Bianca Weller

Third year Bachelor of Arts (Professional and Creative Writing)
Geelong Waurn Ponds Campus 

‘Everything can change so quickly.’
Just two years ago, I was a high school graduate about to embark on one of the biggest, most frixciting adventures of my life: university. (Frixciting: a cross between frightening and exciting – thank you Barney Stinson). I was about to leave all my friends behind, to find greener pastures, also known as Res Life. I was also one of a select number of students who had chosen a writing course. Before I knew it, I had finished second year, with my ominous final (ever!) year of study looming just beyond the horizon.

But how did I get here? And where exactly was ‘here’? As it turns out, ‘here’ is a Verandah editor and a Words@Deakin sub-editor with a double-major in Literature and Public Relations. Not bad for someone who had to radically re-think their direction after almost failing Journalism 101.
My double major was an accident, in fact. I had wanted to take a literature class but the only available timeslot clashed with poetry, and I stubbornly refused to give up the only creative writing unit running that trimester in Geelong. So I (reluctantly) took up a second unit in Public Relations. Only later did I realise that it was a double credit point class. (Note to anyone picking up an unfamiliar unit: check the specifications carefully before enrolling!)

And as for being a part of Verandah and Words@Deakin? I never thought of myself as someone who got involved in student groups. Sure, I’d show up at the odd event, sometimes even stay for the whole thing, but I was never someone who organised those things, until suddenly I was. And the truth is, you don’t realise how rewarding uni life is, and how much you can get out of it, until you get fully involved. (I know, it sounds cliché, and somewhat corny, but it’s true!)

Looking back over the past two years, there have been moments when things seemed pretty low (like that aforementioned almost-fail), but I never once questioned whether I belonged at Deakin. It was my home away from home, I had classes full of fantastic friends, and it was taking me to places I thought it would take me years to reach. So, I guess the best way to sum this up, is to say: do things you don’t expect because you never know where you’ll end up.