ATAR Notes: Forum

Uni Stuff => General University Discussion and Queries => The University Journey Journal => Topic started by: fantasticbeasts3 on January 22, 2018, 07:49:48 pm

Title: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on January 22, 2018, 07:49:48 pm
It is I, fantasticbeasts3, with a new journal! Going to try and type in sentence case (at least that's what Microsoft Word calls it) for the journal so I feel somewhat grown-up.

I'm going to be studying a Bachelor of International Studies/Bachelor of Media (PR/Advertising) at UNSW this year, and I'm soooo excited. I've been hyping up uni for so long, and to think I'm finally going in just over a month's time is crazy.

Why International Studies and Media?
I had no idea what I wanted to do after school in years 9 and 10, but I knew the subjects I couldn't stand. I loved Commerce, but when I looked up business degrees, it just didn't stick because I hated Maths. Music was a huge no no. So was English, Geography, PDHPE, Science... pretty much every subject except for History. Year 11 came along, and I really loved Legal Studies, so started looking somewhere humanities related, and that's where I found International Studies! I told my parents, and they told me to combine it with something else, and Media came along. :-)

It all worked out in the end - taking what I liked in school and applying it for later. Also, although I didn't really like Business Studies, the marketing topic was so fascinating to me, so that sorted the PR/Advertising major for the Media degree. :-) Aaaaand I run an Instagram with a relatively large following so social media appealed to me too!

What does the course entail?
Okay so anyone I know and talk to regularly is probably so sick of me hyping everything up but IT'S JUST SO EXCITING. International Studies is pretty basic, you learn a language, learn about the world blah blah, and Media is just media... But. But. But. The best part is exchangeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. This is done in third year at UNSW, and I'm that excited I've already chosen the country I'm going to (Germany) because I decided a while ago I wanted to learn German and I just wooooooooooo

Why UNSW?
It was my dream to go to UNSW. Coming from an Asian family, it was a low-key expectation to go to a "top-tier" university, and knowing people who had went there, they had hyped up UNSW too. Although there are better institutions to study Media, International Studies was where my heart was, and I thought that UNSW had an awesome International Studies course, and Media went alright so yea! I love the campus and the whole vibe there as well.

Anyway, I'm super keen for uni, if it hasn't been obvious already. It's been so cool reading all the uni journals, and now I'm writing mine?? Whaaaaaattttt.

Hope you all have had a great day,
fantasticbeasts x

PS. I hope 'A whole new world' is stuck in your head :-) Edit (26/9/18): I just realised that "a whole new world" can allude to my degree lol because I'm studying International Studies?? I intended for it to sound like uni was a whole new world but now it can relate to my degree okay I'm done rambling bye

thoughts for today
- I'm going to be employed after the Christmas Casual period wooooo
- HSC certificate ha ha ha. Have to get it from the post office tomorrow. High school is pretty much officially over!
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: katie,rinos on January 22, 2018, 07:56:54 pm
Yay! Loved your HSC journal! So excited to read about your course. It sounds really interesting (especially the exchange)!  :D
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on January 22, 2018, 08:03:03 pm
Yay! Loved your HSC journal! So excited to read about your course. It sounds really interesting (especially the exchange)!  :D

Thanks Katie!! Super excited to read about yours as well! :-) (Maybe you could go on exchange too?? Would be so cool!)

Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: RuiAce on January 22, 2018, 08:04:25 pm
Why UNSW?
It was my dream to go to UNSW. Coming from an Asian family, it was a low-key expectation to go to a "top-tier" university, and knowing people who had went there, they had hyped up UNSW too. Although there are better institutions to study Media, International Studies was where my heart was, and I decided that UNSW had an awesome International Studies course, and Media went alright so yea! I love the campus and the whole vibe there as well.

What a good choice of university.
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on January 22, 2018, 08:14:01 pm
What a good choice of university.

Thanks Rui, I'm glad you approve.
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: Yertle the Turtle on January 22, 2018, 08:32:31 pm
Great job on getting a course you are looking forward to. I hope the rest of the course is as good as you think, particularly the exchange which sounds great. Have fun, and good luck! ;D
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: beatroot on January 22, 2018, 08:51:30 pm
Super excited to read all your updates! ;D
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on January 22, 2018, 08:53:01 pm
Great job on getting a course you are looking forward to. I hope the rest of the course is as good as you think, particularly the exchange which sounds great. Have fun, and good luck! ;D

Thank you! I'm so excited hahaha - I hope I haven't over-hyped the whole course and uni experience!

Best of luck with the VCE too! :-)

Super excited to read all your updates! ;D

Thank you!! You should start a journal too ;)
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: beatroot on January 22, 2018, 10:51:42 pm
Thank you!! You should start a journal too ;)

soon ;)
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: Joseph41 on January 23, 2018, 08:08:40 am
So, what's the Insta? ;)
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on January 23, 2018, 09:35:30 am
So, what's the Insta? ;)

Will be revealed... never? unless you find it first
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: Potatohater on January 23, 2018, 10:56:28 am
Will be revealed... never? unless you find it first

You've sent me on a mission now, only time will tell if I'm correct
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on January 23, 2018, 06:37:42 pm
You've sent me on a mission now, only time will tell if I'm correct

👀
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: Bri MT on January 25, 2018, 05:13:56 pm
Keen for updates - have you selected your units yet?  What draws you to German?


I have a placement during third year too but I have no idea where I want to go yet so if anything else helped you decide feel free to let me know
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on January 25, 2018, 05:34:42 pm
Keen for updates - have you selected your units yet?  What draws you to German?


I have a placement during third year too but I have no idea where I want to go yet so if anything else helped you decide feel free to let me know

Thank you!! Yep, I have selected my subjects - I just followed the handbook :-)

I don't really know what drew me to German tbh, I studied Germany as a topic for Modern History last year but it wasn't my favourite topic?? I've always been interested in learning languages though, and when I was bothered with duolingo I did German and it seemed like a pretty cool language... I don't know why I'm interested in learning German 😂

As for the overseas placement, I originally wanted to go to Austria because *aesthetic* but the exchange unis for my course weren't in the capital city, and then my mum was like "If you're learning German you may as well go to the country the language originated from" so that helped with the decision making. Is there any country that interests you, or you haven't been to? Or even cities? Try looking in the exchange section of your uni's website and maybe choose some you would like to do an exchange :-) I found that really hyped up the whole thing and helped me decide too. I hope this helps!
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: Bri MT on January 25, 2018, 06:49:13 pm
Thank you!! Yep, I have selected my subjects - I just followed the handbook :-)

I don't really know what drew me to German tbh, I studied Germany as a topic for Modern History last year but it wasn't my favourite topic?? I've always been interested in learning languages though, and when I was bothered with duolingo I did German and it seemed like a pretty cool language... I don't know why I'm interested in learning German 😂

As for the overseas placement, I originally wanted to go to Austria because *aesthetic* but the exchange unis for my course weren't in the capital city, and then my mum was like "If you're learning German you may as well go to the country the language originated from" so that helped with the decision making. Is there any country that interests you, or you haven't been to? Or even cities? Try looking in the exchange section of your uni's website and maybe choose some you would like to do an exchange :-) I found that really hyped up the whole thing and helped me decide too. I hope this helps!

I studied Dutch on duolingo for a while so the Netherlands would make sense.  My nanna was born there and I know I've got relatives but I've never interacted with them and don't feel a strong connection to the country. 

I've been offered chances to go overseas before due to school and scouts but never took them as passports require both parents' approval.

I know I'm least interested in the US and the UK (I want a bit more cultural change than that) but Monash just has enough partner universities that looking at the list was a bit overwhelming. That gives me an idea though - maybe I should print it out and annotate it.

Thankyou for your advice!  :)
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on January 25, 2018, 07:27:53 pm
I studied Dutch on duolingo for a while so the Netherlands would make sense.  My nanna was born there and I know I've got relatives but I've never interacted with them and don't feel a strong connection to the country. 

I've been offered chances to go overseas before due to school and scouts but never took them as passports require both parents' approval.

I know I'm least interested in the US and the UK (I want a bit more cultural change than that) but Monash just has enough partner universities that looking at the list was a bit overwhelming. That gives me an idea though - maybe I should print it out and annotate it.

Thankyou for your advice!  :)

No worries :-) Go with your instincts for where you want to go. Just curious, have you been overseas before?
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: beatroot on January 25, 2018, 07:47:57 pm
I did German and it seemed like a pretty cool language... I don't know why I'm interested in learning German 😂

Yes!!! I studied German for two days and I thought that the language was complicated yet very interesting.

Where in Germany do you plan on going to for your exchange? Do you have to go to the capital city? I've been to both Bonn and Cologne and it's so beautiful. Can't wait for your updates in Germany ;)
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: Bri MT on January 25, 2018, 08:19:45 pm
No worries :-) Go with your instincts for where you want to go. Just curious, have you been overseas before?

No
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on January 25, 2018, 09:07:50 pm
Yes!!! I studied German for two days and I thought that the language was complicated yet very interesting.

Where in Germany do you plan on going to for your exchange? Do you have to go to the capital city? I've been to both Bonn and Cologne and it's so beautiful. Can't wait for your updates in Germany ;)

Hahaha yay!! I don't know, I'm hoping Berlin because #history, but going to the capital city depends on which uni you choose to exchange to – if it's in the capital then you go there I guess ahaha. Germany is so beautiful (judging from pictures) so I'm super excited!! Yeeeesss get keen for the updates, only 2 more years to go 😅

No

Ahhh rightio! You'll have the best time overseas :-)
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on February 19, 2018, 09:06:45 pm
19/02/2018

Hello, hello!

Today was the beginning of O-Week, and I had so much fun. I began my day by missing the bus to campus(which wasn't my fault) and I missed my faculty welcome. Whoops. Here's a quick rundown of today:
- Very hot. Or maybe it was just humidity.
- Made a new friend!
- Lots of freebies.
- I joined some societies (not going to lie, mainly to get more freebies).
- Saw some of the NSW AN crew! It was so good to see you again, guys, maybe I'll see you around on campus. :-)
- Caught up with friends.

