Mitch from Lismore, Studying Mathematics
It’s quite valuable getting to know people across the variety of year groups, variety of walks of life, and as a third year, being able to have old and close friends from when you were a first year, and new friends that have just shown up is really valuable.
Mitch from Lismore, Studying Mathematics
Mitch's Experience:
Hi I’m Mitch, my college name is Midly, I came to college in 2017 after taking a gap year, so this is my third year in college, and third year at uni as well, studying Maths here.
I came to college not knowing what to expect of the Orientation Week. Immediately when I came there was 50-odd people in the courtyard that I’d never met before. They were all really friendly, we chatted and went and had lunch together. It was made really clear that the week was about getting to know each other. The rest of the Orientation Week was pretty crazy, lots of activities, a lot of games, parties, meals, and a lot of stuff we didn’t expect. While it was crazy and a bit intense, it was really good because it made us get to know each other really well.
And so the last couple of years I’ve been involved in Orientation Week, not as one of the new kids, but as someone who’s already been there and knows what’s going on. I’ve had my fair share of pranks and stuff, but I also try and look out for the people there and make sure they are getting to know each other well.
There are three parts of this building I particularly like. The first one is just a piece of fun, the music room downstairs, where we get to hang out with your other friends who are musical and just ‘jam’ and play some jazz, play the drums. I’ve learned to play the piano since I’ve been here so that’s pretty fun. And then you can use those skills in college productions and put on a bit of a show for everyone.
The second one is the common rooms. Each wing of about 15-16 people share one common room, which has some lounges and a table where you can all hang out together. It’s really great once a week you all come together and have supper together, just see how each other are going, and throughout the week you can sit in there while you study and have some friends with you, which is really fun.
Thirdly, the mess hall, or the dining room. Each meal you can go down together, you don’t have to eat alone, you can eat with friends. It’s been really great to chat and find out how each other are going and share life together.
The RAs, they’re the Resident Advisors, they are other students in college, but their job is to be taking care of the people in the two wings next to them. Uni life has its ups and downs, sometimes stuff at uni happens that’s quite hard, and they’ll be there for you.
There’s also the NCSA, the college student group that organise a bunch of events for college throughout the year. They put on a party every few weeks. They also put on a bunch of events in college. Each year I’ve played guitar or drums at the college productions, at musicals and revues, and that’s been a lot of fun. I also came to college hating art but when I got here, I made a bunch of friends who really like art, so ended up helping them paint the backdrops for such college productions, which was awesomely fun, surprisingly. It’s amazing what friendship does.
Another thing I really value about the college community is the bible studies that it puts on. They’re a really good place that anyone is able to come along to, and we just read the bible together, talk about what it says, talk about what we think it says. I grew up in a Christian family, but it’s been really good [that] there’s a bunch of people from different backgrounds, other Christians who grew up in a non-Christian family, or people who aren’t Christian at all but are still happy to talk about it.
This is my third year at college. A lot of it stays the same, the really important parts, the really close friendships and community. I think there’s been some cultural changes over the last few years, less of an emphasis on parties and more on the everyday goings on in college...
Getting to know people across the variety of year groups, variety of walks of life, and as a third year, being able to have old and close friends from when you were a first year, and new friends that have just shown up is really valuable.