Uni Stuff > The University Journey Journal
I came, I saw, I fell in – A hums student's journey through BA
hums_student:
^ Thanks guys! I’ve always wanted to know more about linguistics and it’s definitely something I can’t wait to explore in uni!
Update #1: 05-02-2019
First update! A lot has happened, too much, in fact. WHO KNEW UNI ENROLMENT WOULD CAUSE ME MORE HEADACHES THAN METHODS DID?. Anyway, let’s dive right in.
Enrolment and the study plan
Enrolment was tedious to put it mildly, so I won’t go into detail (I will say though, I was so determined to do everything right I even read every single damn word on the HECS-HELP form only took me about an hour). By the time I got up to my study plan otheres were already making their Semester 2 timetable. It really didn’t help that I was overseas so whenever I had an issue I had to call up friends in Melbourne, who then call up Stop 1, and then relay the info back to me.
Next, the dreaded study plan. I was faced with the dilemma of wanting to do every subject arts offered. Seriously – who wouldn’t want to do a subject called “From Graffiti to Terrorism”, or “Dictators and Democrats”? Now compare that to subjects from the science faculty, creatively named “Chemistry 1, Chemistry 2”. It took me another week to finally pick out 8 that I wanted to do more than the rest. Then I had to submit THREE separate EV forms, waiting for nearly a week before they were approved. By the time I finally enrolled in my subjects, I was a week away from the deadline.
I checked out the timetable next and that’s when I saw I have multiple clashes. Apparently it’s no big deal as lectures are recorded, but I’d rather go in person because I’m such a model student After withdrawing from two subjects, submitting yet another EV form, and waiting for the approval, I finally finished enrolment with barely two hours till the deadline.
A slight change of plan
My brain must’ve malfunctioned when I did my research– because I only JUST noticed that in BA, I must do economics as breadth! I can either major in economics, or I can do breadth subjects. I can’t have both.
The lesson to be learnt here? Do your research thoroughly kids. Don’t do a me.
For now I’ve settled on a new plan: econ as breadth track. It actually has some positives. First, it allows me to do breadth in my third year; and second, I now have space for more arts electives (or another major), which is pretty sweet.
That awkward moment when you found a breadth on WINE PRODUCTION and was so excited you brainwashed all your friends into picking it, only to find out you can’t do it yourself.
Subjects
After painfully eliminating the plethora of available options, I arrived at the following:
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SpoilerSemester 1
MULT10018 Power
HIST10012 The World Since WWII
ECON10005 Quantitative Methods 1
ECON10004 Introductory Microeconomics
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Semester 2
ENGL10001 Modern and Contemporary Literature
ANCW10002 Myth, Art, and Empire – Greece and Rome
HPSC10001 From Plato to Einstein
ECON10003 Introductory Macroeconomics
I imagine Power would likely be similar to global politics (with more Marxism). The World Since WWII will likely be politics heavy too. I’m completely clueless about econ, especially since I didn’t do it for VCE, but hOw bAd cAN iT bE? (Very, according to AN’s subject reviews...)
.
Some gems I dug up from subject reviews and ratings
--- Quote ---I didn't enjoy Quantitative Methods (I don't believe anyone does...)
--- End quote ---
--- Quote ---Quantitative Methods 1 is mandatory for all commerce students, with very few other students doing it because of its reputation.
--- End quote ---
--- Quote ---The legendary Quantitative Methods, which is said to have a 30% fail rate.
--- End quote ---
--- Quote ---I must admit Quantitative Methods was quite boring, and it wasn’t uncommon to see people falling asleep in the theatre.
--- End quote ---
In short, I'm screwed.
Timetable
I literally flew back to Australia a day early just for this, because I’ve heard nightmare stories of people who was mere minutes late and ended up with crappy class times.
Turned out that it wasn’t necessary, because I wasn’t really going for those ‘popular’ class times – See, I planned for most of my classes to be in the morning – as early as possible – and no one was really fighting for those spots.
Check it out
Note – the ones with white backgrounds are lectures and the coloured backgrounds are tutorials, with exception to the 2 hour workshop on Friday for the arts foundation subject.
I didn’t really have a choice for the late finishes on Tuesday and Thursday, since they were my only options. Wednesdays and Fridays will be good though – as I’ll be done by 10am so I get the rest of the day off. I do have a two-hour workshop from 10 to 12 on Fridays but it only goes for 3 weeks. So essentially, I have 3 free days on most weeks.
How early do I have to get up for those 8am starts, I hear you ask?