I'm going again tomorrow for degree-specific stuff and I'm pretty excited - I haven't met anyone doing the same course as me. I'll be definitely out of my comfort zone, as I'm quite shy when it comes to meeting new people, but we shall see.

Hope you all had an awesome day,
fantasticbeasts x
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: Potatohater on February 19, 2018, 09:22:07 pm
19/02/2018
- Saw some of the NSW AN crew! It was so good to see you again, guys, maybe I'll see you around on campus. :-)


It was so good seeing you too! Even if it wasn't long and Katie and I kinda lost you in the crowd. Too bad I'm a fake UNSW student though cause damnnnnnnnn today was impressive.

19/02/2018
as I'm quite shy when it comes to meeting new people, but we shall see.


Ahh relatable!!
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on February 19, 2018, 10:17:28 pm
It was so good seeing you too! Even if it wasn't long and Katie and I kinda lost you in the crowd. Too bad I'm a fake UNSW student though cause damnnnnnnnn today was impressive.

It's okay, there were so many people anyways! I hope you had lots of fun pretending to be a UNSW student, hahaha

Ahh relatable!!

Woooo another person in the same boat. :-)
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on February 20, 2018, 10:54:32 pm
20/02/2018 (uni starts a week from today! crazy)

It was a lot cooler today woooooooooooo

I don't usually get sick, but now I'm sick and I feel like I've taken advantage of the time I wasn't sick. Regardless, I still had an awesome time at Day 2 of O-Week, and once again, here's a quick rundown:
- Saw katie,rinos again today! She's mentioned this in her journal, but we went to a super boring lecture. It probably wasn't intended to be boring, but it was.
- Saw two friends from school, which was nice because I haven't seen them since... well, a while ago. It was great catching up with them :-)
- More freebies!
- Went to two degree-specific things today, and met a few new people. There was a barbecue after the International Studies lecture, and I don't know I feel like everyone's really welcoming and I can relate to these people?

Also, does anyone watch Cable Girls on Netflix? I just finished season 2 today and I'm so angry I want it to keep going!!!!!! I need to know what happens and the next season doesn't come out until like probably the end of the year UGHkjhefkshfler

Hope you all had an awesome day,
fantasticbeasts
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on February 27, 2018, 07:02:21 pm
27/02/2018

Hello, hello!

I had my first ever lecture today, and geez, waking up early is awful. The lecture started at 9, and I had to get up at 7. I missed two trains, and the bus was packed and I walked up and down the building trying to figure out where the room was. I reckon by the end of this year, I'll be super fit because of the stairs and all the walking 😂

The lecture was for the subject 'Key Debates in International Studies.' The lecture was really interesting, and I'm super pumped to go to the tutorial next week! We're doing a group project (yuck) (not to mention it's every week) but next week's topic is on Brexit, and we have to negotiate with other teams involved in discussions for the issue of the Irish border. I was too lazy to do the readings assigned today (45 pages...) so I did a bit of research for the tutorial activity and read the course outline instead hahaha. I'm really excited to learn more. :-)

Tomorrow I have my first lecture for German! I read through the course outline today and wooooo just very excited. I'm interested to see how they teach languages at uni because I haven't had the best experiences learning languages. I hope I haven't hyped it up too much.

Hope you all have had a great week so far,
fantasticbeasts x
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: paigek3 on February 27, 2018, 10:04:00 pm
27/02/2018

Hello, hello!

I had my first ever lecture today, and geez, waking up early is awful. The lecture started at 9, and I had to get up at 7. I missed two trains, and the bus was packed and I walked up and down the building trying to figure out where the room was. I reckon by the end of this year, I'll be super fit because of the stairs and all the walking 😂

The lecture was for the subject 'Key Debates in International Studies.' The lecture was really interesting, and I'm super pumped to go to the tutorial next week! We're doing a group project (yuck) (not to mention it's every week) but next week's topic is on Brexit, and we have to negotiate with other teams involved in discussions for the issue of the Irish border. I was too lazy to do the readings assigned today (45 pages...) so I did a bit of research for the tutorial activity and read the course outline instead hahaha. I'm really excited to learn more. :-)

Tomorrow I have my first lecture for German! I read through the course outline today and wooooo just very excited. I'm interested to see how they teach languages at uni because I haven't had the best experiences learning languages. I hope I haven't hyped it up too much.

Hope you all have had a great week so far,
fantasticbeasts x

Sounds super interesting!!!

What are your media type subjects called?
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on February 27, 2018, 10:52:35 pm
Sounds super interesting!!!

What are your media type subjects called?

Yea! Pretty geed to go back into uni hahaha. My two media subjects are "Media, Culture & Everyday Life" and "Media & Communication Contexts." :-)
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on March 08, 2018, 09:55:03 pm
08/03/2018

Hiiii. Hope you all had a great day today!

It's been a while since my last update (HSC me would've updated like every second day hahaha), so here goes. :-) I've had a pretty good time at uni so far - I've met quite a few new people, and there's someone who's in all classes with me except for one, which is awesome. It's nice knowing you have someone relatively familiar in a totally new environment. The group project thing I talked about last week has been good for meeting more people as well. :-)

German is by far my favourite subject; it's just the best. The excitement of learning a language might go away soon hahaha (hopefully never!) but anyway, the tutorial group is super small, so it's a lot easier to ask questions, clarify things, and not get distracted. Yay for German! The other international studies subject I do has been good, but the readings are just crap. They're so dry and boring and complicated to read so it takes like a good day to read about 30 pages. Not to mention one of my media subjects had an awful reading, but it's only the first proper week, so I'll get used to it.

It's been great reading everyone else's uni journals, glad to see everyone's settling in so well :-)

Hope you all have a great Friday and weekend,
fantasticbeasts
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: paigek3 on March 08, 2018, 10:46:40 pm
08/03/2018

Hiiii. Hope you all had a great day today!

It's been a while since my last update (HSC me would've updated like every second day hahaha), so here goes. :-) I've had a pretty good time at uni so far - I've met quite a few new people, and there's someone who's in all classes with me except for one, which is awesome. It's nice knowing you have someone relatively familiar in a totally new environment. The group project thing I talked about last week has been good for meeting more people as well. :-)

German is by far my favourite subject; it's just the best. The excitement of learning a language might go away soon hahaha (hopefully never!) but anyway, the tutorial group is super small, so it's a lot easier to ask questions, clarify things, and not get distracted. Yay for German! The other international studies subject I do has been good, but the readings are just crap. They're so dry and boring and complicated to read so it takes like a good day to read about 30 pages. Not to mention one of my media subjects had an awful reading, but it's only the first proper week, so I'll get used to it.

It's been great reading everyone else's uni journals, glad to see everyone's settling in so well :-)

Hope you all have a great Friday and weekend,
fantasticbeasts

One of my Media classes also had a super dry reading this week hahaha!! We spent so much time at the beginning of class expressing how bored and confused we were because it started talking about Christianity and the King of Hungary??!!! We were like ummm this isn’t anything to do with media hahahaha
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on March 08, 2018, 11:04:31 pm
One of my Media classes also had a super dry reading this week hahaha!! We spent so much time at the beginning of class expressing how bored and confused we were because it started talking about Christianity and the King of Hungary??!!! We were like ummm this isn’t anything to do with media hahahaha

Hahahaha media = history lesson?? Media has been weirdly confusing lately
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on March 21, 2018, 10:41:09 pm
21/03/18

Hello!!!

It feels like it's been a while since my last update, but I think it's because I don't have a lot to say. Reading everyone else's uni journals has been great though, keep it up guys!

Today was pretty good. On Wednesdays, I'm in from 1-6, and I only have a lecture and tutorial for German, which is easily the best subject on my timetable. It's even better because I'm with my primary school friend who I haven't seen in 6 years (at least until uni started), so every lecture is like a catch up. Besides that, German is getting super confusing lol like the conjugations and grammatical genders and there's things that sound like English but it's not so I always get mixed up. I really don't want to fall behind in the subject, but it's proving really hard when a language is something that needs to be practiced daily, and I have 3 other subjects which require time and effort too.

Also, I submitted my first assignment today for one of my media subjects. I don't think I did a very good job on it, and I just want to pass lol. The subject it's for is really dry and I still have to do a reading before the tutorial tomorrow at 9am, whoops. That's okay, I'll skim read it and hope everyone else in the class can answer questions for me hahaha. I have another two assignments due next Thursday: one for German, and one for my other media course. I think I've got the German one down pat - I think I know what I'm doing, but the media one... that's another story. At least I've got another week, then it's mid semester break woooooo.

I think I'm settling into uni alright, like I've made a few friends, and I always see people from high school, so it's good to know I've got people around to hang out with. I just need to get my priorities straight, particularly with time management. I struggled a lot with that during year 12, and it wasn't until the HSC I could actually manage my time properly, but since mid-sem break is coming up, I've got time to sort everything out even though everything is slowly hitting me in the face.

Hope you're all going well! :-)
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: Potatohater on March 22, 2018, 08:06:55 am
everything is slowly hitting me in the face.
Ich bin der gleiche sofort arggh!
( sorry if that's the wrong grammar, all I have is my year 8 knowledge and a small German dictionary)
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on March 22, 2018, 08:51:01 am
Ich bin der gleiche sofort arggh!
( sorry if that's the wrong grammar, all I have is my year 8 knowledge and a small German dictionary)

Ahahaha mein Deutsch ist schlecht 😅it's all good, I had to copy paste that into Google translate because I only knew what "ich bin" was oops. Hope uni is going well for you!
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on March 29, 2018, 03:58:41 pm
29/03/18

Now that I've finished both my assignments due today, it seems appropriate that I end the week with an update. :-) Usually I go to uni on Fridays (with a 9am start...) but since it's Good Friday tomorrow, I don't have to go woooooo.

