Sydney Life

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Idiot’s Guide to Sydney Uni.

Let’s get one thing straight: Sydney Uni is huge. It even has its own postcode. For the navigationally-challenged among us, let’s have a look at the most important places you’ll need to know about during your first few weeks.

First – where is the best coffee on campus? This is very important. Most uni students, even if they don’t actually engage in the physical act of drinking coffee, still ‘go for coffee’ with their mates. This means hanging out in a café on campus. For the caffeine addicts, let me tell you a secret. The best coffee on campus is at Ralph’s Café. This is down near the Arena Gym, opposite the Ovals. Ralph is something of a campus celebrity, and if you head down for a sandwich or cappuccino, you’re sure to get to know him. This is a hit with my mates because it has something for everyone: pizzas, focaccias, homemade cakes and slices, cold drinks, and of course, great coffee. But Sydney Uni has heaps of food outlets: you’ll never be far from one!

During your first few weeks of lectures, you will hear people talking about the Copy Centre. At the dreaded Copy Centre, located near the Sports and Aquatic Centre on the Darlington campus, you will see some of the most impatient, stressed-out, ready-to-murder-anybody-who-pushes-in-line students you’ll ever meet. We all head to the Copy Centre to buy our course readers, which are packs of reading material for each course we do. My tip? Head to the Copy Centre’s website and order your readers online www.usyd.edu.au/ucc/. You can even get them to deliver them to your house. Trust me on this one – just walk past the crazed crowd during first week and you’ll understand why this is a good idea.

Another place you’ll definitely need to know about is the Student Centre. If you need to change your enrolment (highly likely during your first few weeks), organise your student card or buy a course handbook, you’ll need to visit the Student Centre. This is located on Eastern Avenue, under the Eastern Avenue Auditorium. When you visit the Student Centre, put a big smile on your face and be polite: the staff at the Student Centre are tired, too, and have to deal with thousands of enquiries each day. You will get a lot further if you use the magic words!!!

And of course, you will need to know where to get a jug of beer after a hard day’s study. Manning Bar, located on Manning Rd, serves as a second home for some undergraduates. Obviously, not the best way to get through your degree, but it does show how popular Manning is. Here you will be able to get a drink, unwind with mates and even see Theatresports and live gigs (Missy Higgins, You Am I and The Whitlams to name a few). Hermann’s Bar, in the Wentworth Building on City Rd, is a new bar and is famous for its two-for-one cocktails on Thursday and Friday nights. Check it out – you might help boost its street cred!

So these are a few places you’ll need to know about in your first few weeks. For everything else, I suggest whipping out your (free – the uni student’s favourite four-letter word) Union Diary and checking out the map. I still use it!