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WARNING! Graphic content
*Life*
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Throwback to high school daysRecently my school had our 2018 School Leavers’ celebration evening, where our year 12 cohort had a chance to catch up. We had an awards ceremony for VCE and VCAL - for VCE everyone who had study scores over 40 were actually given prize money (can't complain). We also took a hell lot of photos, including one where I had my hand on my principal / history teacher's bald head which was easily the most legendary moment of my life.
During the celebration evening my lit teacher invited me back to school sometime to "talk to the students" - I don't know exactly what I'll be required to do but I'm totally down for brainwashing innocent, carefree kids into doing humanities subjects.
It was definitely a much needed meet up. Who knows when’s the next time we’ll be together as a cohort?
I also found a job! What a miracle. I really have to thank the parentals for forcing me to learn LOTEs. I was applying at this music store near my new place and the manager asked what languages I speak. I replied “Chinese, German, and I also learnt Japanese at school” and next minute I was hired Never mind the fact that the extent of my Japanese vocabulary are pokemon, sushi, and toyota.
I had especially told myself that no matter what I shall not get a music-related job after high school but that didn’t work out lol.Until next time! Hope you all have a fantastic week. ;D
P.S. Happy Chinese New Year AN! Xīnnián Kuàilè!
hums_student:
Update #2: 27-02-2018
5 days till uni starts! It’s been a hectic time of Orientation, preparing for classes, Stop 1 appointments, sneaking into 18+ parties, and trying to get ahead on readings.
Orientation
I only went to 3 days of Orientation, which were the Arts Welcome Festival, the UMSU Carnival Day, and the Clubs & Societies day today. I would’ve loved to go for more but the travel time seriously put me off.
The Arts Festival was mainly spent getting to know people and finding my way around UoM. I did manage to locate all the buildings where classes will take place, though no doubt I’ll still get lost once they start. There was also a Q&A, where the panel spent an entire ten minutes drilling a highly uplifting message into my head:
"Uni is hard as hell and if you get a 60% then you should really thank god for that. If you get a H1 then ARE YOU EVEN HUMAN"
.
How on earth are there so many H1 people in the UoM subject reviews and ratings thread???
The UMSU Carnival was mostly freebies haul during the day and a pub crawl at night. One of my friends actually won a prize at the carnival but sadly I had no such luck (he did have to haul around a gigantic box for the rest of the day so I’m not complaining too much).
Finally, I signed up for way too many clubs and societies today. Anything that looked remotely interesting was worth putting my name down for.
.
I bet I can’t commit to half of these.- Arts / Commerce / Science student societies
- History
- Classics and Archaeology
- Music
- Chemical Engineering only because my girlfriend signed up and made me do it with her
- Choral
- Potter Heads
- Mahjong
- Chess I tried to take on the dude at the booth in a game of chess in order to avoid the $5 membership fee. Needless to say, I was slaughtered
- Vegan club I’m not vegan
- Christian Union neither am I Christian
And I simply could not resist these two:
- Socialist Alternative
- Liberal Club
Preparing for subjects
The hums student fails at uni – episode 1After hearing from an older friend that you can email teachers before uni begins, I called together a bunch of fellow clueless 1st years. Our plan was simple – to email each subject coordinator asking for subject guides and other resources.
Surely I wouldn’t make a fool of myself in an email, or so I thought. As soon as I started writing I realised I had no idea how on earth to address teachers. My friend told me to just use first names, but it didn’t seem right when they’re fancy professors with PhDs and I’m fresh out of high school. After stressing over this for an entire night (we spent more time on this than the actual email, throwing around suggestions ranging from ‘Doctor’ and ‘Professor’ to ‘Comrade’), we ended up starting each email with ’To whom it may concern’, which in hindsight, was a bad idea.
They all emailed back with first names so that’s what I’m going to stick to from now on. Also, they were indeed incredibly chill – my emails were half an essay in length, and their replies were ‘here you go, cheers’.
Here is a reoccurring theme in the uni journals - textbooks are expensive! Co-op membership barely cuts down the price, and readers don’t even get discounts.
Luckily I got my AF reader for free from an older student, and two BCom friends and I chipped in to buy QM1 together (we’ll make it work somehow). For micro, I bought an old edition second hand – it contains about eight different handwritings from previous owners, including one who used a green highlighter to highlight every. single. damn. heading. why??. Finally, I printed out all the history readings and that’s my semester 1 books sorted out.
Saving money 101.
