Hello UTS

Hamish Phipps (00:13):

G'day everyone. I'm your host, Hamish.

Blake Shipley (00:15):

And I'm your host, Blake. And today, we are tier ranking essential university experiences and must dos that all first-year university students go through. Today, we're joined by Luca Pearce and Ellie Thinochai. They are two UTS students, and they're here to help us out with this today. How are you guys going?

Luca Pearce (00:32):

I'm good.

Ellie Thinochai (00:32):

Amazing. Very excited to be here.

Blake Shipley (00:34):

Awesome.

Hamish Phipps (00:35):

Awesome. So for you guys at home, we do have the digital version courtesy of our video team, but for us in here, we do have the old school paper cutouts, and we will be ranking them from S to D. I didn't know that that was how you actually ranked them, but yeah, the video guys are going to be chucking them in.

Blake Shipley (00:53):

Yeah, thanks. And just before we get started there, I want to learn a bit more about you guys. So Ellie, maybe start with you. Tell us about where you're from and what you're studying at UTS?

Ellie Thinochai (01:02):

Okay. So I am doing a double degree, I'm doing a Bachelor of Business and a Bachelor of Medical Science. I only started doing the double degree at the start of this year, so it's pretty new to me, but it's nice to put my eggs in a couple of different baskets.

Hamish Phipps (01:18):

Which one are you liking more at the moment?

Ellie Thinochai (01:19):

I'm not sure. That's a really hard question. I think probably the medical science. The new, yeah.

Blake Shipley (01:25):

And Luca?

Luca Pearce (01:27):

I'm doing a Bachelor of Law and a Bachelor of Communications with a major in journalism, but I also added my journalism on at the start of this year, so that one's also new for me.

Hamish Phipps (01:39):

Awesome.

Blake Shipley (01:40):

All right, cool. So let's get started with the tier ranking. I think Berksy is going to chuck them in for us. Give us the first one. Oh good. Great throw. All right, let's rank. Doing your part in group assignments. Absolutely S tier.

Hamish Phipps (01:57):

Yeah, [crosstalk 00:01:59].

Blake Shipley (01:59):

Oh, it depends on who you are. I'm the one who wants everyone to do their bit, because I'm the one who always has to collate it. So yeah.

Hamish Phipps (02:06):

See, I was actually the one who never really did their part, so I'd say that's probably D tier for me. But what do you guys think?

Luca Pearce (02:15):

I haven't done many group assignments yet, but I mean, A or S. It's definitely important. You can't just not do anything. That's really dogging it. That's not nice.

Ellie Thinochai (02:27):

It's definitely up there for me. I do a lot of group assignments in business. They're pretty frustrating, so it's good to just get on top of it straight away.

Hamish Phipps (02:36):

So you're going to say S or A?

Ellie Thinochai (02:38):

I'm going to say S.

Luca Pearce (02:40):

I will agree, yeah.

Ellie Thinochai (02:42):

It's hard not knowing what we're ranking it with, but we'll get there.

Blake Shipley (02:44):

All right. Chuck us the next one.

Hamish Phipps (02:47):

That's all right. Next one in. That was a good toss.

Blake Shipley (02:50):

Want to read this one?

Hamish Phipps (02:51):

Yeah, I'll read this one. Why not? Got to unfold it. This one's torn as well. Breaking during study sessions?

Luca Pearce (03:01):

Oh.

Blake Shipley (03:03):

You've got some feelings.

Ellie Thinochai (03:04):

Yeah. I reckon it's so important, because if you don't break... Like you can go to the library for five hours, that's fine, but you won't get anything done if you don't break.

Luca Pearce (03:14):

Sometimes I just get on a roll for like an hour or two. If I take a break, I won't do it. I'll just stay on my phone for ages. But also, I do think it's very important.

Ellie Thinochai (03:23):

Yeah, yeah.

Blake Shipley (03:24):

Do you guys find that you set a goal, like I'm going to finish this part of the textbook, or I'm going to get up to this point and then I can take a break? Is that how you do it?

Ellie Thinochai (03:34):

[crosstalk 00:03:34] Yeah, time, but it's working on a particular task.

Hamish Phipps (03:39):

And I don't know whether it's just because I don't like studying, but I used to do 25 minutes on, five minutes off.

Luca Pearce (03:46):

Pomodoro?

Hamish Phipps (03:49):

I was sitting here thinking in my head, I'm like, "God, I don't know the name for it," so thank you. Yeah. Where are we ranking this?

Blake Shipley (03:55):

I'm big on breaks too. I reckon it's up there.

Hamish Phipps (04:04):

Is it going to be S, A?

Luca Pearce (04:04):

I would say A.

Hamish Phipps (04:04):

A? Ooh.

