Lauren Crocker, Wagga Wagga Campus

O Week's over for another year

2009-02-23T15:18:00.007+11:00

The last two days of O Week were pretty quiet. Although, O Party, also known as "The Big One," lived up to its name, with many people not even making it to dinner...you know who you are! ;)

Pool-side fun at Thursday's Pool Party

The O Week TV Crew

Most of the returning students came back on Friday in time for O Party. That means that there are heaps of new names to learn...I've only just got my head around the first years on our block! On Friday night, there were bands, fire twirlers, strange men dressed as British policemen and lots of new people to meet. It was pretty good fun, although I was definately feeling the lack of sleep during the week catching up with me.

I jumped in the car and headed home Saturday morning. It's only a 3 hour drive and singing at the top of your lungs helps to pass the time :) Not to mention how the big hugs when you get home make the drive worth it...

The Fire Twirlers

So, O Week is over and now classes are starting. I went to my first three lectures today..it's a bit overwhelming but I'm sure we'll all settle in eventually. But what have I learnt during O Week? Almost too much actually! Information overload describes things very well. I'm forever making lists to remind me of all the things I've got to do....find all vaccination history, organise immunisations in preparation for placement, get a criminal records check, show up for photos for ID badge, buy books, labcoat, safety glasses, become a member for this and that and receive discounts for just about anything, not to mention do the reading for the next lectures ah!!

Bands at O Party

In all honesty, O Week was great. It gave all of us first years a chance to meet eachother and get accustomed to our accommodation without anyone else. No doubt, there'll be strong friendships being made already. I think the most important thing to remember during O Week is to just relax and go along with things. Take part in all the social stuff that's on because you can't meet people without it. I know that it's the biggest cliche, but everyone really is "in the same boat!" Ha ha I've hated people saying that all week. But it must be true, otherwise people wouldn't be so nice to everyone else. Everyone misses home at some stage! I spent most of Friday night going up to complete strangers and introducing myself. Sure, they had a bit of a laugh, but no one really minds :)

That's all for me, good luck everyone with whatever courses you're doing. Now it must be time to do some work!

Carly, Me, Courtney, Kathryn and some men dressed as police(!?)

Lauren :)

Finally adjusting...

2009-02-19T16:53:00.008+11:00

Today's program was very settled. For the first night since I got here I slept through till 7.30am (ah bliss!)...I think I may even be getting used to life on-campus.

The new family that lives outside my door!

Last night's Poker Night was great! Whilst it's fun to win, it's not so bad when you lose a whole heap of fake money. After pooling our resources, Tom and I became a bit reckless and bet $4,500 on one hand of poker...yes, we lost it all! But after the generosity of Jake, somehow I single-handedly made $2000 turn into $10000 from about six games of two-up. I've never played before, so maybe next Anzac Day I should have a go for real (no bets above $5 :D ). At the end of the night, we were able to use our fake money in an auction to buy real prizes. Things like mystery prizes from EB Games, $200 dresses, china platters and 3 months worth of sausages went under the hammer. Being in catered residences meant that most of these items weren't of much use to us all (in total Butler A accumulated about $55,000). The sausages went for about 2 million, so hopefully the people that won them have a few decent freezers.

The notorious HILL!! It's so much bigger in real life!

We started the day of info sessions this morning at the very respectable time of 10am, with a lecture on academic writing and Student Services. They're all available when you need help with assignments, the language barrier and subjects in general. This session actually finished early, which gave me time to head back over the hill (I think I will either never get used to it or develop calves of steel) and have a quick bite for lunch and a phone call home before the next one. All of us girls had to go to a "Health and Well-being" lecture separate from the boys. The presenter was great, an ex cop with 18 years experience giving talks to both girls and guys about sexual assault, in particular Date Rape and all the laws surrounding it (although the term "rape" isn't actually part of the NSW Law). Sure, it's all a bit of a shock to hear the statistics, but it's definately something that we should all be aware of. Now that we're all very much equipped with this essential knowledge, it must be said that we girls were given instructions on how to play with the opposite sex's minds...so watch out!

