I just got a call for applications and an advert in my uni email for Institutions in International Law, a subject they offer at the law school here. Essentially, in this subject, you fly out to Geneva as a class of 25 over winter break, you tour the UN and the WTO and the Red Cross and the International Monetary Fund and the International Court of Justice and wherever else the subject coordinators think is an important institution in international law, you get guest lectures and seminars from people who work there, and two weeks later you come back and do a research essay in the remainder of your winter holiday. Plus, your accommodation and travel in Geneva is paid for over the course (but not your plane ticket, meals, or travel insurance).
How awesome does that sound, seriously?
Unfortunately, that's an elective subject. And also limited to 25 people, with a selective entry process. The painful thing about doing law is that you have to take about four years of compulsory courses before you can do any electives during the semester. This one is over winter break, but you're highly recommended to take International Law first, as a sort-of prerequisite, which is a subject I can't take until 5th year at the very earliest.
Therefore, we may deduce one message from this advert: go study for Torts. You can't take this subject for another 3-4 years. It's a pity, because I'm toying with the idea of working for UNESCO after graduation (and presumably a lot of work experience) and I would really have loved to take this subject and poked around and been a bum around their headquarters.
But really, there are far too many compulsory subjects in law. 16 compulsory vs 8 electives, and the electives are all infinitely cooler than any of the compulsories.
My lovely Mum dropped by and gave me an assortment of my favourite nuts. Pistachios, almonds and cashews. She reckons I will study better if I eat nuts. I reckon studying is less painful when there's something to chew on. Anyway, I will remind my Mum next time not to get me Pistachios. Why? Because instead of studying, I am continously shelling Pistachios one by one, until none is left. I remember Mum telling me to eat them in batches so that they will last throughout swotvac, oh well nothing ever goes to plan anyway.
I hate unopened pistachios. They are so bloody annoying. I could just leave them and move on to the next one but having OCD (not really), I have to open every single pistachio, otherwise I will feel incomplete. Who would have known, the new procrastinating tool of the 21st century is the good ol' pistachio.
I like the word pistachio; potential name for my future son there.
DYK #1 (Did You Know): that Iran is the largest producer of pistachios in the world, followed by the United States? (Source: Wikipedia)
DYK #2: that Wikipedia is a usefool source but it is also EVIL EVIL EVIL EVIL EVIL EVIL during swotvac?
DYK #3: that all my exams are in the first week of exams (this coming week) and I am not very well prepared cos I have wasted so much time doing absolutely nothing? I think I have lost the ability to work hard - forever. I don't recall being this F***ed before.
DYN #4: that Hearts (the game on PC) is one of the best card games ever invented and also one of the most frustrating games ever? Just ask my computer monitor
DYN #5: that if I was given the chance to redo swotvac, I would?
So boys and girls, before you wikipedia 'Snoopy', log onto facebook, open a new game of hearts or unshell a handsome pistachio, think twice. Because for all you know, you could end up with a big fat 'F' on your university transcript (not to mention being homeless). Or even worse, you could be watching your real life pass you by.
In other words, stick to the almonds.
EDIT: DYK #6: that I just realised I typed DYN instead of DYK for #4 and #5 and that I typed 'usefool' instead of 'useful'? Can a psychology student please let me know what's happening here? I am pretty sure its something to do with late nights and early mornings. I will leave the mistakes uncorrected for proof and for your amusement.
On my life:
- Saw Ben Kweller last night -> so so awesome! We were standing next to the door when he came in and then were like 2 meters away from him when he was on stage. Arghhh!
- Have taken the weekend off work to do all my final essays.
- Am ok with 2 of them, am struggling with creative writing. Any ideas for a fiction piece anyone???
- Have 'Til the Ocean Takes Us All' by the Cat Empire in my head. It is now my new favourite song. I had it on repeat when I was writing one of my cw pieces and ended up putting in a line of the lyrics.
- Am still deciding where to go on exchange, though I am leaning towards Dublin now - thanks for the advice!
- Am loving/hating facebook.
- Am looking forward to the summer hols! I'm planning to work through november-december full time and then take a bit of time off in jan-feb to go the beach!!!!
- Finished the last season of the West Wing, am very sad that there are no more eps to watch now.
- Joined the student union.
