Marks, Grades and GPA

Grades

The marks, grades and GPA we achieve within university represent a direct reflection of our ability (whether to work, knowledge of the unit, nerdiness). As of right now, the final examination of one of my units consists of 60% of my overall grade, sixty, sixty, SIXTY. That means if I ace everything beforehand but mess up the final exam, basically all my work has gone to waste, all.

Now this begs the question. What if my assignments are only worth 3%? Is it really worth the effort in getting those 3 marks? Short answer no, long answer yes. What I mean by no is that its not really something worth getting overly stressed about (such as losing sleep). Yes, you should do it to the best of your ability and aim for a high distinction, but in the end its only a mere 3%. Long answer? That 3% may be the difference between a distinction and a high distinction (final grade). Of course it will always be worth it in the end, but I say again that it is NOT something that is worth losing sleep over.

(unless your father looks like this!)

I feel courses such as these with the final examination weighing more than half of the entire grade are badly structured. If a student has shown competency through the entire semester but doesn't too as well as they should have during the final exams (many factors can cause this, e.g. stress, other exams, lack of sleep), they shouldn't be punished accordingly (I've had this happen to me!). A more even distribution of grading is much more representative of a students skills as well as ability (this destroys a students GPA if he/she performs badly in a bloated final examination grading subject). 

Now I leave you with some images because I need to get back to studying for my 60% final exam maths uni (kill me please)

-Johnson

GOOD things and BAD things about uni!!

Good things as a uni student!!
1. Don't need to go Uni everyday!
In high school, we need to go school everyday, but in uni only 2-4days!!!
That's why we can have more free times and work days!!;)
As a uni student, we don't need to focus only at studying. We do have more chances to work and have more relationships with others in society.

2. Free to choose our own timetable!
In uni, before starting the semister, we have oppotunity choose our own timetable. We can organise the time for our own tutorial and lecture.

3. Mufti everyday! no ugly uniform anymore!!
In high school, we need to wear ugly uniform every single days..... but in uni it is free to wear anything!!!
In high school, we need to go home to change our cloths before we are going somewhere. All people look the same when they are wearing same ugly uniform, bag, white socks and black leather shoes!!!

4. Girlfriend and boyfriend!
Especially in Christian high school, it is very hard to have boyfriend or girlfriend.....
When I was in high school, I could not even hold my boyfriend's hand and we could not huge each other!
But in uni, we can do whatever we want!!! free!!!! no one say something if I hold my bf's hand haha

5. Meet more mature people than high schools!
In Uni there are more variety ages!!! Some people are older than me and some are younger.
They are much mature than friends in high school. They are more likely to be experienced and mature.
They are willing to study rather than just playing. All people in uni, they have opportunity to choose their majors, that's why we have more chances to meet helpful friends in uni and also in society as well.

6. More eduacated tutors & lecturers!
In uni we have more educated tutors and lecturers than in high school!
We have all different tutors and lecturers for each semister! We are also provided with more biggger and better room for class!!

7. We can go anywhere during the breaks
During the breaks, we can go anywhere!!! In high school, we are not allow to go outside of the school.
Uni students  are much more free than high school student!!;)

Bad things as a uni student!!
For me, nothing is worse than high school as a uni student!!
But we need to study harder to pass or get a high mark for every subject!!
It is more serious than high school. We need to pay again for the failed subject to redo it!!!
That's it!! ;)



~Sol Ahn

Uni Fashion Stereotypes

So you've left high school (no more yucky uniforms) and finally a chance to express yourself through clothes! yay. No more conformity, no more strict rules, nothing. Freedommmmmmmmmmm.

Here are few fashion (non)statements we've seen around campus:

1. The geek 

Whether intentional or not, super cute.

2. The Fashionista

Hair done, makeup done, nails done, labels, labels, labels, labels, labels. Looks like a million bucks, and probably costs as much too.

3. The cbf (can't be fucked)

Seen on occasion in pyjamas, thongs, the shirt they wore yesterday, and the day before, and the day before, and the day before... They wear what they want and don't give a shit.

