O-Week Rewind

My experience with O-Week was in 2016, long before the pandemic was even a concern on anyone’s mind. I remember not being able to enjoy my crucial sleep-ins because the RA’s (now known as RL’s) kept blasting music through the halls before the sun had even risen, to make us do a stupid dance. But with the lack of beauty sleep aside, O-Week was a great opportunity to get to know my campus, my dormies, my teachers, and most importantly make friends and connections which have stuck with me for years,

Emily.

My O-Week was nothing shy of eventful, I moved into my cottage, living in the room next to my best friend and a few other people I was scared to talk to for the first few days. Our cottage grew quite a reputation within the first week with a residential meeting not so subtly directed at us. Admittedly our lack of respect for 10-10 did result in a returner moving out (don’t be like this). It was a great week that exceeded all of my expectations, I met some amazing people who I still consider some of my closest friends. If I have any advice for O-week it’s GO TO EVERYTHING, I really wish I made it out of pres more as it’s such an incredible week made just for you. Welcome to CSU 🙂

Suki

O-week for me was something that I’ll never forget. Rocking up to uni on the first day not really knowing anyone was very daunting, but within the first hour, I had met a great group of people with who I could navigate this wild ride. My advice would be to make the most of everything on offer and to not be afraid to try new things, besides – that’s what uni is all about. Welcome to CSU!

Archie

Not to scare anyone, but do expect to be awakened at all hours of the night. Our O-Week leaders thought it would be a fun idea to storm every dorm, slam on our doors and herd us onto Diggings oval for a 10-minute, sleep-stupefied rendition of the Nutbush. Apart from that, you’re in for a great week. There is actually nothing quite like those first few hours of independence, some of you away from parents or guardians for the first time. And the gentle, euphoric thrill of meeting your dorm-mates for the first time, and realizing you’ll be sharing so much with these amazing, insane people; it’s like nothing else.

Liam

My O-Week experience was probably one of the weirdest experiences I’ve had but it was admittedly also one of the best. Moving in was awkward initially, especially cause I thought it would be genius to bring my entire room plus extra with me (sorry dad for making you carry that!). So my dorm mates saw my hoarding problem from the get-go. I’d like to say I remember the week but to be frank, I don’t (unless you count the hours of memory lost not making it to the pub). I remember the days and the group Centrelink trip my cottage had, where half of us got rejected for youth allowance (a very sombre trip back to the cott for those soldiers). Ultimately, O-week was so much fun and I can’t describe how happy I was to move to a new place and meet new people who I grew close to over my first year here!

Taylor

O-Week was probably one of the quieter weeks for me so far here at CSU but that didn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it! I met so many new faces and made some of the closest friends I’ll ever have. Everyone was so nice and even though my O-Week leaders pranked us, they still helped us through the craziness of starting uni. My advice to the freshers is to do everything you can possibly do, meet your teachers and establish heaps of relationships that will bring you fun and success in the future. I definitely learned it’s not just about what you do, it’s about who you know when I started studying journalism and thanks to the opportunities I took in O Week it led me to start this magazine with all of my friends. This helped me in gaining experience in other mediums of the field thanks to Interp and working with the campus radio station 2MCE.

O-week quite honestly went by in an absolute blur. I met so many people in such a short time and for me, that was a bit overwhelming. But I embraced that scary experience and truly enjoyed myself. Definitely, a highlight was Drag Bingo / Trivia, having everyone in one room really started that feeling of community for me. I may have scared people off by being so competitive in bingo, but I also played with some people who are now my best friends in Bathurst. My ultimate piece of advice is to make your dorm room, if you’re on campus, your own. Don’t shy away from putting every picture you’ve ever taken on the walls, trust me it’ll help when you’re feeling a little homesick.