The Echo 2022

The Echo

THE ECHO

Created by Susanna McQueen and Alice Haire Special Thanks To Sam Golden for our lovely cover pages

Table of Contents

Message from the Editors

Senior Leadership Team Reports

Masters Report

Dean of Residents Report

Dean of Academics Report

Chaplain Report

Student Executive Reports

RMCSA Executive Team

RMCSA Committees

President Report Vice President Report

Secretary Report

Treasurer Report

Social Representative Report

Sports Representative Report

Diversity and Equity Representative Report

Community, Communications, Marketing (CCM) Report Sustainability, Volunteering, Fundraising (SVF) Report Semseter

2-9 Report eport eport port 10-21 Team tees Report Report Report Report Report Report Report Report Report 22-45 46-74 75-86 Team A Block B Block C Block D Block E Block 87-88 Report Report 89 90 91-92 93-95 Wiretaps 96 97-104

Message from the Editors

Hey Menzies,

Welcome to The Echo for 2022! The Echo is RMC’s yearbook, a compilation of all of the events that have been held here over the last year, the people that held them, and everyone who attended them. The Echo is a celebration of college life and everyone who makes it what it is. The last time the RMC published an Echo was 2019, but now we’re back and ready to recap the year that was.

Assembling The Echo has been a few months in the making, working with people across college to pull all of the articles and pictures together for you to enjoy. So thank you to everyone who showed up and sent their pages in. An even bigger thanks to everyone who showed up and sent their pages in on time. You guys are the true heroes here.

We’ve loved hearing from all of you about your year at RMC. What you expected, what you achieved, learned, and experienced here at college. We’ve had a bunch of new staff join our community and I hope that you’ve all settled in. Staff at RMC has kind of been turned on it’s head this year so thank you to everyone who held this place together.

A special shoutout goes to our office lady Elisa, who’s always there for a chat in the office, whether it’s about what happened on your weekend or something at college that’s going terribly wrong. Everyone knows that if you really need a problem solved, then you go straight to Elisa and it’ll get worked out ASAP. You are one of the best things about this college and we all love you.

We also want to give a warm welcome to our new maintenance man Matt, who has been getting work done since day 1. Turns out the path to A Block is a lot bigger than any of us thought and there’s even a pond in there! One of the biggest events of this year was all of the different people trying to get that 3-seater couch up to top D for us. In the end, it got the best of us, but thanks to everyone who tried.

Thank you to the RAs, exec members, and DOs who took the time to tell us about your year. I know a lot of you are moving out next year. We’ll all be sad to see you go and wish you nothing but the best. Personally, it will be sad to see our ‘Classic’ fresher dance so much quieter without all of exec there with us.

I hope everyone here at RMC had a wonderful 2022 and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for everyone, whether you’re sticking around or moving out in 2023.

Your Editors, Susanna and Alice

Master’s Report

Thank you for being part of the RMC community in 2022. At the start of the year, I said to staff and students that this year we were looking forward to a year where we might settle down after a period of great disruption. Thank you to everyone who worked so hard to make this possible.

It has been great to enjoy many of the activities that we normally look forward to in the college calendar. Welcome Sunday was a great event and new residents enjoyed settling into college life with a range of Orientation Week activities. The Dance Off was a lot of fun with RMC triumphant yet again.

At Commencement Dinner we had the opportunity to learn a bit more about Rebecca Lui, our new Dean of Residents. Rebecca shared a little bit about her family as they settled into college life. Other formal dinners included International Night, Truth and Justice Dinner and Christmas in Winter.

I want to thank everyone for all that they have done for the college this year. Staff have given themselves selflessly to serving the college community. RAs have worked hard to support residents in their blocks. And the Student Executive have done a wonderful job in organizing events and creating a vibrant college atmosphere.

We were able to enjoy a harbour cruise again and are looking forward to the RMC Ball as we head toward the end of the academic year. These events and activities are always an important part of college life and it was wonderful to be able to enjoy them together.

One of the highlights of the RMC community is the ability to study with people from all over the world. During semester 2 we have had a large number of new residents arrive from overseas. This has been a wonderful addition to our college with people from over 30 different countries living in community together. It is wonderful to be able to travel again and to enjoy these friendships with people in various parts of the world.

Like many workplaces in 2022, we said farewell to a number of staff members. Katrina Clifford left as Dean of Residents to care for her young family. John Petherbridge retired after 23 years at RMC. Tyla Botes graduated from her degree and found a role in her field. We appreciated having Kara Martin join the team briefly while Katrina was on parental leave. Vic Jokovic, Fadzai Pasi and Maryam Ebrahimi also finished up at RMC during the year.

A number of new staff have joined us this year. Rebecca Lui started as Dean of Residents last December and her work over the summer break was invaluable as she helped care for residents who were unable to return home during an intense summer period. We have also been joined by Matthew West as our new Maintenance Manager. Matt has been putting his practical skills to good use as he works side by side with the Maintenance team. Lillian Li also joined us as Dean of Academics. Grace Chiundiza commenced as the new Housekeeping Coordinator. Finally, Jin Huang and Rajiv Pandey joined us as Chefs.