4. The band tee

For the metalheads:

Slipknot, Metallica, Pantera, Opeth, Cradle of Filth, Children of Bodom, Cannibal Corpse, The blacker the better...black jeans black chucks black jacket black everything!!!! woooo!

And everyone else:

5. The Hipster

Wears hawaiian shirts, ironically. Uses a plastic bag for school books, ironically. Whatever it is, everything's put together effortlessly.

6. Smexy.


I've tried to recall what, but all I can remember is...

her eyes. ;)

7. The Questionable

8. Everyone else


We're just trying to find our feet here. And that's a good thing, because it's all about exploration and expression, doing and wearing things you can't when you're working. Have fun!

xo,
Pamela

6 Types of College Professors

After nearly a year at university, I have pretty much encountered mostly, if not all, types of university professors. From the bore to the colourful and to the professor who always has a coffee in his hand, you name it, I've seen it all! So here are the 6 most common university professors/lecturers/tutors that you will encounter while studying at university!

1. The coffee-junkie.

Ahh, yes. The coffee-junkie. I distinctly remember a lecturer I once had for a Microeconomics class (I won't say any names here). For 13 straight weeks, she always had coffee sitting next to her- sipping in between teaching and always going to get EXTRA coffee every time we had a break. Maybe it was the fact that it was an 8:30AM lecture or that she was teaching a boring subject but hey, I can't blame her. We all need that coffee hit once in a while.

2. The sarcastic ^%$*@

"Sharp as a blade (intellectually speaking) and ready to slice at any moment. That opening sentence you spent hours working on? Cut down in one pithy jibe. That question you thought sounded pretty reasonable? Laughed into the grave." 

Hmm. The sarcastic one. I've encountered a few of these lecturers/teachers and they always provide the lecture with a lot of entertainment. It's always funny to see someone be the victim of this type of professor but if you're the victim it's a bit embarrassing and they do take a bit of time to get used to. I remember having a sarcastic teacher in my last year of high school and I was one of the victims of her 'sarcasticness' (I know that's probably not a word but pffffffff). I sort of really disliked her at the start of the year, but towards the end of the year between Shakespeare monologues and the last few months of high school and freedom, she became my favourite teacher. 

3. Mr/Mrs/Ms/Miss/Sir/Lord/Madam/Count Nice

Yeah...I went a bit overboard with the title there. Mr/Ms Nice usually "...operates an open-door policy, always ready for a chat, and if you pop in you'll probably be offered a nice cup of tea and some of those biscuits shaped into little animals. They also have a reputation for never giving anyone a bad mark."

This type of lecturer is reaaaaally nice...too nice. Makes you think twice if they actually vomit rainbows and fart cute little fluffy bunnies and eat love and hearts for lunch. Maybe they're plotting world domination and are just buttering up their students to become their minions in their master grand plan. Who knows...but be suspicious...very suspicious. No lecturer/tutor will give you full marks just.like.that.

4. The fun lecturer

For anyone who has or had a fun/party lecturer, you lucky bastard. Fun lecturers are F.U.N! Always up for a good time and asking students how their Friday night was. They make your classes extra fun and you don't even feel like you're doing any work! They almost feel like your friend. Almost.

5. The bore

WHY do they make boring lecturers teach boring subjects?!!!!?!?!??! That's DOUBLE the boring level. There have been times where I have contemplated shooting myself with a BB gun. Repeatedly. That monotonous voice. Their dull appearance. Their attempt at making 'funny jokes'. No. Just no. 

Pretty much sums up how I feel about boring lecturers

Hey, Mr. Boring, you can't blame me if I've started to daydream about cows and fluffy sheep and how long it would take for barnacles to start developing on yo boring stiff ass.

6. Mr. Talkative

Last but certainly not least, the talkative lecturer. I can't say that I've encountered a lot of these while at university, but I'm sure there are lots of them. It's even worse once they start going off topic. OMG. WHY. 