- Am thinking of quitting the law firm, but am still not sure if I can get enough shifts at the book shop to qualify for the youth allowance.
Not much else to report, good luck with exams everyone!
When I decided to write my final Cinema Studies essay on Doctor Who, I thought it was the best idea I'd had in a while. How much fun would writing 2500 words on Doctor Who be? I was really looking forward to getting into the scene analysis and enjoying sharing my passion for one of my favourite television shows.
But I may have been mistaken. It turns out that once I get started on Doctor Who, you can't stop me. I haven't written an introduction or a conclusion yet, and it's over 3000 words. I've created a monster.
I don't really want to cut any of it out, because I'm attached to all my points. They all have something exciting to say! Over-enthusiasm isn't the typical problem that students have with writing essays, but it's what causing me grief now. And it's actually really challenging. I think I need to go back over it and see what's relevant, and what's me saying 'The Doctor is AWESOME!!!! Everybody watch Doctor Who! Check me out, writing about Doctor Who, Daleks are cool' and some more geeking out.
But really, when I sit back and look at my essay, I just have to think how cool it is to actually be able to write about a show like Doctor Who. One of the main differences between high school and university is this kind of freedom to be able to take your own idea and really explore it. If you had told me this time last year (when I was freaking out about the approaching English exam) that in a year I would be writing on Doctor Who, I would have been so excited. But probably not surprised. :)
Now I just need to work out which parts of my essay to EXTERMINATE!!!!
The alumni website for the university has a list of prominent alumni. Of course, this isn't an exhaustive catalogue. For an updated list, it tells you, you should go visit the respective Wikipedia page. It even provides the link.
Ah, what a brave new world we live in!
So, I got an email from the Dean of the Faculty of Music today, and apparently, the Victorian College of the Arts School of Music is merging with the Faculty of Music at Melbourne University (aka 'the Con'). Technically, they were both part of the University of Melbourne, but the VCA continued to provide its largely autonomous music program separate from the original Conservatorium when they joined. Until now.
I hope this means that we'll get a much more radical and progressive course at the Con, and cooler practical electives. We've always been more academic than them, and also considerably more entrenched in the Western classical tradition, and it will be nice to be able to take a class on improvisation or Alexander Technique or jazz from their side. I kind of wonder how they're going to combine the programs, though. VCA music has this kind of independent, creative, new and hip 'artsy' flavour, as opposed to the straight-laced 'historian' flavour with lots of heritage and tradition at the Faculty, and they're very different programs on campuses about 20 minutes apart by tram. Do we shuttle back and forth between classes on two campuses? Are they structuring it with the theory and history core at the Faculty, or the interdisciplinary creative arts core at the VCA? Will the distinct advantages and disadvantages of each program be maintained?
I'm actually a little sad that they're not doing double degrees or undergrad law next year because of the Melbourne Model. I wanted to be an O-week host or Music Faculty student mentor to my very own little music/law fresher, and show them around and teach them all I know and warn them to get the heck out while they still can. I can still mentor little straight-Music freshers (somehow I don't think the new postgrad law students will need me to mentor them), but it's not the same -- with Music/Law you know there's only two or three of them in each year, so you know that they're your special little first-years, whereas Music has more than 100 students per year, so it's not as special as finding the one other person who does your course.
Anyway. In other news, all three of my essays this semester came back. We can draw several conclusions from the comments on them:
1. Music essays are much more generously marked than law essays. The torts essay I got an H2B on was much, much, much better than the music history essay I got an H1 on.
2. When your Dispute Resolution lecturer is telling the entire class how much he thought the assignments sucked, and how much help with writing you all need, and how you shouldn't repeat the terrible things you did on the assignment in the exam or you'll all fail, getting said assignment back with a decent grade on it is like early Christmas. With extra pudding.
3. Never trust what the textbook says in a law essay. Chances are that by the time it was published, it was already out of date. Case in point: I missed discussing Doe v ABC in my essay on privacy law. Why? The decision was handed down in April 2007, by the Victorian County Court, which as far as courts go, isn't particularly high up in the hierarchy. It wasn't in any of the casebooks yet. There'd been very little commentary on it. But it was a fantastic case - it basically provided authority for my central thesis argument, took a step towards resolving the contradictions in previous authority, hinted at the direction future developments in the law might take, and it was relatively easy to read. I was kicking myself after I saw the "What about Doe v ABC?" comment by the marker and went and looked up and read the judgment.