We have also welcomed a new Marketing and Student Recruitment team. Cecily Paterson (an RMC alumnus), Anna Heraud, Jessica Howell and Felicity McDonald joined us at the start of Semester 2. They have done a great job building a team of student ambassadors for Orientation Week stalls, the Macquarie University Open Day, and the RMC Giving Day.

Mark Mann has recently announced his intention to retire at the end of 2022. We are thankful for his work at RMC and for the team that he has built. We are currently interviewing candidates for this role and we are also looking to appoint an Administration Assistant to support our Executive Staff before the year is over.

We are conscious that this has been an enormous amount of change for one year, more change than any of us anticipated at the start of the year. We are grateful for the way in which everyone has supported each other throughout the year and are looking forward to all that 2023 holds.

To those residents who are leaving this semester, we wish you all the best as you return home and/or commence the next stage of your career development. You have been a valuable part of our life together. We hope that you will continue your connection with the college and we will follow your future steps with great interest.

Peter Davis

Dean of Residents’ Report

For me, it all began on Monday 13th December 2021, when 10 hours after my husband Phil finished his old role, I handed over our 3 boys (Calvin, Tyndale and Timothy) and turned up to my new job. I was told by my predecessor that it’s normally a quiet time of year and it would be a good opportunity to get up to speed by reading all the Dean-related documents on the RMC Server. Unfortunately, I didn’t have access to the server, my email or any officerelated programs for the first 2 weeks and the December outbreak of 2021 hit RMC on my 4th day of work and I was responsible for our COVID Isolation procedures, which had to be invented because we had never isolated anyone at the College before. It was not the start I had imagined.

But I imagine that for many of you, your final years of high school or your early years at university were not what you had imagined. Online classes and zoom tutorials may be an adequate method to input some information into your head, but they are definitely a poor substitute for the joy of human interaction and the excitement of building new relationships and deepening existing friendships.

And so instead of being holed up in my office, leisurely reading a carefully written handover document, in my early weeks I was thrust into meeting and talking to every senior resident I could find to get the low-down on how everything around College worked. The halffull roster of DO’s, supplemented by some fresh RA’s became the backbone of our COVID response. We crisis-bonded. We pivoted, we innovated, we learned, we prepared and we kept our College safe. Not only this, but we did it together, people spent quality time together without sharing COVID. We had a Christmas lunch outdoors that didn’t become a superspreader event. And so we marched on into 2022 with an almost entirely fresh batch of RA’s, a fresh batch of Student Executive that were going to run a whole bunch of events they had never experienced, a new Voice Journalist team stepping into a void of 2 years of unpublished silence, and a fresh Dean of Residents (plus 3 different Academic Deans over the year!). Thankfully our SRAs were NOT new and have provided me with great support this year.

For me the greatest comfort through this time has been that I have a loving Father God who had his sovereign hand over me and over our College during my start, and every moment afterwards (and every moment before). It was the start that he wanted me to have, the lessons that he wanted me to learn and the relationships he wanted me to build. I believe that he has a purpose for each of us in every trial, and even if you are not a Christian, I want to know that you are deeply loved by him. The love that myself and the rest of the staff team, have for you, goes beyond our professional jobs and it is our hope that we are able to display a little taste of his deep unconditional love toward you. I came to RMC because I want to be involved in building together with you, a community that helps everyone to flourish: socially, academically, emotionally, physically and spiritually.

Thank you to each and every one of you who make up this most amazing community. Thank you to every one who has been gracious to me when I have forgotten your name more than once, confused you with another resident, or asked you the same question and then interrupted you when you started answering and finished off your answer because as you started speaking I remembered I had asked you the question already. Thank you so much to all the student leaders who have embodied our values of servant leadership in the pattern of Christ’s servant leadership, for you have been such a joy to me as I see you build and serve and love this community. I would encourage every one to look for opportunities to be a servant leader, not just because it looks good on your resume, but because seeking to serve others is simply the best and most joyful way to live.

Much love, Becky

Dean of Academics’ Report

With my first week at RMC being week 1, semester 2, 2022, it has been a unique start to RMC in that I’m yet to experience a semester 1 with you, nevertheless, a shared experience with the 62 of you who also started your University journey in semester 2, 2022. Like those of you who had this experience, I also was a fresher. I’ve come new to college life, and a decade since graduating from University, however have really been welcomed by so many of you. Even at only 2.5 months in at RMC as I write this, I have felt at home so quickly. I think that’s a testament to how welcoming many of you are intentionally choosing to be, particularly those that have a heart for integrating freshers well into our RMC community. This community spirit is highly commendable and a great trait to have not only in life, but in the workplace. There are countless opportunities too within RMC college life to demonstrate such valuable “soft skills” that employers desire (or some may arguably call “core skills” nowadays). In my search on the world wide web, I note the following are consistently highly regarded qualities that employers are seeking from job applicants in 2022: innovative problem-solving, collaboration, adaptability and emotional intelligence. Interestingly, based on findings from a Thesis I did in 2010 about whether construction management graduates were meeting employers’ expectations, the top 4 most important ranked university attribute skills were similar, they were respectively: effective communication, problem solving, teamwork, flexibility. Overall, it seems that these social/soft skills supplement the technical skills learned at Uni, and is a key ingredient to career longevity, rather than just possessing technical skills.

