On the day I got my UAI I learnt one of life’s most important lessons; a great dress can cure even the deepest of disappointments.
I was pretty relaxed during Year 12, but in the days before results were released I was a wreck. Everything I ate, I threw up. Everyone I talked too, I yelled at. And everywhere I went, I saw someone who wanted to talk about results and what UAI I was expecting.
My results were actually pretty good, but not quite good enough. I missed out on the course I desperately wanted to study by about 4 marks.
My mum was in the room with me when I got my UAI and she knew instantly that I was disappointed.
We went shopping!
(I think it is appropriate at this stage to blame my mum for all the money and time I will spend at Witchery and Sportsgirl in the future trying to buy away my sadness with pretty bags and beautiful accessories!).
That day we found, what could be the perfect dress. It fitted ridiculously well and had what seemed to be magical powers. This dress was kind of like those ridiculous jeans in Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants - it is beyond belief that any 1 pair of pants could actually fit all 4 of those girls. But, if anything has the power to transform like those pants, it was this dress.
All the disappointment of that day seemed to slip away as I slipped on this dress. I forgot all about the disappointment of an almost perfect UAI and replaced it with the pleasure of an almost perfect dress. Pure magic!!!
Over the next year I learnt another great lesson. Doing well at uni can get you into the course you wanted to do in the first place!
I’m so glad I decided to make the Bachelor of Arts at Sydney Uni my 2nd preference. If I hadn’t I probably never would have transferred into Sydney’s Bachelor of Arts in Media and Communications, which had been my dream course all throughout High School.
It was so easy to transfer… and I didn’t even need top marks. In my first year at Uni I got a mixture of credits, passes and distinctions and that was all that was needed to transfer into Media the following year.
For those of you in the process of choosing your uni preferences I have one suggestions....
Go with your dream course!
Even if it has a ridiculously high UAI. If (like me) you won’t be happy with any other course then try for it even if it seems impossible, and know there are always ways to transfer in (like doing well at uni in first year) if you are serious and willing to work hard.
I can honestly say, the disappointment of December ‘05 is forgotten. It is only when I search through my wardrobe, looking for something to wear and see my magical dress hanging between jeans and jackets, that I remember that day, the disappointment, and the incredible power of a perfectly-fitted-dress.