Woohoo! First week = complete (yes, it's only Thursday night, but I'm an Arts student). I have had an awesome first week back for semester two.
Monday
I had my first lecture back in the beautiful, shiny and new Arts West! I've only been waiting for this building for, like, 1 and a half years, hahaha. The wallpaper is absolutely majestic, and I was definitely tricked by the mirror illusion of a flight of stairs near the Kathleen Fitzpatrick Theatre (check it out for yourself in the basement!).
Tuesday
On Tuesday, after catching up with some lovely friends for coffee at Lot 6, I had my first class at the VCA campus. I was super excited to reconnect with a friend from Destination Melbourne, and have a friendly face at a new campus! I'm taking a dance breadth subject, and as we entered the studio, we were all like 'woooooah'... Those facilities though! As an ex-dancer myself, I can definitely appreciate a beautiful studio. We did hip hop for two and a half hours, and my legs are still sore... hopefully they're okay for next Tuesday... what a workout!
Thursday
Today is my Psychology day, with a two hour lab class in the morning, and a two hour lecture in the afternoon. In our lecture, we watched a really cool video about a 'social robot'... so social, in fact, that I had to keep reminding myself that it was a robot (the researchers also named him Leo, short for Leonardo... so cute! You can search for the video on YouTube!). I also caught up with a friend for lunch, it was so nice to catch up. After uni was over for the day, I went to the launch party for Farrago Edition Five. The pizza was definitely welcome in the cold weather!
What I'm looking forward to for the rest of the semester...
- My internship, which is coming up soon now!
- Participating in a mentoring program generously run by the university, with a UOM Alumni mentor
- New (and catching up with old) friends
- More blogging, of course!
Hope everyone else had a great first week,
Bella :)
These past couple of days, and possibly weeks, I have been thinking and worrying about what I'll be facing these next twelve weeks ahead. I might have been overthinking, but from what I had faced this time last year with my recital preparation has made an impact in my life, all the good, bad and the ugly memories. From what I reflect on during first year has left me predicting on what I'll be facing, how I'll be feeling, how things may go wrong when you thought it would be right, and all of the scenarios I think of. It's a little daunting I suppose, and that's why I'm writing in the midst of midnight.
I'm always going to be thinking when doing , "Just have fun. Be calm and stable in every way." But then a little of anxiety and fear comes up, because I know I'll be facing these obstacles. I know it's normal to go through these obstacles, but it scares me on how much mental and physical energy I will be using for my preparation. It scares me on how much stress and frustration I would be possibly going through if things go wrong. Possibly living through fear every day, and going through them as much as you can.
I know I'll be fine, but at the same time I am worried. Fears are slowly accumulating, and I would have to force myself to overcome them no matter what. Mainly the drive to overcome them is my goals and determination; to get the score I need to do other electives and postgraduate courses, and also pleasing my teacher's goals and expectations.
My fears and worries lists out like this:
- Fearing that I'll be stressed out
- Being frustrated
- Holding back my frustrations then possibly having a breakdown in my practise room or when I'll get home
- Feeling a little bit isolated by practising a lot, and also by stress
- Having to be physically exhausted by the amount of practising I need to do each day
- Doing my assignments, practising, studies, with work and ect.
- Fighting my day in and out each day - very exhausting to do
- Fearing that I'll lose my identity and self
- Fearing that I'll lose my purpose of why I'm here
- Feeling anxiety before my lesson
- Putting a brave smile when I'm physically and mentally exhausted every day
- Getting the feeling that I don't have breaks - but actually I do
- Worrying that I'll be stuck in a hole with the high expectations and pressure
When it comes to expressing my worries, there is support. Sometimes there might be a person telling you like it is (being brutally honest), which is not ideal for a person who needs help dealing with these obstacles in order to move forward. Of course, somebody will possibly say, "It's Uni, deal with it," by these 12 fears I am thinking of, which is true enough. I am heavily aware to know that it is the life of a music tertiary student. I just need your love and support, and I will be very thankful of that.