There are countless opportunities to serve each other at college and these can be referred upon in your future job interviews as real life examples of how you demonstrate these soft skills. By seeking out opportunities within college community for informal and informal leadership opportunities, by intentionally being open minded (“growth mindset”) to learning from and welcoming others whom you are not familiar with their customs, by being proactive and exercising responsibility for yourself and others on a Harbour Cruise, by working collaboratively in a team in a sub-committee you’ve volunteered for, by being innovative in solving a residential problem that’s come up in your floor, by being intentionally emotionally aware and sitting next to someone in the dining hall who could be served well by getting to know you, by taking the initiative and being flexible with your own time to help others through their studies even in unofficial and unrecognised settings..…the list could go on - all this will broaden your opportunities to show employers the various soft skills you possess. As I reflect on the high points of 2022, this is one of my hopes for our community in 2023, that in us all creating a caring and mutually respectful community (despite our different upbringings, personal values and ethnicity etc.) that this would in turn serve you well when you enter the next stage of your lives as you will be equipped with broader experiences and knowledge in the formative years of your lives.

Academic-wise, from semester 1 results, it’s been a stable year, considering all the changes you’ve had to endure with changing class routines and delivery modes, Covid protocols, special considerations, last minute class cancellations and adapting to a “new normal”, our college saw an average WAM across all students of 68.94. With regards to distinctions, we continue to surpass the benchmarks with 27% of results achieving a distinction. Our Academic Tutors and Nerd Night faithfuls are to be commended too as they have remained committed to helping residents with their studies to their best potential. Also worth recognising are all the students who have assisted their course peers in an unpaid and unofficial capacity with collaborating and sharing their knowledge and experience and study tips. Thank you for making RMC the wonderful community it is through how you serve in this way.

I look forward to supporting you through your University life and studies and getting to know more of you around college.

Chaplain’s Report

Where do you find …

Meaning?

Truth?

Love?

Life to the full?

The extraordinary, arguably offensive claim of Jesus Christ is that all these things are found in him. Jesus says, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to God the Father except through me.” ~ John 14:7

One reason Robert Menzies College is an amazing place is the great diversity of people who live here. Residents are welcomed from multiple different nations, religions, faiths, families, loves and likes. We get to do life – including study, fun, food, and late-night chats – alongside each other in all our rich differences.

This means that RMC is a pretty incredible place to listen to and learn from each other, to ask questions, challenge the status quo and investigate different answers to the big questions in life.

The Chaplaincy team (including ministry intern Mickey O’Sullivan and Residential Advisors, Caleb Speer, Dan Cornish, and Rhea Lukose) have loved having these big chats about meaning, truth and that frequent question, “What am I doing with my life?!?” with whoever is keen.

At our fireside Think True events each term, residents of various faiths and worldviews gathered with hot chocolates in hand in front of flickering flames, to mull over questions such as …

“What is Spiritual Wellness and why does it matter?”

“How do you cope with the unexpected?”

“Can Jesus really offer rest when we are weary?”

Other opportunities to investigate faith have included Monday nights in Term 2, where a group of residents rocked up to consider key objections to Christian faith. Challenges like … “Hasn’t science disproved God?”

“How can you believe in a good and powerful God when there is so much suffering in the world?”

In term 3, our Monday night group dived into the Alpha course – a compelling explanation of the key tenets of faith in Jesus – and, again, they asked great questions about the answers on offer.

There is also a bunch of residents who are Christian people. As they seek to trust Jesus and follow his teaching, they have gathered on Tuesday nights to dig deeper into the Bible’s words. It’s not always easy to be a Christian – to have faith in God and to live it out as university students – so this Crossroads group is a wonderful space for residents to grapple with their faith in community, as they seek to know more of Christ’s great love.

Jesus says, “I am the way and the truth and the life.” RMC, we have loved thinking about this with you in 2022!

Lily Strachan RMC Chaplain

President’s Report

I came to college with big shoes to fill. Two brothers have come before me, one a president and one an RA the year before I arrived. It was a strange feeling coming to college. People knowing you because of your older brothers. But I guess the great thing about college is that people don’t put you in a box, instead people are always willing to get to know you for who you are, not for who or what you are associated with.

I have loved my time here at RMC, in the midst of lockdown, isolation from Covid Outbreaks, flooding and the other drama that happens, it has been an amazing couple of years. The executive has led the college to the highest standard. To be able to return to running events is such an encouragement to the future of RMC. The role has tested me in so many ways. To be patient with people, and learning how to get the best out of people.

