survived first year!

Well at least I think I survived...

It's only been a week and I'm already bored...dare I say I already miss uni =/ I think I miss the structure, and going to uni at least made me feel like I had a reason to get up in the morning. Now I just don't know what to do with myself ahahha

More hate on work - I agreed to changed my Sunday 7-2:30 shift to Saturday 10-5:30, so I could have a later start. Turns out after doing 2 Saturdays, I'm told that I'm working 7-1 on Saturdays and there was nothing I could do about it. EXCUSE ME if I were to willingly start at 7am, I would prefer Sundays! At least I could do more hours...I was so angry I almost quit right there and then, but I calmed down and decided to wait til I come back from USA, find a new job, and then quit :D

BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY AND EXCITEDLY - AMERICA IN 9 DAYS!

All flights booked, all accommodation booked, all tours booked...Amtrak from NY to DC not yet booked but OH WELLLL! Hopefully will be a trip of a lifetime (not gonna lie, I'm a little scared about getting shot though.)

So for the next few days, I don't have much planned. Gotta submit my exchange application for "Fall 2012" (check me out with my american lingo hehe) and fingers crossed I get accepted. My preferences are Carnegie Mellon, McGill University and University of Pennslyvania...originally I had UCLA and etc as my first preference til I realised their neuroscience program was totally different from Melb uni and it was just alllllll wrong for me.

Anyway I'll try update more often, especially when I'm travelling. Will probably update before I go!

xo

swotvac 2.0

I thought I was more on top of things this semester...but no. Exams start in one week from today, and I have an assignment due in 6 days, and 4 solid days of studying left.

Why?

Because for some weird reason I have more shifts than ever before at the fruitshop, and I worked 15 hours last weekend...I offered to cover HALF an 8 hour shift on thursday, but for some reason they suck shit at maths, and have halved it to equal a 6 hour shift. EXCUSE ME, THAT'S NOT HALF! And asif you even tell me there's nobody to "cover" for me when I'm the nice one who is covering in the first place! The best they could give me was a 5.5 hour shift. Like 30 minutes would really make a difference, soo stupid...

Things have started to pick up in terms of general busyness as well, I applied for Aa committee midsemester intake (not alcoholics anonymous) and they took me! It's a nice extra responsibility, and really interesting to see how things work behind the scenes when I've been attending the events all year. So many added complexities with understanding how things work, discussing things on their email system and fb group, selling tickets for the end of exams party, retreat coming up soon... and look, it's my face on their website! LOL *feels special*. I thought it might be really hard to fit in with everyone, cos the committee all know each other/have their own jokes and such, but everyone's been really kind and welcoming of me and the other 2 new members. Looking forward to a big year :D

In between end of exams and going to america, I have 10 days to re-enrol for 2012, apply for overseas exchange, pack my suitcase, make a list of things to buy, and celebrate some birthdays and going away parties...I swear there's more, but that's al I can think of right now. I need to calm down and get crackin into the books :(

xo

5 weeks to go

5 more weeks and I'll have officially gone through 1/3 of my first university degree D: Not feeling too stressed about exams right now, though there's still 3 more weeks of material to learn so...yeah we'll see .____.

IN MORE EXCITING NEWS! Susan and I have booked our flights to the USA :D Departing here on the 29th of November, we'll be hitting LA, San Fransisco, Florida and of course NEW YOOORK. So bloody excited! Will be finalising our itinerary tonight, and booking domestic flights and accomodation. GET READY TO HOP OFF A PLANE AT LAX WITH A DREAM AND MY CARDIGAN (AND SKI JACKET)

and finally, some photos from last week's Aa Ball:

Crown Palladium is so beautiful! and totally best decision to stay at Crown Promenade aaaah felt so special...wish the night didn't have to end :(

xo

spring has sprung

Well not quite. It's still bloody freezing, thanks Melbourne. BUT it's gonna warm up this weekend! Time to attempt breaking out the shorts yet again...

Anyway. This year is absolutely flying by :| This thought hit me when I realised the class of 2011 year 12's are graduating in around 4 weeks...yet only a handful of blogposts ago I was bitching about high school life, celebrating my freedom etc etc. And now I'm 1/3 the way into my first university degree...WHAT. Lets see how long it takes before I'm blogging something like "it was only a few years ago when I was bitching about a 2,000 word psych assignment and now I'm writing a 20,000 word thesis..."