With these thoughts above will be what I'll be thinking for the next couple of weeks. Until I can put these thoughts aside and move with the flow, I'll be stable. I should be feeling excited for a new semester, but at the same time I am petrified. I am pretty much anticipating on a lot of things, and to note, this is what I worry about what will first years will be facing, as a First Year Rep. The high expectations, high pressure of the atmosphere truly darkens above you when it comes to recital preparation. Truly daunting indeed.
Again, I'll always have the same coping mechanism by talking out as much as I could, and to do my studies and practising with baby steps. I'm always work out fine as I can imagine it would be.
Crossing my fingers the obstacles will not be as worse as last years, and be using my problem solving as hard as I can to solve my problems.
Good luck with your first week of semester two.
-Nic
Since the MCM community is a small, close community, rumours and gossip goes around the con like hotcakes. It keeps us in the loop of everything, since it is important to know what goes on at the con. You hear that a new Conservatorium is going to be built at VCA, but would have no idea when, cause of funding wise, as one might think of it. Then, when rumours of a new Conservatorium is finally official your reaction goes like this...
Totally cray. Totally psyched. Totally excited.
I literally cannot explain more of how I'm excited, thankful and grateful of this awesome plan for MCM. It would've been more exciting if I attended the special announcement at VCA, but unfortunately, I was attending my July intensive, Auslan and Visual Communication. If I attended at the official announcement, I would possibly be out of control, being all super duper excited, and possibly be escorted out with the free food outside. Thankfully, I wasn't being too excited when I found out the news during my classes today; I was worked up on our depicting signs.
Note: When I am too excited, it's like fireworks going all cray = a lot of energy being used in such a crazy way, that a person would actually step away, as I might even hit them accidentally by how excited I am. Kind of like this...
Such exciting news! I wonder what's next for MCM and the music industry!
Check out below for our new home! :D
-Nicole
https://www.facebook.com/DanielAndrewsMP/posts/1114906965240505
Hi there readers!
Hope you have all been well. It certainly is great to be writing again after the exam period!
Here are my tales from this year, when it came to registering for classes. Sometimes, we can all feel better when we know that we aren’t the only one having difficulties…
Semester 1 Class Registration
9:45am
Laptop ready, feeling nervous. Warming up my fingers to click on classes as quickly as I can.
10:00am
Clicks on ‘CLASS REGISTRATION SEMESTER 1 2016’ in anticipation, and waits patiently….
…and waits...
...and waits...
...and now waits a little less patiently…
10:25am
*Checks Facebook*
“So happy with my timetable <3”
WHAT!? I haven’t even been able to log in yet!
“Can you log in!??” “NOOOOO I’m not gonna get any of my classes!”
“Hi what tute are you in for Psychology?” “NONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
*freaks out*
10:45am
Signs up for Live Chat for help. Chat is disconnected after waiting for 47 minutes in the queue and finally reaching #1.
Also tries calling for help. Stays on hold for an hour and... you guessed it, disconnection.
11:00am
Okay, it’s been an hour now. It should let me in annnnyyyyytiiiiiime soon.
*Opens on iPad and phone as well as laptop in desperation*
11:30am
Maybe that shade of grey in the loading sign changed slightly? Is SOMETHING happening?
12:00pm
I have to leave for work in an hour…
*Carries bundle of electronic devices around while getting ready*
12:30pm
I still haven’t picked my classes! Hopefully I can get a lift to work instead of walking to the station to save time…
1:00pm – 1:30pm
*Furiously refreshes class registration page on my phone using up all my mobile data the whole way to work*
1:30pm
Commences work shift in a state of panic, having left the class registration page open on phone in work locker
3:30pm
Frantically refreshes class registration page on phone again during break
6:00pm
Finishes work, runs to train station and tries loading it again there
6:45pm
Arrives home and sprints to laptop
7:00pm
Finally logs in. None of my first preference classes left, and one won’t let me register….