The assignments went alright - just glad they're over, because mid-sem break is here yay! I have to catch up on the readings I missed because of the assignments, and complete a 2000 word essay assignment over the break, but it's okay because at least I waking up early to go to uni. I think I'm going to make some flashcards for German too, because I'm always forgetting words and their articles.

I don't really have much to say now, except for I'm really excited for the weekend and this break - it will be pretty chill except for doing work.

Hope you all have an awesome long weekend!
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on April 09, 2018, 11:53:33 am
09/04/18

Currently: smashing out the last 200 words of my essay due 4pm today which I still need to edit (i.e. changing an entire paragraph ahfashflsdf) and change the formatting of some of the references from citethisforme, and disappointed in what I got for my MDIA1002 assessment.

My self-confidence with academic-related things, for lack of a better word, has always been shit. I'm always that person who thinks they're going to do bad, and then either smashes it or does decent. But, my definition of decent always means getting at least 80% in something (except for maths last year lol what a joke). I got my MDIA1002 assessment grade today, and I was disappointed. Sure, I've been told many times that you can do a lot worse in the first semester of uni when compared to high school, and it's something to be expected, but I'm just disappointed in myself. It's not an awful mark, but I'm sitting in disbelief and I don't know how to feel about this INST1005 essay I'm writing right now because I'm just hoping I pass lol like any confidence I had which was non-existent anyway is just out the window. And INST1005 is the worst at marking - the tute prep tasks don't have a lot of feedback... like okay darl

Rip to my WAM. Bye, it was nice never knowing you xoxo

Anyway, hope you're all having a great day :-) mid-sem break is over and so is any chance of doing well at the moment ha ha ha

Also I just realised I posted twice lol my laptop was being a weird before and I ended up posting just the date before ahaha
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on April 19, 2018, 06:16:56 pm
19/04/18 (warning: this will be very long)

Hi friends! Currently super relieved, having finished three assessments over two days!

I'll start with stuff I got back this week.
- ARTS1090 (media subject) // probably the worst subject on my timetable... but whatever lol. Did pretty good in this one, especially considering I thought I did an awful job on the assignment - felt like I handed in the worst thing ever. Yay for a distinction!
- ARTS1510 (German) // quite surprised with this one! This one was a five page portfolio. I knew I made a ton of mistakes, but I did put in a little more effort. One mark off a HD, but it's okay, there's two more portfolios I can improve on :-)

Assessments I did this week:
- INST1005 // this was done last week, but I felt like I submitted total trash. Apparently we're getting them back by the end of next week which is scary because I know I didn't do very well in this one.
- ARTS1510 (Wednesday) // listening test for German, which didn't go very well. I wasn't expecting spelling which was pretty much the lecturer reading out letters in German and then writing down the letters of a word. There's literally four different letters that sound like "ooh" so that was difficult. Fun fact: kangaroo = känguru
- MDIA1002 (today) // multiple choice quiz worth 20%. You know those questions where each question has answers that all sound right, and you have to pick the one that's the most correct? That was every single question in this test. Really not confident about this one.
- ARTS1090 (today) // this was an annotated bibliography for some journal articles (the journal articles are going to be in a literature review which is the next assessment). Once again, I felt like I submitted trash. I don't think I interpreted the articles correctly, and the whole bibliography wasn't written very well so like... I'll be glad to pass.

This week:
- Enrolment for next semester is coming up, so my friends and I were on bojangles for an hour (procrastination... what can I say) comparing timetables and trying to get in the same classes. Don't think we're going to be in a lot of the same classes next semester which is kinda sad but here's to meeting new people...?
- Exchange is also coming up in a year and a half (whaaaat) and I have to get everything together by the beginning of next year, so there's been a bit of researching for that.
- I've also been looking at the minor streams for International Studies (we start that next year), and I'm very split between Politics and International Relations or International Business. I like learning about politics, but I think it's going to be a very popular minor stream and I don't know if I like the idea of having a ton of people doing the same thing? As for International Business, I don't want to get let down studying business especially after I thought I was interested in business, which I did in year 11 and 12, but found it really dry and boring. I would like to do International Business, but there's just that voice in the back of my mind saying it's going to let me down again. But, I think it'll tie in nicely with Media :-) Also, the International Business minor is 30 credits, compared to 24 credits for the other minors so I don't know?? I've got about half a year to decide, but yeaaaaa very conflicted

Today: new notification for the last MDIA1002 assessment. It's another writing task, and we can choose whether we want to write a press release or news article. We have to base this off something related to UNSW, and I have no idea what I'm going to do because we actually have to interview people. As I'm already very socially awkward, I really don't know how this interviewing is going to go - I'm probably going to embarrass myself really badly lol. If anyone has suggestions for this task, please leave them below :-)

If you made it here, congrats!!!! You've gotten through a very long ramble.

Hope you have an awesome Friday and weekend,
fantasticbeasts x
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on April 24, 2018, 10:09:15 pm
24/04/18

Hi friends! This should be a short(er) update. :-)

Today: super fun today! I have a four hour break on Tuesdays (ugh) but it's sometimes it's good to have a weekly group project because there's people to hang out with. The topic today was Fair Trade chocolate, which was quite interesting.
Tomorrow: Thank goodness for a public holiday. I have so much to catch up on... regrets. I binge watched the last 1 and a half seasons of How I Met Your Mother on the weekend instead of doing the readings and notes I was supposed to do, but what's done is done hahaha. HIMYM was great though!! Loved the ending. The plan is:
- German notes and flashcards
- Finish readings for tutorials on Thursday (crying inside thinking about this)
- INST lecture notes from today

I think the main reason I wanted to update (so quickly as well) is because I've realised two things about myself.
1. I'm much more confident speaking in front of a class!!!! I remember in Mock Trial I was like an earthquake, because I was shaking so much. Now, even though I'm still quite nervous talking in front of people, I feel a lot better doing it. Cheers to INST1005 and their group presentations every week - it's now a lot easier for me to express my opinion for topics discussed in class, instead of keeping it cooped in. :-)
2. I've realised I want to get into PR more than advertising (although advertising would still be pretty cool) and I actually don't mind writing? We have a writing task for MDIA1002 to do every week, and I thought it was enjoyable to write the media releases. I also decided on an International Business major for the International Studies degree, which should tie in pretty nicely with my media degree. Yay for realising stuff about the future!

ALSO today was super reassuring because my INST1005 lecturer reassured us there are a ton of jobs out there for people with an International Studies degree, and that it's an apparently growing field. Yay! I don't feel that anxious about the future anymore.

Hope you all had an awesome day,
fantasticbeasts x
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on May 07, 2018, 09:20:46 pm
07/05/18

Hey friends!

Heading into winter now, although Sydney is strange and we're having half a week of 26 degrees like alright sure weather, no worries. The weather really needs to decide whether it's going to be warm or cold. Honestly.

Anyway, recapping my last two weeks:
- Assessments: currently drowning in work but after next Thursday is over I'll be free for a few days then back to more assessments! I have a 1.5k word literature review due next Thursday which I've literally just started and a German exam next Wednesday. As for assessments I've been getting back, that's been alright. :-)
- Semester 2: you guys. My timetable is AMAZING. I'm only at uni for 2.5 days which means I can work 4 days a week heck yeaaaaa bring in the money lol. I'm in Monday from 9-4, Wednesday from 10-4.30 and Friday from 9-12.30 (12.30 is only a lecture which I can skip so woo).
- Exams: well I didn't know Saturday exams were a thing until now. Who the flying heck decides an exam at 8.45am on a Saturday is appropriate?? Saturdays are for sleep ins, not uni exams. Gosh, uni. What the heck.

Hope you all have an awesome week,
fantasticbeasts x
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: Bri MT on May 08, 2018, 07:00:49 am
Your sem 2 timetable sounds brilliant!

Do you get swotvac?
Do you struggle to reach the word count or stay within it? 
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on May 08, 2018, 07:33:11 am
Your sem 2 timetable sounds brilliant!

Do you get swotvac?
Do you struggle to reach the word count or stay within it? 

Hi!

Yes it is, I’m so excited for next sem because the timetable is good... is that weird?

I had to google what swotvac was before answering the question lol. Yea we do, I just don’t know when.

Not all the time!! Really depends on the assignment, but sometimes I write way more than the word count, but other times I struggle to reach it.
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on May 19, 2018, 06:48:54 pm
19/05/18

Hi friends, hope your week has been great!

Royal wedding is in a few hours (yay) - I've always been interested in the monarchy (don't ask why, I don't know myself) so I'm pretty pumped! I think I'm going to have it streaming on one side of my laptop screen, and have my OneNote opened to take notes for my readings hahaha. Multitasking is where it's at woo

Anyway, onto a quick rundown of assessments and my week:

Assessments:
- Wednesday: German written exam. I think this one was okay. I remember straight after finishing it I thought I did awful, but looking back on it now it was alright?? There were a few things I was a bit stumped on but I think I improvised well enough ahaha it is so hard to bs a language. The strangest part of the exam was a 30-mark extended response which was a response to an email that had to be 80-100 words in German. I was expecting an extended response, but I wasn't expecting it be worth that many marks.
- Thursday: ARTS1090 literature review. I feel like every time I submit an assignment for this subject, I submit trash lol. I don't have much to say about this except I hope I pass.
- Upcoming assessments: German speaking test and writing task for MDIA1002. I need to catch up on the stuff I abandoned because of my assessments this week, but I'll start preparing for those soon-ish.

This week I felt like I only did assessments, and after they were over, I've done nothing. I've been very unmotivated to do work lately so that has resulted in a lot of YouTube and Netflix.

I've recently started watching videos from the YouTube channel Jubilee, and they are so good. Highly recommend it - I quite like 'Middle Ground' and 'Both Sides'. I also watched 'Charité' on Netflix, and it was awesome. It's a German medical drama set in the late 1880s, and it was quite interesting to see medicine being practiced so long ago. The show is based on real people with a few fictional ones thrown in. 6 episodes, 50 mins each, 1 season, pretty good to watch in one go.

