Today I Learnt .... That Orientation is Never Good

Orientation days, especially compulsory ones, are exactly as useful as the "general feedback sessions" we get after an exam where they don't actually go through the exam. Not only did I not learn anything for the majority of the day, I am also now terrified about my year ahead.

Actually I shouldn't say I didn't learn anything, that would be a lie, I actually learnt a lot.

From the head of the management committee I learnt that the university would prefer it if we didn't get arrested.

From the OH&S dude I learnt that nearly every activity is a hazard (seriously, one of my friends had to watch a video on how to walk down the stairs) including typing on a laptop in bed and not sitting up straight when using a microscope.

From our faculty advisor I learnt that her door is always open, unless we have a question, in which case we must first refer to our FAQ section of our handbook.

From the ethics lady I simply learnt that I would hate to be on an ethics committee, oh and also that its my supervisor's job to keep me ethical and hand in forms (I liked that learning point).

From the psychologist I learnt that research is going to steal my soul.

And from past students I learnt that I will have the most stressful year of my life unless I'm proactive and start tasks 3 months before they're due. Judging by my procrastination skills I'm pretty sure I'm in for a stressful year. They did say that when they finished they realised that "it was so much fun" and a "great learning oppurtunity" but I have a feeling they were told to say that.

And that was just the morning session.

Then we had lunch.

And then 4 hours of a library session teaching me how to "write an answerable question" and then "search this question". Not quite sure what I learnt there considering we've done that session every year. I did then learn about EndNote though! If you don't know what EndNote is, download it, it's the most amazing referencing thing I have ever seen. Its actually genius.

Day 1 out of 2 down. Bring on Day 2! I wonder what I'll learn tomorrow?!