The next two days: many emails back and forth to the Class Registration Enquiry Management, and finally, a timetable! Phew!
Class Registration Semester 2
9:45am
Two laptops this time, both ready to go. UoM Stop 1 Twitter page open. Followed their advice and have ‘Incognito’ mode in a browser for class registration.
10:00am
*Click* *Click* *Click*
10:03am
Timetable completed.
Hey everyone!
So, it's SWOTVAC time! Unlike last year, I am not sitting in the library frantically making flashcards at the last minute. I started early, and am feeling (somewhat) more relaxed this time around. Basically, I have three essays due on Monday, an exam Tuesday morning, another essay due on Thursday (2000 words in FRENCH!!!) and then one more exam on Tuesday the 14th. Phew. I'm tired in advance just reading all that!
Anyway, I just received my last two results back for this semester's coursework. As you probably know, I'm completing a Psychology major. For each of our subjects, we submit a lab report, and the coordinators were super nice and broke it into two parts, so two assignments. Basically, you write the first two sections of the report for assignment 1, and the remaining sections for assignment 2, after refining your first half as well, based on tutor feedback.
I knew that Psychology would be getting more difficult this year, so I wasn't too surprised at my marks for assignment 1 being about the same/a little lower than this time last year. I said to myself that I would improve my grade on the second assignment by one - so that H2B would become a H2A, and the H2A would become a H1.
I am super pleased to report everyone, that this happened! Yay! I worked my butt off and got results. I really think my approach of starting early (which I mentioned in a previous post) really paid off. I highly recommend this approach for all next semester!
Today, it's less than TWO WEEKS until holidays! I'm super excited. I can't wait to catch up with people I've been meaning to catch up with for ageeeees (I swear time flies by at uni. I feel like Week 2 was 2 weeks ago).
I am also excited to let you all know, that unlike last year, I haven't (yet) fallen over on the tram to uni! Hahaha.
GOOD LUCK FOR EXAMS AND FINAL ASSESSMENTS! YOU CAN DO IT!
- Bella :)
Imagine this, you have successfully written a 2000 word essay in two days, and submitted your essay on turnitin like a boss... while feeling mentally exhausted from formulating ideas into academic sentences. Then, two weeks later, you were excited on going to check your results on the LMS. Things started to go a little odd from there, as your results hasn't appeared yet; you have been checking your results during the weekend, and nothing has turn up. You then check on the submission page via LMS on the turnitin link, and you had realised something; your assignment has not appeared, nor submitted. You have a ten out of ten anxiety attack, your face goes pale, and you almost want to faint, as it is worth 60% of your final grade. You quickly email your tutor asking in the most panic manner of whether they had received your essay.
Tutor: "Nope, I haven't received your essay"
You thinking: "EMERGARD, HOLY BAGEBUS! WHAT AM I GONNA DO? THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED IN MY ENTIRE DEGREE! WHAT IS HAPPENING? OH MY GOD!!!!!"
Your tutor forwards the email to your subject coordinator of what has happened with your essay submission, and asks information. You try to forward as much evidence you can that you had completed your essay on time, or slightly on time, between your tutor and your subject coordinator.
Subject coordinator: "All good. Just relax!"
You thinking: "EMERGARD, THANK YOU SO MUCH! YOU'RE A LEGEND!!"
A couple of hours later, you receive your essay. You then read through your feedback, and that looks totally fine. Things have settled down, and you're happy of your grade. Then, your final thoughts settles in as from this, "Never again will I ever complete a 2000 word essay until 2am. Never again will I do essays last minute. I will next time on taking a screenshot of my turnitin receipt. Will do next time on checking my uni email on my successful submission on turnitin. Next time I really, really should to go, and have my essay checked out at ASO (Academic Service Office). I have finally learnt my lesson... after three semesters into my degree."