Common Room wind-down time

That was the end of the day's lectures. We just kicked back this arvo and checked out the ping pong facilities in the gym. At the moment, the sound, lighting and TV crew are setting up for tonight's pool party. I'm not sure whether other campuses have this, but O Week TV is hilarious! The TV degree students put together a new episode every day that is shown at the nighttime events. Yesterday's antics included George's entire room floor being covered by little plastic cups of water whilst he was unawares enjoying his breakfast. RA Carly had told him the IT people were coming to fix his internet! So check out http://www.oweektv.com/ (not sure if there's an "au" on the end or not) it's well worth having a look at.

I'll be back tomorrow :)

Butler Hall Block A

The Onslaught

2009-02-18T13:37:00.010+11:00

It's the third day of O Week and so far has been a little bit insane. The internet in our rooms just isn't working...so here I am in the computer lab.

Well, Monday was huge in every way possible. Registration for on campus rooms was at 9am, followed by an entire day of information sessions for me and my parents. Somewhere in there we managed to get all my things into my new room. It's amazing how much bigger the rooms look when you personalise them with your own things. The RA's here are great, very friendly and happy to help with any of your questions - no matter how stupid they are. At about 5.30pm it was time for mum and dad to go home and from then on I've been swept up in a whirlwind of compulsory info sessions, paperwork, meals at dining hall and countless hikes up and down THE HILL from residences to all the action. Monday night was Trivia. It was pretty good, other than the fact that we had to sit outside in the cold and to be honest, I was ready for bed by about 3pm that afternoon. Oh and tea at the dining hall was really nice, (although everyone says that after O Week it goes downhill) stirfry yum.

The little box I call my room

Tuesday morning brekkie at 8am. I braved the elements to get to the unisex showers (yes you do have to walk past the urinal to get to the toilets!) and then the information overload started all over again! Luckily, most of the speakers tell you that they don't actually expect you to remember it all. It's all gone over most of our heads. Thank God, we finished at 3 in the arvo, so I finally had the chance to unpack and rest up a bit before RETRO DICO night!! Bright lights, loud music, lots of dancing and plenty of beer to go around pretty much sums it up. I fell into bed after another late-ish night and then dragged myself out again (all too soon) for brekkie this morning.

Retro night dancing with RA Carly (blue dress)

Showers were interesting this morning. I walked into the bathroom to see George (a very tall guy in my block) with his head well and truly above the door and walls having a shower...he assured me he couldn't see over the cubicle walls :)

Our compulsory group sessions for our courses were today...four hours straight. They were really helpful though. Everyone has so many questions about subjects, books and enrolment so this was the best opportunity to ask questions and get some answers. Around me at the moment are people frantically enrolling online, accidentally deleting subjects that they need and yelling out for the Green Shirt Leaders to fix it all up again.

Butler Block A

Tonight is Casino night at the Crow Bar and another guaranteed good night. I'm really looking forward to the weekend and a bit of a sleep in :)

Obvious talent! Todd from my Block

Tom, very Retro (yes it really is whiteout)

It's the Final Countdown!!

2009-02-13T09:10:00.006+11:00

The O-Week countdown has left me with THREE days to go! It's my last full day at home today and my ever growing pile of things to lug up to Wagga is finally starting to take on a shape (it resembles Everest actually).

I guess the whole process has been a bit daunting, as it's been a waiting game with the Ballot. I wasn't sure if I'd get any type of accommodation, but luckily I got into Butler Halls. Yay! I can't wait to see my new room and make myself at home. I still haven't got a clue what the whole O-Week/Living On Campus thing will be like. Over the past few weeks the number of people I know at Wagga has risen to a grand total of 2! I'm very happy about that though, that means there'll be two friendly faces to say hello. There's meant to be a Wagga First Years gathering at the pub Romanos on Sunday arvo from 3-ish onwards, so that seems to be a great opportunity to join the "people with blank looks on their faces" and start making some friends :)

For O-Week itself, it seems that once you get past all the formalities, HECS-HELP forms etc that it will be alot of fun. The social events for each night of the week have been released (Monday night Trivia) and I'm really looking forward to just kicking back and having a good time... study can come later of course!

That's all for me, see you in O-Week!!