Editorial
At the time of writing this, I’m sitting at home when I should really be in my first lectures. This is the first editorial I’ve ever written, so I really didn’t have a clue about what to write in this editorial or what an editorial should even include. I’ve always been the kind of guy to speak whatever is on my mind whether it be relevant to the situation I’m in or whether it’s writing an article such as this. Seeing as I’m parked up on the couch at my flat when I should be at my first lectures, I think you can see where this is going.
It’s week 2 and you should be well into your classes by now. If you’ve already started skipping them, good on you. It’s a surefire way to end up becoming the next Nexus editor. For those of you freshers, you will learn that class attendance is a slippery slope, more slippery than a butchers telephone. You will likely stop attending class once you realise no one gives a fuck whether you’re there or not. I can speak from experience given that I’ve probably skipped more lectures than I’ve attended. I know, it’s nothing to brag about and it definitely comes at a cost as I saw my grades plummet in some papers. But I must say that there can be good reasons (from my point of view when I was a second-year) to never rock up to some classes. For example, finance papers can be a complete waste of time to attend because it’s not very hard to teach yourself all of the content or find stuff online. But that all being said, it’s probably a good idea to attend as many classes as you can and work as hard as you can.
If you decide to go to class you will find that there is a very diverse group of students. I’ve observed a few in my time being a third-year, despite probably being the most absent student in the Universities’ history. You get the people who are actually there to give it 110% and you will always see them in every class no further back than the third row. These smart bastards are always scoring top of the class and will definitely be going somewhere with their degree. Bloody great to have with you in a group project as well, you can learn a lot from them and you’ll generally receive a pretty good grade. Then there’s mature students. You’ll usually find these wounders around the front of the lecture hall or tutorial classroom arguing about something they think they have more knowledge about than someone who has a PhD. I’ve seen a few in my time and it’s genuinely laughable from the far end of the lecture hall where you find the breathers. That brings me to the final big group of people you’ll meet at your classes. The Breathers. One of the most common stereotypes you’ll find around the university, these guys only ever study commerce, or a few might dabble in sports science or law only to drop it after 3 weeks. I could actually retract where I said you’ll find them around the university, because you won’t. They’re a rare sight to see in a lecture theatre, myself included. They wind up on both ends of the spectrum with grades, you’ll see them pull some crazy good marks out of nowhere or just straight up fail.
Do what you wish with this information, but going forward this year I do encourage you to be the best you can with attendance. I have learnt lots from my own experiences and I’m writing this for you to learn from them too, regardless of what year you are.
Josh Umbers
