The university I'm using is Charles Sturt, and although they offer distance education there is a compulsory unit where distance students have to visit the university. They call this resident school, and it only goes for three days.
My resident school is at the Charles Sturt campus in Wagga Wagga, which is on the other side of Australia.
Pink arrow connecting Perth to Wagga Wagga.
The resident school is an introduction to the university and the course I will be taking. I'm dreading having to 'network'. I'm not they type of person who joins in with team building/icebreakers. I'd rather just sit in a corner and not be noticed. Usually, someone comes to talk to me and then I feel like a really horrible person for not being as enthusiastic as everyone else in the room. I'm really not interested in networking at all, I'm too anti-social for my own good. It's also really hard to go unnoticed with green hair!!
Actually, my co-workers always make fun of me because I don't understand why people remember me. They say "oh, Natalie, we have NO IDEA" looking right at my hair. Hahaha, luckily I like my co-workers and I tease them back.
I am excited about a little holiday. I've been home bound with my broken ankle for nearly two months. I like exploring places by myself. Wagga Wagga is near Sydney, so after my resident school I'm going to stay the weekend in Sydney.
Best of all, I get to visit two places I've always wanted to!
Monte Cristo, Australia's 'most haunted' house! I've wanted to visit this ever since I was a kid. It's only 30mins north of Wagga Wagga, so it's a great opportunity for me to check it out. I doubt I'll be in the area again.
The front of Monte Cristo Homestead
I do not believe in ghosts or the supernatural. I'm an atheist and a skeptic, so I think there is a rational explanation for all things and that there is no life after death. BUT I love ghost stories. I've always enjoyed 'real haunting' books when I was a kid. I used to get the same ones from the library and re-read them. I love spooky stories, and stories that are suppose to be 'real'. I have a large occult book collection, including some great skeptic books like A Magician Among the Spirits by Harry Houdini (he spent his life debunking spiritualists, such an amazing man) and Why People Believe Weird Things by Michael Shermer.
Australia is lacking any haunted places, I think because this is a young nation. All of the spooky places are over east, there doesn't seem to be anything in Perth.
The second place I'm going to visit is the Quarantine Station in Sydney. When Australia was first being colonised, this was the place to put people who had contagious diseases. It seems like a really spooky place, and I've always wanted to visit it!
I'll make sure to take lots of photos and write about my adventures over east.
8 comments:
I'm going to make a shirt that says "I am uncomfortable in this sort of social setting, and I don't know what I should be doing," for occasions just like your resident school.
Wagga Wagga. That's almost as fun a name as Rancho Cucamonga.
You'll be near my part of the country! The Quarantine Station is awesome; you'll have an awesome time I'm sure! Very Spooky but they do use some cheap trick to get a jump out of you, so be careful. :3
Well done on getting into uni! I hope the teambuilding goes well - I didn't realise how awkward I was in social settings until I went to uni. :P
My mum is desperate to visit Australia, so I'll keep these places in mind should that ever happen. :)
As I'm reading this I'm grinning from ear-to-ear. YOU GO GIRL! I'm so thrilled and proud and ecstatic that you're in university and yes! better late than never. I was telling Ed the other night that MY Nats is going to uni to be a full-fledge librarian. hehehe ... I adore you, dear gal!
And hell with the haunted crap, that's one gorgeous building!
I'm so happy you got in!!!!! I'm so excited for you. Distance studying may take a long time but I think it's a good way for people who already have a job to have a degree while working. I wish you the best of luck!!
I'm so happy for you Natalie! I love ghost stories and haunted places, but I'm a total scaredy cat. ;)
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!
I'm sure you will do VERY WELL in your studies, and if it takes you six years to finish, so what? I spent eight years in school when I went back (also working full time), and I believe you have what it takes.
As far as the social stuff goes, I'm usually awkward too. But you know, it really DOES help to imagine the other people in their underwear! It will at least make you smile, and if you do that, you will come across as friendly and approachable. Try it, I dare you!!
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