At the Graduate School of Health, your very first week of postgraduate studies will be spent participating in Professional Skills Week. Student Alicia Piper explains what to expect...
Professional Skills Week is an introductory orientation week offering a whole heap of different activities for new postgraduate GSH students. There’s an “Amazing Race” to familiarise yourself with the campus (and win some prizes!), professional skills workshops, and a range of sessions specific to your discipline. Most importantly, this week gives you the chance to meet your peers before being thrown straight into the classroom together!
The jam-packed schedule of this week can seem overwhelming, but it’s an invaluable experience for anyone beginning their Masters journey. Here are my top tips to help you get the most out of it!
1. Make a special effort to meet new people
On Day 1 of Professional Skills Week, some of you may know a few of your peers already, but if you’re like me, you may realise you don’t know a soul! Whilst this can be very daunting (it was for me!), it also gives you the opportunity to meet new people and make some fabulous new friends (also true for me!). Professional Skills Week is designed to get you mingling with old friends and new, so get involved and throw yourself into the experience! The next week when you’re sitting in class, you’ll be grateful you had the opportunity to meet a lot of your peers before the hard work begins!
2. Make the most of the sessions
I would wholeheartedly encourage you to be on time and give the sessions your full attention. These sessions each have a specific focus where you can learn some really valuable information about your course, the uni and GSH in general. You’ll also get the opportunity to hear from and meet many of the academics before they’re standing in front of you in the classroom.
3. Keep your eyes peeled for extra workshops that may be helpful
As part of Professional Skills Week, there may be optional workshops or sessions helpful for your degree or your work outside of university. Sessions such as the First Aid course may not be compulsory to attend, but if you’re like me, you may find this a very handy way to pick up new skills that you can use both in your degree and in your everyday life. Attending the First Aid course was something that I needed for my work outside of uni, but it was organised by and for the GSH (so little organisation was needed on my part – always a win!). It was also cheaper than doing it elsewhere (another win) and I got to spend another day getting to know my peers!
In my experience, Professional Skills Week is a great opportunity to ease into postgraduate study at UTS. Having completed my undergraduate degrees elsewhere, it was an important week to get to know the campus, the people and the degree that I was embarking upon. This week made me feel completely comfortable before Week 1 started, which is when the hard work all begins!
– Alicia Piper
Clinical Psychology student