For me it has been an exciting journey. So much change and yet not much has changed. Friendships made that I am sure I will cherish for the rest of my life. A year I am sure that I will remember forever. A leadership team that has challenged me to always be better and to want to be better. But it is a year that always had to come to an end.

I look back on my time and I could list all the events and things we have done to make RMC a better place. I could do that or I could thank RMC for the place it has and has always been, a loving community of people that wants to get to know you. I know the next years will only get better as we get further away from the pandemic. To have a great bunch of freshers coming through is exciting to see. I know that the college is in good stead for the future years to come.

Thank you for letting me be your president for 2022. I hope that the year has been as memorable as it has been for me.

Thank you and God bless. Sam Buster

Vice President’s Report

There is no doubt that this past year at the College of Knowledge has been a chapter to remember in my book. As a member of the executive team, it has been a year that has been graced with great people, an awesome environment, the presentation and grasping of outstanding opportunity, the emergence of minor obstacles and some somewhat decent dinners. But to summarise it on one single page… impossible. It’s like asking everyone to contribute equally on a group assignment or proving that the earth is flat or convincing absolutely everyone that vaccines are worth it. It’s bloody impossible! But I’ll try my best anyway…

I know for me this year can be pretty well described as full on and non-stop. There was always something to do. Week in and week out there was always something that had to be discussed, designed and planned at our weekly exec meetings. The events didn’t ever stop and as an exec team I think that was really the goal. To always have something on so that each week could be strung together by events that brought the college closer and closer together throughout the year in an attempt to further build community and comradery among the many individuals that live here. An important goal of mine for the year was to greater establish Block Wars into the college calendar. In order to do this, we agreed that we would have four block wars each year instead of just one or two. In doing so, I would like to think it created a more consistent and regular time in which the college came together to enjoy fun hearted competition whereby teamwork, inclusivity and enjoyment come before winning. Because winning isn’t everything believe it or not, B block.

In all seriousness however, I did enjoy designing and running Block Wars this year and I would like to thank all those that rocked up to these events not really having a clue what they were in for but ripping in anyways.

Obviously, there were also exacting times on the job as well, however, despite, the highs and lows that inevitably come with being a member of exec, I can honestly say that I enjoyed every aspect of my term as Vice President in 2022. We set out as a team to achieve a lot and I think that we have done that. I am incredibly proud of the team and I don’t think that I could have asked for a better group of people to work with this year.

Finally, I would like to thank the current residents of the college for making it the enjoyable, delightful and amusing home that it is for us all. It has been my absolute honour serving you all and I hope that as your Vice President and a member of the executive team that we have lived up to what is expected of us in providing you with a fun and exciting place to live.

Menzies, it’s been an absolute pleasure.

Your sincerely, Tommy Newton

Secretary’s Report

2022 started off the year with a bunch of enthusiastic and eager freshers who were ready to give all of O week their best shot! From dance off to movie nights, 2022 freshers certainly brought a new sense of energy into RMC!

While much of my role as secretary was done behind the scenes, it was great to be able to help organise so many events this year. I particularly enjoyed signing along with everyone at the RMCSA karaoke night all dressed up in our feral and fairy costumes.

The GM went off with a hit, with many new residents applying for committee positions. It was great to see so many applicants willing to put their name down to help foster the community here at RMC! I would personally like to thank all those committee members who helped serve the exec committee this year. Your contribution to the community at RMC certainly did not go unnoticed – so thank you!

The next big event on the secretary calendar was the AGM. It was fantastic to see a record number of people attend the meeting and help be a part of the democratic process at RMC. This year’s constitutional amendment to remove gendered language from the constitution passed with an overwhelming majority, so thank you to everyone who voted to make RMC a more inclusive place for all! Again, it was great to see so many residents apply to be leaders of RMC as part of the executive committee. I would also like to say a massive thank you to all those who applied for executive positions and good luck to the 2023 executive team! I hope you enjoy being on exec as much as I have.

Lastly, a massive shoutout to everyone on exec this year. Sam, Tommy, Rachael, Joe, Cassie, Will, Emma, and Sarah – thank you so much for all the great times over this year! Thank you for bearing with me when I asked you to repeat something several times during a meeting so I could add it to the minutes, and for correcting my spelling and grammar! You all made exec such a rewarding and fun experience and I am very grateful for all the friendships that we built!

Good luck to the 2023 student executive team – Holly, Owen, Jack, Dave, Madi, Patrick, Mitch, Chris, and Daniel. Remember to work together as a team and to always put the residents first in all that you plan. And most importantly… Have fun!

Paddy Johnston (RMSCA Secretary 2022).

Treasurer’s Report

It’s so crazy that 2022 is already coming to a wrap, as we (the Exec team) begin to plan our final events and prepare to hand our roles on for 2023. I want to thank everyone who has made this year what it was- the residents who continued to turn up and participate, the RA’s who assisted the running of events, and (most importantly) the Exec. This year has been full of new challenges as we returned to a postCOVID normal, with unforeseen domestic and international Fresher numbers and more freedom to run events than our predecessors, and I think we did a pretty good job!