Here, therefore, as a corollary, is Suzanne's lovely tip for legal research: always look out for the most recent sources. Cross reference, look in multiple databases, or in the latest edition of the specialist journals. Skim through all the cases that reference the leading case, not just the ones that have been commented on in journal articles. If your last article is from 2005, always, always, make sure nothing has happened since then. This holds true across many law subjects - it's not at all uncommon for the law to change while you're taking the course (usually not drastically, though).
4. I much prefer exams.
Tomorrow there's a music students' society BBQ, so today I went to Safeway and bought six loaves of Home Brand bread for it. The lady at the checkout gave me a rather strange look, one which plainly said "Are you really gonna eat all that?"
I wonder how she would have reacted if we'd decided that one person was going to buy all the 20 loaves necessary herself, instead of splitting the job between three people. Or how she'll react when the person who has to buy beer for about 200 expected students shows up.
Ahh, student society free food events. I hope I get re-elected for MSS next year; I've really enjoyed the experience.
I went to the group interview as part of the process to become a host for O-week next year. I thoroughly enjoyed the interview and I was leaving, I realised what was different this semester. At the beginning of the year, everybody was excited and receptive to making new friends. However, as the year went by and the uni work piled up, we went back to our old comfortable ways. Well that’s how I feel anyway. Swamped by everything else in life, I have forgotten the joys of meeting strangers (the good type) and striking a friendship with them. So ladies, gentlemen and transsexuals, allow me to declare to cyberspace that as of 23:55 Tuesday October 23rd 2007, I am going to put extra effort into meeting new people. Anyone, just anyone, including communists, facists, red rock deli eaters, slurpee munchers (I don't like slurpers), acid jazz listeners…just anyone who smiles back.
I recently came across a website http://au.ratemyteachers.com/ and I was pleasantly surprised that such a website actually exists. The site allows you to rate your teachers on a scale from zero to five, five being the best rating. I was impressed at the comprehensive list of schools and teachers (it even has a few lecturers under University of Melbourne). Looking at the list of teachers at my school, I have to say the ratings are a fairly accurate reflection on their performance. If a teacher is rating very low in comparison to other teachers (after a considerable number of ratings), there is a reason for it. Like most other people would, I thought this rating system would be misused by immature students but the comments made by students are both fair and constructive. At the end of the day, the majority of the student population can look pass the trivial matters and recognise a good teacher. Radical as it may be, I believe this online rating system would be better feedback than the time wasting surveys we do at school, because students are actually volunteering their time to rate and comment.
So go on people, rate away!
News Flash: I just realised the light globe from the main hanging light (which luckily I don’t use cos its crap) fell down and landed on the floor. It hasn’t shattered because it landed safely on a bunch of clothes. I guess being messy has its benefits. Mum would be proud of me.
It’s been aaaaaaages since my last post and the only excuse I can come up with is procrastination. Please forgive me?
Uni is coasting along just fine, nothing super exciting has happened thus worth mentioning so I won’t bore you. Instead, I will go straight into what has been on my mind lately.
To be honest, I don’t enjoy being in the commerce faculty very much. Not the staff or professors in particular, they are fantastic (any professors reading this, I expect H1 on my exams), more so the nature of commerce as a field.
High school never ends and that is certainly true for the commerce faculty. At the moment, I’m not sure if I am getting the ‘real’ university experience. Ever since my degree started, the whole journey feels like a rat race. CV building, networking, staying up to date with employers, recruitment functions, the list goes on – basically anything that gives you an edge over your fellow students. Yes, I half-expected it commerce to be like this but that doesn’t mean I like it. It’s just so competitive and I am just so sick of competition. High school was incredibly competitive and all through my life I have been in a competitive environment. I am gradually running out of steam, to the point where I don’t give a damn anymore. To be ‘successful’ in the commerce field, you have to be on top of your game. Do I wanna network with people I couldn’t care less about? Do I wanna worry and fret about landing a job with one of the biggies? Do I really wanna spend my Saturdays playing golf with the boss instead of staying at home and learning how to cook free range chicken and pork galantine with roast Jerusalem artichoke puree and caramelised eschallots? And do I wanna spend my golden years playing office politics so I can stay on top or get ahead, instead of cruising along the Great Ocean Road on a motorbike with my pooch (or wife if I am not too wrinkly then) in the sidecar? Do I wanna keep being competitive so that I become someone who I have always despised? I mean, staying competitive has serious repercussions. However, it can also be said that life is one whole competition.