I've actually realised how different my life is right now compared to even a few months ago. I feel like things change too fast in uni :( and it's scary to think which friendships will last forever, and which are only semesterlong friendships? Starting from next year everyone will be branching off into their field of subjects, which probably leaves me alone all over again. I know I'll always have my high school friends though :D I occasionally get jealous of the ones doing biomed/med/pharm because at least they know their friendships will (at the very least) last the length of their course. Whereas once I'm off doing my own subjects I'll have to consciously make an effort to catch up with people to maintain these friendships, instead of just rocking up to a lecture and knowing they'll be there.

I FEEL LIKE I COULD WRITE ABOUT THIS QUICKLY AND HAVE A LOT TO SAY, WHY CAN'T I APPLY THIS SKILL TO MY DAMN 2,000 WORD PSYCH ESSAY HAHAHA

Back to work.

xo

month-long illness

So I've been sick since the winter break, which is a pretty damn long time...I'm pretty sure it was since I got my wisdoms out, my immune system has just been completely KO'd :( Post-wisdom removal I fevered up to 39.5C and then recovered a week later. Just when I think I'm all good, I wake up 2 weeks later with another fever which transitioned into a case of pharyngitis. 10 days of medication later, I have a ridiculous dry cough that won't go away. More medication...and now I have a runny nose. COME ON IMMUNE SYSTEM, WHY DO YOU SUCK?

I hate how this is getting in the way of my life...antibiotics didn't really stop me from partying on my 19th birthday though :P Had an AMAZING night, best birthday ever! It started out pretty stressful though, I had uni until 4:15 (couldn't skip since it was a test) so Amanda and I got home at 5:15 and had approximately 1.5 hours to shower, eat dinner, do hair and do makeup. This turned out to be quite a mad rush, which was pretty exciting at the same time...however, we caught the planned train and arrived 20 minutes before the boat cruise began. This potentially would've been fine, except there were NO TRAMS FROM FLINDERS TO DOCKLANDS. We should've been at Docklands at 7:30, but at 7:35 we were still at Flinders...so we just took ANY tram and ended up at Southern Cross, which was even worse cos there was definately no tram from there :( Luckily a nice cab driver actually stopped for us with an empty cab and let us squish an extra person, then drove like a madman to the boat (of course we got held up by a red light) and we got there 10 minute before departure! SO MUCH STRESS!

It was so great having a birthday at the same time as an Aa event, cos all my friends were there and people buy you birthday drinks :D And generally being on a boat is fun. Dancing/walking is difficult when the boat tilts though, and it's reallyyy windy outside

xo

forever aloooone

Seems like all my friends are getting into relationships (ok its just 2...or 3 friends. or 4) and for some reason its just so depressing to be single around them =__= And it's always like "don't worry Soph, your time will come" ...well I'm not trying to be impatient, but when will that be? and why is it that the few guys that show interest are all so damn weird?! LOL. It's also one of those moments where you think you're over your ex for the millionth time, but then because of all these new relationships all your memories come at you and its just like...uguhhhghuhghghh stupid brain, cut me a break bro!

xo

recovery!

So it's been a week since I got my teeth out and it's pretty much all good now...the swelling isnt visible but it's still there, and I can slowly eat solids if they're not toooo solid. I've been holed up at home for a week and it's absolutely KILLING me :| I've finished all seasons of Big Bang Theory and multiple old movies in that time, so I'm finally going to Lisa's after lunch to bake and go to yoga again. I'm so glad I found bikram yoga as a form of fitness...I think I'm addicted :D Although I feel like dying when I'm in that hot room, I feel great afterwards and ready to come back asap. I also dropped a kilo after around 3 weeks of sticking to it! lovelovelove

xo

wisdom teeth

Got my bottom 2 wisdom teeth out yesterday! The actual extraction took what, 15 minutes? I was so surprised how fast it was, the full numbness hadn't even kicked in before it was alllll over. The numb feeling is hilarious, it tingles all the way into my eardrum. But once it wore off after 4 hours...the real pain kicked in and it was horrible :(

I had 1 painkiller but 2 hours later it wasn't really doing anything, so I had to hang in there another 2 hours before I could take another 2 (in case the drowsyness made me fall asleep and...never awaken). Had to sleep with 2 pillows as well so the blood would drain downwards a bit more, since I'm still bleeding every now and then and drooling like a baby. Also my cheeks have swelled up and I look like a chipmunk holding acorns in my cheeks ahaha...I would post a photo but I look like hell :D

xo

no more bio!