Things to take from this post:
- Screenshot everything (submission on turnitin receipt, when you last modify your essay)
- Be honest between your tutor and your subject coordinator if this happens
- Must use ASO next time to have feedback (really I should though, imagine my grades if I did so. H1 indeed)
- If you have a 2000 word research essay, one must not never ever do it last minute. My brain died after completing my essay
- If they are understandable, and they were willing to grade your essay, thank the lord for saving your ass in your studies
- If this happens to you, and you didn't receive a turnitin receipt, take a screenshot of your history browser, and when you last modified your document. If you had erased your history browser, cross your fingers, and hope for the best that it they are willing to grade your essay.
- When I'll graduate, I have many stories to tell of my undergrad journey... including this one. Haha ha ha haaaa..... *face palm*
I'm going to paste this here, once again, of how much has happened to me these past few months, and how my consciousness feels about it
"Oh well... things happen for a reason. *angrily flips a table, but then being okay with it afterwards*"
- Nicole
I swear, I didn't expect that Thursday was the end of semester one for me. 😂
I hope you had a good chuckle at this, but it was taken by surprise when I realise that Thursday was my last lecture of this semester. Probably the reason why I felt surprised was how much I been through since the beginning of the year. Everything I have been through, felt like it was a flash of a memory when I kept on moving forward. It was truly surreal to finish first semester of second year.
It has been a crazy semester, I'd say. To summarise my semester up, it was some messy rollercoaster. To be honest, I didn't expect that I would be facing a heck load of obstacles, but at least I got through them just fine. There has been moments in my subconscious when I would love to flip tables, and be saying, "I'm god damn done with this semester," but I know it wasn't the right feeling I should convey.
I think the best thing to face through obstacles is to be as calm and stable as I can, and do as much as I can on what I need to do. Having issues and problems throwing at me is pretty much a normal thing that I can handle nowadays. Becoming more deeply as a music student, I find that I admit some things that will occur in a fashion when it throws someone off the rails, and that is okay, because stuff happens, and I learn from it.
This semester, I learnt that if I keep on moving forward, and keep doing the things I need to do each day, in the most calmest manner, it will work out perfectly in the near future. Just like practising! Other than that, I also learnt the meaning of practising. This may sound a little cray, but here's my definition of practising.
Practising. Another form of studying. Much like (as a pianist) sitting down and studying the piece. I guess for a non-music student, it will be similar to sitting down on a desk, and trying to memorise something, and then memorising it again, and again until when exams come by. If I can draw what it looks like when I imagine studying it's like myself at a desk, with an attached piano on the desk in front of me, memorising, or learning away on my desk of a piano, with all my notes of analysing, colours of the notes I'm playing, and learning the notes, out of the piano with the sound waves I produce. Not sure whether that made sense, but it's a crazy thought here.
The more I practise, I bond and connect more with my instrument. The more I practise, I would think the piano is my best friend, a person, who I draw out thoughts to it. The more I practise, the more gentle I am with the piano. I am no longer bashing notes aggressively when I'm frustrated. I just take a deep breath and start again.
I think I should write a book called, "The Thoughts of Practising," by Nicole Ng. It's a little crazy, but it got me thinking very deeply of studying music. Maybe I should become a philosopher. "To be or not to be." Okay I'll stop. 😂
I think I should be proud of myself that I have achieved, and went through so much so far this year. I deserve myself a cookie. Can someone get me cookies here please? Haha!
I wish everyone the best of your exam studies!
- Nicole
Hi everyone!
I can't believe it's Week 12 already. No way!
Everything is pretty hectic at the moment, but I am pleased to say that I have had my best semester of uni yet.
After spending first year trialing study habits that worked (and some that didn't) I am actually feeling somewhat confident (I know right!?) for the upcoming exams. I've made some new friends, and reconnected with old ones. I've spent lots of time blogging and writing, too!