And then again, commerce will open a door of opportunities like working overseas which has always been a goal of mine. I can choose to shave my edges and keep my core, but what if I shave off too much?
And so after rambling on and on, I am still confused but that’s ok cos that is part of the ‘maturing’ process…maybe? One thing that this year has confirmed is that as you get older, more questions are asked than answered. Last year, I asked myself what course I should do at uni. This year, I am asking myself whether I wanna be an accountant (God forbid), an economist, a financial analyst, an alcoholic or an expert on the female mind. Alright I am being an idiot, but what I meant was that as you see more the world, you wonder why things are the way they are and at the same time you question yourself and the way you are (by you I mean me).
I don’t understand why people are so proud of the company they are working for. Yes, it may be a ‘prestige’ firm in that it has a strong reputation globally but at the end of the day, you are a worker among thousands of others working together to form a money making machine. This is particularly evident amongst the ‘Big 4’ accounting firms. Seriously, can’t you see that the slick offices, expensive coffee machines, comprehensive gym, retreats, sporting comps against other firms are forms of propaganda to brainwash you into thinking the firm is a community that really cares about you? It’s about productivity dimwit. Yes it’s fine to enjoy your workplace and the people you work with but POLICE, don’t be so patriotic about it that you wear your EY shorts everywhere you go or tell everybody that the firm you work for has more top 10 companies as your clients than other rival firms. Don’t get me wrong, I am not protesting against working for big corps just those people who are too attached to them.
Now that I am in that raging mindset, I will continue to unleash my fury. Well, ok not fury but just my thoughts on politics since the election is looming. I don’t understand why people are so attached to a particular political party. I understand having a preference for one (I do too) but I don’t understand becoming an equivalent of a one eyed Collingwood supporter. Face it, no political party is perfect and at the end of the day its politics. The fact that it’s politics mean no matter how idealistic or eager a party is, it will be forced to play the dirty game. I favour a party but I don’t agree with all their policies and I certainly don’t think they will save the world. Everyone should be open-minded enough to scrutinise their preferred party. I am an optimist but when it comes to politics, I am not so much. (Rick, if you are reading this I hope I haven’t offended you and if I did, I didn’t mean to)
Well instead of hitting the books, I am gonna watch more Scrubs and relate my life to JD’s, and at the same time relearn some valuable life lessons (well they aren’t life lessons but simply every emotion you have felt in some point in your life put into words).
Have you ever stopped to think about all those important files on your computer? The research notes you've been taking for your final essays. The brainstorms, and the plans. A whole semester's worth of summarised lecture notes you've taken care to type up after every lecture. Your collection of music and photos. Your resume. The clips from the zombie movie your class made in year 11.
Take a moment to stroll down memory lane as you scroll through your documents folder. Then back it up. Copy your most precious documents to your USBs, or burn them to CDs, or even just email them to yourselves so they can circle endlessly in cyberspace. Just back them up. Hard drives know when it's exam time. They sit, and they watch, and then when the going gets tough, they get themselves out of there as fast as they can. Mine's in hard drive heaven on a banana lounge thinking "Phew! That was close! I almost had to go through another set of exams and essays."
Please, gentle readers. Back up your files.
I can't believe I've almost finished my first year! I feel like I haven't accomplished anything this year, that I've just been plodding along. Having an awesome time, but not really doing anything worthwhile.
And now I have to pick subjects. What a nightmare! I've got a shortlist of about 30 so far, so not making much progress. I'm thinking about majoring in Politics and History, but what about English? What about Australian Studies? What about International Studies? Arghh!!!
Also, I'm a bit worried about getting a 70% average for the year so I can go on exchange in second semester next year. For semester 1 I just scraped through with 71% so I'm praying that my marks will also be fine for this semester.
And I also can't decided where I want to go on exchange. Britain or Canada - anyone care to weigh in?
I thought the biggest choice I would make would be picking a course I wanted to study after year 12, how wrong I was!!!
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