Have a great weekend + awesome week,
fantasticbeasts x
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on May 30, 2018, 08:14:26 pm
30/05/18

Hi friends, hope your week has been awesome! It's finally the last week of uni and I'm so excited for the semester to be over - it's gone pretty quick, but I'm so tired most days so I'm looking forward to break.

Rundown of what's been going on:
- Went back to my old high school for a career's market thing they do every year and spoke to year 10-12 students about my uni course! Initially I didn't want to go because I would skip my last German lecture, but it was really rewarding and I'm so happy I went. It was also really nice to see my teachers again! Definitely going back next year. I don't think you realise how passionate you are about something until you talk about it either!
- Didn't do too well in one of my German assignments CYA
- German speaking test today: I think it went alright. The task was to have a conversation with a partner with a randomly allocated topic (1 of 4 topics which were discussed in one of the lectures) and my friend and I got the topic we wanted so yea!
- UNSW strike today lol the picket line people told me not to go to class (fair enough - they're striking for a good cause) and I told them I had an exam, and they were like skip the exam... right sure mate I'll definitely do that.
- Procrastinating writing my article for MDIA1002 which is due on Friday. I'm so low on motivation right now to finish this like I could probably submit this unfinished.
- Saw katie,rinos on the train today! Was nice catching up :-)

Alsooooo can any UNSW students help me out with the exam period? How do I get to Randwick Racecourse for my exam? Apparently the UNSW express will have an extra stop at the Racecourse during exam period but is that true? And will the buses run on Saturdays (I have an exam on a Saturday)? Send help pleaseeee thanks

Have an awesome rest of your week,
fantasticbeasts
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: beatroot on May 30, 2018, 08:28:57 pm
Alsooooo can any UNSW students help me out with the exam period? How do I get to Randwick Racecourse for my exam? Apparently the UNSW express will have an extra stop at the Racecourse during exam period but is that true? And will the buses run on Saturdays (I have an exam on a Saturday)? Send help pleaseeee thanks


Pretty sure you can grab any bus that starts with 37 or 39 from Central station to Randwick racecourse. Depends which part of the racecourse you want to go to though. The side nearest to UNSW (High Street) or the side near to Centennial park. For the entrance on High street, just grab any bus that starts with 39. For the entrance near centennial, get a bus that starts with 37 :)
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on May 30, 2018, 09:35:27 pm
Pretty sure you can grab any bus that starts with 37 or 39 from Central station to Randwick racecourse. Depends which part of the racecourse you want to go to though. The side nearest to UNSW (High Street) or the side near to Centennial park. For the entrance on High street, just grab any bus that starts with 39. For the entrance near centennial, get a bus that starts with 37 :)

Ooh danke! Let's hope I can figure out buses by exam period lol
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on June 08, 2018, 05:13:21 pm
08/06/18

Hey everyone!

So uni break has come and gone... and it's now time for exam prep.

What's happened during this break? Well...
- A few family issues popped up which meant I had to stop doing uni work for a bit
- I had an assignment due today 4pm for German so the personal issues impacted on the quality of my work (I had to do the assignment in a day and a half) which I'm kinda upset about because I could've gotten a HD in this course, but that's life and whatever comes, comes you know?

The assignment was a portfolio and there were two done before this one so I knew I needed a week to do it well. Instead, I did the whole thing in a huge rush and it didn't turn out as well as I wanted. Anyway, one of the tasks in this portfolio is to create 3 "language learning products" to demonstrate what you've learnt but these LLPs have to be done in a creative way. For one of them, I made an ad (for Strepsils lol) which is here:

I had a lot of fun making it ahahah. To any German speakers here, I apologise for my grammar and pronunciation - absolutely butchered it.

In the exam period, I only have 2 exams. One next Saturday, and one the week after on a Friday. I think I've got ample time to prepare for it so I should be fine. The only thing that doesn't make me that confident about the exams is the fact that there's NO PAST PAPERS. That's the weirdest change from uni to high school because in the HSC (heck, even years 7-11) there were always a ton of practice papers to get used to the exam format and how questions could be asked but now there's none?? Not a fan.

Hope you all have had a great week!

Love,
fantasticbeasts x
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on July 25, 2018, 01:43:09 pm
25/07/18

Hey, friends! It's been a while (there's even the red box to tell me I haven't posted here in over 30 days!) Btw, this is going to be really long.

Here's a quick rundown of what's been happening since the last time I updated:
- Results: mostly good! Out loud, I say my goal is just to pass everything but in my mind I have pretty high expectations for myself and I passed most of them so yay.
- Break: very chilled out. I did nothing most for most of it except a bit of German revision. I'm also now up-to-date on Jane the Virgin.

And now for the beginning of Semester 2. I'm only at uni for 2.5 days a week, so Monday, Wednesday and half of Friday. So far, I'm really liking the days off but after writing out my assessments in the semester planner thingy in the Arc diary... I need the days off. My assessments this semester are super hectic but it means I don't have any final exams so whoooooooooooooooop. And before I forget, these are the subjects I'm doing this semester:
- ARTS1091: Media, Society, Politics
- ARTS1511: Introductory German B
- INST1006: The World in Transition
- MDIA1003: PR and Advertising Foundations

THIS WEEK:
- Monday:
German and MDIA1003 lectures. German was good as always, but we have a new lecturer and tutor now because the German language department at UNSW has just left lol. The new lecturer wasn't too bad, but I miss my old tutor already. MDIA1003 was okay - lots of introductory stuff at the beginning which was really boring but then the content was quite interesting. It's reassuring when that happens because I feel like I've picked the right degree hahaha.

- Tuesday:
Break day. Also the worst day this week (so far).

Here's the story. I was going to meet up with my mum for lunch after she finished work (she starts pretty early) and I brought my laptop with me so I could do work on the way there. I always bring a water bottle and as I was running for the bus MY BOTTLE LEAKED. A LOT. What I didn't realise was it got into my laptop. Because I wasn't at uni that day, I didn't bring my larger backpack, and so I didn't use my bulky, heavy-duty laptop case because it wouldn't fit in the smaller backpack I used that day. I used a laptop sleeve and THE WATER WENT ALL OVER MY LAPTOP. I didn't realise until I got home and the water had seeped into my screen so like... rip laptop. It still turned on and was totally functional, but there was obvious water damage on the screen. This leads into the events of today.

- Wednesday:
After my INST1006 lecture, I went to an Apple Authorised Retailer (idk what they call it hahaha) to see what they could do with my laptop. I don't have insurance (guys get insurance just in case seriously) via AppleCare so that really upped the price of the repair. I've just spent over an hour trying not to cry about this because I honestly don't have the money to pay for this, especially when I have to save a lot before exchange. I'm praying that the water didn't get into the laptop itself because that will be waaaaaay more expensive and again, I don't have the money to pay for it. The reason I had a new laptop in the first place was because my old one needs a charger to turn on and it's very unreliable. Now, that's the laptop I have to use. I miss the clear screen, I miss how fast my new laptop was and I miss how it didn't need a charger to turn on. Wow. I miss my laptop.

But anyway, I've learnt very valuable lessons through this experience. (1) always use the heavy-duty case. I have it for a reason. (2) when buying a laptop, buy the insurance. It's an extra ~$300 but will be worth it in the long run.

Well that was a super long entry.

Hope you guys are having a great week!
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: jamonwindeyer on July 25, 2018, 06:43:33 pm
25/07/18

Hey, friends! It's been a while (there's even the red box to tell me I haven't posted here in over 30 days!) Btw, this is going to be really long.

...

I thought this journal might have gone the way of Jane the Virgin - Glad to see you are back for another season ;)
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: beatroot on July 25, 2018, 07:39:33 pm
I thought this journal might have gone the way of Jane the Virgin - Glad to see you are back for another season ;)

I know, straight out of a telenovela right? ;)
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on July 25, 2018, 07:53:18 pm
I thought this journal might have gone the way of Jane the Virgin - Glad to see you are back for another season ;)

It took me a while to get this... but yes, I'm back for another season!

I know, straight out of a telenovela right? ;)

Unfortunately, my life isn't dramatic enough to be from a telenovela :-/
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on August 12, 2018, 06:39:19 pm
12/08/18

Hi friends! It's been a while since I've updated so... here's a summary of how weeks 2 and 3 have gone. :-)

Week 2
I can't remember anything about this week except for the water stain in my laptop screen slowly began to disappear, thank goodness. So glad I didn't fork out the money to repair it -- I would've been out $700 and that is not nice especially considering I'm going on exchange to Europe for a whole year in less than 1.5 years. (Now that's super crazy to think about.)

Week 3
I was a rolling ball of stress at the beginning of last week. The INST1006 lectures continue to be crap. Like the lecturer literally reads of a sheet of paper and calls it a lecture. And it's super disorganised so by the time I'm writing my notes back onto OneNote (I write on paper in the actual lecture) I have no idea what's happened. I'm trialling going back to my laptop to write notes this week because I'm short on time this week so we'll see how that works. The German lecturer/tutor is also new and doesn't really know how to teach the course as a whole (she inherited it from last sem's lecturer) and because she doesn't know how to pace classes we're left with a heck load of stuff to catch up on. It's not mandatory to do it, but since it's a language course you kinda have to keep on top of things so yea.

This week
I have two assessments due and haven't made much progress on any so I'll see you guys at the end of the week in the hope that I've survived.

As for exchange...
UNSW says you have to get all your paperwork and preferences together by some time mid-October (I can't remember the date) if you're going on exchange in Term 3, 2019. I'm going sometime at the beginning of 2020 - should I wait for information for Term 1? Or should I be asking now about the exchange program? International Studies has a kinda specialised exchange program so my friends and I are a bit confused as to what we should do.