Luca Pearce (04:04):

Yeah. Sorry, unpopular opinion.

Blake Shipley (04:04):

Let's do it.

Ellie Thinochai (04:04):

Can we shift them around if we need to change our minds.

Hamish Phipps (04:06):

Yeah, of course. Why not? A?

Ellie Thinochai (04:06):

A.

Blake Shipley (04:06):

A.

Hamish Phipps (04:06):

It's still pretty important. It's just not S. Chuck them in.

Blake Shipley (04:16):

Here we go. Classroom icebreakers.

Ellie Thinochai (04:26):

Oh my god.

Luca Pearce (04:26):

I started during Zoom times. So I started the middle of 2020, so the icebreakers were on Zoom and it was not fun. But in the classroom, it's much, much better.

Blake Shipley (04:37):

Mm-hmm (affirmative). Okay.

Hamish Phipps (04:38):

I always find with the Zoom, if someone tries to make a joke, everyone's on mute so it just gets no response, and you're like-

Blake Shipley (04:43):

And you're like, "Did you enjoy that? Was it a good joke?"

Luca Pearce (04:47):

The teacher tries to ask, but no one answers.

Ellie Thinochai (04:48):

Yeah. It's so awkward.

Blake Shipley (04:51):

Where are we rating this one? They're not great, are they? They're never good.

Ellie Thinochai (04:55):

Yeah. It doesn't matter what year you're in, they're just always awkward and weird.

Blake Shipley (05:00):

C?

Hamish Phipps (05:01):

I would've said D.

Ellie Thinochai (05:04):

I would go D [crosstalk 00:05:04]-

Hamish Phipps (05:04):

I find them-

Blake Shipley (05:04):

I mean, sometimes they're helpful.

Luca Pearce (05:05):

I went C, because sometimes people are funny, like rarely, but sometimes it [crosstalk 00:05:11].

Hamish Phipps (05:09):

Yeah.

Blake Shipley (05:12):

Yeah. And it does help you kind of try to remember some people's names, maybe.

Luca Pearce (05:15):

Yeah, for sure.

Blake Shipley (05:16):

I'm going to executive decision, C on this one.

Hamish Phipps (05:17):

All right, chuck it down. Berksy, throw it in.

Blake Shipley (05:22):

There you go, Mishy.

Hamish Phipps (05:24):

Thank you. I'm shaking, and I promise you it's not because I'm nervous. Reading the unit handbook?

Luca Pearce (05:33):

The subject outline?

Blake Shipley (05:34):

Yeah. I'd say that sort of [crosstalk 00:05:36].

Ellie Thinochai (05:36):

You know how there's like the handbook that says... Yeah, I guess so. Yeah, the subject outline.

Luca Pearce (05:43):

It can be useful.

Blake Shipley (05:46):

It can useful?

Luca Pearce (05:47):

It can be useful. Okay, no. [crosstalk 00:05:50] I don't have anything to say. I don't have anything.

Ellie Thinochai (05:53):

No, I definitely think it is important, because you know what textbooks you need to buy, you can plan out when assignments are, blah, blah, blah, so you don't miss them. I don't know where that fits in comparison to [crosstalk 00:06:04]-

Luca Pearce (06:03):

Oh, actually. Yeah, in my first year this was really helpful, because I had no idea what I was doing and it lays out, for UTS, the student outline lays out what you're studying for each week and the topics and the readings that you have to do.

Ellie Thinochai (06:15):

Yeah, yeah.

Luca Pearce (06:16):

And they have all the assignments. So it actually is pretty useful.

Blake Shipley (06:19):

Yeah, nice.

Hamish Phipps (06:21):

I wish I had known about that.

Blake Shipley (06:23):

No, like I didn't know about that when I was at uni. That sounds awesome. Where are we going to put it?

Hamish Phipps (06:31):

You want to say S, don't you?

Luca Pearce (06:33):

No, I want to say A, I want to say A. [crosstalk 00:06:35] No, but it is very important. Can we put it like in the middle?

Hamish Phipps (06:37):

Yeah, sure. Is that okay with you video guys editing, chucking it in the middle there? There you go.

Blake Shipley (06:43):

On the line.

Hamish Phipps (06:44):

In the middle.

Blake Shipley (06:45):

Beauty. Oh, a little under arm.

Hamish Phipps (06:50):

That one looks a bit longer.

Blake Shipley (06:50):

This one does look a bit longer. Ooh, this sounds good. All right. Signing up to student subscriptions, like Spotify, Apple Music, gyms, that kind of thing?

Ellie Thinochai (07:01):

I love those. That is the best part about uni. Yeah, there are so many things that you can get student subscriptions on.