In simple terms, my role as Treasurer was to ensure that every event and cost throughout the year was given the right amount of money to be successful, whilst making sure that our expenses equaled our income. This was able to happen successfully, particularly due to an unexpected influx of new students in Semester 2 and their student fees, allowing us to run more events and better prices. Throughout the year, we managed to stick to and under my budget, allowing us more freedom to spend money creating the best possible experiences for residents, and leave 2023 Exec with a high revenue to begin the year with. Events such as the harbour cruise and the bush bash dancing night were great, and I hope that our legacy can inspire new and exciting events to come. None of this could have happened without each member of RMC, so thank you to everyone.

Finally, I want to thank my fellow Exec members, who all gave so much time and energy to college and made this year so special for me. It’s been a privilege to serve our community alongside you all and I’m thankful for the friendships that have been made and strengthened through the process.

Many thanks and much love, Rachael Cornish.

Social Rep’s Report

Well, What a year it has been! Personally, my year started off a bit shaky, getting COVID and missing my new years’ plans and then nearly failing a unit cos I missed a stupid hurdle but as we come to the end I can undoubtedly say that being your Social rep was worth it! I had a very stressful and albeit fun time being your social Rep and I hope you enjoyed the events we planned. During O-week sem 1 we started off strong with a dress-up ranch night on Wednesday where we saw some great costumes including Zach’s Super Woman that ultimately won the costume comp. On Thursday was the historic dance-off versing DLC where our freshers did amazing and should have won instantly, but it went to a 1v1 and Dan ultimately clutched up and brought the trophy home with some heroic moves. Friday night was the pinnacle of the RMC O-week calendar - Pub Crawl where people had one final massive chance to let loose before Uni starts. We had a great time visiting classic destinations like Sidebar and Soda Factory and were then completely let down by Shark Hotel who lied about having a dancefloor that night. I can’t speak for everyone but I had a great night getting to know people more and especially enjoyed my free bar tabs – haha the perks of social rep. Before our next event, I was lucky enough to have Chris, Mitch and Joseph elected to my social committee. This was followed up by the legendary RMC karaoke night with a fairies and ferals theme. There was some great singing and no pre-drinking at all by anyone present, especially our Seccy and Sports reps! I personally found my calling that night when I dressed up as an eshay. We finished Sem 1 off with bowling and karaoke at Strike! Going into Sem 2 we finally brought back Harbour cruise after 3yrs with the theme Blast from the Past. It may be biased, but my group definitely had the best costumes. On Saturday was the 2nd pub crawl of the year which went smoothly! During the sem, I tried to organise a silent disco with DLC however they suck and didn’t want to do it. No wonder we won dance-off again! The rest of sem was building up to RMC Ball at Luna Park which has been an aggravating and tiresome effort. As of writing this, it hasn’t happened yet so hopefully, that goes smoothly lol. Finally, I just wanted to say thanks to my executive team especially Paddy, Cassie and Rachael. Thanks to my committee and to you RMCSA members for trusting in me and I hope you had as great a year as I did representing you!!!

PS. GREEN TEAM SUPREMACY IN SCAV WILL BE FOREVER

Sports Rep’s Report

2022 was set to be the year that RMC reclaimed the title of intercollege sports winner. With a new set of fabulous freshers and eager returners, we set out with our goal and were victorious!

Although with covid we struggled to kick things along with the uni, everyone strived to make all sports as enjoyable as possible. With a few cheeky events here and there including a pool and ping pong comp, it was wonderful to see the way sport was used to bring the community together in friendly competition. With a solid turnout for all events, the college endeavoured to back our sports players in the best way we know how, through loud cheer and devotion to the win.

A big highlight for the year was intercollege soccer. With the much-acclaimed intercollege win on the line, we pulled out all strength reserves to end the day with a win. We started off the day with a solid lead against new accommodation and the village. Finally, it was down to the grand final teams where RMC strived to beat the almighty rivals, DLC. Tensions were high as the full-time whistle went and both teams were still at a draw. Now all that was between us and glory was the high-stakes penalty shoot-out. Fortunately, RMC had the secret weapon, our mighty goal-keeper Wilbert, combined with the brilliant shooting skills of all on the team. As it boiled down to golden-point, RMC was victorious with no misses on the goal. Finally, we reclaimed our rightful place as winners in Intercollege sport 2022.

Thank you to everyone that played in the sporting events and all that came to cheer along their fellow collegians. We would not have been able to make sports as enjoyable without all your support! Special shout out to Nick Jeffreys for the beautiful photos that highlight the amazing sporting achievements. Good luck to Patrick next year in the role of sports representative.

Cassie Norton (Sports representative) David Elliott, Flynn Fisher-Watson, Maito Yamaguchi (Sports Committee)

Diversity and Equity Rep’s Report

This year the Diversity & Equity Committee and I worked to create and facilitate interesting events for the college community. This was an exciting year for the college and the D&E committee, as it saw the re-opening of borders and international residents returning.

