 Okay, hello everyone. My name is Simon Crook. I am a member of the school's partnership office here at the University of Auckland But my other role is to coordinate the inside word student blog here at the university So the inside word has been running for about six years now and every single year We choose some wonderful first-year students and they blog about their entire experience So if you've been reading the inside word, you'll be quite familiar with these people down in the front here And I'll get them to run down and introduce themselves and then we'll basically just have a bit of a chat You can ask some questions, but I'll feed some questions as well and we'll just have a bit of a yarn for half an hour So, Bec, do you want to kick us off? Hey guys, my name is Rebecca. I'm from Gisborne, and I went to Campion College and Yeah, that's What are you studying? Oh, what am I studying? I'm studying health science and trying to get into med which is a bit of a struggle But it's it's really fun. So yeah Um, hey, I'm Callum. I'm from Wellington. I went to Aparc College and I'm currently studying Law conjoint degree with arts I'm Tate. I'm from Turunga. I went to Turunga Girls College got a couple of people here from there So that's exciting. I'm living in O'Rourke this year and I'm doing a conjoint law and arts degree like Callum Hi, I'm Eunice. I'm originally from California But I went to high school in Wellington at Newlands College right now. I'm living in Huya and I'm studying social work Hi, I'm Sonna and I'm from Auckland I went to Botany Down Secondary College and I'm currently studying biomedical science Which is like the other route to medicine and I'm living in O'Rourke Hall Kia ora. I'm Matthew Kiriyama. I am from the sunny shore of Auckland I went to Rosmini College and at the moment I'm studying a Bachelor of Music and Classical Singing Thanks guys. So just to get the ball rolling the first thing I want to know is Why here? Why did you come here? And I feel that whoever wants to speak first Why University of Auckland? Okay well for me what struck me about Auckland University and Auckland as a whole was first of all within the University there are so many niche options for the courses you can pick particularly Within a Bachelor of Arts. I'm majoring in European Studies and English But European Studies is this weird thing that no one's ever really heard of but it allowed me to Do classical studies and art history and all the individual things that interested me under one umbrella So everything that you could imagine pretty much is offered here And on top of that we have the top law school in the country So as a law arts con joint that was a really strong pull for me to be here and also Auckland as a city Everything's always going on. There's tons of theatre if a touring theatre company comes to New Zealand They usually come here and same with concerts. So as a bit of a cultural junkie that was really big for me I think for me coming from Wellington a lot of people wondered why I'd want to move to Auckland I didn't want to do law when Wellington was just fine for that, but I needed to change a scenery I wanted to kind of branch out and experience new things. The student life is so different from what you hear and you have to really experience the full Effect of it and by moving up here I really got to do that by moving into a hall and stuff like that and Auckland always appealed to me I've got family up here So I came up here quite often and I fell in love with the city So I really knew I really wanted to live here Although when I initially moved here I didn't enjoy it at first, but I learned to love the city and I learned to love the university And yeah, there's just so much to offer from the university that just really pulled me to come to Auckland What about you, Eunice? Why did you come from the other side of the planet? Yeah, so originally after high school I moved straight back to California because I was like okay I'm going to go to University in California And I realized that school is like so flipping expensive It's like twenty five thousand dollars a year for like a mediocre university and I really I really didn't want to take out a loan that big So I decided to move back to New Zealand and I missed New Zealand as well and I decided to go with Auckland because Wellington doesn't really offer a social work course and I was choosing between Massey in Auckland and I went with Auckland, one because of the city like I absolutely love the city and two It's just I felt like it was a more diverse environment to be in so yeah Sona met why you didn't feel like leaving home Well, it is pretty nice to go University when it's like I live in Ouroch five minutes away but it's also nice to be like 30 minutes away from my actual house and The course I'm intending to do is actually only offered at Auckland University or a Targo University And yeah, I did apply there and I have been there, but it's just a little too cold for my liking And as you can tell I was already drenched in the rain from walking here and I did not like it very much So Yeah, Auckland was what I had my sights on it's been like it's pretty familiar to me since I live in Auckland and of course I've been to the city often and So yeah, that is why I'm here Yeah, I grew up in Auckland and on the shore I've been fortunate enough to live in other big cities around the world But like Auckland's always been my home and in my friend group and sort of like connections and stuff Through like what I want to do was here. My courses are very sort of like precise in the sense that it is like an Opera