Hello all,

We are well into Semester 2 and thinking back a lot has happened in the last couple of weeks.

Secret Admirers Week

The second week into the semester was Secret Admirers week here at Unihall. This has probably been my favourite event on the hall calendar thus far. How it works is pretty self explanatory but I will explain it anyway. We were all given a form to fill out about ourselves and then assigned someone else to secretly admire whilst we were also secretly admired. Then after a week of  speculation and entertaining shenanigans everyone revealed themselves on Friday night. A big thanks to Eliza you were the best admirer a person could ask for, the Facebook memes were hilarious but the highlight of my week was definitely this cake which made a very average UMAT day 100x better.

UMATter to me Anneke

UMAT

That flows nicely onto my second experience. UMAT. (Undergraduate Medicine and Health Sciences Admission Test) All those who wish to apply for MBchB (Medicine) flocked to the Vodafone Event’s Centre in Manakau to sit this very strange test. You may know that the UMAT aims to test how your brain works with three different sections; Logical Reasoning and Problem Solving, Understanding People and Non-verbal Reasoning. Personally I didn’t “study” a lot for it, just a few practise questions and a timed practise test because you’re not supposed to be able to study for it. In hindsight I’m glad I didn’t waste too many hours preparing as I doubt it would’ve made much difference. The test is 3 hours of basically just giving it you’re best. Time is precious and I think the majority of my answers were educated guesses. It was a long day, leaving the hall for the train at about 11ish in the morning and not getting back till about 8:30 that night.

My advice regarding UMAT:

• Unless you’re applying to Australian Universities for Med don’t sit it in Year 13, its expensive, its probably not that beneficial and in my opinion UMAT is something I would rather do as few times as possible.
• Don’t study too hard for it. You’re life basically sets you up for UMAT. You can’t change the way you’re brain thinks in a few weeks. I suggest do a few of the puzzle questions to get the hang of them and do a timed practise test because time goes by ridiculously fast, but other than that don’t waste your inter-semester break because it’ll just make you feel even worse when you get out of the test room.
• Don’t stress about it too much. I cant say the same for Otago but in Auckland UMAT is said to be worth a lot less with regards to Med admission, which is a great reason to come to Auckland!!!!!

The Ball

Secret Admirers week finished on Friday night with the University Hall ball. The theme was Masquerade. Every one put on their finest and jumped (or stumbled) onto the bus headed to the Maritime Room on the waterfront. A few photos and a few wines later (pros of Uni vs highschool) it was time to hit the D-Floor which was definitely the best part of the night.  In all an outstanding evening with outstanding people and plenty of good chat. Check out the babin Floor 14 below:

Ronald McDonald Cooking

Another thing I have done recently is cook dinner one night for the families at the Ronald McDonald house. The Ronald McDonald house is a charity to give families support and a place to stay while their child is getting medical treatment in Auckland. As part of the Rotaract Club myself and other volunteers headed there on a Thursday night to cook up a three course meal for the residing families. I diced up about one and a half bags of onions without crying my eyes out and became a master at shredding cooked chicken. It was definitely a rewarding experience and a chance to get in the kitchen for a change as we are used to three meals a day from ‘Flame Tree’ the hall caterers. Would definitely suggest future students join a club or two as you never know the opportunities and experiences that might come from it.

Don’t ask me what this hand signal is supposed to be because I have no idea

Feel free to hit the comments below with any questions e.t.c or even better ask me in person at Course’s and Careers Day on Saturday 27th August!

Till next time, stay admirable

-A