We started our year off with Commencement Dinner, but our first event with committee members was the Holi Festival. We wanted to achieve events that were fun and also educated the college community on different cultural festivals and experiences. Our next major event was the International Night dinner where we got to celebrate all of the different national and cultural backgrounds within the college community, while eating good food. For our final event of Semester 1 we had the Truth and Justice Dinner on National Sorry Day, with our great guest speaker Reverend Michael Duckett. This was an important event to recognise and celebrate First Nations members of the college and broader community, and to recognise the ways in which there is still a long way to go to address past and current injustices with the hopes for a better future. With these events, we concluded semester 1.

Our first event of Semester 2 was the Christmas in Winter Dinner, which we had not had a chance to run last year. This was a good event to come together as a college community, especially to welcome the large number of new residents, particularly those from abroad. The next event for the D&E committee was the LGBTea, in which we were lucky enough to listen to a panel of LGBTQIA+ residents talk about their identity and experiences, which was an enjoyable and informative experience. Our final event of the year is going to be Valedictory Dinner, which at the time of writing we are planning, which we hope will send the year off in a positive way.

I would like to thank my committee members: Dan Kemp, Nick Jefferys, and Holly Hudson. Thanks for all of your tireless work this year with events, and Dan I look forward to seeing how you lead the committee in 2023.

I would also like to thank all my fellow exec members, for the good memories throughout the year and all your help as a team. I would also like to thank the RA’s, Becky, and other college staff for your help.

I hope that everyone enjoyed the events we put on this year, and I hope to see RMC thrive as a cultural and diverse community in the future.

CCM’s Report

Hey Menzies,

I am so thankful for this year and getting to be a part of our Student Executive. After a few years of Covid it has been so encouraging to see college almost get back to what it used to be. It has been exciting to be able to help with this, this year by being on the Exec team. It has been great to be able to run events which for the past two years were only able to be online. For my role as Community, Communications & Marketing Representative was to run Love Week. This is a great community building week which helps everyone in college get to know the people they are living with. Love Week this year was a really fun week and a great way for newly arrived international students to get involved in college life. We were able to run events every night and had great turnouts of residents to each one.

Working with the Student Executive this year has taught me lots about working with a team and how to better communicate within a team. It has given me valuable life experiences that I will carry with me as I enter different workplace environments in the future. However it hasn’t just taught me a lot but has also given me great experiences. We had a really great group of people to work with this year and I am so grateful to be a part of such a fun team.

I have really loved my time at college and can’t thank RMC enough for an amazing two years and for the friendships I have made. I have made so many great memories here that will stay with me for the rest of my life and I am so excited to see college continue to grow.

Thank you everyone for making it the best couple of years and God bless. Sarah Williams

SVF’s Report

The SVF committee role has always had a quiet but powerful duty. SVF stands for Sustainability, Volunteering and Fundraising, yet in reality its role is about building a community. From the beginning, the first official SVF event brought high numbers of residents into the common room to hang out and celebrate earth hour. Since then we have run multiple donation based events and seen incredible turnouts.

RMC has continuously surprised me with their initiative to turn up and donate to good causes. For example, the Biggest Morning tea, which was the first donations based events SVF ran this year. This event gathered residents to have morning tea, baked goods (all donated by residents), and donate to the Cancer Council. The Biggest Morning tea alone collected an amazing amount of donations, but more than that it was an event that brought residents together to connect over tea and baked goods.

This year’s SVF committee also continued the Return and Earn scheme. Not only did the committee sort and donate bottles, but other residents also stepped up to help. The photo below shows two future RAs and the future President, spending time recycling the mass amounts of bottles we receive. This year we made a few changes to how we donate and run, return and earn. Committee member Jack (future secretary) re-designed the bins to encourage residents to sort their recyclables correctly. While also giving a portion of the cans to community members who use the system as an income source. The return and earn scheme has been incredibly successful with hundreds of cans collected.

However, the Love week love gram was by far my favorite fundraiser to run. The goal of this fundraiser was to connect residents, while raising money for a heart foundation. Residents wrote kind letters to their friends, significant others, staff members and their love week partners. Watching residents get excited about the different templates, and then reading all of the kind words residents wrote to each other was amazing.

Overall I am proud of the work SVF has done in building a community through sustainability and fundraising. While there is always more we can do, I encourage residents to take initiative, donate, volunteer and work to improve the planet we live on. I cannot wait to hear what next year’s SVN commit accomplishes!

EXECUTIVE TEAM 2022!

O-Week Out of this World

O-Week Events

Orientation Week or O-Week is the first week that new residents ever spend at RMC. For a lot of residents, this is the first time they’ve ever lived away from home, for some its their first time living overseas by themselves. This is why O-Week is such an important time for everyone. RMC’s exec and RA team put on a series of events aimed at helping residents get to know each other and make new friends as well as getting used to life at college before classes begin. This year O-Week activities consisted of: Summer session, ranch night, night & city scavenger hunt, chaplaincy BBQ, night under the stars, and of course, the dance off. These events brought new residents together whether through chill nights or relentless competition.

