The Fresher Photo 2007.

In the thick of an unknown, meeting new people

The Fresher View by James Taylor

The first six months is to settle into a routine, find your place in the crowd, make new friends where you left old ones behind, and on top of all this balance uni life on the side. It almost seems sometimes as if uni is just the piece that brought us all together and now that we’re here we’re going to make the most of it. That is, of course, until exam period comes around, and then everything really kicks into gear.

As much as I would love to tell all the mothers and fathers reading this about the O’Week experience - as I’m sure some of you probably remember it, or not as the case may be - it is something I shall leave to the discretion of your sons and daughters to tell you in their own time. It is a time that neither words or voice can never really truly describe. To have the O’Week experience is to live it the way it was meant to be, in the thick of an unknown meeting new people from places and areas never heard of before.

Some may remember hearing about the Kangaroobie ‘experience’, if that is what it should be called. A place that it gave us all a chance to meet each other without any other distractions away from any of our natural habitats. A good area to ‘bond’, get too know one another and enjoy the fresh air, and also put a bit of a break to the week that had preceded us. With really only one day out in the mountain air we were quick to seize any opportunity to do the things we knew would be a long time coming once we left. The highlight was being a few hours down by the beach and the trip to get there.

2007 O’Week Leaders: (Back row, left to right) Stuart Seal, Anthony Gibson, Tim James, Andrew Gall, Richard Dutton, Matthew Barron and Richard Coghlan. (Front row, left to right) Laura Mitchell, Sarah Ryan, Olivia Bowden, Tania Swan and Mia Hollick.

The main reason we are all here together in Melbourne is to get into the work and make the most of the ‘uni experience’. Settling into a steady stream of working and going to class of our own accord was not easy for any of us. Many had just finished year 12 and were still in the ‘leaving that chapter of work’ stage behind them. Others of us had already tasted the feeling of freedom and money, and found it near impossible to return to the books and grind that is brought by assignments and review questions.

College life though does help: whenever you are stuck there is invariably someone else in the same position, close by, asking themselves the same questions you are, and to that end the mentor program helps everyone settle into working. Unfortunately, as much as any of us would like, the tutors can’t do our work for us (or our exams for that matter).

To sign off, don’t let anyone forget the 10 commandments.