It is a truth, universally acknowledged, that a harried University student must be in want of a decent cup of coffee. The idea that caffeine not only improves the university experience but is integral to it is undeniable. You need to look no further than the queues that snake down Manning Road or outside Footbridge for some concrete evidence. But coffee is more than just the cornerstone of the student experience; it is a metaphor for it. So, permit me to wax poetical about the metaphoricity of coffee (and yes, I am an English major…). If you think about it, it is easy to see how life at Sydney Uni can be summed up by appealing to the figure of the humble cup of coffee. Today, students are super busy. They are running about trying to fulfil loads of commitments such as holding down a part time job, trying to get their uni assignments in while attempting to have something resembling a social life. So, it is easy for the ‘University Experience’ to be put on the backburner. University can easily become something you ‘do’ as opposed to something that you absorb so that it becomes a part of you. Thinking about University life in these terms, you have to ask yourself, do you sip it slowly to make it last? Or is education consumable, disposable or expendable? Does it leave you with an acrid taste in your mouth? Or is it sweet and satisfying?
I think the bitterness of coffee and how it leaves you with a withdrawal headache is kind of similar to the difficult nature of university life. With all the commitments and pressures with which University students are faced, the notion of drinking coffee, chatting with friends and hanging out in the beautiful quad becomes all the more distant and romanticised. Even if I do take some time out, with coffee in hand and sunglasses on, ‘University life’ seems to proliferate around me and it becomes the most interesting display of over dressed freshers, party hard SUBSKI kids and late running Arts students. I do not know where to begin, how to get involved and how to become apart of it or let it become a part of me. If I sit, sip and grapple with my readings I feel like a cliché- all wry, sardonic and detached. It becomes apparent to me that merely being here at Uni is not necessarily the same thing as engaging in all that it has to offer.
Just as the higher education sector and students’ expectations of it are changing, we are moving away from the popular idea that University education is supposed to bring about some personal renaissance. For some it does, but for most getting our essay in on time is more important than throwing ourselves into the social or intellectual scene. With a million things to do, uni students have to do some hard core prioritising and it’s usually the fun and relaxing stuff that gets traded off. Just like coffee, we chug the ‘Uni thing’ down and bolt off to class instead of taking the time to revel in it. It is the luxury of time that we just do not seem to have. When I first considered my choices about where I wanted to go to university (flipping through those university guides in a high school career’s class all those years ago…) I knew that I did not want an idealised University experience. I wanted something enjoyable and fulfilling. At the time, I did not really know what that meant. But now, three years into my degree, I know that this means taking the time and the effort to learn outside the class room. A social life and an enjoyable time at Uni AND wracking up an impressive CV and get HDs are not necessarily mutually exclusive, with some time management skills. We all have to remember it is okay to take a break! I am grateful to take the few minutes of time out to sit back with a double shot skinny mocha and watch the spectacle; these minutes are the best time of the day.
My tips for managing your commitments are:
1) Make two ‘to do’ lists. On one of them, list things in terms of time constraints, putting assignments or commitments whose deadlines are closer to the date at the top. On the other, list things in order of how much you want to do them, regardless of whether they will bring you scholastic glory. This exercise is useful because it helps you break away from the idea that the only important thing at uni is your school work. It also shows that while time is of the essence, it is not the only way to rank things.
2) Delegate! If you are working on a group project or in a team for something extracurricular, have enough confidence in your peers to share the work load.
3) Think about your overall commitments and draw them in a mind map. Stick this on your wall. This is a big fat visual reminder of how much you need to balance in your life and is a good warning for those who have trouble saying no to extra projects (like me). It also helps to write, in red texta, FRANKIE SAYS RELAX at the top of this mind map. Heed Frankie’s wise words…
I really do believe that sometimes, with coffee and University life alike, you just need to sit back and drink it all in…