Mangala: Wonderful Wednesdays

Wednesdays are by far my most hectic day of the week this semester.

I start the day off with a tutorial at 9am. Most people think that they’ll be fine starting at this time, especially since high school started at 9 o’clock as well, but this isn’t always the case because not many people turn up to the early morning lectures or tutorials. In fact, I’ve noticed that the number of students attending classes have almost halved, and it’s only Week 7! While university is essentially self-study, I find it much better if I attend all my classes, especially since I’m a visual and interactive student. But hey, whatever works best for you, right? After my 9am-10am class I have an hour’s break, which I normally use to do some quick reading before I have to go to my peer mentor catch-up. Today, however, I had to attend a make-up tutorial to make up for the one I missed due to all my activities this week.

The peer mentor catch up is a good opportunity for mentees to catch up with us mentors and tell us about any problems they may have. I remember being the mentee in the first semester, and I always looked forward to the catch-ups because my mentors were always so welcoming and friendly. Because of this, I always do my best to try and be a helpful mentor. After the catch up, I go to the outdoor basketball/futsal courts near the sports pitches to play with my friends from high school. A lot of the Melbourne High guys use this as an opportunity to catch up and get some exercise or fresh air. I sometimes wonder why students try to cram and find spots in the library when there’s so much space all around campus, especially on days when the weather’s nice.

The other thing that I’ve learnt is that it’s really good to infuse some physical activity into your university lifestyle. Whether it’s running around the oval, playing a sport or simply walking up and down the stairs of the really tall buildings and libraries (eg. the Menzies building – that huge white building you see when you get out of the bus loop).

After my weekly one hour of exercise, it was back to study mode again. I had two back to back lectures so it was mentally straining, but I managed to digest most of the things the lecturer spoke about, especially since I sat in the front row. I find that if you sit in the front rows, you will be less likely to fall asleep or check your Facebook feed.