So the essay question was something like "Describe the female menstrual cycle (uhh as opposed to the male menstrual cycle?) and the hormones associated with it"

...UM WHAT? not only could I not think of a sufficient essay response but that must've been pretty awkward for all the guys in the room to answer .___.

In hindsight I stressed too much about plants and plant hormones, and completely neglected humans/animals haha. OH WELL when are plants ever gonna be useful in my life anyway...unless I decide I wanna grow marajuana tomorrow.

xo

swotvac

Ohmygod I swear next semester I will:

• Show up to all lectures (pretty good at doing this now though)
• Not fall asleep during lectures
• Not abuse uni wireless and download phone apps
• Not play on said apps during lectures
• Print out notes for the week over the weekend
• Use these notes during lectures and actively listen
• Revise and reread lecture info afterwards...or at least on the train ride home

MASS REGRET FOR NOT DOING ALL OF THIS STUFF THIS SEMESTER :( I was happily like "oh all I need to do is pass!" until I was kindly reminded that first year counts towards my GPA if I wanna get into post-grad med. I think it's time to drop out and be homeless now.

xo

work hard, party harder

Never used to see the fun in going and having a crazy night out, but I guess I now understand the thing about "once you get a taste of it, you can't stop". Not saying I've been out all the time going absolutely wild, since my night outs have been pretty hit or miss o___o. Coincedence or not, it's always fun when Tamara's with me :D

Still, I'm not sure if it's all about the people you go with, cos a few times I've been out with all my closest friends and I still end up pretty bored. Maybe it's the good conversation with new people you get introduced to because for some reason it helps you to forget about everything else that's going on in your life :) orrr the complete opposite, where you just vent about all your problems to your friends over a $20 cocktail jug...

It's also struck me as weird that last night I had a regular (year 12 styled) 18th birthday party at a friends house with pass the parcel and pinatas like the good ol days and my parents seemed to be annoyed? It was like "why do you have to come home at midnight, when it's too early to cab home but too late for us to come get you!!" ehh I can't even explain what I'm trying to say right now...I feel like there are so many changes happening due to school --> uni transition, but none of it necessarily means *I'm* changing. AHH I CAN'T EXPLAIN IT, I think I should just go study now.

xo

easter break

I don't actually feel like I need a holiday .____. but I'll take what I can get haha :P I guess uni freedom is like having a holiday all the time? I freak out over assignments and tests but in hindsight it's nothing like year 12. Bit of stress pulled off an 11/12 and 20/25 for midsems phew! And psych assignment was smooth sailing cos I got it done a day early :)

I'm still deciding whether I genuinely like uni or not though. Public transport is SHOCKING, i absolutely hate trains/trams, especially on rainy days. My train line flooded last Tuesday and it took me 1.5 hrs to get to uni...and I'm yet to catch a train that runs on time. I miss the old high school days etc :( Having a little girls night in/catchup with high school friendsies tomorrow which should be nice! Pizza, popcorn, movies and twister...what more do you need!

Happy Easter everyone :D

xo

neglect!

Gaaaah it's weird how my internet priorities have changed now .___. but at the same time I still waste heaps of time on my computer...how is this possible!

Anyway so we're already 1/4 of the way through 2011, how fast was that :( Midsemester tests are over, chem was aced and bio was horrible...on the flip side, our new bio lecturer kept me awake for the first time in 3 weeks! Yay! He's actually so awesome, pacing around the whole lecture theatre spontaneously quizzing people and talking in a permanently ":D!" voice. Plus, we've moved on from plants to animals so it's finally the biology I *want* to do. So hopefully I won't fail this unit now haha...

I think/like to think I've found the balance between social events and studying...couple of weeks ago was the Monash ASEAN lounge night which I actually had fun at and met lotssss of people :)

And the other night there was a night market at uni which was SO packed so all we did was hang around in the dark for a few hours...prior to that was some solid goss sesh over coffee with the girls!

I've figured you get bombarded with so many new people at uni every day (I'm literally meeting at least 1 new person per day) that it's really nice just to chill out with 1 or 2 people...or even have some alone time. I started my psych assignment, which involved having to watch the sunset...I thought I'd be really bored so I brought along some headphones, but it was nice to just sit there with my thoughts and watch people :D (is that creepy?)