I'll give you an example. In high school, I once had this English teacher who, for the sake of him, won't give any names. Mr. Egypt, we'll call him. Egypt? Why Egypt? BECAUSE EGYPT IS ALL HE TALKS ABOUT. Now, It might be all good and dandy if it was a History class. But it wasn't. It was a friggin English class. Every time we would even come remotely close about the topic of Egypt, BAM! He's off on an hour long story about Egypt and how he was nearly killed at gun-point.

Sure, it was entertaining at the start, but hearing it almost everyday for 2 years? Nu-uh. Nope. Nada. Zilch. There were some advantages of having a talkative teacher though. We, as students, could always make him go off-topic and provide us stories of mummies and how the pyramids were made by aliens instead of learning about gender differences in today's society. Yay.

So there you have it! The 6 types of lecturers you'll encounter while studying at university. Good luck if you ever have to encounter 'the bore'. 

Happy studying!

Kat~

Do more. Give more and Love more :)

To Do More!

To Give More! 

To Love More!

As an uni student, we are always busy on our study, work and social life. However we forgot an important part of our life. It's our family. 

In my uni, there are many oversea students that live far away from their home. Most of the time, they can use their phone, internet chat or mail to contact their family. However during the uni life, even the local students or oversea students, we will only focus on our study or work. As time passed by, they won't spend much time with their family.

To do more for our family! After our study or work, we can dinner with our family even if we can't dinner with them, we can give them a call. :)

To give more for our family! If you see any funny or useful thing, buy one and share with your family. If you feel sad or painful, talk with you family, they will always be on your side and take care of you. :)

To Love more our family! Give them a hug or kiss when you are ready to leave home or going back home. Send them a message saying "Love You" or "Today's so cold! Remember to put on more clothes". Remind them you are missing them :)

I love being with my family! If i don't have school or work, i will spend all my time with my family. Go shopping with them, eat with them and chat with them :)

peggy :)

How to protect ourselves in a foreign country

Study aboard has turn into a popular trend in many countries such as US, UK, Canada and Australia as well. With more and more international students to study abroad, cheated and injury events have occurred. These accidents hazards as expatriates, habits, language exchanges, cultural practices will encounter various obstacles. In addition, students’ increasingly younger age, their personality is not yet matures, alcoholics and fight these things may seriously affect their school life and even cause accidental injury. Although the increasing number of international students has made good effort to these countries speeding up the development of economic and social system. In recent years, the international student safety problems become a significant issue.

During this time the hot topic is that Chinese girl LAN disappeared in Los Angeles mystically, followed by the body was found in a local hotel rooftop water tank after few weeks. This incident gave us a big warning that overseas students should enhance their awareness of security.

It can be seen that improve safety awareness is very necessary. How students to strengthen self-protection in the foreign countries?

Address security issues, focusing on preventive measures.

l        Students should not carry large amounts of cash and show off;

l        Do not back home at night alone, at least you should choose a bright road to go;

l        If you meet any difficulties you should call the police for help;

l        Take the initiative to contact the embassies and consulates to ensure that emergency contact;

l        Keep communicating with family and friends.

by christy:)

Music For Thought

Music

Most if not every member of our society today listens to music on a daily basis. Music helps us fill certain "voids" during day to day travelling to and from University. Whether is be via public transport, car/motorbike, push bike or even walking, the trip is usually more enjoyable with accompanying of music.

Now, apart from the daily travel of a University student, what the hell does music have to do with being a University student?

Well basicaaaaaaaaally, I find music and study have a strong synergy. Every time I have time to go kill between classes, I find myself going through notes and looking through material again within the library. Some may argue that listening to music may distract you from properly absorbing the material you are trying to study. I find that it is the complete opposite. Without any tunes playing, I find that I can lose concentration easily as well as feel bored and unenthusiastic in general. 

Of course during your primary school and high school days, your teacher would tell you to remove your iPod or MP3 device from your ear during class, this is entirely true for university as well! Listening to music while being taught vocally obviously has a detrimental effect towards your learning. Therefore I'd advise you to only listen to music while studying by yourself.