Life has been very busy, but I've learnt how to manage my time really well. I've found that spending less days at uni and more time there each day really works well for me. This year, I left a few hours each day I'm at uni to study in between classes, and have organised to work/have free time (which is study time at the moment) on Mondays, Fridays and the weekends.
One example of a cool thing that I learnt at uni: I always thought that caffeine in coffee gave us some magical adrenaline rush, or something! I thought that it was a stimulant in the sense that it activated something. Turns out, it actually blocks something - that something being the chemical adenosine - which is what makes us tired. It's like a 'block of wood under the brake of the brain,' my lecturer said. Fair to say, it's changed my outlook on coffee a bit. We are doing experiments in class this week to see the effects of caffeine on performance! We got to design the experiments ourselves. Although, I don't know how I am going to survive, not being allowed to have a coffee before my 9am class, and potentially receiving a decaffeinated placebo instead of the real thing. Ah, well. It's all in the name of a good experiment. Have a morning coffee on Wednesday for me!
That's it from me for now, and I wish you all the best of luck with your final week of semester!
Bella :)
I know I haven't been writing for a while, but these past couple of weeks has been crazy, and hectic. I'm mostly taking care of myself, and such, and sometimes it can be tough when you need to juggle with uni, work, and ect. I really don't know how should I feel about it.
I'm going to keep this short but, I had a recent close friend of mine from uni past away. I only just found out on before I went to bed at 1 am in the morning last night. So, yesterday has been an okay day. I was doing pretty well yesterday, mainly because I was going through my day back-to-back, until when I had a moment to myself. Things went downhill from there. Luckily, I had my friend with me while I was trying to practise, and I burst into tears when I looked at my friend, trying to smile like nothing happened. That was probably a 10/10 breakdown. I really now dislike breaking down at uni, especially in our practise rooms.
Another thing happened was when I was at work, and let's just say I survived. Probably not going to elaborate on that.
Also another thing happened during Week 5. Mainly because I was supposed to go to New Zealand to have a decent break for once, but forgot to renew my passport; it was just expired! I was really upset, as I haven't had a break after I had started second year early, by taking a summer intensive.
So, I'm just writing to tell you guys I'm still alive, but doing alright. I know everything happens for a reason, but there's been too many things that is happening at uni, studies and myself. I don't even know whether I'm keeping up mentally. I am mentally confused, and questioning myself, "Is this what second year is suppose to be? I probably don't think so." I probably never realise how much I have been through, and I should be proud of myself that I'm still standing, and getting up every time I have my downs. It's all about moving forward, and trying to never look back. It's like being on a treadmill kind of thing.
Other than that, I have been writing in my other blogs though have a quick read, if you'd like!
Recovering from Surgery in my personal blog, Adventure Time with The Muso, and my first ever, Uni Melb Adventures blog post, Student Complete when Connected!
A few nice announcements!
- I finally got tickets to see University of Melbourne Symphony Orchestra! Everybody should definitely come! It's free, and it's super amazing!
- My special consideration application got accepted for Music Performance 3! So, my practical examination date will be pushed back! Yay!
- I am back in piano teaching!
- Coping okay with the support of the MCM community, and my friends
- Acknowledging is the best thing you can do now. I love my friends, and the support that is given from them. My friends makes my uni life much easier, and fun to be around! I'm glad that they are super supportive, and great people to hang around.
- Got my flu jab from work! YAY!
I am hoping I can post frequently like I am in the past, but I'll be taking a break for a few weeks after what has happened. Maybe I should write myself a list on what was positive for the last month, or so. I don't know. I'll come up a way to recover from this event, and be myself again. I really have no idea what to think. I'll work it out like always.
I'm very thankful that MCM is helping students cope with this type of event. I'm so thankful that they are happy to adjust our studies with this type of event. I'll be getting an extension on my essay from the executive director from the con, that is due next week, and probably my other one that is due in a few weeks time.