Blake Shipley (07:07):

Where do you find out about this stuff? Like I feel like [crosstalk 00:07:10] knew about it.

Ellie Thinochai (07:10):

They kind of advertise it, just on open day and stuff, and just hearing around.

Luca Pearce (07:15):

They also, UTS offers free Grammarly.

Ellie Thinochai (07:20):

Yeah.

Blake Shipley (07:20):

I love Grammarly. [crosstalk 00:07:23].

Luca Pearce (07:22):

Yeah, that was so good to find out.

Blake Shipley (07:24):

And Rate Your Resume, and there's this one called Student VIP which has all these secondhand textbooks.

Luca Pearce (07:31):

Oh, that's the best place to get it.

Hamish Phipps (07:31):

Yeah. It always annoys me when I go on sites now, and it says like, oh, enter your student, what is it, USI and then I'm like, oh, I can't do that.

Blake Shipley (07:39):

Yeah. And you're not a student anymore, and you're like, damn it. So definitely up there, I'm hearing?

Luca Pearce (07:44):

Yeah.

Hamish Phipps (07:45):

I reckon that's an S tier, for sure. Personally, I don't know.

Blake Shipley (07:49):

Good, good. All right.

Hamish Phipps (07:51):

Yeah, I'll read this one. I always get the small ones, and I'm all shaky and... Giving yourself me time?

Ellie Thinochai (07:59):

Yeah. That's up there.

Luca Pearce (08:00):

I don't know what to say.

Hamish Phipps (08:08):

You know, taking a break, going and hanging out with your friends.

Luca Pearce (08:11):

This one is very similar to the break one, I think. But also, with me time, is that in terms of like societies and events and things? Because I think that's very important. If you just study 24/7, that is a terrible idea. Very bad. So you definitely need to step away.

Hamish Phipps (08:28):

Watching Netflix, playing PlayStation. I doubt you guys play Playstation.

Luca Pearce (08:32):

Yeah, yeah. It's self-care.

Hamish Phipps (08:32):

Yeah, self-care.

Blake Shipley (08:32):

Absolutely self care.

Luca Pearce (08:34):

I'd say S.

Blake Shipley (08:36):

We're getting a lot of S tiers.

Hamish Phipps (08:37):

Yeah, we might have to rearrange, but S? Do we want S?

Blake Shipley (08:42):

Yep.

Hamish Phipps (08:42):

I actually think that's probably the most important, personally, but that does not indicate that it's the most important on this tier ranking system.

Blake Shipley (08:52):

I feel like we need some bad ones. Let's see what this is. Getting enough sleep?

Ellie Thinochai (08:58):

You can definitely survive on five hours.

Luca Pearce (09:04):

Not recommend it, though.

Blake Shipley (09:06):

Have you guys had to pull any all-nighters thus far?

Ellie Thinochai (09:09):

Yes. Group assignments. Yeah, definitely.

Blake Shipley (09:12):

Oh, it's always the group assignments.

Ellie Thinochai (09:15):

It is important, though.

Luca Pearce (09:16):

I mean, for us, our assignments are usually due at either 5:00 PM or midnight, so you usually do it up until then, and then after that you can go to bed. I would say that's very important, getting enough sleep.

Blake Shipley (09:28):

Yeah, definitely.

Luca Pearce (09:29):

But there are a lot of coffee shops around if you don't, but...

Hamish Phipps (09:34):

You guys are the sort that leave your assignments up to the last minute, or do you plan and chip away at them?

Ellie Thinochai (09:40):

No, I was never that kind of person, but then this year, being all online, I was like, you know what? I'm going to give it a go.

Hamish Phipps (09:45):

Yeah, I got caught out with this one with a research assignment at work recently. I should have planned and should have got started a lot earlier, because there was a couple late nights over the weekend. So are we putting this in S again?

Blake Shipley (09:58):

Oh, okay, hear me out.

Ellie Thinochai (09:59):

They can't all be.

Blake Shipley (10:00):

Yeah, it could be an A, because important, definitely, but you can do an all-nighter [crosstalk 00:10:05] if you need to.

Luca Pearce (10:05):

Would not recommend it, though.

Blake Shipley (10:08):

Would not recommend it, we're not condoning this, but it's possible.

Ellie Thinochai (10:10):

It is possible. And it's also like a challenge to yourself, [crosstalk 00:10:15].

Blake Shipley (10:12):

All right.

Hamish Phipps (10:12):

Chuck it in.

Blake Shipley (10:12):

This is yours.

Hamish Phipps (10:19):

Is it mine, is it? All right. This one's a bit longer by the looks of it. Leaving... Oh, kind of answered this one, leaving assessments until the night before?

Ellie Thinochai (10:35):

Oh, there we go. Yeah.

Luca Pearce (10:35):

Not a good idea.

