New students at the University of Wollongong’s Bega campus started their degrees with a snowball fight.
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Not one using actual frozen water, but instead with scrunched-up notes on which were written the answers to what makes them nervous about university.
Taking place at the campus’s orientation program on Wednesday, February 17, after students wrote down their answers anonymously the notes were thrown across the room then picked up and read out.
Exams were a common fear, but students also listed learning how to study, the workload, time management and money as factors that worried them.
Sixty one students enrolled at UOW Bega this year, with 160 at the campus altogether.
UOW Bega manager Samantha Avitaia said while enrollments were steady at the campus, overall student numbers were growing due to retention.
She said there was a variety of students at the campus, male and female of all ages who were divided between those starting study straight out of school, those changing careers and those advancing their careers or studying for their own interests.
Jo Roper of Pambula was one of those studying nursing for a career change.
While she used to be a chef, one day she decided she was not interested in her job anymore so thought about what else she could do.
“I think nursing is more suited to my personality, I think I have more of a caring personality,” she said.
Ms Roper chose the Bega campus as it meant she would get to live with her parents which would help her keep costs down.
“And UOW Bega has a good reputation, it seems on par with other universities,” she said.
Brandon Nation has also started nursing and drives up from his home in Cann River for classes, staying at Bega Hospital’s accommodation during the week.
He chose UOW Bega as it was closer than travelling to Melbourne and because - being from Cann River - he was used to a small class so it was an easy transition, rather than going to a big university.
Ms Avitaia expected the number of enrollments to increase, partly due to the campus’s new $1.5million clinical learning facility which many people have been inquiring about.