“The Trial and Tribulations of completing a mediocre university degree” will be series of blogs giving an account of all the issues and events that come to mind during this hungrygeek’s university life. No promises yet, but I do wish to continue this for however long I can either  a)  continue to write this, or b) stay at university and not be put off by the excessive fun of his 2 hour lectures and 200 pages of readings that are not not not loaded with double negatives.

This is the first installment.

“Group work”

A major source of my annoyance at university is the constant stress that always seem to rise when a subject requires group work. While this may be fine if you have miraculously landed in your friend’s tutorials, or you have figured out that the ease at which the student centre can actually relocate your classes, you are more than likely to be stuck with a group of unknowns. I am currently studying commerce- a course that is seen by many international students as a gateway to Australian permanent residency, and the tutorials are always  half filled with international students.

Due to the “racial congregation” group mentality, I, of Asian appearance, usually attract the international students on my tables, and am often too slow to react to this. I am often left in a state of utter devastation and find myself muttering non-swear words under my breath at placing myself in such position. As a consequence, I am often left to complete most of the work given their limited abilities in the engrish language.I can understand that there may be some international students that are very capable, and do very good work. However, until I meet one, this character shall remain as enigmatic as a brilliant mind at Monash.

On a serious note, as I understand, there are currently very low threshold for English skill levels for international students to gain entry into university. This should be changed. While this may be perceived as a selfish thought at the literal expense of the extremely high fee paying international students. Would they be getting their value for education by going through university without being able to produce their best work due to a failure in language? I think it may be unfair that the government is merely stripping them of their money, and not providing the education they had come for. Quite the philosophical mind i possess really.