt and everything.”
But the guys leave and the lecture resumes. All is well until the stripper came back in, fully clothed. However, the lecturer had none of it and threatened to call security. Being dragged by strong, beefy guys out of a room full of about five hundred people would have been downright humiliating (not that stripping isn’t, because, you know, it’s a perfectly acceptable form of art) so the stripper leaves. But not before grabbing some random’s water bottle, guzzling its contents and swaggering out.
So being a rebel badass and all, I skipped my last chem lecture to do a study session with my friend Hugo. That’s why I missed all the ruckus, damn.
But it’s a good idea to study with friends because you realise what you don’t know and consolidate what you do. In my case, I didn’t consolidate anything. Hugo was basically telling me all the answers and I frantically scribbled in my notebook to keep up with his garbled explanations. It was supposed to be studying, but it was kinda like a “tell me all the frickin’ knowledge I’ll need for the exams” session.
Obviously, I’m not the type of person who studies a lot. I tend to leave things till the last minute. Like now, for example. Exams are in a week and I’m doing this post.
So yeah, I’m always feeling dumb around Hugo because he sleeps in lectures all morning and afternoon to catch up on the sleep he misses at night (he thinks he turns into a superhero, let’s pretend with him) but at the same time, he’s a genius ranga nerd who remembers trivial facts from lectures given twelve weeks ago.
Hugo is the type of person you want to throttle for being so smart. But he’s too nice to throttle, so I won’t kill him yet.
Since it was supposed to have been a study session... here’s what I learned: when Melbourne Uni wants to party, she parties hard and waits for no-one.
~Silvia
P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY FOR TOMORROW, YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE ;)
*gets a little teary-eyed*
It feels so good to be back. :)
So, that little Blog-hiatus went long enough, I think. I'm not sure if it's just false optimism fuelled by the end of semester, but I have suddenly been filled with this desire to actually attempt to be a tad more responsible.
Yeah, these past 12 weeks have really shown me just how much I'm lacking in the independence area - but I'm ready to take the plunge and BE AN INDEPENDENT YOUNG ADULT. Thumbs up all round.
So anyway. This week is the FINAL WEEK OF SEMESTER ONE. Wow. It's been kinda nice, all these final-tute-gatherings...counting down to Friday, when I plan to PARTAY...
...and then study for exams. Not that I'm complaining - considering as an Arts student I really have nothing to complain about. So I won't. :P
The 2 month break is going to be great - I'm going away to Cairns, and aside from that I'm just going to R-E-L-A-X as much as possible, whilst getting my head back in the uni game for Semester Two. I'm kinda-sorta feeling like this semester was just a practice run, and now that I know the ropes and feel fully at home here hopefully next semester will be a reflection of that newfound balance.
Two days left, my friends. Two days. I can hear the trumpets setting up, waiting to go off at just the right time.
This was just a quick little post - I'll be trying to keep the updates coming over the holidays. See you soon. :)
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