To New Students, Welcome! And to Old Students, Welcome Back!

The start of semester is now here, for some of you this is a brand new exciting adventure, for others it is a slightly agonising process of dragging yourself back into university mode after the lovely, yet lengthy summer holidays.  Whichever group you belong to, the university is going to be a bit hectic, especially during the first few weeks.

New students will be running around trying to find their feet, struggling to find classes, teachers and where to get a decent coffee. Old students will most likely be trying to avoid the busyness, and groaning at the excessive amount of time it has taken them to find a car park, leaving them precious minutes to dash to their lecture.

Both groups will possibly be feeling quite overwhelmed, and a little stressed out. It is important at the start of the semester to get a little organised — make a game plan for your studies, and how that is going to work in with your social and work life. You need to know what the important things to be aware of are, and who to talk to if you are starting to struggle.

The most important thing to remember is if you are struggling, or have any queries, or concerns: ask. It doesn’t matter if you are a new student, or a returning student. The best thing to do if you don’t know something, are unsure, or just need to discuss something is to ask, and talk to someone about things.

No one ever really jumps for joy when they hear the phrase ‘time management’, but it is an important part of succeeding at university, and not only university but life in general. It doesn’t have to be the horrendous task that it is made out to be — you can start out small, buy a diary and write down when all your assessments are due, and block out deliberate time to work on that task. Unfortunately, assessments don’t write themselves. Remember that time is the currency of life, so spend it wisely!

Another important thing to keep in mind at university is the need to maintain a social life. Being a university student should also be a social experience. You can meet new people and form friendships with individuals who have similar interests to you. Don’t be afraid to get involved! Become part of the university community, and I guarantee it will make your whole university experience that much more enjoyable!

This leads me to my final piece of advice: be aware of yourself. Self-care is vital. Know your limits, and make sure that you take care of yourself. If you start to struggle with this at any point, we have numerous services available to assist you. That is what they are here for so don’t feel bad for accessing them — everyone needs assistance from time to time.

 

There are these services and more:

  • PASS: Peer Assisted Study Sessions, these sessions are offered for 1st year classes that have been deemed difficult, to offer students extra assistance. These sessions are ran by students who completed the subject to a high academic standard, and wish to assist other students do the same.
  • ASK service: This is staffed by your Student Academic Leaders. This is where you go to ask any university related question, and if the question doesn’t fall within our area of expertise we will know exactly where to refer you to, to ensure that you get the best assistance possible.
  • Learning Skills Advisors: Here to assist you with improving your academic skills, whether that be polishing up your writing style, getting used to university language, or all those tricky referencing and formatting queries.
  • Writing Space: A designated study area within the library in which Learning Skills Advisors, or Student Academic Leaders sit, and are available to assist you whilst you study.
  • YourTutor/Checkmate: Online assistance, where you can ask questions, and submit essays asking for specific assistance with things such as grammar, flow and similar queries.
  • Counselling Services: You can book appointments with skilled counsellors to listen and assist you with stressors that you may be struggling with.
  • Disability Liaison Unit: Here to help people who may be suffering from a physical or mental health concern. This may be for long and short term assistance. If you need help with planning around your anxiety, or have done a sporting injury that hinders your ability to perform at university these guys are here to help you.
  • Health Centres: Because who doesn’t like conveniently located nurses to assist with your medical concerns, when you’re a busy uni student?

Whatever your concerns, we are here to help you! Don’t be afraid to ask. I promise we don’t bite, and are quite friendly and eager to assist you in achieving your university goals!

Good luck in your studies!

Angel

Being on the Student Senate

Flying MaryDuring August last year, the University’s Student Senate began advertising for positions on the new Senate to be formed for the following year. As a third year student who had not yet been on the Senate, I was very drawn to the idea of a leadership position that would allow me to help make positive changes within the University and increase the enjoyment of the student experience. I filled out the paperwork with my ideas and what I stood for and a couple of weeks later I was luckily elected into the Sports Representative position for all campuses. As an International Studies student, it was not vital that I was a PE student but my role within the Ultimate Frisbee team and continued participation in UniGames events gave me enough background information to make my position easier.

Continue reading Being on the Student Senate

The Impostor Syndrome

Aimee

Recently I attended a session at uni where an academic got up on stage and told us about her time here. She had multiple degrees and worked for the University, yet she said something that struck me as odd, something I had never heard about before. She said that she’s waiting for someone to tap her on the shoulder one day as she walks around campus and tell her to pack up her office and leave- that the game is up, that she is a fraud and doesn’t belong here. I cannot recall anyone ever admitting such a thought before, yet only a few short weeks later an older mentor of mine said that she too felt like an impostor at Uni, that when she received her degree she almost burst out laughing as she believed it was ridiculous someone like her could achieve a degree!

Continue reading The Impostor Syndrome

Volunteering

HaydenWhy do I volunteer? Well, it’s a sad story, so please have a box of tissues handy. LOL not really but it could be.

I have worked my whole life caught up in the materialistic commercialism world of having to buy everything because some lady on the TV tells me that my life won’t be complete without it. So I was working for a major company in Morwell and had just organised to relocate from Drouin to Churchill to save some money on travelling when we got told that the company was closing the doors on our site. Continue reading Volunteering

All About PASS

G’day, my name’s Dean. I’m a 2nd year Business student at Gippsland majoring in both Accounting and Finance (I know it sounds impressive, and that’s because it is). As well as being an up-and-coming accountant, I’m also a PASS leader here at Gippsland. What’s PASS, you ask? Well hold your horses, mate. I’m about to tell you.

What is PASS? Continue reading All About PASS

When Life Gives You Lemons

DSC_0142Hi everyone,

So I’ve been unwell the past couple of weeks. My immune system has been pretty much non-existent and as a result I have had to put up with viruses galore. I had to take the whole of week 8 off and just spend the entire time resting in bed (I’m now dealing with a sinus infection. Le sigh). I was also feeling very stressed about all the work I had to do at uni and was starting to think that I wouldn’t be able to get through the rest of the semester. It got me thinking. Continue reading When Life Gives You Lemons

Hang In There

As the end of semester draws near and the stress levels rise, if you’re anything like me you’ll be holding on by the tips of your fingernails. Complacency and exhaustion set in. You may have missed lectures in order to work frantically on that essay that is due tomorrow or just catch up on some much needed zzz’s and suddenly you’re well behind and feeling very overwhelmed…

Source: http://www.bigbrandsystem.com/why-try-and-why-hang-on/
Source: http://www.bigbrandsystem.com/why-try-and-why-hang-on/

Continue reading Hang In There

MEWD: People Do Care

Emma Foster - ASK Blog PicSecond semester last year is when my depression started to really, seriously, and truly affect my studies. I could not tell you how many of my lectures and tutorials I attended that semester, but I can almost guarantee you that it was less than 40%. In all reality, it was probably more like 20–30%. This was a big deal for someone who only missed eight classes in total through first year. Continue reading MEWD: People Do Care

MEWD: Projects

Emma Foster - ASK Blog PicSomething that I find helps me out when battling this whole depression thing, is to have little projects to keep my hands busy.

I find that if I’m just sitting watching television, my mind still seems to be able to cloud over with worries and stresses and sad things. My (sometimes) solution to this is to add another thing into the mix to keep my feet planted in the real world. Continue reading MEWD: Projects