This is us! Monash's 2017 Master Students for the Environment and Sustainability Program My people, my course, my future
This is going to sound insanely cheesy - but honestly, I have never been more excited or felt more "this is exactly where I am supposed to be" educationally before. Within the first hour of orientation I knew that this was where I needed to be to fulfill my educational pathway towards a career in sustainability. I told you, cheesy ;) I think the coolest thing about the first day was learning about everyone else, this really is a diverse and wonderful group of people (I look forward to meeting everyone throughout the year). For example, I met people studying from Sri Lanka, Russia, India, Columbia, Brazil and Australia. The range of global perspectives that will accompany group discussions is blowing my mind! Staff Supporting Students It became apparent very quickly that our course directors, teachers and staff would do anything within their power to support us during the journey through our degree. Something that stuck with me, which is something I struggled with in my undergrad, was the support for the individual (student) if they felt overwhelmed or down about the content of the course. Studying environment and sustainability I have definitely had moments of extreme sadness, frustration and hopelessness. This may sounds strange, but constantly looking at the state the world climatically and environmentally (which in many cases is not good), can be rather doom and gloom. Knowing there were people to support me if I was feeling this way makes a huge difference. My course director and specialization professor have also been willing and open to one-on-one meetings to discuss coursework and career pathways. My biggest regret of my undergrad was not utilizing the resources of professors and the university to learn as much as I could, so I am trying to change that in my graduate program. Because really, how often will one have access to the knowledge and expertise of these people/professors? Prepare, Prepare, Prepare I spent about 6-8 hours preparing for my first week of classes by completing my readings prior to this week's sessions. For our postgraduate degree it is expected that 40 hours of reading/studying will be done independently out of class time. I am taking three classes - one 12 credit course, and two 6 credit courses, with approximately 10 hour of class time between the courses per week. One does not spend *ahem* thousands of dollars to study abroad if they are not going to do the work! Plus, you get out (of the course), what you put into it. Also - many of you know I have an obsession with jumping photos (i.e. all of my travel photos). So when our cohort was asked for volunteers to jump in our class photo I was sold on the university ;)
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AuthorHi everyone! I'm Kathryn, a Master's student at Monash University in Melbourne. This blog outlines the experiences and transition of my life in small town Terrace, BC to the sites and sounds of Melbourne, Australia! Archives
July 2017
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