I first enrolled off campus as an Arts student which was great because it allowed me the freedom to study while living in the United Kingdom. When I came back to Australia, I became an on-campus student and I recall a moment when I adored looking through Deakin’s Waterfront campus windows in Geelong, watching yachts and ships sail by.
At the same time, I was careful not to lose focus from my second year in Architectural Art History studies (my favourite study area). In my final year, I chose to study units in music at the Burwood campus as I viewed music as being an essential component to my Performance Studies major, not just dance and drama.
I was also fortunate that I was introduced to technology programs like Cubase, Finale and Pro Tools which are all relevant for current music industry standards. I was especially grateful for having a first-class music tutor whose experience included performing with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.
Overall I found attending tutorials to be invaluable because this is when I really listened and took note of what both tutors and classmates said and I would always remember to bring my own set of questions and answers too. My history units required me to attend readings and Performance Studies allowed me to move about spaces that were made to represent the stage.
If I had only studied history, I would have needed to join a student union club for social purposes, but Performance Studies automatically filled this gap because it enabled social interaction. Although, this meant that sometimes I was trying to find how I fitted in amongst a highly competitive crowd of ‘wannabe famous’ students.
My studies took me to a variety of largely unexpected directions. History led to entering Law School and music and performance studies led to studying classical singing.
