Graduate life

I’m technologically challenged. Whilst I’d like to think that I’m proficient at plugging in printers, printing to PDF and programming the clock, I often use the wrong cord, forget to change print settings and resort to updating daylight savings manually. Despite these limits, the single best thing I’ve done for my study is to buy a personal computer.

During my undergraduate study I toyed with the idea of getting a PC for Uni. The majority of students did not have them back in the day, and of the kids that did, most seemed odd and sat up the front of the class (I was obviously a little less odd and sat up the back of class). At that time the resources available online were somewhat limited; the majority of the texts I needed were only available in hardcopy from the Fisher Library (most of which were borrowed, lost, or stolen. Always seemed to be the case the night before an essay was due!). As such, I decided against a PC at the time and instead blew my money on whims and good times.

Given a few years since undergrad, the online resources and tools available to students studying at Sydney have jumped significantly. There are over 300000 e-journals and e-books available online, with new material constantly being uploaded to the catalogue. Tutorials and sessions are in virtual environments in some units, with podcasts, file sharing, live messaging and conferencing all being utilised in teaching. Increasingly I’ve found that the resources I need to complete assignments are all available online, so taking the step and buying a PC became a necessity.

I jumped in and bought a Mac (after being an IBM devotee all my life). After getting wireless internet set up (there is free wireless on campus for students each day, with a 6MB download limit) I now download the lecture slides and make notes during class. Not only has this made my notes a thousand times better, it has also meant that I’ve cut down my printing to help the environment. Win win win!

There have also been a number of peripheral benefits from the purchase of the wonderful little machine as well. My housemate and I have created an album of tracks on Garage Band for guests at our Sunday night dinners (with such hit tracks as ‘Walk right in, sit right down, please mind the hole in the floor’, ‘Washing up is fun for everyone’ and my personal favourite, ‘Thanks for bringing the beer’); I can make hilarious alteration to photos in Aperture; and I can use net bank at the drop of a hat (especially handy for when e-tag drain your account on Friday night! It’s hard to have a fun weekend on $3.69 waiting to transfer money at work on Monday).

So if you’re coming back to study, make sure that you have some technological resources at your disposal. It will make study a great deal easier AND you’ll make some amazing songs on Garage Band procrastinating before exams!