Business As Usual

For many first year students like myself, heading to university without knowing too many people can be a bit daunting. But after this week, I’m not feeling as scared, because there have been plenty of social events to make the transition a little easier.

I’ve been to two MSA-hosted events – the first one was a BBQ on Clayton campus, and the second was a trip to Luna Park!

Monash BBQ Event at the Clayton Campus

The BBQ event was a lot smaller than the Luna Park event, however the smallness of it meant that I could talk to the other students, and we even watched a move together later on! The Luna Park event was also lots of fun, and really good price - $25 with MSA card for unlimited rides!

Even though I went to the Luna Park event with friends from school, I still had the opportunity to meet new people as I waited in line for my turn on the rides. I even had the chance to catch up with other people who I hadn’t seen during O-Week, due to their faculty scheduling orientation on different days.

Though O-Week is known for the great amount of freebies offered to students, it’s also a week where faculties formally introduce students to Monash. In particular, today was the Business and Economics Orientation Day, hosted by the Monash Business School!

Today we went through the Commerce degree and I also gained some insight into life as a Commerce student. There was a Q&A panel, which consisted of current Business School students, and there were speeches from alumni and reps from some of the clubs and societies. We also got a showbag, which included a HP 10bll+ Financial Calculator for us to use on assignments later on (very impressed)!!

Afterwards we were treated to Subway subs, cookies and a drink for the extreme heat. As we ate our lunch, we also had the opportunity to sign up to the clubs who came in and spoke at our Orientation. Luckily I signed up yesterday, so was able to enjoy lunch with my new friends!

This morning I had the last of my introductory sessions, with this one being the second part of my introduction to commerce.

Following this was probably the highlight of O-week for me: the O-show performed by the Monash Student Theatre. This performance was described as 'an introduction to student life, with a Game of Thrones theme.' As a new student, and a Game of Thrones fan, I was incredibly excited to see how this would work, and I wasn't disappointed! I may have cried with laughter at one point, and I was almost inspired to join the Student Theatre, or at least see another production.

Later on I discovered there were many more clubs I would be inspired to join – many of which offered free food, or free vodka in the case of the Polish Society. I narrowed my choices down to the Law Students' Society, the Business and Commerce Students' Society and Debating, but I know I will be tempted into joining many more as my time at Monash progresses!

While I had a great time meeting other new Monash students last night, getting up this morning wasn’t pleasant.

Today my Commerce session was followed by another free lunch. I was also able to locate a few different buildings around campus without getting totally lost, which I count as a success!