Everyone loves free food, right? Well I’ll tell you, when you are a uni student you definitely love free food. Luckily, FedUni is happy to oblige! I can’t count the amount of times that I’ve had a burger (or vegie burger!) or a sausage, or even on some occasions a baked potato, hot dog, or even a sub at lunch time! These free food initiatives, at Mt Helen, are run by the Student Experience Office and the various clubs and societies at the university. I’ve even been part of the cooking and organising of a few of them with the BioMed Club.
One of the most magical places I have come across is the Clubs and Societies Events (http://federation.edu.au/current-students/life-on-campus/getting-involved/clubs-and-societies/clubs-and-societies-events) page on the website. This page basically has all of the events that are run by FedUni clubs over the semester in a week-by-week timetable, including — most importantly — the free food! I have changed so many lives with just this webpage (okay, not really, but it’s pretty great). Oh, and don’t ignore all of the other events there — you never know when something might interest you, and it’s a great page to see what’s really going on at the uni.
As I write this post I’m waiting anxiously for the Free Feral BBQ in Week 7, run by FUSS (the FedUni Sustainability Society). I’m hungry, didn’t bring any money today, and have another 6 hours left in the day — and that’s just fine with me. Okay, yes, I brought other food to tie me over too, but it’s great knowing that in most weeks, I can take a break from my standard ham and cheese sandwich for some hot food — at no charge.
So is this awesome, crazy, free, yummy opportunity only available at the Mt Helen campus? The short answer is: no way! The website I linked above is unfortunately Mt Helen-specific, but some other campuses including Gippsland and Camp St also have free food initiatives. MUGSU, the student union at the Gippsland campus, has on their website (http://www.mugsu.org.au/news/coming-2015/) that they run free Pancake lunches every Tuesday, as well as study sessions with free food. The Camp St campus has no schedule as far as I can find, although there are the occasional free food opportunities there too (thanks to one of my friends who studies there). If you are from another campus, I’d love to hear if there is any free food at your campus. Let us know in the comments!
So if you are studying on campus, or studying off campus and live anywhere near one (especially Mt Helen) it might not be the worst idea to come for a day of intense study — and, of course, a loooong lunch break.
– Cam