I know it’s only a couple of hours after my Life Log #2 was published. Because I never had a chance to finish my draft before I hit the mid-term break.

Being a student

Being a student is fantastic. Let me write down my thoughts about being a student after you work for a few years.

Usually, people go to work, get off work, go back home and chill for the rest of the day. Maybe have an eat out with friends and family, but that’s it, some people might choose to read in their free time, but I know most of them are just chilling, stopped.

Being a student, you don’t have to worry about anything—actually, two things to worried about, grades and what is for the next meal. No review nor report is needed by the end of the day, only assignments due at the weekend. Furthermore, the satisfaction of learning new knowledge is unbeatable.

There is a plot twist

However, there is always a but. Studying in a different language could be problematic. In Australia, many second-generation immigrants and international students like me are simultaneously studying in the same major. Communicating has become a significant problem for me. Yet because I learnt most of my English in American English, Aussie / British accents often caught me off guard during the lectures. I have to redo the lecture recording multiple times to understand the whole picture. Luckily I made a few friends who are native Aussie and Singapore. We talk a lot and love each other’s country, so my listening and pronunciation have improved bit by bit.

Near the mid-term, when we have to finish multiple assignments for four units, I can have a decent conversation with them with no problem.

Mid-term break!

Unlike another major, Information of Technology has eight units in the first semester. First, we have to finish four units in five weeks, come with two weeks of ‘mid-term breaks’ and continue with the rest of the four units. So lecture has been compressed from thirteen weeks to just five weeks. It is REALLY intense and challenging for non-native speakers and boarding students like me. Luckily QUT has plenty of resources that can be used, many friendly people and classmates willing to help you, no conditionally. Everyone is helping each other in the class. It’s night and day compared to what I experienced in my home country.

After high pressure intense of five weeks, mid-term breaks are here! However, all of my friends are feeling weird, under extreme pressure for five weeks (well, for me, it is more like three weeks), and suddenly, we do not know what to do. So I come back here and restart a couple of my drafts, and because writing is still my weakness when it comes to assignment writing, I need to practice as much as possible during the mid-term breaks.

I think that’s the latest update of my journal, and I will see you guys in the next one.

P.S. Though I know Apple will announce a new model of the MacBook Pro later this year, I still bought a 2021 MacBook Pro last week. It’s fast, lovely, and a fantastic piece of art with a MagSafe AND HDMI port.