Interesting article about music and studying here

It has been proven that listening to classical music while studying actually assists in your study and reduces stress levels, but sadly for most of the youth and young adults in today's society, classical isn't usually in our MP3 devices. 

Everyone has different music tastes, whether it be rap, rock, metal, pop, country or even a combination of them all, but no matter what your taste, you should listen to whatever keeps you in the "zone" :).

~ Johnson

Back To School... Again???

School can be a bitch. It's sometimes a hellhole with projects and assignments and we just can't wait to get out of that. 

It can be fun as well, with friends activities funny lecturers etc.. but back to school again for the second time? That in itself could be a bit intimidating. Apart from being almost a decade older(or more) than everyone else, your brain doesn't work the way it used to.

Yeah just imagine that times 21302103812 when you're older

It also costs as much as 2193081328 houses in 3rd world countries, especially if you're an international student. (read debt debt debt debt debt....)

Source

Despite all that however, if you can, you probably should consider getting a degree. Or Masters. Or Phd. Why? Why would anyone want to go through that torture again?

This is why:

Source

Enough said.

Kidding. Its not that bad BUT

Having worked random jobs here and there after leaving school with just a HSC equivalent I realised a few things:

• Unless you're crazy talented and making money from it, your options are limited. Veeeerrrrrry limited
• Unless you're an entrepreneur or have rich parents, you get paid minimum wage
• Your bosses will probably take advantage of the fact that you've got no qualifications to speak of and pay the bare minimum, especially in countries with no minimum wage laws. 
• cert < diploma < degree < masters < phd

Source

So back to school? Well worth it I'd say. I'd rather go through all that and have a bit more room to move career wise than to be stuck at the bottom for the rest of my life.  Adjusting takes a bit of time but with a bit of effort it's not that bad.

 

because he's cute

This one's just because it's funny

Source

xo
Pamela

STUDY HARD VS WORK HARD It is so hard to success both of them at the same time!!

Nowdays it is so hard for me to work and study at the same time.
From March, I started my new job, which would be my permanent job after Uni.
IT IS SO DIFFICULT to manage everything at once.

Firstly, I need to go work 3-5 days in a week and also I have Uni 2 days in a week.
I need to wake up at 6am every morning on the work day. My work finishes at 6:30pm.
After work I need to rest at home, otherwise I would be dead next day...
My job is about medical stuff (dental), I need to know so many things at work.
Sometimes my brain is messed up by memorising uni stuff and work stuff at the same time.

Sometimes I have seminar during the weekends............
It is like listening 10hrs of lecture......  I have no time to meet friends these days...
So tired everyday....
I realized that it is very difficult to study and work at the same time.

Time management is extremely important for me. Otherwise I would fail all my subjects.

I have class on Tuesday and Friday. I need to study on those days. Sometimes I do study during the weekend if i don't have any seminars.

I think both study and work is so important for me. That is why I can't give up both.
I need to build up my knowledge through the education and I need to earn experiences and money by working.
Both are important for everyone.
Anyways people must need to look for their job after Uni completed, but thankfully I've got my job already. That is why I can't complain, but my body is so tired everyday..
    Some people think I am bit stupid. Because they think students need to study not work. But they need to understand that, because most of  people need to work for survive not for fun.
International students' parents are paying so much money on their son and/or daughter's tuition fee.
I don't want to give this pressure to my parents. I'm trying to help them. Many students also do this for  their parents. I'm one of them.

Thesedays, I'm very tired and exhausted every single day, but I believe I will be fine oneday.
I've learnt so many things through the education in uni and also through the experiences in workplace. That is the reason I need to work and study hard!!
We are still young. We need to learn as much as we can. "Learning" something never ends.

 

I want to recommand those students who work and study at the same time, that time management is essential and make a study plan for managing both work and study.

I know it is hard to do both perfectly, but you need to focus to get a good mark in uni and get good experiences at workplace.

Sol Ahn, AHSOD1101