What shopping at Co-op is likeAverage-quality hoodie with the UoM logo printed across the front: $60
Me: Eh, bit overpriced, but it’s uni merch so it’s worth it.
Subject Reader with detailed readings, analysis, and sample H1 essays: $45
Me: HOW OUTRAGEOUS. I’M HERE FOR AN EDUCATION, DON’T DISRESPECT ME LIKE THIS
Another change of plan
Instead of ANCW10002: Myth, Art, and Empire – Greece and Rome, I’m now doing ANCW20025: Archaeology of the Roman World, a level 2 subject. Myth Art and Empire is pretty much 3/4 Ancient History, so why not go for level 2 instead? The downside is I’ll still have to do a level 1 subject next year.
Finally before I move on to unrelated things, here’s something truly sad:
*Being under 18 at uni.*There’s just so much I miss out on – Arts Camp being the biggest thing. The O-Week Icebreaker looked like an absolute blast, and of course it was an 18+ event too.
There's also the party hosted by M-ASS and SSS happening right now. I confess, I bought tickets – but was most unfortunately denied entry anyway as I actually look 12 (meanwhile, my other 17 year old friend with facial hair walked right in).
I did worm my way into a couple of smaller O-Week parties and pub crawls though.
The hums student fails at uni – episode 2When you don’t understand uni terms…
Life
Moving outI finally moved out – from my old place 3 hours away from the CBD to my new place, a mere 2 hours and 15 minutes away.
I’m not exactly keen on staying here for long. You know what really sucks? When your train terminates at Southern Cross instead of Melbourne Central or Flinders Street. (But at least I don't get too affected by all the bus replacements lol). The 4.5 hours of commute per day is hell, so is waking up at 5. First world problems amirite?. Hopefully I’ll move to somewhere closer in the future.
I really hate myself for enforcing a stereotype but the dirty dishes and laundry have already piled up and it hasn’t even been three weeks.
Musical!My local theatre is holding a production of Les Misérables at the end of the year and I’ll be playing the role of Enjolras! (i.e. the dude with the most badass death scene in cinematic history). This will be my second Les Mis production. I’ll update on this throughout the year – we have our first rehearsal tomorrow night and to say that I’m excited is a severe understatement.
You know what I’m really excited about? In the other Les Mis production I took part in I played Marius, aka the lovey-dovey Bonapartist dude who was always getting told off by Enjolras.
AND NOW I'M ENJOLRAS!
Next update will be something actually academic, as classes start on the 4th of March. Sounds nerdy, but I can't wait.
Bri MT:
As someone who had a 5-day 3hr each way commute in Sem 1 last year, I'm letting you know that I found it took time to adjust to the commute but was able to handle it better as I progressed.
-- science units are GREAT btw & I won't stand for this "boring" slander :P ---
Hopefully you got a bunch of free stuff from the clubs and societies
Nothing wrong with being keen for uni - I hope all goes well :)
Joseph41:
Great entry!
This bit made me laugh:
--- Quote ---They all emailed back with first names so that’s what I’m going to stick to from now on. Also, they were indeed incredibly chill – my emails were half an essay in length, and their replies were ‘here you go, cheers’.
--- End quote ---
You're right - some will just be like "yeah sweet no worries" or whatever, but be careful because others won't be like that at all. I think professional for the first correspondence at least is a good idea. :)
hums_student:
--- Quote from: miniturtle on February 27, 2019, 10:44:20 pm ---As someone who had a 5-day 3hr each way commute in Sem 1 last year, I'm letting you know that I found it took time to adjust to the commute but was able to handle it better as I progressed.
-- science units are GREAT btw & I won't stand for this "boring" slander :P ---
Hopefully you got a bunch of free stuff from the clubs and societies
Nothing wrong with being keen for uni - I hope all goes well :)
--- End quote ---
Yikes that travel time sounds bad - glad to know that you adjusted ok though! I think I'll use it to do a bunch of reading once uni starts.
;D ;D ;D fight me
Since I've started making friends with STEM people I've been forcibly dragged out of my hums bubble and am really looking forward to crashing a couple of science (especially chem) lectures at uni!
Thanks for your words of encouragement! :D
--- Quote from: Joseph41 on February 28, 2019, 01:45:36 pm ---Great entry!
This bit made me laugh:
You're right - some will just be like "yeah sweet no worries" or whatever, but be careful because others won't be like that at all. I think professional for the first correspondence at least is a good idea. :)
--- End quote ---
Thanks Nick! I guess I'll keep the professionalism haha :) Thanks for your advice!
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