First year in Uni

#debx3inAUS is a blog series detailing my international student life in Brisbane, Australia.

I initially thought I would be incredibly home-sick when I first arrived in Brisbane, I remember contemplating buying a return ticket since I was sure that I would definitely want to head home after my first semester. This was the first time in my life where I would spend an extended period of time away from home and I’ve heard gut-wrenching stories from others who have gone down this path. Well, I’m glad I didn’t get that ticket home to Singapore because I actually didn’t go home for a full year. There were multiple reasons for the decision.

Part time work

About a month into my time in Brisbane, I befriended a fellow international student, Trang. We shared the love for photography and Japan, her home country. At the time, I was on the look out for a part-time job in order to earn an allowance for myself and it so happened that Trang was working in Loving Hut, a Vegan restaurant up in Mount Gravatt, and they were looking for more service staff.

I interviewed with the restaurant owner Candy from Hong Kong and since I had waitressing experience from working part-time in Singapore and because I could speak and understand Cantonese, I got the job surprisingly effortlessly. I can’t remember my salary but I would say it was decent enough to motivate me to work endlessly, taking multiple back to back shifts, over the summer and during the semester itself, until I had to say goodbye in June 2012. On top of that, I also got to bring home leftover meals, which meant I saved more money, sometimes, I think they deliberately made extra so I could bring more food back for the freezer.

I recall a touching moment when I went to work on my birthday, the first one away from home and Candy insisted on gifting me with a full 2kg Avocado chocolate cake and drew vegan cream hearts on it. She perhaps thought I would throw a massive party considering I just turned 21 but since most of my friends were back home over summer, I shared it with aspiring pilot Luke and his friend, the only mates I had left on campus.

My 21st birthday wasn’t too shabby though, I worked a good shift and Luke and his friend brought me to the movies after, though I don’t recall what we watched.

Summer semester

Halfway through the first semester, I found out that I could apply for an international exchange program to Japan and I jumped at the opportunity. It was a dream come true. I have been a massive J-pop fan since I was 17 and it has always been my goal to permanently move to Japan one day to immerse myself in all things Japanese. I had been taking private Japanese classes while in Singapore just to prepare me for this moment. I knew for sure I was not going to let this opportunity slip by so I applied for the exchange program.

Considering I was only in my first semester of uni, it was rather tricky to get the right permissions and references I needed. Luckily, I managed to get a hold of past exchange students and since I was somewhat proficient in Japanese when I applied, I was able to get a letter of recommendation from a Japanese teacher in Uni after an interview in Japanese. I also had to write a motivational letter in Japanese, with the help of Trang. On top of the application process, because the Japanese academic seasons overlapped with the Brisbane semesters, I had to take 2 courses over the summer, one in Nov-Dec and one in Jan-Feb as well as take on an additional module in Semester 2 in order to free up a semester for Japan. Phew. It was a wild process.

I remember being so grateful that I lived on campus during this process because there were many times I had to meet crazy deadlines and align myself with people's schedules just to make this work. It was so easy to 'pop by' the exchange admissions' office in 10 mins from home.

Volunteering with griffith

My involvement with social clubs in uni started fairly early on in Semester 1 with language exchange organised by Student Linx (now Griffith International Mates). This led to me becoming a mentor for new English as a Second Language (ESL) international students, despite being a new kid in the block myself. I actively volunteered with Linx and eventually got the position to be an official ‘Mates’ halfway through my first semester.

Griffith Mates is essentially a university driven student body that is active throughout the school year but more so during O week, O for Orientation. It is essentially a voluntary role that you have to interview for but at times, there are also paid gigs. I've given a tours of our campuses to some foreign delegates or visiting students and also occasionally supported the Griffith International department with ad-hoc tasks. I've met many like-minded and ambitious mates through this program and have been a Mates for the entire duration of my enrolment at Griffith. I loved the range of engagements I got to be involved in and it kept me very active in uni.

One of my very first assignment was with the Airport welcome crew and it was probably one of the toughest but most fun assignments. Waking up at the crack of dawn to head to the airport was not easy, considering all the other commitments I was juggling, but the job itself gave such a sense of satisfaction. We tend to head out in pairs and our job was to offer incoming Griffith International students a warm welcome, a start-up pack and arrange their pickups. Shenanigans in between arrivals to an empty airport such as an interpretive dance party with one of my best mates Karina also made the experience extra entertaining. Had I not stayed in Brisbane over summer, I probably would have missed this opportunity.

There were perhaps other reasons that kept me in Australia for a full first year but these three reasons definitely ranked on the top. I did make up for lost time after this year by spending about two months in Singapore before heading to Japan.

P.s. Found this gem with moments from my own 1st year O-week. No prizes for spotting me! Many of the people in this video remain friends to this day.

Featured photo by ROBIN WORRALL on Unsplash