Hope you all have an awesome week,
fantasticbeasts x
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: S200 on August 12, 2018, 06:57:54 pm
As for exchange...
UNSW says you have to get all your paperwork and preferences together by some time mid-October (I can't remember the date) if you're going on exchange in Term 3, 2019. I'm going sometime at the beginning of 2020 - should I wait for information for Term 1? Or should I be asking now about the exchange program? International Studies has a kinda specialised exchange program so my friends and I are a bit confused as to what we should do.
Personally, I think it doesn't hurt to ask?
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on August 13, 2018, 04:46:13 pm
Personally, I think it doesn't hurt to ask?

Hi!

I think I’ll ask, but not now because the course convenor is away



Side note the WAM requirements for each exchange uni were released recently and two of the ones I wanted to go to have WAMs above 80 so like......... don’t know how that’s going to work. 😅 The WAM requirements are an indication of popularity but it looks like I’ll have to work a bit harder to make sure I can meet the WAM requirement!
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: paigek3 on August 19, 2018, 10:02:14 pm
How are you feeling about the change to trimesters???
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on August 19, 2018, 11:16:21 pm
How are you feeling about the change to trimesters???

Not a fan -- there's a huge possibility I'll have to graduate in 2023, rather than finishing in December 2022. All my subjects are messed up for Term 1 next year and overall just not impressed.

Does MQ have semesters or trimesters? And if you have semesters are you changing to trimesters?
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: paigek3 on August 20, 2018, 09:03:09 am
Not a fan -- there's a huge possibility I'll have to graduate in 2023, rather than finishing in December 2022. All my subjects are messed up for Term 1 next year and overall just not impressed.

Does MQ have semesters or trimesters? And if you have semesters are you changing to trimesters?

My friend goes to unsw and she isn’t keen either!

MQ has semesters and we’re keeping it that way. We do have a semester 3 which is optional over summer but not many do that. So yep just sticking to semester 1&2 for now thankfully!
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on August 21, 2018, 11:25:41 am
21/08/18

Hi friends! This one's going to be pretty short (I hope). Let's get straight into it!

1. I made it through last week! Yay! It was a bit stressful but I'm glad I got through it. This week I have a relatively quick essay to get through (1000 words) due on Friday. I hope it won't be too mad. Next week's the real nightmare though -- 2 mid-terms in one day, right after one another and another essay due on Sunday. It's pretty chill after that, as my assessments are spread out then after the semester break, I'm in for another assessment nightmare lasting until the end of sem. Woop. Not.
2. I HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS. Okay so "To All The Boys I've Loved Before" came out on Netflix on Friday and I've been meaning to read the books for the longest time, but I wasn't too inspired because I didn't want it to be just another YA romance novel (even though I'm a sucker for romance lol). So I watched the movie first and I loved it. Then I proceeded to read all three books. And oh my goodness. AMAZING. I can't believe I didn't read them earlier! Now I'm just drowning in my feelings and how much I want a Peter in my life but it's okay lol books are my best friends. I finished the last book like 20 minutes ago and I'm still screaming on the inside hahaha.

Hope you all have a great week,
fantasticbeasts x
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on August 29, 2018, 08:24:10 pm
29/08/18

Hallo, meine Freunde! It seemed appropriate to address you all in German as I had a German exam today.

I've had a pretty eventful week since the last time I updated. I also got a very interesting email last Friday:
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/Ijtnrry.jpg)
This was really surprising - I never considered doing Honours because honestly, I hate studying. I think I'm only at uni so I can get a job in my desired field (at this point, PR) and idk Honours seems like an extra year to pay HECS and more effort. We'll see how I feel at the end of my degree which is still a long way away!

Today I had two midterms -- one for INST1006 and the other for German and needless to say, they were both a disaster.
- INST was a disaster because I forgot so many things I wanted to write. I forgot what 'analyse' meant. That's how sad that exam was.
- German was awful because once again, I forgot so many things. I forgot the dative personal pronouns, I forgot the words for stuff in the kitchen, and I forgot prepositions for certain locations. The last written German exam, I was way more prepared -- I didn't have two exams in a day and I didn't have an assessment due the weekend before it so I had a lot more time to study. I guess I'm really disappointed in myself because I know I could've done so much better.

I also got marks back for two assessments today:
- MDIA1003 (group presentation): just missed a HD! After my not-so-nice day this was an awesome surprise. A little salty about just missing a HD but it's still a pretty good mark!
- German (portfolio): not happy with this at all - I got just over a distinction. I usually do a lot better in the portfolios and this time was just... nah. On the bright side, I got full marks for one of my LLPs (Language Learning Products - you make something to demonstrate your understanding of German) which I was super happy about because I put a lot of effort into that.

To cap off the day, I got a job interview wooooooooooooot. My current job doesn't give me enough shifts (I haven't worked for almost two months) so I've been desperate for a new job and I got an interview yay! It's retail at my local shopping centre and I'm excited because I kinda miss working -- I really need to get my savings up before I go on exchange in just over a year!!

Hope you've all had an awesome week,
fantasticbeasts (almost signed off with my real name!) x
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on September 04, 2018, 08:38:02 pm
04/09/18

Hi friends!! Hope you're all doing well. :-) If you're not doing so well, check out these memes -- I've been laughing for the past 15 minutes at them and... I'm still laughing.

Just a quick update:
- Survived assessment nightmare #1 last week!! The next assessment nightmare is in week 13 where I have a whopping 6 assessments with 4 due on the Friday. Until then, most of them are staggered but since I have 2 peaceful weeks off, I'm going to try my best to get ahead so I can focus on the big 4 in week 13!
- Had my job interview today and I think it went okay. I have another one this Saturday. Fingers crossed I get at least one of the jobs lol
- Snapchat memories let me know that two years ago yesterday I went to UNSW open day to look at the International Studies/Media course. Crazy to think how it's all come full circle and I'm studying that course (and the taster lecture I went to -- I had that same lecturer last semester!).

I'm going to continue laughing at more of those memes... just kidding I need to stop procrastinating and get started on more assessments!!

Hope you all have a great week,
fantasticbeasts x
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on September 12, 2018, 10:10:36 pm
12/09/18

Hallo meine Freunde!! I actually forgot I had a uni journal today but then something happened and I thought about saying something about it and then the journal popped back in my mind lol.

Quick rundown of what's been happening:
- Last week and this week have been pretty chill so far. Loving the assessment-less life!  I've been doing a bit work here and there to prepare for all the assignments I have due over the next few weeks.
- One of my assignments got moved back a week and I don't know how to feel. On one hand, I'm like YES extra time, but on the other I'm like NO this sucks I don't want extra time. It's due the same day as my INST1006 essay so I think I'll try and finish this assignment by the original due date, or a little after so I don't have to think about it.
- Got two assessment marks back and they weren't too bad! One of them was my INST1006 midterm which I thought was a disaster but I got a distinction!! I don't know whether I'm just dumb and the marking was lenient or I actually did okay (probably the former tbh) but that was a relief.
- Got rejected from 1 of 2 jobs I got an interview for last week. Oh well. I have my current job but the extra income would've been nice.
- I finished the new season of Cable Girls and guys let me just say that was some real dramatic crap. Telenovelas really go full-out with drama and plot twists but this last one just... nope
- Reflection: isn't it weird thinking about where you were a year ago? A year ago, I was about a week out from graduating year 12, and I had so many worries about the HSC and my future, yet I was excited to see what my life would be like post-high school. It still feels kind of surreal that I've finished school and I still hang out on this website a year on. Time flies.

Hope you all have an awesome week,
fantasticbeasts x
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on September 18, 2018, 09:45:38 pm
18/09/18

Hi friends!

I could've spent the whole day doing work for my next assessment due Friday (1500 word paper) but did I do work? Nope, I only wrote 100 words. Send help. I need to stop procrastinating but my brain is literally wired to procrastinate and I really don't know how I'm going to manage my time as Assessment Nightmare 2 approaches.

Other than my really bad habit of procrastinating... here's a life update since last week:
- Got my INST and German mid-term results back and they weren't too bad. I was expecting a fail for both and I'm somewhat happy with the marks. Super happy with INST, but for German I was disappointed. Even though I was expecting a fail, the mark itself wasn't that good for my standards. I knew I found the test really hard but I can't help being disappointed. The average made me feel a lot better lol but idk I still feel a bit sad about my mark... it is what it is
- On a total whim, I was on the Seed Heritage website (fyi, a clothing store) and while browsing I found an open job at the airport. I applied and I wasn't expecting much out of it -- then I got a call yesterday about it!! I really hope I get the job because I would be so down to quit my current one lol. My hourly rate won't be as good because the Seed job is a part-time position and my current job is casual, but at the end of the day I would be getting way more hours so the hourly rate wouldn't even matter then. Fingers crossed I get this job because my funding for exchange is very slow and I'm starting to get worried ahaha
- One year ago today I graduated high school!! Thanks Snapchat memories for informing me hahaha.
- Also, the AN HSC Snapchat has some mad background music lol

Hope you're having a great week,
fantasticbeasts x
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: sweetiepi on September 18, 2018, 09:58:22 pm
I could've spent the whole day doing work for my next assessment due Friday (1500 word paper) but did I do work? Nope, I only wrote 100 words. Send help. I need to stop procrastinating but my brain is literally wired to procrastinate and I really don't know how I'm going to manage my time as Assessment Nightmare 2 approaches.
I know that procrastination feels rn too- I have tried multiple times today to write a lab report due tomorrow night, and I've probably have only written about 50 words for it. Oops.
Hopefully you get it done on time, so do you don't stress too much! <3 ^-^
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on September 18, 2018, 10:46:44 pm
I know that procrastination feels rn too- I have tried multiple times today to write a lab report due tomorrow night, and I've probably have only written about 50 words for it. Oops.
Hopefully you get it done on time, so do you don't stress too much! <3 ^-^

You too!! I hope you can smash your lab report out super quick :-)
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on September 26, 2018, 04:07:25 pm
26/09/18

Hi friends!!!!