Hamish Phipps (10:35):

Not a good idea?

Luca Pearce (10:35):

Not a good idea.

Ellie Thinochai (10:36):

Not ideal, but it can be done.

Luca Pearce (10:37):

I've submitted my assignment a minute before, and it was like the most stressful time of my entire life. [crosstalk 00:10:44] And also, because you need to check Turnitin, to check about the plagiarism thing, and also, if you have wifi trouble... So that's like a D. Yeah, definitely don't do that.

Ellie Thinochai (10:57):

Yeah, that is below D. That's the worst feeling.

Blake Shipley (11:00):

All right.

Hamish Phipps (11:01):

Lucky last.

Blake Shipley (11:02):

This is you.

Hamish Phipps (11:07):

All right. Here we go. Taking care of your mental health?

Luca Pearce (11:09):

S.

Hamish Phipps (11:12):

Yeah, yeah.

Ellie Thinochai (11:13):

I think that kind of goes hand in hand with giving yourself some me time.

Hamish Phipps (11:16):

And getting enough sleep.

Ellie Thinochai (11:17):

Yeah.

Luca Pearce (11:19):

[crosstalk 00:11:19] That one's A.

Hamish Phipps (11:21):

Yeah, I think that's definitely the most important, and even outside of uni, just making sure that you are taking care of your mental health.

Blake Shipley (11:28):

Yeah, of course. Is there anything you guys do to make sure you're doing that while you're at uni?

Luca Pearce (11:35):

I'm thinking. I don't know. I read a lot. I don't know if that's to do with mental health.

Blake Shipley (11:41):

Yeah, totally.

Ellie Thinochai (11:43):

Yeah, I think just making sure that you do have that time to wind down and you're not always studying. So I'm in a society and we meet up every couple of weeks, which is so good, just to hang out with people and wind down and talk about what you're doing so that it's not bottled up.

Hamish Phipps (12:01):

And do you guys have any other tips for first-year students, especially at UTS?

Luca Pearce (12:09):

Go to the orientation and talk to as many societies as you can. It's the best way. Yeah, I think societies are the best way to actually get your foot in at uni and meet people.

Ellie Thinochai (12:23):

Yeah. I think it comes back to that old saying, that you get out what you put in. So if you're going to class and you just go straight home, you're not going to have a good experience.

Blake Shipley (12:35):

What societies are you in?

Luca Pearce (12:37):

I'm in the UTS Society of Communications, and that's the third biggest society at UTS. And they had a first-year camp at the start of this year, which was really fun, and there were like 150 people there. They have that also for business and [crosstalk 00:12:52]-

Ellie Thinochai (12:51):

Yeah, I did the business one, which got a bit wild. I definitely recommend going.

Luca Pearce (13:00):

Yeah. But yeah, that's the best way, I would say.

Ellie Thinochai (13:02):

Yeah.

Blake Shipley (13:03):

I feel like that's what I maybe did wrong about uni, is I didn't join any of the clubs or societies and I never met anyone. I was like, how do people make friends at uni? This is how you make friends at uni.

Luca Pearce (13:11):

It's the societies.

Ellie Thinochai (13:13):

Yeah.

Hamish Phipps (13:14):

Any other tips, any other-

Hamish Phipps (13:17):

Make sure that you plan your lectures and tutes on close days, so you don't have to go in every day?

Luca Pearce (13:24):

Yeah, that's a good idea.

Ellie Thinochai (13:25):

Yeah. I think there is a lot of flexibility, especially at UTS, with classes. So you can pick a 7:00 PM class, you can pick an 8:00 AM, so make sure it's within the same day so you don't have to go in all the time.

Luca Pearce (13:38):

Oh, I made this mistake. Don't have a class that goes from like 9:00 till 11:00, and then 11:00 till 12:30, because you have to sprint across. I sprinted from building 11 to like building... Which is on the opposite side, the communications building, and every single time I was late, and you have to come in and everyone's just like looking at you. It's not fun. So give yourself a little bit of time.

Ellie Thinochai (14:01):

Oh god, that takes me back to first year.

Luca Pearce (14:03):

[crosstalk 00:14:03] Yeah, no, it was bad. I was just sprinting with my backpack like... Yeah, not recommended.

Blake Shipley (14:07):

I was late to my first lecture of my first day at uni and I was... I got off the bus at Wynyard and was like sprinting down George Street trying get to class and I was the last one in class, and I had to sit in the front row and walk past everybody to get to the front row, and I was sweaty and red and disgusting, and everyone looked at me and it was a terrible first-day experience.

Cool. Thanks heaps, guys, for joining us. That was awesome. Really fun to sit down and have a chat with you guys and get some insights. So yeah, thanks heaps.