Welcome to Semester 1, 2021!
As I write this I can hear the sound of students exiting class and traipsing through the Business Building foyer – a sound I have greatly missed over the summer break! It is with much excitement, and some trepidation, that students commence their studies for Semester 1 of 2021. There is the swagger of the returning students, and the cautious first year students who will daily encounter something new about being a Business student at Avondale over the course of their first few weeks of semester. And then there is the thrill of being back in the classroom for us as lecturers, the disjointed sleeps that come with the anticipation of teaching classes again, the hoarse voice as the body builds back up its strength to administer the classroom environment.
There are the joys of returning to classes as students catch up with friends they haven’t seen in just over 3 months, the sadness of leaving family and friends at home. The enjoyment of being back in the dorms where things are happening seemingly 24/7, the reuniting of learning with assessment and needing to refamiliarize oneself with the library, the stress of being financial and the ease of meal availability in the cafeteria.
It has been enjoyable for me as a lecturer to see just how involved our Business students have been in events on campus. From social basketball competitions during the orientation activities, to seeing our students facilitate walking tours for the new cohort of students, from working with the cleaning crew, to helping out with PULSE and enjoying the coming together of students and staff on a Wednesday here on campus. We have a community again on campus and a vibrancy to this beautiful, green, tree surrounded estate. But most of it, it is nice to be reminded that we are back for business in 2021!