3 things I wish I was told before starting university

Tomorrow, I'm going to my last lecture of my first year of university.

Did it really go by that fast? I thought that with the amount of coursework and the boring lectures that I missed - or more like, didn't bother attending - the year would have gone by much slower. But I'm here now. I have one more lecture, followed by four exams spread over two weeks to finish the year off. I'm not exactly sure how I feel about this.

When I was enrolling for my first semester courses in mid-January, I had fantasies of university in my head. Being involved in a couple of organisations, having a new group of like-minded friends to spend time with, and always learning stuff that I'm interested in, if not passionate about. Did my first year at university fulfil my expectations? Well, it certainly exceeded it, both in a good and bad way.

In Year 13, I knew enough people who had gone to university the year before, and they made it seem like a pretty cool place. (You know, except for Hell Week, also known as assignment season.) Maybe they were softening the blow. Or maybe I was just asking the wrong people. I have no idea what they were going on about when they were telling me about university, but here are some things I wish they said.

1. There is such a thing as Midtown or a City bus.
I reside and attended high school in Henderson, west of the Auckland CBD, so for many of the senior students in my high school, their university transport plans involved taking the train into town on the Western Line, getting off at Britomart and hiking up Albert Park to get to uni. I'm reasonably fit, but I dread the thought of going up a steep hill - alternatively, just-as-steep flights of stairs - five days a week. No, no, that's not for me.

I thought I'd be smart and take a Downtown/Britomart bus from Henderson, but get off at the Karangahape Rd stop to begin the downhill walk to university. And that worked for all of a week, because I started showing up to my lectures late. But then I discovered the magic that is a Midtown bus.

Instead of going through Avondale, Pt Chev, Western Springs and Grey Lynn to get into the city, the Midtown buses from West Auckland go through Mt Albert and Kingsland or through Owairaka, Sandringham and Kingsland. The best part? They dropped me off at the shops just up the road from the university. You know, the one with the 3 student S's? Starbucks, St. Pierre's and Subway? Yeah, I never needed to climb up Albert Park to get to my first class of the day all of this year.

2. There is hot food that is cheap enough to warrant eating it at least twice a week.
A lot of people tell me: pack your own lunch, because university cafeteria food is expensive. They were right on that one, so I packed myself sandwiches, crackers and energy bars for the first couple of weeks of university. I've had them all throughout high school, so what makes this any different? Well, it turns out that I don't really like sandwiches or crackers, and I much prefer hot lunches. So I started bringing rice and leftover meat from the night before to university. Except that for all we pay for student services, the University of Auckland has a severe shortage of functioning microwaves.

I started looking around, and there are plenty of places near university that sell cheap food. They may not be the healthiest food, but if you've got a few extra dollars and you're craving some hot food, it is available if you're okay to go for a walk. My recommendations would be: $5 mini fried chicken donburi from Kubick on Symonds St (at the bottom of the Princeton Apartments before the bus stop in front of Pembridge Apartments), $6 meals at The Station on Anzac Ave (near the oval-shaped UniLodge building), $3.50-$4.50 Korean pancakes from No. 1 Pancake on Lorne St (off Wellesley St near the Outer Link bus stop and the public library).

If you have a lot of time on your hands and are willing to walk (or take the free City Link from Queen St) up to Karangahape Rd, the food court at Mercury Plaza (on Mercury Lane by the Green Party offices) has ridiculously cheap meals, including their $10 chicken pad thai which is enough to feed two people.

3. There's a severe lack of drinking fountains.
You'd think they'd want us to lay off the sugary and caffeinated energy drinks, but I've only seen maybe four or five drinking fountains on campus. I try to drink as much water as possible, even if I often fail to get my eight a day, and I only pack a 500mL bottle with me, which I, inevitably do need to refill. Where the hell are the drinking fountains?

As far as I know, that there's one in the lower level of Engineering building, which I don't go to often enough anyway, two outside the IC, and one on each library floor, which I don't go to often enough either. Anyone else know any other places? Do tell.


You may have noticed that this little list doesn't have much to do with the academic side of university. It's more about the little things that will make everyday uni life that much easier. But all the things that I've been told about university academics? Most of it is true. Do your readings, load up with your drink of choice and make sure not to get carpal (or cubital!) tunnel syndrome along the way!