Southern Cross Uni.
start of walk down to SCU from Orion
Student Plaza
good rep. of SCU
very neat tree that I see everytime I go down to SCU
College is called Uni here. Coming from OSU one of the LARGEST uni’s in the country/world, made SCU look like a shrimp. 5,000 student body I believe. I very much like it here though, there is 1 library which has 3 floors, and probably about 50 computers total, maybe less. It’s also in a rainforest, inbetween Orion College (dorms or student apartments) and Lismore. The campus is absolutely beautiful, I’ve seen numerous bats, 1 foot long lizards, lots of different types of obnoxiously squaking birds, and even a koala with a baby attached to its tummy!! Living in a rainforest/tropical environment makes me feel like I’m on vacation every time I step outside. Could I/will I live in a permanent vacation one day? Something tells me I will. The dynamics of a small school small town environment are different and eye-opening for me, coming from a large campus and urban landscape. I can find peace at night, not hearing traffic, planes or sirens. All I hear is the occasional screaming drunk chick and the water pipes rushing down from the second floor apartment above me.
The walk just from Orion College to campus is a hike in itself. The walk is straight down/up a hill going through the bush (forest). I won’t need to spend $170 on a gym membership, because my thighs will be already twice as beefy as it is, if I keep walking up and down that hill everyday.
The proffs here are also super friendly and layed back. I am really enjoying 3 of my classes so far. SCU has a degree/course (they call majors courses here, and classes units) in Trauma and Healing, with a focus in indigenous australian peoples. I’m taking The biological Effects of Traumatic Stress and Trans - and Intergenerational Trauma. We get very deep in the issues and there are many personal experiences shared throughout the discussion, making it a very intense 3-4 hour workshop. Very specific and rare, but in my opinion, very important for this nation. Racism and cultural dynamics are still very visible and fresh between the larger mainstream society and Aborigines. I learned yesterday that Aborigines is a noun, and Aboriginal is an adjective.
My proff for the trauma classes, I’m pretty sure is a character configured by J.K. Rowling. She wore a maroon velvet looking robe, which went down to her knees with a waist band. The robe also had a large bright white furry collar and bright white furry cufflings. Although she has dark olive skin and pronounced dark eyebrows, her hair is a radiant orange curly fluff about a foot below her shoulders. Unfortuntely I did not get a picture of her. Her tone is one note and stern, but I know she has a big heart and has been through more crap than I could ever imagine being able to handle.