Summer Session

Ranch Night

Night Under the Stars

Dance Training

Commencement Dinner

Commencement dinner is the first formal dinner on the RMC calendar. It provides a chance for the incoming fresher year to get to know the returners, specifically those who also study in their subject areas.

Commencement dinner also celebrates our academic high achievers here at college, rewarding those on the Dean’s and Master’s list for their outstanding achievement in the past year. All scholarships for 2022 were also handed out for both incoming and returning residents.

Block Wars 1.0

Block Wars is an ongoing competition throughout the year that has blocks going up against each other in a series of challenges. This year, we were lucky enough to have 4 different block wars events held by our exec team, with one occurring per term. The first block wars was a series of sporting style challenges.After a day of intense competition, Block Wars ended with B block emerging victorious, congratulations to everyone who competed!

Block Suppers 1.0

Block suppers are a chance for new residents to get to know all the wonderful people they’ll be living beside for the next year, as well as the SRAs who live in each block. Over a friendly night of good food, and sometimes even fire pits, new residents are able to make new friends and learn a bit more about RMC.

A Block B Block

Holi is a Hindu festival that is celebrated in India, it is also known as the Festival of Colour or the Festival of Love. Holi represents the arrival of spring and the triumph of good over evil. Here at RMC, we celebrate Holi by coming together to throw chalk at each other. Turning white clothes and green grass into a wall of colour.

Holi Festival

Earth Hour

Earth Hour is a worldwide movement organised by the World Wildlife Fund. The event is held annually, encouraging individuals, communities, and businesses to turn off nonessential electric lights, for one hour, from 8:00 to 9:00 p.m. on the last Saturday of March, as a

symbol of commitment to the planet. At RMC, Earth Hour is an event held by SVF as a reminder of the power we use and its effect on our planet.

Crossroads Persian BBQ

The Crossroads Persian BBQ provided residents a chance to try something new. With all the food cooked by residents, it was a chill night for everyone to come together and meet new people. They also lit up the fire pit to toast marshmallows and enjoy the evening.

International Night

International night celebrates the diversity of the students here at RMC. Students cooked and served meals from their homes and cultures and we saw two wonderful performances from other talented RMC residents.

Easter Egg Hunt

Everyone loves chocolate, right? Before students went home for the Easter break, the community RAs held a college Easter Egg hunt. Paper eggs were hidden around the admin building to be found and exchanged for chocolate eggs. Some were a bit harder to find than others, but in the end, we had a great time and got a bunch of chocolate out of it.

Arts Week

Arts week is an annual event organised by the Community RAs here at RMC, with events and competitions held throughout the week celebrating the skills and talents of our residents in different artistic fields.

The Encore is RMCs Arts Week Review, recapping and remembering Arts Week (shocker, I know.) Organised by the Community RAs each year, Arts Week brings together all of RMCs artists, performers, and everyone in between to show off their skills or just take the stage and have fun.

The Encore has all the awesome photos from all the awesome events of Arts Week as well as a bunch of other articles showcasing the skills, achievements, and work by current RMC residents. We interviewed a bunch of our best artists and performers to share their experiences with us and you. The RAs came together to describe their amazing block themes and decorations, one of the best parts of our college culture.

The Encore can be found all over college and digital copies are up on our Issuu page, along with all issues of The Voice. So if you didn’t get one earlier in the year, go take a look. You may learn something new about your fellow residents!

THE ENCORE 2022

Katrina’s Farewell

This term also saw the farewell of our Dean of Academics Katrina Clifford. Katrina has been an integral and valued member of the RMC community for several years. She has proved important in the lives of many students by supporting and encouraging them in their academic endeavors. Not only will we miss her baking, and her constant supply of cookies, but her reassuring presence, and love for college life.

John’s Farewell

John has been a mainstay on college staff for over 23 years. This enormous effort has not gone unnoticed and we wish to thank him for all his hard work and dedication.

Block Wars 2.0

Food and fashion was the theme for the second instalment of Block Wars for this year. Cake eating, taste guessing, and wedding-dress-making contest were all involved as the blocks competed in the ongoing competition. B Block remained as the running champs at the halfway mark with 2 block wars left to either continue their lead, or topple them from their throne.

Biggest Morning Tea

The biggest morning tea is an annual fundraiser held not only at RMC, but all across Australia. RMCs morning tea was held by SVF and also involved the annual block vs block bake off. After a great morning with some great food, SVF raised hundreds of dollars for the cancer council.

Truth and Justice Dinner

National Sorry Day is Thursday 26th May which is the day before National Reconciliation Week which is from 27th May to 3rd June each year. It is an opportunity to recognise the First Nations people of Australia and this year the theme is “Be Brave. Make Change” which is a challenge to all Australians to Be Brave and tackle the unfinished business of reconciliation, so we can Make Change for the benefit of all Australians.