course, which is like a little bit different You know a little bit hipster and so It was only really here Wellington or Otago And I had quite a few of my friends go go down to Wellington and Otago So I was really really considering it, but it came down to I was fortunate enough to experience a George Turner scholarship last year Which enabled a sort of taste tester trailer type thing where I got eight lessons With the University music department and I got to experience Sort of like masterclass lessons with the teachers and who Dr. Teotii who turned out to be my singing teacher And it was just a lot more personal for me They really wanted to know why I was doing it And and what they wanted to get out of me and sort of you know tailored my course So I'm just talking about the individual lessons of of the singing class itself tailored it for me And I really felt like I was being Treated a one-on-one basis. My classes are quite small as well Which really creates that sort of like homely environment. So I just really got a great sort of feel Vibe if you will For Auckland University, so that was why and of course it's like 10 minutes away from my house So a bit of a no-brainer on the cost side of things as well And what about you Birken so you're probably from per capita the smallest town of everybody in the group Most definitely so Gisborne's pretty far away from here, but I'm just like sauna I was tossing up between Otago and Auckland and I was actually really difficult for me like I didn't actually decide where I wanted to go until probably the last few months of summer and The thing that really kind of pulled me towards Auckland is that I was really fortunate enough to get a scholarship to come to Auckland Which is really awesome and I'm yeah cost plays a big factor in university like I'm sure everyone knows really expensive But uh, yeah, so that was one thing and I was also Really fortunate enough to come on a few trips up to Auckland when I was in high school And so I really got a good feel for the campus and met a few friends that were also coming here So that was a big push for me to come here as well. Yeah, I'm really enjoying it I'm really happy I came this way rather than down south All right, so If there could be if you wish that there was one thing that someone would have told you about uni when you were in year 13 Well, that thing have been if you wish that you could know something before you rocked up here on your first day What I found and what I wish I'd known more was that university really is a period of extremes in terms of academia You'll have a few weeks where nothing is due and I've blogged about this But I just keep realizing it this week was a big week but For a few weeks you'll have nothing on and it'll be really relaxed and everything will be fine But then the last week of the half semester it'll all hit you You'll have six things in two days and a bunch of other stuff going on outside of university And so that can be really sort of foggy and stressful and stuff So time management, I think would be like a big thing But yeah, the extremity just be aware of that because with school there are people Policing your you know progress on an assignment But yeah, not so much So if you end up doing you know two assignments the night before and you've got a test the next day It's you know just be prepared for that. I would say Yeah, I think I can support that as I had three tests yesterday. So that was no fun But like I think one of the things I wish I got told was You really kind of have to make an effort to put yourself out there a bit when you come to uni It's it's really different from the high school vibe in the sense that you kind of your classes are so small And you kind of you know the same people because you're there with them 24 7 Whereas lectures are actually quite an antisocial Environment you kind of turn up to a lecture theater You might be in there with three four hundred other people you sit down you listen take your notes and you leave People don't stick around people don't you know kind of chat and get friendly Most of the time so it's it's really making an effort to take advantage of the clubs The like the lunches things that they put on there's just so much on offer Outside of lectures that you need to take advantage of if you're not living in a hall To really get the full uni experience. I think with myself personally. I I definitely couldn't have done Uni up in Auckland if I hadn't moved into a hall because the environments that they set up there Are just amazing the the friends that I've made are gonna be lifelong and just that They really give you a sense of home as well as having that support system of People to study with for uni or just you know great friends to get away from uni with But for people who don't live in halls I think you yeah You really need to make an effort to try and see what you're really interested in because there's probably a thousand different clubs that cater to your passions and your talents So I think you definitely need to get involved with those and that's your kind of way to network and meet you people because Lectures make it really difficult to make friends at uni. So really take advantage of those things that are made available to you Expanding on the horse thing so sauna you've moved into a hall even though you lived here You want to talk a little bit about why like why was that decision made? I was lucky enough to get a scholarship and like it covers the cost of staying at a hall So even though I live 30 minutes away. I now live five minutes away, which is very amazing because I am a