Welcome back to another edition of SCISOC's fortnightly newsletter PRISM! Today, we talk about the upcoming Flexi-Week, and about its general gist and what to do during it. In our Fun Corner, we bring back another edition to the ongoing 'Letter to the Weather' series. With that said, we wish you all a productive yet relaxing flexi-week! Anyway, what are we waiting for? Let's dive in!

SCISOC Camp Recap

Thank you to everyone who attended SCISOC Camp! It was a huge success, jam-packed with activities, socialising and partying. It was amazing having you all, and we will not forget the campers, ranging from those who performed lap dances on our very own directors, to those who spent hours chundering in the same spot. If you missed out on camp, do not worry! SCISOC will be holding many events throughout the year; keep an eye out for Pub Crawl in Week 8! Once again, thank you to all our fellow recruits that made this camp a memorable experience.

We have officially passed the halfway point of trimester 1, facing down a constant barrage of assignments and the end nowhere in sight. Well, worry not, because flexi-week has finally arrived! Week 6, also affectionately known by students as flexi-week, is a week where there are no lectures, tutorials or labs. Basically, no new university work will be issued. Now, students have many uses for flexi-week, but since this is the first flexi-week for all the first-year students, it would be pragmatic to go through some ways to use flexi-week.

Sleep

For many students, flexi-week entails catching up on many hours of sleep that have been lost throughout the term. Using this week to sleep is the perfect way to recharge before the second half of the term begins.

Relaxing

Non-stop, back-to-back assignments often cause students to miss out on what’s crucial in life; relaxing and meeting up with friends. Flexi-week is a great time to relax, before the onslaught of the second half of the term begins. This could be anything from playing games, watching Netflix/Anime/Kdramas, playing a sport or just catching up with mates.

Finish Assignments

For the students who were unlucky enough to be issued with assignments due exactly after flexi-week, this is the perfect chance to complete them without having worries of more incoming work. It gives you an opportunity to do your assignment without worrying about watching lectures or attending labs and tutorials.

Studying Ahead/Catching up

For the students out there who struggle to keep up with course content, flexi-week is the ideal opportunity to catch up with any content they’re behind on. Furthermore, it is presents a great chance to study ahead to make the second half of the trimester easier. This will also save time in future weeks, reducing the overall stress of studying.

These are just some of the ways flexi-week can be utilized. Now, regardless of assignments and study, all students should aim to get at least a little bit of rest in flexi-week to ensure they are recharged and ready for the second half of the trimester.

Dear Autumn,

You were once my favourite season, and you were something I spent long hours staring out into the sky desperately wishing for. I longed for the soft brush of the wind against my arms, for the kiss of the waning sun against my back, for the autumn leaves to fall from the trees in a warm shower of orange (a perfect backdrop for the images I won’t post to my currently defunct Instagram). I’ve long since awaited your arrival, and in that time, I’ve told all my friends the very best things I know of you, thinking you wouldn’t let me down.

But let me down you did.

We are now three weeks in, and with you you’ve brought an abundance of overall dreadful weather. Do we want to talk about that first week where you brought nothing but unrelenting heat into our area? Or how about the weeks that followed, where the sky opened up and let forth a torrential rainfall? The amount of rain that's been let forth has carved out new oceans in our city. The weather’s so unpredictable I nearly mistook you for spring!

Your behaviour recently has left most of us more than unimpressed. I think that the disappointment my parents had in me for not receiving school dux on my graduation night couldn’t even compare to the disappointment I have in you right now. Of course, there’s still time to redeem yourself. Despite how much I badmouthed summer to its face three months back, it turned itself on its head by giving us what was possibly the most pleasant summer we’ve had in years. And it did that with a resolve I’ve never managed to achieve myself, so props to them. But can you do the same? I’ll be watching and waiting, so make your next moves wisely.

The students do thank you for adding a new swimming pool to the Village Green, however. Much appreciated xoxo.

Sincerely,

Waiting for Winter.

Did you know that you can find all our previous newsletters on our website? Check out unswscisoc.org and scroll to our Publications tab to check them out!

UNSW Science Society is proud to announce our continued partnership with GradReady through 2020. GradReady provides GAMSAT Preparation courses for anyone looking to pursue Medicine after they graduate.
This process starts earlier than you think, so if you’re studying medical science or just have that passion, check out what they have to offer!

This student Club publication is proudly supported by Arc. For more information about Arc Clubs, visit www.arc.unsw.edu.au.