I came, I saw, I fell in – A hums student's journey through BA

[hums_student]

It is I - the hums student, back with a brand new, upgraded journal. I know offers aren’t out yet, but I’ll be without technology when it does, so I thought I might as well start this early. Expect a really awkward update on the 17th if I don’t get my offer lmao.
Never seen this hums student person around the university boards before, who are you?

Hi there, I'm a 2018 VCE graduate. You might know me from my VCE journal or as the user who hopelessly wanders the Humanities boards.

So what are your plans for university?

Starting 2019 I will be doing Bachelor of Eternal Unemployment Bachelor of Arts at the University of Melbourne. I will be doing the BA full time for the next 3 years, with guaranteed entry (provided I pass the TCAT) into UoM’s two-year postgraduate Master of Teaching.

My majors are history and economics.

Why on earth are you so obsessed with history?

History has always been a hobby. I was obsessed with the British royal family as a kid and did so much stalking research I ended up being able to recite the names, titles, and reign years of every British king and queen from 1066 onwards sad childhood?. To me history is just so damn interesting and I get so emotionally invested in it.

But why did you choose UoM?
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sponsored by the University of Melbourne
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The Melbourne Model. I know, ew.
I haven’t met a single person in real life who has anything positive to say about the Melbourne Model, but it appeals to me as I cannot stand the thought of studying only subjects from within my major. While I don't get breadth with an economics major, I will still have the chance to do more electives.

Another reason is that unlike other Victorian universities, Melbourne has an incredible, stunning, and historical campus that I fell in love with. Funnily enough, the only building I don’t like at Parkville is the Arts West building.

So what's the point of this journal?

Clearly not for me to have an additional source of procrastination. Okay but in all seriousness, I hope through this journal I would give a detailed and accurate insight into life, both academic and social, at UniMelb. UoM Bachelor of Arts is one of the most popular courses in Victoria (in 2018 it was the most common #1 VTAC preference). I want to use this thread to not only show my journey but also to sum up what to and not to do, what clubs to join, what extracurricular activities to participate in, which library has the best study spots, and what the hell, which pub has the best drinks. So why not hop on board?

An index because I'm so organised

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University Degree Review: Bachelor of Arts @ University of Melbourne
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2019 Year 1, Semester 1

MULT10018 Power (Arts Foundation), HIST10012 The World Since WWII, ECON10004 Introductory Microeconomics, ECON10005 Quantitative Methods 1

[1] 05-02: me complaining about enrolment
[2] 27-02: the many adventures of O-Week
[3] 08-03: omg I love uni (week 1)
[4] 04-04: Professor Andrew Dawson appreciation post (week 5)
[5] 28-04: omg I hate uni (week 8)
[6] 17-06: Semester 1 subject reviews
[7] 10-07: Professor Andrew Dawson appreciation post #2 / Sem 1 results

2019 Year 1, Semester 2

HPSC10001 Plato to Einstein, POLS10003 Intro to Political Ideas, ANCW20025 Archaeology of the Roman World, ECON10003 Introductory Macroeconomics

[8] 08-09: A short update on sem 2 (week 6)
[9] 06-11: Did I just finish first year? :O
[10] 5-12: A reflection on the first year of tertiary education (and some other stuff)

2020 Year 2, Semester 1

ECON20002 Intermediate Microeconomics, HIST20013 The Holocaust and Genocide, HIST20069 Modern European History 1789-1914, ECOM20001 Econometrics 1

[11] 11-03: The jaffy days are over (week 2)

[PhoenixxFire]

Yessss
So keen to read about what you get up to over the next few years!
Btw I love the way you write, it’s always entertaining.

[Poet]

HERE *CLAP* FOR *CLAP* THIS.

BEST JOURNAL NOMINATION 2019 PLS

[Aaron]

I will be doing the BA full time for the next 3 years, with guaranteed entry (provided I pass the TCAT) into UoM’s two-year postgraduate Master of Teaching.

Wew.
Pay attention to your content and make sure you plan ahead so you satisfy those area requirements in 3 years time. A MTeach assumes you know everything already content wise

GL

[sarangiya]

Yay! Congratulations!
Can't wait to read about your journey through University!!
I love that you're so passionate about history. I'm sure you'll have an amazing time at UoM!
Absolute best of luck!

[hums_student]

Yessss
So keen to read about what you get up to over the next few years!
Btw I love the way you write, it’s always entertaining.

Thanks PF! Can't wait to read about yours too, if you're planning on writing one!
And thank god my mindless rambling isn't too dull to read haha Good luck for uni and hope you have a great time at ANU.

HERE *CLAP* FOR *CLAP* THIS.

BEST JOURNAL NOMINATION 2019 PLS

ooft pls don't have high expectations for me
Thank you Poet All the best for your university journey!

Wew.
Pay attention to your content and make sure you plan ahead so you satisfy those area requirements in 3 years time. A MTeach assumes you know everything already content wise

GL

Thanks so much for your wise words Aaron! I read through the link you posted for my question a few weeks ago and it answered a lot of my questions haha. You might not know it but I actually first began considering M Teach after gaining some insights about it through your posts on AN, so thank you so much!

Yay! Congratulations!
Can't wait to read about your journey through University!!
I love that you're so passionate about history. I'm sure you'll have an amazing time at UoM!
Absolute best of luck!

Thanks Sarangiya! And congrats on your offer to UNSW! Can't wait to read about your journey too, all the best for 2019!

[Aaron]

Thanks so much for your wise words Aaron! I read through the link you posted for my question a few weeks ago and it answered a lot of my questions haha. You might not know it but I actually first began considering M Teach after gaining some insights about it through your posts on AN, so thank you so much!

You're very welcome.

[Joseph41]

#dolinguistics

[clarke54321]

#dolinguistics

I second this! The quality of Linguistics at UoM has been so great, that I've decided to major in it. All the very best for your Arts journey 

[cdiamond]

Congratulations! I'm going to Arts in University of Melbourne too! I'm going the linguistics way but maybe we'll see each other around haha

[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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Spoiler

Semester 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...)
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Some gems I dug up from subject reviews and ratings

I didn't enjoy Quantitative Methods (I don't believe anyone does...)

Quantitative Methods 1 is mandatory for all commerce students, with very few other students doing it because of its reputation.

The legendary Quantitative Methods, which is said to have a 30% fail rate.

I must admit Quantitative Methods was quite boring, and it wasn’t uncommon to see people falling asleep in the theatre.

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 days

Recently 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.

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"
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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.
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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 1

After 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 like

Average-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 2

When you don’t understand uni terms…

Life

Moving out

I 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 ---

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:

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’.

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]

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 ---

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

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.

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!

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.

Thanks Nick! I guess I'll keep the professionalism haha Thanks for your advice!