I have super exciting news to share so let's get right into it!
1. I got my first HD of the semester, and it wasn't one that I just scraped a HD! I'm not one to announce marks so this is momentous for me but I got a 95 on one of my essays!!! No amount of exclamation marks can emphasise how excited and happy I was about that mark. I'm still in disbelief.
2. After several applications for a job at Apple, I finally got an interview which was yesterday! I'm not allowed to talk much about it because we had to sign an NDA (the first one I've ever signed!) but I'm keeping expectations low because Apple is very selective with who they pick for jobs.

Now for a 'regular' update:
- Mid sem break is this week and I've done... nothing. I have two assignments due on Friday and I've almost finished one, but I haven't started the other which is a 2000 word essay. There hasn't been much any guidance on what to write so everyone's really confused and the lecturer hasn't replied on the Moodle forum. Really keeping my expectations low for this essay considering I have no idea what to write and I've got just over a day and a half to do it.
- Thanks to procrastination, I've now planned out my entire degree. If all goes well, I'll finish at the end of Term 2 2022!

And... a huge congrats to Year 12 who are graduating!! I hope you all feel super accomplished even though you still have the HSC to go! There's not long to go now :-)

Hope you all have an awesome week,
fantasticbeasts x
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: katie,rinos on September 26, 2018, 04:10:14 pm
That's amazing!! Congrats for both Fb3!!  ;D
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on September 26, 2018, 04:12:33 pm
That's amazing!! Congrats for both Fb3!!  ;D

Thanks Katie!!
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on October 07, 2018, 02:30:00 pm
07/10/18

Hi friends! We're in October now which is super wild because this year has gone so fast! In just over two weeks, I will have completed my first year of uni. I've got a long road ahead in terms of assignments but I. Can. Do. This.

Life updates:
- I got rejected from Apple :-( I had a group interview just under two weeks ago, then I got called for an individual interview the day after. I had that individual interview on Thursday, and I just got an email saying I wouldn't be moving to the next stage of the recruitment process. It's a really convenient job travel-wise (direct train route + short walk) and when I go on exchange I can transfer stores so I can have a job while in Germany. I'm still upset about it but alas, not everything can go my way. Definitely applying again!
- My interview for Seed Heritage is tomorrow after uni. Now that I'm rejected from Apple I don't have to decide between the two jobs if I had an offer for both, so that's a positive I guess. I'm really hoping I get this job because like Apple, it's part-time so I'll have regular hours unlike my current job. Fingers crossed!!!!!
- I have two assessments on Wednesday: PR and German. I'm not feeling too confident after the last German test which was a disaster lol. As for PR, I feel like I should be okay - it's a group discussion with the tutor about a client pitch.
- Week 13 is approaching fast and I'm realising how little time I have to finish everything. In that week, I have: a group presentation (Monday); German speaking test (Wednesday); German portfolio, 2500 word essay, 3000 word research paper and a client pitch (Friday). Send help. I'm starting part 1 of the research paper now so I have less to do later but oh my goodness I just want this semester to be over.

Hope you all have an awesome week,
fantasticbeasts x
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on October 12, 2018, 07:55:42 pm
12/10/18

Hi friends! I didn't expect to update this quickly but I have news so let's get cracking wooooot
- I got added to subtle asian traits on Facebook which is quite literally the best thing ever. Bless those memes honestly I am LIVING
- I had my German test and PR presentation on Wednesday. We were given too much time for the German test -- in fact, so much that I reckon they could've swapped the time limit with the other test and it would've worked out nicely. For the extended response, it asked for 80-100 words and I wrote 200 because #extra there was so much time but now idk if I'll get marked down for exceeding the word limit by a lot lol. As for the PR presentation, it was pretty simple group thing (client pitch with my tutor) so for once in my life I'm setting my expectations a little high and hoping for a distinction.
- Didn't want to jinx it by announcing it early but I'M EMPLOYED. The Seed interview went well and now I have another job so yay! I start the week after uni finishes (October 29) and I'm really pumped :-) For now, I'm keeping my other job because I don't know if they'll give me shifts soon but we'll see.
- ALSO if everything goes to plan, I'll be leaving for Europe in September 2020! At the moment my first preference is the University of Hamburg :-)

Although I have a ton of work to do, I'm feeling more relaxed as the end of semester approaches. The upcoming summer break has been a long time coming and I'm suuuuuper excited. New job, Christmas and a holiday at the end of the year WOOOOOOT

Enrolment for 2019 courses is on Monday and I'm planning on overloading each term (3 courses each term) so let's hope I don't drown in stress next year lol

Until next time!

Happy Friday, hope you all had an awesome week,
fantasticbeasts x
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fun_jirachi on October 12, 2018, 08:03:48 pm
- I got added to subtle asian traits on Facebook which is quite literally the best thing ever. Bless those memes honestly I am LIVING

 8) 8) 8) that is the good stuff
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on October 22, 2018, 09:34:51 pm
22/10/18

Hallo meine Freunde, es ist schon eine Weile her! (it's been a while!)

Updates:
- The first of six assessments over the next week and a half is  done! The presentation went well (I think) but then our tutor roasted us SO BAD and in hindsight, the feedback given across all groups in the class wasn't consistent. Like who the heck needs to make an argument for a presentation?? It's not an essay that's being presented?? All groups followed the criteria?? Needless to say I'M VERY CONFUSED. At least it was only worth 10%.
- Got my marks back for the German test and PR client pitch I did just under two weeks ago -- just scraped a HD for both wooooot. I have no idea how the next assessments are going to go so hopefully my WAM doesn't go too bad. At least I've got another year to work on it :-)
- Did a Buzzfeed quiz on Legal multiple choice (link here) and I got 19/20 lol uGH separation of powers continues to haunt me a year on

I don't think there will be another update until results day or the first day of term next year, so bis später!

Hope you all have an awesome week,
fantasticbeasts x
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on December 05, 2018, 06:36:30 pm
05/12/18

Hallo meine Freunde!! It's crazy to think that we're already 1/6ish of the way through December, and then we'll be finished 2018, wow!

I don't think I've changed a lot over the past year, but my attitudes towards lots of things have changed. I used to be very marks-obsessed but now I'm more for going with the flow and trying my best and accepting what I get. I'm not as much of a pessimist now, and I don't mind social interaction as much anymore.

Since my last update, three main things have happened:
(1) Assessment nightmare week -- this feels like so long ago, but I'm really glad I got through it!! There's always a huge sense of relief when finishing the semester :-)
(2) Starting a new job -- I started my new job on October 30 and it's been pretty good! I really like working at the airport because (1) 10% off everywhere with my airport card and (2) $3 coffee at this one coffee chain because of my airport card, even with soy! Additionally, the store I work at has a really good discount and the people seem nice. There's also a first-year experience live chat internship thing that I'm doing with the uni which is really exciting! The training day has free lunch sooooo I mean it can't be too bad :-)
(3) Grades release -- these came out today!! I'm quite happy with how I went and my WAM went up by 1.125 yay!

I hope you all have an amazing break and best of luck for results for those who haven't received theirs yet -- I hope they're what you need and more <3

Bis später,
fantasticbeasts x
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on February 22, 2019, 09:50:53 pm
22/02/19

Hallo meine Freunde!! Es ist schon eine Weile her!

The first week of uni has come and gone, and it's been a rollercoaster. At first I was really excited to go back and learn, but Tuesday came and I started getting stressed. Also, UNSW marketed trimesters as this great thing with 10 week terms and "better study-life balance" (not an exact quote but they did say something like that) but it definitely doesn't feel like that. A few comments:
1. They say 10 week terms, but it still feels like a semester. (1) you have to do readings before the first week, and (2) there's still a week 11.
2. Better study-life balance is so full of crap because contact hours have been increased and all content has been shoved into "10 weeks" so where is the life?? Ich bin sehr konfus
3. Apparently this has been done with research and consultation with students and stuff. What a load of crap again because (1) I haven't heard of anyone being happy about this change and (2) staff, particularly teaching staff have to rework the courses they teach into a shorter period of time.
4. I could finish uni at the END OF OCTOBER (nature of my degree is that I don't have many, if any exams) but noooooo it's the end of November now.
5. Not trimester related but how the HECK does a supplier run out of books for a subject lol

I think I'm done ranting about trimesters for now but that's just a heads up for anyone looking into studying at UNSW because trimesters are a bitch. Onto how my semester trimester is shaping up:
1. I'm in Monday to Thursday which is annoying because if timetabling was good I could've shoved everything into 2 days but alas I have 4 days.
2. Subjects: INST2003 - Research Methods in Intl Studies, MDIA2005 - Advertising and ARTS2510 - Intermediate German A.

My assessments aren't too bad because they're all pretty spaced out, which is something I wasn't expecting. However, for INST2003 we have to submit a research topic for all three assessments at the END OF NEXT WEEK which is a lot sooner than it used to be. Basically things that weren't supposed to come up so quickly are coming up sooner. What is good is that I don't have any exams this term because I get a whole month's break!

Now for this week -- surprisingly, my procrastination hasn't been that bad. Sometimes I leave readings really late so I don't complete them until after tutorials (really dumb lol) and complete homework-esque tasks the night before but I didn't do that this week! I'm hoping to maintain this work ethic throughout the term because it is good and now that I have a steady job with actual shifts I'll need to manage my time well. Today I've just been doing readings and rewriting my resume to prepare for internships :-) I've also sorted out all the subjects I'll be doing for the rest of my degree so it looks like I'll be finishing in Term 2 2022 instead of Term 3!!!!!! woot

Wow this was super long lol and I promise my other entries won't be the same except for the first one of every term??

I hope you've all had an awesome week.

Love,
fantasticbeasts x
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on March 15, 2019, 08:43:14 pm
15/03/19

Hallo meine Freunde!!

