05 Jul 2021

I was probably just as equally excited as I was nervous leading up to my first day of uni. How good is geeing yourself up when you get your student ID? Or that free diary they give ya? Buying new stationery? Frothing. What about those orientation days? We love some O-Week freebies. 

 

But when it came to the first proper day of uni, geez it was a nightmare. I’ll tell ya why.

Icebreakers

I would rather break my arm than participate in a “get to know your classmates” activity with literal strangers I have never met before and will probably only see twice throughout the semester. I really don’t care what anyone's favourite movie is or what I have in common with the person next to me. I’m not paying thousands in HECS fees to listen to someone rave on about why The Greatest Showman is The Greatest Movie Of All Time (I mean it is, though). Show me what I’ll be learning!

Making chat with acquaintances

You’ve had them on Facebook for a while and know them through a friend of a friend. It’s the “hey, you’re so and so right? So good to see you!” awkward chat as you realise you desperately do not want to be in the same class as them. Quick! Go on Allocate+ and check if there are other classes you can move to. We weren’t getting close to them before and today is not the day either!

They talk up the textbooks a heap

Nuh uh, there is no way in hell that I’m paying $80 for a textbook that I’ll use once a week. You bet I’ll be re-borrowing the book through the uni’s library every nine days or downloading it through the interweb for free 👀

The campus is way too confusing to navigate

Uni campuses are so massive that I’ll literally only remember where things are around the food hall - anything 100 metres outside of that area, I’ve got no clue. Uni maps suck and don’t get me started on the crappy digital ones. I ain’t downloading any app that still has the same layout as iOS 6, sort ya shit out.

Parking

If you’re someone that gets massively turned off by paid parking, dw, same. When I found out I had to pay a whole nine (?!?) dollarydoos just to park my deadbeat car for one 2 hour tutorial, I was fuming. Look, I could’ve bought an annual pass but that’s one hefty price to pay. Half the time there are no spots either - they’re just rorting the system here!

The library is always busy

In my classic one-hour-til-class rushes, I’d plan to study in the library, watch the tutorial modules for the week and there would never be a seat available. What’s a girl gotta do to charge my laptop and smash out some notes in this joint?

There were plenty of things to love though - the short lines for lunch, the communal microwaves, the random events on campus throughout the day, insightful seminars. Good luck to all you newcomers - if you're stuck in the same position I was in, I promise, there's always good to the bad!