Much love,
Nicole
Today I am here to share with you all the wonder that is starting your work as soon as possible.
Actually, maybe I'll rephrase that - as soon as you get home from uni on the day you receive it! The meaning of the word 'possible' can be bent a little bit to mean "just after I check Facebook... there might be a new post in Cool Dog Group... I can't POSSIBLY start until I've checked... ooh memes..." and before you know it, the evening has disappeared, and you will have to wait until tomorrow to do the work.
Of course, at uni, with the huge amount of work crammed into 12 short weeks, it can seem that if you stop working to blink, you're behind (this is only a slight exaggeration - you probably have time to blink, but stare into the distance for 30 seconds, and it's a different story). So, the effect of putting things off is huge! Yes, you'll have to do it tomorrow, along with the work you receive tomorrow, and prep for the next day.
While waiting for my Bachelor's degree, I have given myself a few titles, which include but are not limited to: Honours in Coffee Drinking, Master of Falling Over on Public Transport (with style) and a PhD in Procrastination. I know how hard it can be to drag yourself away from a screen to be productive! It's a confusing state; you want to be productive, but you feel like you just can't. Hmm, study? I haven't cleaned out my sock drawer in a while, let's do that!
Us humans respond to motivation, but with things coming very easily to many people in the modern world (like food, water and shelter), we need to find the right thing to motivate us. It could be something positive, such as rewarding yourself with a walk (wait... you don't just wear activewear to uni!? You exercise in that stuff!?), or an episode of your favourite TV show (bonus points if you're studying a language and watch the show in that language). I find that one other type of motivation works for me: negative reinforcement.
Say I'm feeling stressed about uni (read: 90% of the time). Stress for the cave men and women came from the struggle to stay alive and find food; for us lucky ones in the modern age, it is usually something mental we stress about. I realised that putting off tasks was not helping my stress levels. The obvious way to alleviate this stress was to get started. I am quite the perfectionist, and we perfectionists can be paradoxical sometimes: putting off starting something because we are scared it won't be perfect. I'm sure many people can relate to this, and the secret to overcoming the procrastination associated with perfectionism is reversing your thinking. Change your thoughts to: "okay, so I'm starting this early - that means, I'll have plenty of time to make it perfect, and if I don't like what I start with, I'll have plenty of time to change it!"
A good example I've used this and it has worked is with my Psychology lab reports. We do two Psychology subjects for our major this semester, and each has two assignments: the one lab report in Part 1 and Part 2.
Dr. Procrastination over here decided to start the first part of each lab report the Friday before it was due. They were due early on Wednesday mornings (so really Tuesday night, just in case of potential Turnitin issues), which was really Mondays for me as I worked on Tuesday nights after being at uni all day. So, I was so stressed about getting them done that I didn't have as much time to make revisions as I would have liked, sometimes the work seemed more than I had thought, and I wasn't doing my best writing as I wasn't relaxed! Recipe for disaster. I'm lucky that I did reasonably well, considering - but I wanted to do better!
So, for Part 2, I started right away. I used my 'changed thinking' approach and felt so much more confident as well as happy with my writing. I was a bit of a nerd back in the high school days, and used to do my work the day I got it - if not straight after school before I left to go home (to avoid procrastination).I was horrified when my Year 9 comrades would start the work (gasp!) the night before. At uni, a few days before is really equivalent to the night before, as there is so much more to do per assignment... so why was I doing this to myself when it wasn't my natural state?
So, fingers crossed for my results for my second round of Psychology assignments. However, whatever the outcome, I know I certainly did my best, and most importantly: gave myself time to do my best.
Coming up next for me is a Staff-Student Liaison meeting for Psychology, which should be super interesting! I have a presentation for French 7, and I'll get working on my final piece for Creative Nonfiction, now that I've (finally) decided on a good story to report.
What study tips work best for you?
Best wishes for the rest of Week 8,
Bella :)
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