I am getting so bad at updating this journal. 4 weeks into uni and I feel like I haven't gotten into the hang of things yet, so the other day I bought a weekly study planner so I can organise tasks that need to be completed and what I'm doing each day. I hope it works - my procrastination continues to get the best of me.

Summary of how subjects have been going, in order of best to worst:
1. German: still my favourite subject. It's starting to get harder, which is to be expected but my confidence speaking in class is non-existent. Sure, I can write out a few sentences and say stuff here and there but the feeling of people watching makes me very uneasy. How I'm going to survive living in Germany next year is really beyond me. Oh and I have a listening test this week soooooo I hope it goes well!!
2. Research Methods: this is such a boring subject I can't tell you guys how much I want to get it over and done with. It has so much potential to be a good course but it's that boring it makes me not want to do anything postgrad. I had a presentation for this subject on Wednesday and I don't think it went very well, but we'll see. Hopefully I'll get more motivated to do well in this course because the assessments don't sound too awful.
3. Advertising: I have a massive rant for this subject when the myExperience surveys come out so I'll save it until then but I just don't like this course. It does give us the chance to be creative (we sketch out ads based on a brief every week!!) which I like but the theory part is just blehhhhhh and could be done a lot better. The first assessment was a pass/fail assignment and I passed so yay for that!

That's all for now!

Until the next time I update,
fantasticbeasts x
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: sweetiepi on March 15, 2019, 08:56:37 pm
1. Best of luck for the listening test! I'm sure you'll do great! ^-^
2. I understand how research methods can be so boring, I remember sitting through my own research methods unit (which was smooshed together with other random concepts that needed to be taught be couldn't be placed elsewhere) thinking that it was boring, but it is a really important thing to keep in the back of your mind, obviously! Hopefully it'll become less dry for you! :)

All the best for the next week!!! ;D
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on March 29, 2019, 10:52:14 am
29/03/19

Oh. Meine. Güte.

I keep forgetting this journal is a thing.

1. Best of luck for the listening test! I'm sure you'll do great! ^-^
2. I understand how research methods can be so boring, I remember sitting through my own research methods unit (which was smooshed together with other random concepts that needed to be taught be couldn't be placed elsewhere) thinking that it was boring, but it is a really important thing to keep in the back of your mind, obviously! Hopefully it'll become less dry for you! :)

All the best for the next week!!! ;D

The listening test was awful. I didn't finish, some of the instructions and marking guidelines were very unclear but it's over now so I can't do anything about it. There are other tests so I'm not too worried :-)

Research Methods still makes me want to roll down Basser Steps because it's such a bad subject. I understand why it's compulsory but it just makes me so annoyed lol. Things will get better from this term because most of the subjects I'm doing for the remainder of my degree are a heck ton better so yay!!!

ALSO class enrolment appointments are out and I think mine is on April 16 at 2pm. Kinda on the fence about this time because that's just over a week from when people actually start enrolling in classes and I'm worried I won't get my awesome hypothetical timetable:
my timetable
(https://i.imgur.com/BN99oyN.png)

I think that's all from me this time!!! Let's hope I get out of this next week alive with two assignments worth 40% and 45% of my grade due next week which I haven't started because I had something due today!!!!

Until next time,
fantasticbeasts x
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on April 08, 2019, 09:34:12 pm
08/04/19

Hallo meine Freunde!!

It feels weird to say this, but here we go: I feel relaxed and well-rested. Will I say this again in the next 3 or so weeks until term ends? Probably not. But does it feel good? Heck yes it does.

Here's a summary of what's been happening:
- Submitted my two assignments last week and it felt amazing. The effort I put in is questionable, but they're done and I wrote 4000 words in a week which is insane to think about. I feel like I've stopped caring about my marks this term although I really should because exchange applications are at the end of this year so my WAM should be at a good standing but idk motivation really isn't there atm.
- Got my listening test results back for German and I just... bye. The average mark was 54% and that was after adjustment. I just scraped a pass thank goodness but I need to average at least 80% in all my assessments to get a distinction. Ideally that would be nice but I'm determined to maintain my distinction average in German so I really have to pick up my game.
- I participated in a research study today!! This was very exciting because although I really hate Research Methods (the subject), it was really cool to be part of a research project and see some of it in action. I got a $50 voucher for my participation which was super wild but I'll be saving that money for the shopping I'll do before exchange next year. :-)

The rest of my term is really chill but I have to start planning when I'm going to do assignments otherwise I can't have my Easter weekend free. In light of my awful German results I'm going to catch up on the work I didn't do because I decided to chill all weekend!

Hope you guys all have an awesome week,
fantasticbeasts x

Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: Joseph41 on April 11, 2019, 05:12:44 pm
^What did the research study involve? :)
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on April 11, 2019, 06:52:41 pm
^What did the research study involve? :)

It was about the use of emojis and emoticons! A few weeks ago I completed a survey to provide samples of posts and texts where I had used emojis and emoticons, then got called last week to attend an interview to answer questions about the messages I had submitted in the survey.

I don’t know too much about the research project itself except for that it’s quite lengthy (3 years!), it’s being funded by the government and the whole thing is about how emojis affect communication. wild stuff
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on May 04, 2019, 01:34:25 pm
04/05/19

Hi friends!! It's been... almost a month since I last updated 😅 oops. Life got really hectic throughout April with uni/work/other responsibilities so I guess I abandoned this journal but here I am!!

This is going to sound awfully pessimistic as most of the time I have a positive disposition, but this term has been a series of disappointments. Whether it be academics or time management, I've been very disappointed.

First, I didn't realise the transition to trimesters would be so hard. It got to the point where I just didn't know what to prioritise anymore because all assessments were weighted highly (less weeks in a term = less assessments = higher weighting) and due in the same week. Also, this time last year I didn't have a stable job, i.e. shifts every two weeks or so and compared to this year I was working 2-3 shifts a week. Sounds small, but that impacted on my time management because I wasn't used to having actual things going on. Not to mention I had to make time for family responsibilities... and somehow fit my friends in all that mess?

Next, all these things put together really impacted on my academic performance. I didn't have as much time to focus on assessments, had less time to study and it sucked. I was averaging a distinction my entire first year and this term was totally different - I didn't have one distinction mark!! I know that for some people having credits is awesome, but coming from someone who did well in their first year, this was very disheartening. It's probably the transition from first to second year as well, because the courses I did were harder than last year but I didn't expect that all.

Finally, impressions matter!!!!!!! I went into this term already hating 2/3 courses I was doing and that affected my mindset throughout the term. It was so different from Semester 2 last year when I liked everything I did, so did well. I need to go in with a positive attitude every term and then decide if I hate something, rather than hating something from the get-go lol.

However crap this term has been for me, I'm happy I got through it. Here are my key takeaways from this term:
1. My German lecturer/tutor/convenor said I had improved a lot from last year, which was a massive confidence boost although my marks sucked. (I have very high expectations for myself in this subject lol) It's not just her, but I think I've improved a lot since the beginning of this term, even. My understanding of the language surpassed the expectations I had at the beginning of term (mid-February) to the point where I understand WHEN NATIVE SPEAKERS SPEAK. Like, I don't need a dictionary or subtitles kind of thing. That's pretty insane, considering I started learning just over a year ago.
2. I'm never working during the week again. I had lots of assignments due on Thursdays and Fridays and working on Wednesday nights did not help. I will be reducing my shifts to Friday-Sunday so I have more time to focus on uni.
3. I have more motivation to make sure I do well next term because it's my last chance to hike up my WAM after the beating it took this term. I don't have easy courses next term (like... the crucial terms before exchange applications... really) but I'm going to try my best.

I'm really looking forward to next term because I start my international business major!! It's a bit sad because I don't have German :-( but my subjects sound good. My timetable is attached below, but the subjects I'm doing next term are:
- MGMT1101: Global Business Environment
- MGMT2102: Managing Across Cultures
- ARTS2663: Korea and Japan: Chinese Cultural Transition

That's all from me until next term. Best of luck for those of you who have exams - go out there and smash them!!

Love,
fantasticbeasts x
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on June 13, 2019, 07:57:25 pm
13/06/19

Hallo meine Freunde... es ist definitiv eine Weile her.

Lots of things have happened since my last update (not in chronological order)
1. I changed my Netflix to German so I could build my listening skills throughout Term 2.
2. I worked a lot lol
3. I watched many rom coms
4. I started Term 2.
5. I dropped a subject.
6. Results were released last month
7. I'm a stationery reuse centre volunteer!

I didn't do as well as I'd hoped last term so my confidence levels weren't at their highest going into this term. These are my subjects this term:
- MGMT1101: Global Business Environment
- MGMT2102: Managing Across Cultures.

Until a few hours ago, I also did ARTS2663 (Korea and Japan: Chinese Cultural Transmission) but I thought that there wasn't enough context for me to understand what was being taught. Not to mention the assessments for the subject were all in the same week as my other courses so that was more of a reason to drop the subject. It did seem interesting for the first two weeks I did the subject but I decided my WAM was more important especially as I'll be doing exchange applications very soon. After dropping the subject someone told me that in this course and others taught by the same lecturer had a high fail rate so I guess I dodged a bullet there.

I was also going to do the subject that followed ARTS2663 but decided to look into alternate ones because what's the point of doing a Level 3 subject for an elective? I changed my regional electives (a component of International Studies that I have to complete) around because of what happened and let me tell you, what I've chosen sounds way more interesting 😎

Other than that, I've been really enjoying management! I think a tiny part of me missed learning about business and wants to transfer to commerce... but I love the humanities too much to change to a business degree lol. I already suffered through Research Methods anyways hahah

I'm feeling pretty optimistic about the rest of term seeing as I have less of a workload!! Woot woot

Hope you guys have had an awesome week!

Love,
fantasticbeasts xxxxx
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on July 23, 2019, 12:55:00 pm
23/07/19

Um so... it's been a while since I last updated.

