November 1, 2012

The looney uni bin

I am CJ Curry. This is the Experience. And you will probably be bored shitless over the next four posts.

EPISODE ONE FIVE SEVEN: RETRO SPECS I

As I approach the final days of college, I've decided to look back on them. Mostly by taking fragments of my memories, photos and old blog posts and piecing them together in what I think and hope is a quasi-coherent and possibly clear retrospective of my college life. For your big fat information, of course. Let's start with 2009.

The first memory I have of college precedes 2009 - Open Day in 2007. I was walking down the path towards the uni from the bottom of the college. To this day, when I hear Push Push (M.A.N.D.Y Remix) by Rockers HiFi, I still think of it. This is in no way relevant to 2009 but I figured it'd be a neat little factoid.
So. Applied, got in. Packed all my shit into a few boxes and came to college. Normal college story. Trick is, though, I moved in a day late. I was met by the social club person from my tower pretty quicksmart, and to be honest, I never felt more nervous. But she was warm and inviting, and she said "welcome home" upon arrival to my room. I immediately loved it for its unusual geometric layout. Bit squashy, but I figured I'd make it work. Which I did.

O Week killed any semblance of inhibition I had previously had - in fact, I blame O Week almost solely for turning me into an extrovert (from the introverted fool I once was). It also turned me into a raging alcoholic (THREE drinks in one night! Yowza!) and I blame mostly that night's Moat Party for it. I also met up with a girl I had previously met on enrolment day, and we became fast friends. The rest of O week was me getting shoved in mud and scavenger hunts where the tasks I did were dictated by the tasks done by the only other male in the group. I loved it. And I met people.

The first week or so of classes passed without a hitch - in fact, I started learning some amazing things about computers and mathematics that I never thought were possible. Of course. But I also learned that learning comes at a price - HECS, a social life kill, and of course, time management. I quickly defined and developed my own time management, which consisted loosely of going out Thursday nights and no other nights, shopping on Saturday afternoons, talking to my then-girlfriend at 8:30p until she went to bed, and trying hard not to miss Good News Week or Spicks & Specks.

Really, the only major hiccup in my system was when I (possibly) contracted piggy flu. I don't know and I never will for certain, but I was hit by something in the middle of the year that didn't quite amount to a common cold. Everything else happened almost exactly like a dream. My first round of exams came and went, and I passed everything with flying colours. Discrete mathematics, calculus and number systems, beginner's Java, and statistical science. So many numbers, so much learning, and so many people that I met along the way. What a journey.

So. Come the holidays, it was time for the Ashes. Faithfully, I stayed awake until 4:00am each morning the Ashes were on. I also watched the Aussies take a crushing defeat - but only 2-1, unlike what was to follow in eighteen months - as I eased into second semester. To my surprise, I was invited to the Academic Dinner, given "the Geek Award", and went out that night to celebrate. I was also approached by the residential supervisor and asked if I had considered going for a mentor role. I replied that I hadn't, but I'd stick an application in anyway.

I'll never forget it. My floormate Amy was selected for the role of mentor co-ordinator, and she pulled me aside one night in September to say that my interview was successful, and I'd been offered a position. I responded with absolute delight, and stopped only to say that I was going to hunt down Amy's job next. She laughed a little, then was all "Well, I'd kinda like to hold on to it for a bit!"

August and September truly were the best months of that semester, despite being the coldest. I always hated the cold, but come October and springtime, I started perking up a lot and having an absolute ball. The college ball, in fact. I had declined the first one, but the second one I had a good time at. I decided to be sober for the night - to practise, as it were - and I ended up needing it. I had a nice night, though, on a boat going up and down the Yarra.

Following that, the semester breezed by. I bought a Wii, my non-Mac laptop broke, the tower took a trip to Whittlesea, I passed the second semester, and with a tear in my eye (I'm dead serious here) moved out of college for the summer. I shouldn't have. I went stir crazy back home over the summer.

Huge awesome respect to the following peoples: Mia, Natt, Kez, Katie, Paolo, Amy, Tim, Mandie, Jenn, Abs, Eshan, Sam, Ben (both of them), Lucas, Tom, Beth, James, Chris (all three of them), Daniel (both of them), Sean, Bathie, Simon, Nick, Josh, Stuart, Bridgett, Mel, Kirsten, Ellen, Meaghan, Rachel, Leigh-Teagan, Mackie, Millie, Kat, Kitty, Matt, Robert, Elissa, Leo, Nikhil, and about three others I can't write down here for one reason or another.

A

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