Monday, February 28

Day One

After weeks of randomly kinda crap weather, Melbourne manages to pull off a 32 degree day for the first day of study at uni. This ensured, that without fail, and in keeping with every other first day I've been at uni for, there was a veritable landslide of cleavage and leg on show.

With me smugly sniggering from behind the darkest of sunglasses, I got to sit there and watch piles of scantily clad late teens living it up for the start of their soon-to-be a burden university life. My rampant cynicism aside, it should be pointed out that the guys get around in the nonexistent clothing as much as the girls, there were more than a few dudes dressed in tank tops and singlets today.

I like to think that first year guys in tank tops just love to pretend they are still part of the jock group at high school now they are at uni (my uni isn't know for taking only the best and brightest).

badasses

"These leather pants make me too cool for school."

I was never a first year tank top wearing guy, I was more a "I've just been on public transport for 90 minutes - I cannot see the point in studying any of this stuff and all I want to do is sleep" kinda guy.

Great weather aside, the first few weeks of uni always manage to become a parade of poorly thought out and inappropriate fashions. It must be said, I've got nothing against the skin sideshow at uni. What I find amusing is the short period of time before the typical "Supre clad tartlet who air kisses" becomes the "tired looking former high school student who never knew this uni shit would be such a drain on my finances and sleep patterns."

firstweekstudent

She's somewhere between the two stages.

My uni has been designed to put the carparks as far away from the classes as is physically possible - supre clad tartlets don't wear high heels for more than a few days before they get the message.

The girls wear high heels people. To Uni. It's not the suburban nightclub you started going to in Year 12. You don't get to dance around your handbags and then snob drunk blokes in your tutes girls.

No seriously, the start of uni was one of the most frustrating and terrifying and boring times of my life - I just tend to look at their spooked exuberance with a little bit of a "you don't know the half of it kids" attitude.

I do this for two reasons, primarily because then I get to feel superior to them despite the fact they are youthful and good looking and i'm older and 'rounding'; and secondly, I do it because..... well I only do it for one reason.

Welcome to Treading Water 101

The Treading Water 101 Welcome Basket

Treading Water 101 (TW) chronicles the university life of The Student, a soon to be 23 year old somewhat not strapping young man from Melbourne. The student has been attending a university in Melbourne's northern suburbs since 2001. In and amongst years studying fulltime, part time, or not at all, there is a litany of failed subjects, a course change, and a long held disregard for people who 'love the uni lifestyle'.

Juggling another job writing words, The Student is looking to finish his business degree by the end of 2006. There is every likelihood that the quest for this goal will result in him going entirely nuts and quitting not only university, but everything and just pissing off to a beach on the coast of WA to read books and sit around in a constant state of 'meh'.

The Student has blogged in the past, and has spent the best part of the last two years lurking and commenting on other blogs. The aim of TW is to catalogue the random musings and observations from the lecture theatres, tutorial rooms and meeting places of The Student's university ... provided he shows up.