Chronically late person. I used to live Five minutes walking distance from my high school and I was late almost every single day So this is actually great because not only one thing like all I saw all my friends Suffering on the one-hour bus Jenny from my house because we don't have like a train station. So That was really amazing. Like I can just rock up to my lectures just waking up like ten minutes before and especially a lads and stuff I just don't know how I would have survived if I had stayed at home and Yeah, it's been really great Like I've met so much new people Which I probably wouldn't have originally because I wouldn't have stayed in a hall Obviously if I didn't get a scholarship living 30 minutes away because I'm cost wise So like I was kind of like, you know pushed in this experience like not by my own choice But because it just happened and I'm actually laughing it Now there are any questions that any of you have for any of our blogs I am Part of the drama club the straight theater company, which I know you you love drama So that's really good in that they've got tons of different things lined up for all different kinds of theatrical interests I'm also part of the debating society and within that even if you don't do any debating It's really good for a law degree because they offer Specialist little tutorials before big tests and exams and I'll be like look this is how you attack it So the membership is good even just for that perk. They're also a few different like Sort of activist groups, I guess that I'm part of like the campus feminist collective and Thursdays in black So it's really really diverse Club wise for whatever interests you've got There's a meat club where you can just get free food if you pay a fee at the start of the year and then just rock up Yes, yes, it's not meeting people like sausage sizzles, you know what I mean Yeah, just sort of have a look at the club's expo at the start of the year And you'll be bound to find one or ten things that fit you Same vibe. I'm coming from high school. I played a lot of sport and stuff. So I joined the like Sports things on the touch team. I was in a social netball team for a little bit and I also played basketball for the university So you got the sporting side of it. I did a Shakespeare play with the Auckland University This year and last year and they got to perform at the pop-up globe. It's very cool That was the tempest last year And then Michael Hurst. I think is directing this year's one. So yeah, he was the he was the gladiator dude and then Being a part of a music Student. I'm also a part of the musical festival that's coming up Which people saw my first year so years above us actually get like marks and grades for it But we are putting on like a full opera Which is like an hour long. It's a French opera Really intense like we're doing a lot of rehearsals and things like that But yeah, that that's another sort of things that you within your course There's like little like things and opportunities that pop up which could be classed as clubs, but Yeah, okay. Yeah So all my lectures are pretty much or last semester They were in the same room and they were like hour after hour after hour So you basically just had to sit there in the same spot for three hours for three lectures So that was fine. It was actually in this building most of all your lectures are pretty much an oggp for first-year Biomed and oh, we actually know they're in Tamaki, too. Yeah, um, but um Terms of labs like if you're doing a science degree, you'll have labs usually for your papers And they can be kind of all over the place depending on the lab like if it's chem It's in the science center if it's in if it's a biology lab. It's in the biology building. It's a med-side lab It's in Grafton But those are only like once every two weeks for your papers. So you don't have to go there like very often So mostly for your lectures, you'll be an oggp Our science is just a little bit different and that we go to Tamaki campus on Wednesdays And you just catch the free shuttle free student shuttle when it takes you right to campus and Yeah, so besides that just like son is saying all our lectures are an oggp And then we just have a few labs dotted around at the different campuses Call them take you running back and forth between law and arts all the time or Arts degrees suck because they are just put in random rooms Yeah Like the in first year you'll find that because the papers like there's a lot of people taking them They tend to be Generally in the same places, but yeah, I find myself kind of running between oggp And to the general library and to commerce a and back and it's yeah, it's a lot of fun I take a language as well. I take French. So sometimes I kind of have to go all the way to the other side of the campus Just getting back again, and so it can be it can be a bit of fun But then you also realize the campus isn't that big and you find shortcuts and ways to get around it So I actually quite enjoy the walk so and For law in first year the only time that you go to the law school is for your tutorials the rest of the Time your lectures is sort of all around the place, but this year for us. It's been in the general library Yeah, so Faculty of education and social work is actually an epsom. So it's not in the city It's about like a 15-minute bus ride from where I live, which is Grafton and So I didn't realize that my degree was not in the city So I moved to the city and then I found out that my faculty wasn't in the city It's actually in the it's based in the suburb area. So it's like it's Kind of it looks kind of like a high