A Day in the Life of a Monash Engineer

After many requests, I have finally decided to detail what it is like to be in school here. I actually went around with a camera today and documented what a typical day is like in pictures. I was trying to do it undercover so people wouldn't think I was completely nuts, and my plan was to go incognito with huge glasses and a big hat. Then i figured that "meena-style incognito" may not be the best idea - with my zebra print Billabong bag it just wouldnt work...

*NB: The day chosen is a hypothetical day combining schedules for Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday units(course = unit, faculty = course).


I wake up in the morning after snoozing precisely 4 times. It is at this moment that I realize that uni is really cutting into my vacation time, and I really need to get my act together and start reading my textbooks! I make some brekky (toast/jam, dood/cereal, bagel/cream cheese - ozzies dont know what bagels are and they are really hard to find here so i only reward myself with a bagel if i really feel as though i deserve it). Then I get ready and set off from Farrer Hall, my residence.

I start walking towards an extra long path that passes by a pond with ducks and has tons of trees - really looking forward to autumn to see all the colors changing. It's pretty chilly in the morning - so they were right when they said Melbs gets cold...I need to buy a scarf soon.

9 minutes later, I cross the local footy field and see Engineering in the distance--I am already 7 minutes late. No matter how early I get up or how much extra time I leave myself in the morning, I am consistently 7 minutes late every single morning.

I enter the 4th Year Room for my CHE 4113: Management for Engineers course. All of my third year courses are held in one room--conveniently named the Third Year Room.

The Marketing course fully puts me to sleep without fail, so after an hour of it I need to go grab a coffee. But there is no decent coffee in Australia! So I am currently living off of Chai Lattes at my new favorite cafe called Fibonacci's. For those of you that are geeky you will know what a Fibonacci Sequence is-and if you look carefully you can see it on the counter (1,1,2,3,5,8...). Yup, you guessed right - this is the cafe in the Engineering Library. Its like some next level geek - i didnt think anyone could do it better than Waterloo but i was sadly mistaken!

After I grab my coffee, I am late for the second half of class (usually by approx 7 minutes) and I take a nice scenic walk back to class, passing a calming water fountain on the way.

When marketing class is finished, I head to the 3rd year room for CHE 3102: Heat and Mass Transfer. Are we learning Heat and Mass transfer today? I'm afraid not! This is really just a repeat of a Transport Process course I took in 2nd year (helllooo Chatzis). Its basically just in case I one day come across a feed stream concentrated with ammonia that i need to strip out using a solvent and the plant depends on my calculations but, oh look, we have no more analytical software so i have to analyze the process by drawing a graph by hand of the amount of theoretical distillation trays needed! Seriously - not impressed. Are we EVER going to use this stuff? You know, i wasnt always so cynical...oh ya but i got a sweet as (kiwi slang) Roxy pencil case that fits my assortment of stationary, chapstick, my 30 cm ruler AND also my TI-83. I am in LOVE with this pencil case!

After class, I take a picture by a fish tank which is really a distillation column with fishies in it. Just when you thought the Chemical Engineering Department couldn't get nerdier. But the sad part is that when i first realized it was a distilation column, i was actually impressed...

Anywho, moving right along, yes that is a chai latte in my hand, full of cinnaminny goodness!

After a long morning its time for lunch - I am immediately craving handrolls. Handrolls are yummy yummy sushi rolls that are long and only $2.20 - I eat them almost everyday. Its kind of scary. So we walk down the path to the Monash Meeting Point in the Campus Center (SLC/MAC Hall). Note how people walk on the "other" side of the path.

Before I got to Australia, I really thought that I wouldnt have to do much work here. But I now realize that the University of Waterloo and Monash are pretty comparable in the course load and teaching styles, however a hell of a lot more people fail here. In fact, about 50% of my class are fourth years doing their courses over again. As you can imagine, that is not very encouraging. I'm not sure if its the lecturers or the students...

When lunch is over, we walk back towards the engineering building for CHE 3108 - Process Operation and Design. This course is a 4th year UW course and basically covers process design, materials engineering, flowsheeting and all the other good stuff.

Then I have CHE 3101: Reaction Engineering. I can't even describe this course because I have absolutely no idea what is going on. I do know that it is about reaction rates and reaction kinetics and that my lecturer has a voice that seroiusly just lulls you to dreamland. Its one of those courses where the lectures are so useless but you still end up going - it's a trade off, of course, as the best naps usually happen during those times. And just when you think you can start skipping lectures...he starts taking attendence. What a guy.

Next stop - time to leave the engineering building! Bye, bye distillation columns, its off to the nicer and better looking part of campus - Arts! This course AUS 1060: Contemporary Australia is basically made for American exchange students and it covers Australian culture, history, underlying racism, aborigines, and the Howard Govt...basically Bush's little poochri. It is pretty interesting but I do think I now know more about Australia then actual Australians do...most australians are more concerned with footy and they "couldnt be bothered" (aussie slang) to learn about history. In real life, this unit conflicts with my CHE 3108 so I have to pick and choose which I want to go to depending on the week.

Then, finally, it is time for my trek back to Farrer Lords. Home sweet home!


Get home, cook dinns, watch endless amounts of tv on a laptop (LOST is my current fixation), go to sleep and do it all over again the next day!