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Monday 25 June 2012

Deakin rollercoaster - the ups and downs of university life


-By Ryan D'Souza


When I started to think about this blog topic, I had no idea where to start and where to end. Really speaking, the ups and downs of university life are so many that one can go on and on. You ask any student about his/her experience at university, and you can come up with a huge book.



Let me share with you my experience at Deakin. The first good thing was that I received an offer letter from the University. Being accepted by a prestigious and renowned university gave me immense pride. When people asked me, ‘Which university are you studying at?’, and I replied, ‘Deakin,’ it gave me a tremendous sense of satisfaction that I had decided to pursue my dreams at one of the best universities in Australia.



But then started week one!


The system of education in Australia  was completely different from that in my home country. During week one, I was bombarded with lots and lots of information about units, assignments, workshops etc and as the weeks kept flying, I wondered how was I surviving. There is also the cultural transition that international students have to make, and this can be a very difficult process at times. The good thing is that you don’t have to feel stressed - the university is there to help you and of course, you have friends whom you can always rely on.


Speaking of friends, I have made and continue making new friends from different countries - friendships that I will cherish forever. I have also had the opportunity to mentor new students and this has been very fulfilling for me. Doing well in exams and obtaining good grades has been very rewarding as well. Balancing studies and work has helped me to become more focussed and improve my time-management skills. Above all, my post-graduate studies have broadened my thinking and equipped me with skills that will certainly help me in my professional career.

I am waiting for that special day - the day we all look forward to! I can already visualise myself standing in a line waiting for my name to be called and then being crowned a graduate! At that moment, I will think about the first day when I started my degree at Deakin, I will think about the struggles and difficulties I faced, I will think about the hardships and the trials I went through, I will think about the sleepless nights I had, and I will smile with a tear in my eye, and say, ‘Well done Ryan, it was worth it!’

Wednesday 20 June 2012

Eating on a budget

-By Jodi


When I first went to uni and was living away from home I had minimal money and I existed on toast (with no butter as that cost too much) and cheap pasta cooked with a can of diced tomato. Luckily, my new family-to-be took pity on me and fed me copious meals of carb-laden homemade pasta, salads, and richly cooked meats.


Like my in-laws, I think we all know the message about five serves of fruit and veg a day, add some protein, some carbs (low GI preferably), some essential fats and lots of water. We also know that food is a fuel to our body and we are affected by what we eat. But with limited time and finances (like when I was living away from home) it is sometimes hard to make an effort to eat well.

I think that planning is a key. As Karen put it so well in her post, it is helpful to write lists, such as:


* a list of meals for the week,
* a list of grocery items that are needed for those meals (include breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks in this list). 

It also helps to:
* have a budget that you can stick to (I find that shopping with cash means that the budget can’t be exceeded and it makes me think more about my purchases).
* Have a predetermined shopping day each week to make sure that there is food to cook.
*Buy no-name brands as they save so much money and usually taste good.
* I also find that if I cook double portions and then freeze the extra amounts, it saves time and cooking later (more time for study!)

Because we’re talking about food I have included my favourite basic muffin recipe here which can be varied to make chocolate muffins, fruit muffins, or hide-the-veggies muffins. These can also be cooked in big batches and put in the freezer. Happy cooking!

Basic muffin recipe
1 ¾ cups of self raising flour
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 egg lightly beaten
½ cup of milk
drops of vanilla essence
80 grams of butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius. Prepare muffin trays by wiping with butter or oil.
2. Sift flour, sugar and baking powder in a bowl.
3. Add egg, milk and vanilla essence (I find that adding the vanilla essence to the milk first helps spread the flavour evenly), and lastly butter. Mix well.
4. Spoon mixture into muffin trays, filling them to half the height of muffin space. Bake for 20 mins (approx) until golden brown.

Variations:
At step 4 I sometimes add a couple of dessert spoons of cocoa to make chocolate muffins (choc chips work well here too), or I add berries or sultanas at this point to make fruit muffins. If I have added an extra ingredient then I omit the vanilla essence.


So bake-away and enjoy your semester break :)
   

Thursday 7 June 2012

Money, money, money!

-By Tenille

Now that you’ve enjoyed your first trimester at Deakin (and might be sitting exams now), I hope you’ve all had a blast.

Most of you would have had to purchase textbooks and new stationary, which would have put a major dent in your budget. Paid for parking permits, lunches, as well as hanging out with your new mates and spending some cash. Have some of you come to the sudden realization that you need more cash, a part time job, and have no idea where to start?

Well aren’t you all so lucky that Deakin provides a service called Jobshop! The title really speaks for itself. The staff there makes finding a job much easier, especially if you haven’t had to look for a job yourself before.

Don’t worry if you are off-campus either as Jobshop is also available online, just go to http://www.deakin.edu.au/jobshop and log in with your Deakin username to access all their services.

When I headed off to Uni after High School I’d never had a job or even attempted writing a resume, and I realized I had no real savings apart from some money I got for my eighteenth. That’s when I stumbled across Jobshop.

I went in to visit them one day and they help me perfect a resume as well as helped me browse for some jobs. I’m so glad that I did it too, as now I have a part-time and casual job, which just makes costs for Uni and other essentials so much less stressful.

So if you’re strapped for cash and need a job head into Jobshop on your campus today, or simply log on online. And best of luck for your exams!

Stay classy,
Tenille