HOWEVER! I am still very bored with life...I figured out last night that this could be because I don't play piano anymore? I feel like I have no goals and no distractions (in a bad way) since I have no music related performance/exam anxiety and things like that. So maybe I'll go to the piano later today - after I finish at least 500 words of this psych essay! MUST REACH THIS GOAL AND FEEL SATISFIED :(

xo

so bored :D

Soooooo my internet is fast now...we rang Optus and complained, the did some crap and then dad was like "can we upgrade plans?" SO NEXT MONTH I GET 500GB HAHA O__O but it's so bad that it's fast now, because I'm abusing youtube etc and I'm way over my days elapsed %...if I don't slow the heck down they'll charge for going over 20gb

I don't know what else to do to kill time, seeing as I still have minimal work to do (biology can go suck it ahaha). I need a hobby! No seriously, that dance thing I joined started holding auditions and closing rehearsals until their first performance is over, so now I have nothing to do on the weekend =/

Suggestions?

xo

faster week

Phewwww, Friday already!

Ok admittedly, I may have exaggerated the WAHHHHHHHHHHH-ness of last week...ahahha. Emotional pmsy factors aside, uni is fine :P people are friendlier this week, but it still doesn't make it easier keeping friends...I didn't get say hi to the few people I met last week in my tutes, cos we sat in different spots and did work :( Psych tute was the most fun of all tutes cos we were actually encouraged to talk about issues and ethics etc...so I have some friends in psych I guess. Met the sweetest girl in one of my lectures but I dunno the chances of seeing her again haha...also met a nice 2nd year in my breadth lecture, but she probably won't rock up often/2nd year so again, dunno the chances of seeing her again either =___=

Had my first bio prac as well....biology is the most confusing thing in the world! So thankful the guy next to me was equally as confused, we bonded over imagining where a nucleus would go and making up our own pond life ahaha. Also stained half my fingers rather than the slides...and the good thing is, assigned seating means I'll actually get to see/remember the people around me (already forgotten their names oops). Miffy was totally also on my table, it was kinda like a mini high school reunion :P

Anyway I need to read up on bio since nothing makes sense. Today was good though, it was like vce chem with proteins/dna etc yayy...plus I had a massive bento box for lunch and bubble tea. I can't believe how hungry I am these days omgosh

xo

longest week of my life

So uni's not as amazing as I expected =/ partly cos making friends is tiring, keeping friends is even more tiring, not seeing familiar faces all the time is strange, going a day without seeing a familiar face is upsetting, not understanding anything in biology is frustrating...the list goes on. It's not that I'm having a terrible time, I think I just built up uni to be AWESOMEEEE in my head and then...it's really not. The week went by SOOO SLOOOOWLY, and after Wednesday's rock bottom of being sad, it went by even more slowly =____= I think the thing I hate the most is the fact that everyone's breaks rarely coincide, so even if I've made a new friend, they're rushing off to calculus while I have 2 hours to chill. With nobody.

Nah okay it's not that horrible. The good part is I'm becoming closer to the friends I used to be vaguely acquainted with, and I'm getting better at accepting it when people literally turn away from me when I say hi. This shouldn't happen more than once but it's happened 3 times...is my face scary .___. ? I guess it's also good to know people get too busy for you so they semi-cut you out of their lives...makes me realise that I can do better (among other things) even if it initially hurts like crap. And the amount of public transport is SOOOOO time consuming :(

I miss high school.

xo

...well it's been quite a while

I don't even know where to begin, I haven't blogged in SO long =/ sooo since that fateful day of December the 13th, I have travelled from Hong Kong to Japan to China and back, got accepted into Science at Melbourne Uni, been flooded/rained on multiple times (wearing the same pair of shoes) and caught up on the many TV shows I've missed in the month that I was travelling...

I dunno how to sum up my massive 3 month(ish) holiday, but basically I'll NEVER be as freeeeee as I am right now - no more school, uni ahead is the BEST break of my life! And as my travel buddies and I concluded, this freedom won't ever come again in our lives? Cos let's face it, once uni starts, it'll be uni year after year, then we'll get a job, settle down, babies etc etc and freedom will next come when we retire O__O in which we'll have to worry about our health ahahah

BUT ANYWAY I am SO excited for uni! O week starts tomorrow and I can't wait to make new friends :) I hope my host group aren't retarded. and I hope they won't think I'm retarded if I decide to use this -

Me: So...how much does a polar bear weigh?

Potential friend: I dunno, how much?

Me: Enough to...break the ice :D

........oh god I'm never gonna make friends am I

xo