orientation Day
February 12th 2007 01:58
Orientation Day:
In comparison to my Newcastle TAFE experience when I did my Master 4, AMC is like dying and going to heaven. Newcastle TAFE is old, but strong in its age, chipped paint, daggy worn carpet, and Graffiti covered walls every where. Welcome , well there was none, orientation, there was none, attitude to the student, devil take them. Here in Launceston each head of a section was introduced. The IT people that would help with any computer problems, all correspondence would be via an Internet address given to you and all past exams and notes available on the web! They were fighting a war on paper. There was still plenty of hardcopy to fill a show bag. Bus timetables, tourism information, campus maps and a two semester program/calendar as well as a list of individual subjects and the number of hours needed for each subject. Because there are so many old heads here, ship’s captains and fishing fleet captains and so on, it was decided to do the maths, physics course first so that everyone had a handle on this to use it in other courses. Smart thinking!
There are two campuses here in Tasmania and one in Victoria, so the whole AMC college is larger than the Newcastle TAFE on its own, or in fact any TAFE I have attended in NSW. So there is an opportunity to do well amongst a lot of people doing the same type of thing. I keep comparing to Newcastle and I will continue to do so as that is a fair comparison. Maritime in Newcastle and indeed in many TAFES is regarded with some scepticism. It is actually a course in transport management and regarded as a course for wet truckies! And we can’t knock truck transport and logistics as it has to be one of the slickest forms of transport around. Just ask the billionaires who own the trucking companies.
AMC is considered the leading college for maritime studies in the southern hemisphere and compares with many leading northern hemisphere colleges. I say all this to cement my feelings that I have done the right thing moving my life to Tassie for the time being.
I have booked in for only five evening meals a week. I cook the rest of my meals in a microwave in our kitchenette which is shared with six students. The first meal I had in the canteen was lamb curry, it was full of large chunks of moist, very tender lamb, potatoes and hot spices. Rice of course and a salad bar choice. I skipped the pumpkin soup but had the large bowl of jelly and ice cream because I felt decadent. We have tennis courts, basketball, a swimming pool, rugby and cricket pitches as well as outdoor fitness areas and use of the Uni of Tassie gym. They are our neighbour.
The library is large and well stocked including a fiction section with romances, detective stories and the usual trashy stuff I like to read as an escape. We again have access to the larger Tassie Uni library. There is a world class ship simulator, flow test tanks, and aquaculture farm and the list goes on. I have met students here that are on their second and third courses and they have not yet been able to use all the facilities available. One of the guys is living off campus in a five bedroom, two hundred acre property that backs onto the river (rent $320 per week) and we expect some big parties over there!
To Be continued.
In comparison to my Newcastle TAFE experience when I did my Master 4, AMC is like dying and going to heaven. Newcastle TAFE is old, but strong in its age, chipped paint, daggy worn carpet, and Graffiti covered walls every where. Welcome , well there was none, orientation, there was none, attitude to the student, devil take them. Here in Launceston each head of a section was introduced. The IT people that would help with any computer problems, all correspondence would be via an Internet address given to you and all past exams and notes available on the web! They were fighting a war on paper. There was still plenty of hardcopy to fill a show bag. Bus timetables, tourism information, campus maps and a two semester program/calendar as well as a list of individual subjects and the number of hours needed for each subject. Because there are so many old heads here, ship’s captains and fishing fleet captains and so on, it was decided to do the maths, physics course first so that everyone had a handle on this to use it in other courses. Smart thinking!
There are two campuses here in Tasmania and one in Victoria, so the whole AMC college is larger than the Newcastle TAFE on its own, or in fact any TAFE I have attended in NSW. So there is an opportunity to do well amongst a lot of people doing the same type of thing. I keep comparing to Newcastle and I will continue to do so as that is a fair comparison. Maritime in Newcastle and indeed in many TAFES is regarded with some scepticism. It is actually a course in transport management and regarded as a course for wet truckies! And we can’t knock truck transport and logistics as it has to be one of the slickest forms of transport around. Just ask the billionaires who own the trucking companies.
I have booked in for only five evening meals a week. I cook the rest of my meals in a microwave in our kitchenette which is shared with six students. The first meal I had in the canteen was lamb curry, it was full of large chunks of moist, very tender lamb, potatoes and hot spices. Rice of course and a salad bar choice. I skipped the pumpkin soup but had the large bowl of jelly and ice cream because I felt decadent. We have tennis courts, basketball, a swimming pool, rugby and cricket pitches as well as outdoor fitness areas and use of the Uni of Tassie gym. They are our neighbour.
The library is large and well stocked including a fiction section with romances, detective stories and the usual trashy stuff I like to read as an escape. We again have access to the larger Tassie Uni library. There is a world class ship simulator, flow test tanks, and aquaculture farm and the list goes on. I have met students here that are on their second and third courses and they have not yet been able to use all the facilities available. One of the guys is living off campus in a five bedroom, two hundred acre property that backs onto the river (rent $320 per week) and we expect some big parties over there!
To Be continued.
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