Julia from Indonesia, Studying PhD in Food Science
Although I stay in an apartment with five people, which is my small community, my small family here, actually I have a bigger community of the whole college.
Julia from Indonesia, Studying PhD in Food Science
Julia's Experience:
Hello, I’m Julia, I come from Indonesia, specifically from Jakarta I’m here to do my PhD in Food Science, under Chemical Engineering at UNSW. The reason why I applied for NCV was due to the past experience that I had in 1997... Basically I got my Master’s degree from UNSW 22 years ago. During that time, I was staying in New College, and I learned a lot of things when I stayed there, including improving my English, learning about the culture, and so many interesting and exciting things. So when I got the opportunity to continue my studies, and to do my dream, which is doing my PhD under scholarship... I remembered that I could go back to New College. I got information as an alumni that they have village, a postgraduate village, so that’s the reason why I wanted to come back and to apply for NCV.
Everyone who comes to a new place, especially a new country, the first thing we always want to find is a home. NCV has a very unique condition. When I searched and looked through the website, I found that actually, we have apartments that are shared with five people in one apartment, but every room has its own bathroom. So I felt that staying in NCV gives me a real home, first because when I feel like I don’t want to be lonely, I have a lot of people, at least four flatmates or apartment mates who can be my family when I come back from uni. If I feel like I want to be alone, and have my private time, I also have my own bathroom, and this condition is very unique and fulfills my needs as a home… and a family in Australia.
Although I stay in an apartment with five people, which is my small community, my small family here, actually I have a bigger community of the whole college. In the whole NCV, we communicate with each other between apartments. In every floor we have a social media communication. So in that social media, we can ask for help if we have difficulties with study... or if we just need someone to accompany us to have a cup of coffee or have a walk...or have similar hobbies [like] to watch movies together. During my time of three years at NCV, on my first and second year, I was involved quite a lot in bible study groups, and I made [some very close] friends until now, even though some of them have moved out already.
I have joined so many celebrations. As you know, NCV is a place where so many students are living from different countries with different cultures, so basically they’re bringing their culture together here, and we get to celebrate it. For example, Diwali, Halloween, culture nights and we have so many other things that are changing all the time. At least 10 to 12 cultures I’ve learnt in my three years here.
If you’re somebody who is planning to do your postgraduate at a later stage, like what I did now, let me show you my experience. This is really a great place to stay. What I feel like by staying at NCV is I don’t have to worry about security. Staying at an on-campus accommodation gives me peace of mind. I don’t have to think about security or simple daily matters like water, electricity, because NCV looks after us very well.
Also, you can still socialise with people as much as you want. We are surrounded by probably younger people, but it doesn’t matter because younger people can often be a great help for us. They can be experts in some of the stuff we cannot do, and also you just feel if you want privacy in your mature age like me, who sometimes needs to be alone, you also have your own bedroom with everything inside. So basically what I can say is, today as I share my experience with you, I want you to have a great experience as what I had.