Student experience at UTS

Descriptive transcript

[Music playing]

My name is Tutti and I'm in my fourth year of a combined Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Communications, majoring in Social and Political Science.

When I was researching for my current degree, I was very much one of those Year 12s who really wanted to know everything. I was really unsure about what I wanted to do, so I went out and used every resource under the sun. I read, I had a look at everything, and the main ones for me were actually the course guides from the universities. I remember having a stack of about 30 beside my desk, and I just kept reading them, looking through, and tabbing the pages. But I also used a lot of the events and the open days. I didn't make my decision until Options Day, which was the last time in the year to go into all the unis and ask those really hard questions.

The reason I chose my degree at UTS was because I spoke to one of the girls who was studying the same degree. We chatted, spoke about our high school subjects, and I realised we had the exact same ambitions and goals for where we wanted to go. That's how I worked out that that was the degree I was going to do.

The information I wish I knew in high school was probably a little bit more about the different options that are available. While I did do a lot of research, I stayed in the courses that I kind of knew a bit about and knew I was interested in. I didn't expand my field and look at other faculties. I didn't go, "Oh, what is journalism? Would I be interested in that?" I very much stuck to what I thought I would like. I wish I knew that if you get early offers and conditional offers, you don't need to take them straight away. Because I had a few conditional offers, and my mindset was like, "I can maybe slack off now?" I didn't, which was good in the end, but relying on that can also be a little risky because you're putting all your eggs in one basket. I wish I could have had that perspective back then and gone, "No, just keep all your options open and make sure you cover everything you need to."

At UTS, there are so many support services available when you're transitioning into university. I was really worried, I was so scared going into uni because I knew from my siblings and my older friends as well that uni is a lot different to high school. I was expecting this overwhelming experience, but it wasn't like that at all. I remember my first assignment, the tutor sat down, broke it down with us, showed us how to respond to it, and gave us really good techniques. She created this environment where if we had any questions, we could always go to her. Obviously, we all had a lot of questions, so we were constantly asking her things. We also have a lot of academic writing support, because that changes as well when you go into university. It's not always the same style and writing technique that you use in high school, so it's really beneficial to be able to go in there and just check in and go, "Am I on the right path here?" One thing I've actually used consistently throughout my degree is the peer service that's available, where students who have done really well in the subject in previous semesters come back and teach it. They're able to unpack it with you in a different way because they've actually gone through what you've experienced as well. That has been really useful throughout my degree.

The social life at UTS is really unique and something I was really impressed with when I first arrived. I was the only person from my grade that came to UTS, so I was really worried. I just envisioned myself as not making any friends, just going to classes and then going home. That's not what happened at all. It's almost impossible not to make friends and get involved. Within my first class, I sat next to a girl and we've now been best friends for our entire university classes. We've always had classes together.

There are a lot of clubs and societies you can join, whatever degree you go into—whether it's forensic science, law, communications—there's a student society you can join. They're a really cohesive network of people that you're always around and can always be a part of. Something that's really important to remember is that everyone is in the same boat. I came into uni with the headspace that everyone will already have all these friends and I'll just be alone, but that's not the case at all. Everyone is like, "Oh, I'm not going to make any friends," so sometimes you've just got to take the first step and get out there.

Balancing all those different commitments such as work and study and obviously social events as well can be a little bit difficult. It does take time to adjust at university because it is different to how it is at high school. You don't always have tutors and teachers reminding you of when your assignments are due. One of the main techniques I used when going into university was just getting a giant wall planner and writing everything up for the semester. So I knew, "OK, in three weeks I have this assignment worth 20% due. I should start looking at it now," and just different techniques like that. I think everyone is a little bit different with how they want to approach these things, but it's also important to check in with yourself and make sure you aren't overloading on things. Always make sure you can take time out, go and visit your friends, have a social life, and do extracurricular things as well. It's not all about the study.

That's a really unique thing about UTS—they really make sure that you have the opportunities available and you should be able to fit everything in. I really wanted to undertake an internship and within my communications degree they said, "Yeah, you can do that. You can get that practical experience and we'll actually give you credit for it, so it will be one of your subjects." So I was able to continue studying and also have that experience and do that internship as well.

If you are struggling with everything and you don't know how to get out, or you can't see a way out, there are those resources available where you can go and chat. They're like, "OK, let's just plan everything. Let's see where we can go. Let's see where we can get you to where you need to be now." I think that's really important as well, and it's really nice to know that you have a university that will support you when you're going through times that may be a little bit difficult.