Student Bloggers

After an orientation week filled with pool parties and info sessions, the trimester at uni has officially kicked off. As has been the case since my first day of kindergarten, I couldn’t sleep at all the night before the first day of school. I was so eager to find out what my professors were going to be like, how many students would be in my class, and especially at a new place, would I even be able to find my classroom. The answer to that last question is no. I went to three wrong lecture halls before I finally found the correct classroom. And as embarrassing as it was, I started carrying around a map. In an instant, I flashed back to my first few days as a freshman at my home university when nothing felt familiar; not the faces nor the buildings nor the course profiles and expectations. And while the newness is exciting and refreshing, I couldn’t help but wish for a few moments I could be back home where I knew everyone and everything around me. But I realized, my home university was once foreign to me, and I have no doubt pretty soon it will feel just like home around here. I started noticing after the first day or two, that I actually knew more students than I thought. Through orientation week and roommates, I have met so many incredible, friendly people from Boston to Sweden to Australia, and all over the world.

So with this altered, optimistic mindset, I started exploring campus. I found restaurants and hair salons, picnic tables and hidden study spots. I have never attended a campus so large before, and I realized even though I thought I already knew my way around, there was so much I still hadn’t seen. I was walking past the library one afternoon when I heard music playing, so I followed it. In the pool, there was a giant inflatable water slide and other floating pool toys. I was ready to jump right in if I wasn’t still wearing a backpack. I had been told that the “college experience” as we view it in America doesn’t exist in Australia. That students commute to school, attend classes, and leave immediately after. And when I had heard this I assumed that this meant that campus would be deserted at all times. But it has been quite the opposite. There seem to be events going on all throughout the days and nights. From the pool party I encountered, to karaoke nights, to pancake breakfast, every day brings something new and every event I attend makes me feel more like the community.

So while I’m still adjusting to the university culture here and trying to find my way around, I’m trying hard to remember that even though something may feel foreign now, it’ll feel familiar before I know it.