Sydney Life

Phew, I survived my first week! Here is my newbie’s run down of the differences between Uni and High School life, though I’m sure there is still PLENTY more to discover.

Responsibilty:
This is the adivce that I’ve received from every person who has told me about the differences between high school and uni: you really need to be motivated to do your own work for every class, as there is “no one breathing down your neck” (seriously this phrase has been thrown around so many times at mention of this topic that someone could patent it and make a fortune from royalties...)

On the note of plagiarism, there is apparently even plagiarism detection software they use to make sure your work is original, though I’m yet to discover whether telling us this is just a ploy to keep us from cheating. (There is the old trick of sticking a random sentence from an essay into google to see what appears; this stunt was taught to us by a history student teacher in year ten who was kind enough to include the “bibliography” that we forgot to mention on our essays when she returned them, coupled by a big fat zero. Naturally, we begged her not to share her secrets with the Geography staff.) Either way, don’t be tempted.

Campus:
Yep, it’s huge. When I first went to high school and looked at the map, I was completely overwhelmed at the size of it, and harboured a fear that I wouldn’t be able to find the bathroom on my first day (though, as you might remember, I had a hard time just arriving in one piece). Sydney Uni can top that. I’m lucky in that a lot of my classes are in the same area so I (practically) don’t need a map anymore. Also, fortunately, there are toilets everywhere, as well as nice people who will happily point you in the right direction. I think first years have a tendency to flock together, though, because I have been asked countless times for directions, and as friendly as I am, I just have to helplessly say that I’m not totally sure where Bosch is...

Timetable:
Classes genereally begin 5 minutes after the hour and end 5 minutes before to allow for to-ing and fro-ing about the uni. Unlike at high school, you can customise your timetable (to an extent), and you might find yourself having breaks and classes at strange times. There is always something to do: you could go for a swim (pool membership is $10 annually for students); pencil some friends into your timetable; go to one of the many cafes dotted around campus; or engage in some lunchtime activities (like Theatresports at Manning on Thursdays, or meetings for all the clubs and societies you so eagerly joined during O-Week).

Workload:
The first week is for the most part introductions to the subject and lecturers, course outlines, warnings about nobody breathing down your neck, and so my workload isn’t really that hefty yet. Also, there is still flexibility to change subjects and timetables, so there is still a lot of floating around to do. But what with all the textbooks, lecture notes, course readers (yeah I’m still confused), I’m sure there will be multiple posts to come on this topic. I think I’ll just have to get my own head around it first!

Wish me luck now for my second week (I won't ask this every week...) Feel free to post a comment or a question!