It has become increasingly apparent that carrying loads of baggage is the new black.

Whilst the perennial issue of eye bags is a battle hard won during exam-cram time (hello, mid-semesters!), the issue being examined here at the moment: the shoulder baggage. Being ever the nomad around campus (yes, the city is our playground), I have come to identify a few curious patterns...

Mostly pertaining to the ladies - although increasingly for the males also - the size of uni bags as of late has quadripled. (Almost, anyways.) I find myself lugging around what was once classified as an overnight bag on a daily basis. Gone are the days of the pocket-sized purses or tiny surfie/sporty backpacks - these days it's all about totes, duffels and magic carpet bags with ten-too-many pockets.

Now, whilst this is no doubt fast climbing the trend-o-meter in the same catapulting manner as big bug-eyed sunnies and Starbucks venti-sized coffees, my shoulders tell me that there must be some kind of health risk involved in this particular bandwagon. With assessments due and mid-semesters fast approaching, I dread what kind of up-size the extra load of untouched reading material will entail.

Oh my back.

Let's hope that wheelie travel bags will be the next trend...

Posted by Jeza on April 10, 2006 7:43 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

It's only been four weeks into semester and what a crazy few weeks it's been!

Here's a quick snapshot of events so far:

• Hitting uni before the semester even began with the first years' Faculty of IT Orientation Camp as a "Yellow Shirt" - one of the camp leaders for 2006. One month, five meetings, ten stressed out (yellow) shirts and 150 Macquarie Bank bags later resulted in three fun-filled days of games*, donut eating competitions, a fashion show and dance party, scandalous late-night revelations, ravaged eggs, not to mention a mean dose of MJ's Thriller and the nutbush. Things were learned, fast friendships were forged (often over sneaky tricks on poor, unsuspecting girls), MSN email addresses were exchanged (ooh la la!). All in all, it was a fantastic and rewarding experience for the Yellow Shirts (albeit exhausting!) and hopefully also for the first years involved.
  
  Yellow Shirts 2006

  
  'Cause this is Thriiiiiiiiiiiiiller!

• In the same crazy way, O-week also proved to be a successful event. Rushing around like mad-men and -women were the dedicated CompSoc crew pre-event happenings to scheme up plots and scenes to lure in unprepared victims - then assault them with bubbles, multi-colored flyers and unrelenting charm.
  
  The CompSoc O-day crew!

  What was hot: An excellent influx of signups, obtaining a broader membership base after successfully convincing people from the Business, Laws, Science and Arts/Comms faculties (not to mention others from different universities as well as tutors/lecturers/professors/staff) that it indeed, is a social society.

  
  L: Apple promotions - thanks guys! R: Shock! Horror! Girls in I.T.!

  What was NOT: Being constantly questioned and doubted about being in Faculty of IT and/or the Computing Society. Notable examples include: "Did the geeks hire you to do their promo?" and "You don't look like you're in IT. Is your boyfriend the president or something?". Blah. Unimpressed, much?

• Having never experienced an infamous Kuringai party til this event, I only have a few words for this year's Kuringai Commencement Toga Party - buff boys and babes in togas on booze. 'Nuff said! Needless to say, it did (surprisingly, I might add) live up to its expectations... impressive ;]
  
  Kuringai Toga Par-tay
• Onto less inebriated events... coordinating the organisation of the BIT Careers Fair Day was also a hefty task - assigned to the job by some twist of fate, I was responsible for contacting sponsors, liaising with designated contacts, chasing up companies MIA, arranging projectors/screens/stalls as well as accepting feedback from attendees (e.g. changing venue from the Gallery Function Centre to the Bondi Beach promenade... !). Luckily, this also allowed me to get dibs on the promo materials the companies had to giveaway as they were setting up (too) early in the morning... mwuahaha. Hooray for on-the-job perks!
• Deck chairs, colorful umbrellas, beach balls, sunscreen, a handful of towels, melting chilli-chocolate icecream with a dash of sprinkles on top in the Building 10 Atrium from 12 - 2PM = Summer Lovin' Ice Cream Giveaway! This was a sweet (-toothed... har har) mini-event for our awesome members and fellow residents of Building 10. This was not a blatant promotion for the upcoming Fiesta. No, not at all...
• But speaking of which ;] After much fuss and some fumble, our first big-ticket event, the ¡Fiesta Fantastico! went down an absolute treat. Free drinks, chilli-eating and crip-walking comps, tabasco-and-tequila shots, pinata bashing (well done, Dom! RIP Angry Bruno the Bull...), chatting to new and old friends and some crazy dancing to the hot DJ's to boot conquered the clouds that threatened to dampen the festive mood.
  
  Clockwise from left: Justin, 1/2 of our hot DJ's mixing it up, chilli eating comp champion!, party animals Deepak, Monty and Nick, random group shot, mourning the loss of poor Bruno, tabasco & tequila shot pin-the-tail on the donkey

  Thanks so much to the Union, the Loft bar staff and security and all of the crew who helped out with my unquenchable need for poster signage, humoured my requests for loud and obnoxious themed get-ups, played along with my ridiculous requests and most of all, for putting up with my antics and stressed-out self in general.

  
  The Loft Bar staff... thanks guys!

  Please bear with the overwhelming and tacky Grammy acceptance sounding speech as props goes out to EVERYONE who went and made the night as awesome as it was - including Nick (president of E.G.G donning a stunning sombrero as above), Tarkan (co-president of Out2Party) and Annie (president of the Anime Society) for showing their support!

Phew! Hopefully I'll be able to take a breather before the extracurricular wheels start whirring again, having barely started hitting the books this sem ;[

But for now, it looks like a siesta fiesta is on the top of the priority list right now...

A nap fest.

'Til next time!

*Made up on-the-fly... ahem.

Posted by Jeza on March 25, 2006 12:27 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Imagine taking up a course in life that lets you have it all.

The money. The lucrative job offers. Always being ahead of the curve, knowing what's in and what's out, being down with all the trends. Turning heads and making your presence known in every room. Planning dinner parties, attending glitzy social events, mingling and rubbing shoulders with top notch industry executives over drinks.

Sounds too good to be true?
Not so.

This is not the life of a rich and famous Hollywood superstar or diva. What I have just described to you is but the life of an I.T. girl - or "it" girl, as I like to call it.

Hello, my name is Jeza Ann Mancenido and I am an "it" girl: combating the Bachelor of Information Technology by day and conquering cocktails by night.

Coming into my second year of uni, I am finally beginning to see the merits of using my planner (see Fig 1 below). It's still in the process of though - haphazardly filled to the brim with everything and nothing to do with uni.

Fig 1.1
The calm and cool exterior...


Fig 1.2
... now for the explosion.

Formal and informal group meetings for assignments (pertains to 4 out of the 5 subjects I'm taking this semester), due dates, toga parties, careers fairs, SPROUT meetings, Fiesta planning, poster sticking, presidential (CompSoc) and public relations (BiG) duties, promo work, geeky work, chill out & catch up coffee sessions, brunch/lunch/dinner dates, making mischief, taking photos, shop shop shopping and pending return phone calls tumbling over each other - not to mention staying up to speed with lectures, tutes (tutorials) and labs. Phew!

Speaking of which, time to jet to my Requirements meeting with the customer. I hope our questions will uncover some good information... wish me luck!

Posted by Jeza on March 14, 2006 12:54 PM | Comments (0)