school. It's really small. The campus is really small But for your general Ed, I'm your general Ed will be in the city. So from Epsom I have to go to the city. So that I take a bus ride. I can't walk But yeah Yeah Yeah, I was saying before I Do not regret one bit moving into the halls especially moving cities and just to be in a place where obviously, no one kind of knew each other to begin with but You just kind of become really close to people on your floor just the people in your hall and it's the environment that's set up not just the fun and the Enjoyment of uni, but also there's a really good study environment that's set up Like so I live and I both live in uni Hall And that's got in total about 500 people in it So it can seem quite daunting to begin with because you've got you know you in five other 500 other people that I'm all sharing this place And you don't think that you're kind of gonna make many friends because there are too many people But it's totally the opposite. I've made so many friends and even people that I'm now gonna flat with next year So that's a really cool thing that was set up for me and none of us are from Auckland as well One of them's even from France. So just to even have kind of those Connections with people living all around the country and around the world You kind of wouldn't get that if you're living at home and I know if I was to study in Wellington I wasn't going to be moving into a hall. So I would have had to be traveling into uni every day and back and Probably wouldn't have made as many friends just because with lectures being quite difficult But yeah, I could go on and on about how amazing halls are and why you should definitely move into a hall So if you're thinking about it, you will not regret it What I found about the halls is that they're a really good home base Because the university is so large it can feel quite daunting as people have said But to go back to an environment that becomes very familiar and in which people do know you on a person-to-person basis is Quite encouraging and it always it's you know, it's very very comforting one difference between uni hall and O'Rourke which I've Quite liked I guess just for me personally is that we have pods so that while on uni hall It's like corridors and then you share a bathroom and stuff at O'Rourke There's pods where you're grouped with five to six people and then you share one bathroom between you So you've sort of got a group of people who you're forced to interact with in some capacity So even if you don't really want to meet anyone or you're a bit scared There are people who are just like right next door So they'll say hello when they pop through and then yeah the hall and the floor as a whole especially I've found you do become really close just because you're in such close quarters. So You will find your people sort of within that not everyone has to be your best mate But the people that you do meet and often The people that you're put together with on your floor because the RAs organize it very specifically based on Facebook profiles It's very scientific Yeah, you find the right people and you find good people for you and you find people who Understand your values or your work ethic or what you're studying in a very good capacity for me personally, so I Was kind of yeah, I'm up scholarships pretty early just because moving from Gisborne You know lots of money and for me Yeah, so I was Prefect in high school. I also did a cup like a few things around the community and stuff like that But um, I wouldn't say I specifically went out of my way I need to do this because I need to apply for the scholarship and I need this kind of you know It was more like I stuck to what I enjoyed I you know like I enjoyed working with the community doing things with my school and stuff like that and When I came to my scholarship applications Instead of kind of like thinking oh, I haven't done enough of this. I haven't done enough of that I kind of just thought what have I done and how can I really accentuate that in my scholarship applications? Because I think that's really what it's about It's just finding your you know knowing yourself knowing your own talents and being like this is awesome I can write a really good scholarship application and yeah Just just running with it Like if you don't feel comfortable putting yourself out there for some reason like trying to do things for your scholarship application That's fine. It's just more about accentuating yourself than doing too much Well, I wasn't a prefect or anything I actually didn't even know I kind of forgot scholarships existed until like the Until the Auckland uni like guy came over to our school and he was like scholarship applications are open And I was like oh my god, so I decided to apply so in that sense you get that I didn't really prepare because I only knew like a month before and Probably did my Scottish application like a week before but I'm basically I think the main thing I didn't really know and I wish I kind of knew about scholarships is like for the Academic aspect of the scholarship. They actually only look at like your year 12 So you kind of can relax for yet that team if that's a thing, but um, yeah You just have to um, I was just like involved in a few things But um, yeah kind of just came up at that point when I found out about it Because scholarships get offered before students of your interview exam So we base all scholarships on the grades that students achieve in year 12. That's just the way that the scholarships work Really look at what you want to do and things like that because there is like