It's been a pretty average term so far: average results, average time, high stress lol. I feel like I've put myself under more pressure to do well because exchange applications are coming up (and have already opened) and my WAM needs to be decent to ensure I can make it into all my preferences. Despite this, I feel really excited because this time next year I'll be preparing to go away!! For an entire year!! But I do need to make sure I finish this term first before thinking about applying for exchange.

What else has happened?
1. I got my first internship !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's at this tiny PR firm which specialises in events PR. It's a sector of PR I've wanted to get experience in since the beginning of this year so I'm super excited! I start the first week after Term 2 finishes and it's for 2 days a week.
2. Building on this, I decided to only take two courses next term: HUMS2000 (Internship course) and ARTS2511 (German) so I don't feel as stressed. My timetable looks freaking amazing now 😎 5 contact hours!!!!!! Bless up
3. Provisional exam timetables were released today and my only exam is on August 27... at 8.45am. Yay! Not. I'm glad I don't have to worry too much about study, especially because I'll be working 4-5 days a week as well as interning so it's good to know I've got extra time to study for this exam.

Anyway I really have to do this assignment due on Friday which I've just started now due to stress lol but so far it's been fun so far which is good.

Hope you guys are having an awesome week so far!!

Love,
fantasticbeasts x

ps. sorry I used so many exclamation marks I'm just really excited
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on September 02, 2019, 11:15:28 am
02/09/19

"Warning: this topic has not been posted in for at least 30 days. Unless you're sure you want to reply, please consider starting a new topic."

So, I guess it's been a while..? I definitely say this every time I post in my uni journal haha

It's been just under a week since I finished my one exam (MGMT1101) and I don't want to jinx things but I think it went okay! I remember not feeling particularly prepared because I've been pretty busy since term finished but I feel okay about it which is good.

What's been happening since my last entry:

I think that's all for this entry - I hope I write another one sometime soon!

Love,
fantasticbeasts x
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on November 09, 2019, 03:14:29 pm
09/11/19

Um so... it's definitely been a while. Life has been crazy and I've just wrapped up a few things, so I'm currently in a quiet period of uni!

This week...
- I finished my first internship! I didn't hate it, although sometimes it did get really boring hahah. I'm looking for another one to credit to my degree at the moment but for now, I'm glad that I finished it so I can relax a bit.
- Weighting wise, the majority of my assessments are over and the remainder are really spread out now.

I also...
- Have to do summer term :-( I dropped two subjects this year, so in order to graduate when I want to (and with my friends lol) I have to do summer school this coming summer and after exchange.
- Have applied for exchange!!! I'm waiting on my nomination now (so where the exchange office decides I'm going) and that should come at the beginning of next month. In order of preference, the cities I put down are: Berlin, Vienna, Munich, London, Sussex (more of a region but eh) and Birmingham. I decided not to go full German because it got hard to plan my studies and there weren't enough subjects relevant to my degree. Unis in England were a lot more flexible and had more relevant subjects so that's how I ended up with three English preferences.

That's it for now! I'll (hopefully) update again when I get nominated to a university. Fingers crossed it's Vienna - it looks like a dream. Although I have Berlin first, I'm not bothered to go through an entire process to switch my preferences around so I'm just going to hope I get Vienna lol

I hope you guys have has an awesome week!

Love,
fantasticbeasts
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on December 13, 2019, 08:50:01 pm
13/12/19

The threatening red box always makes an appearance when I update... oops.

Since my last entry, I have completed my second year of university! This is so exciting because this year has felt so long and at times, it was definitely a struggle. I think I've ended it on a high note because (1) my grades have seen a massive improvement since Term 1, and (2) I think a lot of positive change has occurred since the beginning of this year.

I'm excited for the following year though because new decade, lots of change. I'm moving into 3rd year courses next year which makes me feel old even though I know I will be in 3rd year? They look a lot more intense but practical but it's exciting because the theory I've learnt over the past 2 years will finally be put to use (except for media theory lol what a joke)! I've also secured my second internship for next year and it's at a PR firm specialising in brand reputation, which will be a good change from my previous one which focused on events. I might do another internship before I leave for Europe, maybe at this travel-centric PR firm!

Also, I finally got nominated to a university for exchange today. I don't know if I've explained it before, but at UNSW, the exchange process works by students submitting 6 preferences to the exchange office, with one of them being selected. I'll most likely be going to the University of Sussex from September 2020 to June 2021. I was really disappointed because I had already imagined myself in my top preference (Vienna, Austria), and Sussex was my 4th preference. Regardless of where I'm going, exchange is a massive privilege that not many people can either (a) fit into their degree, or (b) afford; so I'm still excited, although there is still that part of me that is not as enthused about going lol.

To make myself feel better, I'm going to list some pros for going to Sussex:
- Everything will be in English, including paperwork, visas, etc. so I won't have to worry too much about language barriers;
- It won't be as cold as Austria;
- If I want, there are lots of opportunities for work experience in PR because the UK has a good reputation for that industry;
- If my financial situation is really bad I can get a job;
- I can watch Schitt's Creek whenever I like.

I feel like when you hype up something for so long and don't get it, you ruin the remainder of the experience so I'm going to focus on the positives of going to Sussex, of which the only stand-out positive is that season 6 of Schitt's Creek will be available to watch on Netflix straight away, whereas in Austria they don't have the show on their Netflix. Side note: I sent an essay of an email to the UNSW exchange office arguing why I should go to Austria instead of Sussex so we'll see what happens. My WAM was 0.5 under the previous exchange cohort's cut-off so I might not be able to go there but a somewhat passive-aggressive email will hopefully do the trick... or not.

Oh and final grades for Term 3 are released on the 21st! This year has felt long, but at the same time, really short and it's strange to think that I've finished my second year of uni uGHhshshshsh I feel old. Not to mention next year is 2020 and I'll be turning 20, wow.

I hope you guys have been doing well and I'll be back for another entry at the beginning of term next year! Happy holidays!!!

Love,
fantasticbeasts xoxo
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on March 26, 2020, 03:28:11 pm
26/03/2020

Hey, it's been a while.

I took a bit of an unplanned break from AN for a while as things in my life became really hectic and overwhelming. I suppose the predicament we're in right now is a small blessing in disguise, as I have a bit more time to sit back and reflect, while also having more time to focus on uni and catching up on the things I've missed.

Anyway, since this is a uni journal, here's an update on what's happened since I last updated this journal.
- I'm not going to reflect too much on grades since it was so long ago, but it's satisfying to know that hard works pays off.
- I only did my internship for five weeks instead of the scheduled seven due to the virus which closed down the firm I was working at. Really disappointed because the placement was so good, but I learnt so much so that's a plus.
- It's been six weeks since term started and I've only submitted one assessment. I have one due this coming Sunday, and a midterm the following day, on Monday. The midterm was supposed to be on the 16th, but due to student concern about virus transmission (I think UNSW had one case at the time when the photo of cleaners in hazmat suits leaked), it was postponed. Originally, this is how it was supposed to go: on the 13th, the course convenor sent out an email stating that the exam would be held in two separate groups to assist with enforcing social distancing. Then that one case popped up, people became concerned, and the exam was cancelled. We've just been informed on how everything's going to go but I'll look at it after I've finished this assignment.
- Given the virus situation, exchange is totally up in the air. Honestly, I would be okay not doing it until August next year, or not doing it at all. We're still expected to submit our applications as if everything's normal, but I feel like it's a waste of time because it's more likely that we're not going to go.

Well, that got a little dark. My last entry was so optimistic - I wonder what the me of December 2019 would've thought if I told her what she'd be experiencing right now. But there's always a little good in everything, because this situation has made me keep in contact with friends I don't see often, and that's been nice.

Until the next entry.

Love,
fantasticbeasts x
Title: Re: A whole new world - fb3's uni journal
Post by: fantasticbeasts3 on September 11, 2020, 06:29:40 pm
11/09/2020

I never thought it would take almost 6 months for me to update my journal. HSC me would be appalled.

So many things have happened since the last time I updated! I completed both terms 1 and 2, and results-wise, I think I'm pretty happy with where I stand there. I've also gone back to work, but that's been a bit weird because I don't know if I've shared this on AN, but I usually work at Sydney Domestic Airport in retail, so since lockdown, I haven't been back and have instead been transferred to another shopping centre. The commute is less than ideal because I only live ~20 minutes from the airport, but the commute to this shopping centre on average clocks about 50 minutes, so that's been an adjustment. I have been reminded that my commute to uni is about the same, but I can only argue that "It's different!!1!1!!1". Nevertheless, I am still extremely grateful that I have a job and have maintained a similar amount of hours just like prior to the pandemic.

As for the other aspects of my life, honestly not that much has happened bar exchange. If you've actually followed my very patchy posting on this journal, a really important part of the International Studies degree is exchange and we're supposed to go away for a year! I'm actually supposed to be in England right now, but that obviously got cancelled around mid-April when it became clear that the pandemic wasn't going to clear up any time soon. Since then, I've heard that exchange for T1 2021 has been cancelled but apparently that was in light of the unlikelihood of stage 4 travel restrictions. The International Studies program convenor is very optimistic that exchange in T3 2021 - so this time next year - will go ahead, so everyone who is supposed to go on exchange has been asked to reapply. In the meantime, in the event that it doesn't go on, they're looking into options as to how exchange will be substituted. I reckon it's much easier to get everyone to stay home and take courses at UNSW but we'll see! As of last week, I finished my exchange application and have landed on the following: Vienna, Edinburgh, Munich, Sussex, Dublin and London. It was surprisingly difficult to find course matches for universities in mainland Europe so I've gravitated towards the UK and Ireland. We had an International Studies exchange Q&A session today and we're assuming that it's full steam ahead, so fingers crossed!!

Term 3 starts on Monday and I've honestly never dreaded something more. This year has been straight up exhausting and I'm just ready for it to be over! I don't know if it's because I'm doing a 9 subject year (last year I did 7) but 2020 has felt irrationally long.

I hope you're all keeping safe and well during these crazy times!

Love,
fantasticbeasts