little hidden scholarships on the way So I applied for a scholarship when I was in year 12 to get that like sort of trailer like preview Year 13 and experience for university And that was something that we wouldn't have found out we came to an event here at the music block and this teacher was like Hey, have a look at it also like really like it's Not gonna lie like the University of Auckland website is a little bit like of a maze. It's a little bit tricky But if you really like that, yeah, if you dive into it and like really look for your scholarships I'm Moldy, so I came through on the Moldy Academic Excellence Scholarship Which required grades and also like relatability to your T'Kana and stuff like that So I came through on on that level But I wouldn't have known about that unless I'd gone through and worked out what I couldn't and things like that Also, just on a completely other note for you guys Apply like just go for it. My really good friend who was head boy at my school applied for a like Let like just a shot in the dark at a Melbourne University Because his brother was over there and he didn't really know what he was gonna do here He got like applied for here and got into Auckland But at the very last minute he spun around and got that Melbourne scholarship And it was because his family and his brother were living over in Melbourne and stuff So it was a good opportunity for him to go over there and study accounting and things like that Economics so just little things like that You definitely should apply if you if you don't know like our maybe I don't know if I'll get this all Academic excellent scholarship whatever just give it a go. You never know The key with scholarships is if you apply you might and if you don't apply you won't so there you go The odds are better if you apply. What was your question? Be yourself that sounds really generic But you're going to if you do get the position and get a blogging role You will have to sustain that for an entire year. So, you know giving your genuine advice to a Group of people who are you know going to be in a very similar situation to you is very important So don't go in sort of being like, ah, this is what we Might want or this is what we think is right. Just sort of go in with it. Be authentic because You're the one who's gonna have to carry Your project if you are successful Take pictures Entry level thing or do a little video Wink wink nudge nudge Yeah, I get I Get well last year. I had 130 applications and I had to choose 10 And so the 10 that got chosen were were based on day. It was that good grammar Like interesting content Photos good formatting And and videos as well like if you can it's interesting If you if you want to be if you want to be a blogger and I encourage everyone to apply to be a blogger because it's a it's a Pretty fun gig. I hope you all agree the um, but it's It really is something that will really affect it really affects students who read it And and so because of that students that view it also need to find it interesting You know what I mean? If it's just a big page of blank text and it's poorly formatted and there's spelling errors I'm gonna look at it and be like well Is that the kind of stuff that this person is gonna produce for the rest of next year? And so that goes in the maybe pile whereas these people went into the definite pile and then that's why they're bloggers Yeah, the questions Not yet It will be eventually So I'm one quick thing I have a bit of an interest in is Becca sauna tell us a little about the differences between biomed and health science like why did you choose one over the other? Okay, um, I chose by mid instead of health science because For health science as I'm aware you need to take a table a subject in high school Which is like a English based kind of subject and I hate English So I as soon as I could drop English and yet that teen I dropped it and I just went the triple science double math through it and So I basically Didn't really meet the requirements again into health science. So I just decided to go the biomed route For me, so I loved English and I wasn't prepared to let essay writing go and I also really loved science as well. So health science just seemed really perfect for me and Yeah, and I also really liked the look of the population health papers because they kind of Doubt with issues that I was kind of interested in like For example, we have a paper and it's about health systems And it's just about looking at the different health systems around the world and how they operate and kind of the pros and cons of them which I thought was really interesting and it also Population health and those kind of papers Also deal heavily with inequities and kind of how society is moving at the moment in terms of health which I thought was really cool and Yeah That's why I chose health science instead of biomed But yeah I think the important thing to like realize is that in the first year if you're going like the med route Health science and biomed like only differ by three papers. So like they're pretty similar. So I mean Yeah, yeah, so first semester We only had we had so we have four papers each semester and in first semester We only differed by one paper. Yeah, and then in those papers that differ Health science ones are more like essay assignments and like whereas biomed ones don't have any essays or assignments Fantastic. Well, thank you very much team. We are out of time. So but thank you everyone for attending We've got another session in the afternoon if you have any more questions. Otherwise, um, what am I laughing? Thank you very much