Pride in The CourTyard

Organised by the D&E committee members, RMC celebrated pride month by filling the courtyard with colour. Residents took a much needed study break to draw out a bunch of different pride flags, all while learning the different meanings of the flags and the identities they represent.

Crocheting with Elisa

Craft club started off with a bang with our wonderful office lady Elisa teaching us all how to finger crochet scarves. While some caught on faster than others, in the end everyone created something they could be proud of and we were all a little bit more prepared for the winter months.

2.O-Week Events

Similar to O-Week at the beginning of the year, 2.0 week serves as an orientation for new residents so they can get to know everyone at RMC and get used to college. This year, we had a bunch of new residents join us for the second semester, so 2.0 week was very busy, which is always best. As in the first O-Week, 2.0 week consists of a bunch of team-building and getting to know you style games, such as: girls morning tea, harbour cruise, pub crawl, bbq night, a fire drill, and a board game afternoon. It was a great way for new residents to meet returners and for returners to catch up with each other before classes begin for semester 2.

Girls’ Morning Tea

Harbour Cruise

Fire Drill

Board Games

Christmas in Winter

After residents returned after the mid-year break, RMC held its first formal dinner for the second semester. Christmas in Winter allows residents to celebrate the holiday and eat dinner together. While we don’t exactly have a ‘white Christmas’ here in Australia, this event gives residents the chance to be cold on Christmas day as well as getting to spend ‘Christmas’ with college friends.

Block Suppers 2.0

For all the new residents that joined us for semester 2, block suppers once again gave a chance for new residents to get to know the other people in their blocks. Most importantly, they also got to know all of the pets that reside at RMC. At their Block Supper, E Block also got to know the new Dean of Academics, Lillian.

A Block B Block

Love Week

Relationship Q&A

The first Love Week event was the Relationship Q&A where residents were able to ask a panel of Relationship Experts all of their questions about relationships.

Open Mic & Fire Pit Night

On Tuesday night, residents came to enjoy a night in the courtyard around the firepit and the chance to recite poetry and music to or with their partners.

Couples Costume Night

Wednesday Ranch Night made another return to the RMC calendar as residents came up with their best couples costumes ideas and headed down to The Ranch for a night of trivia and dancing.

LGBTea

TEXT BOX

The LGBTea Panel is a chance for residents to send in any questions they have about the queer community and hear the thoughts and perspectives of some of the queer people around college, all while being provided with a near-endless supply of tea.

Ballroom Dancing

With almost 20 years of dancing experience, Anna Single spent the evening teaching the basics of ballroom dancing. While everyone started at different levels, the night ended with everyone dancing together in perfect synch (even if that dance was the Nutbush.)

Awards Ceremony

To round out Love Week, exec held the awards ceremony, a time to reflect on and celebrate the events of the week. After a performance of some of the ballroom dances, awards were handed out for various events of the week and the Love Week winners were crowned. Congrats to Rhea, Joe, Cora, and Luke for your success.

Block Wars 3.0

The third instalment of block wars for 2022 was interblock debating. With only 10 minutes to prepare their arguments, teams of 4 from each block went head-to-head debating various topics. During the intermission, a team from Exec and a team of RAs battled it out for our entertainment. After an exhilarating final, team A Block came through with the win, though with all the wiretaps we got, the real winners were The Voice.

Bush Dancing

The RMC marquee that no one knew existed got a work out, with a night of Bush Dancing. With some amazing live music and some great teachers, we learnt some classic Aussie bush dances. The night went on even as the rain started under the roof of the marquee and the soft glow of fairy lights.

Ziggy’s Birthday

One of the most important events on the RMC calendar, everyone came out to the courtyard to get together and celebrate the birthday of one of RMCs pets, Ziggy!

Thank you to our wonderful interns who took these photos while we were out location scouting for a short film!

Mooncake Tasting

During Dinner, Mid-Autumn Festival also known as the Moon or Mooncake festival was celebrated with mooncake tasting and a performance by residents.

Wellness Week

Self Care Fair

The Self Care Fair marked the beginning of Wellness Week, a week of events celebrating and encouraging all forms of wellbeing here at college. Especially as exam season is fast approaching, it is important to remember to practice self care and to maintain both physical and mental wellbeing.

Think True

Think True put on a wonderful campfire night under the stars as we listened to our Chaplain Lily share her experiences and the lessons she learnt from them. Lily encouraged all of us to take care of our mental and emotional wellness in conjunction with spiritual wellness, as both are equally important in maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

Block Wars 4.0

The fourth and final instalment of Block Wars had the blocks competing in a gauntlet of water-based games. There was some fierce competition but B-Block came out as the victors of Block Wars for 2022.

Nerd Night Decathlon

Nerd Nights in the dining hall were replaced this week by a fiercely competitive series of Kahoots. With trivia questions ranging from ancient history to sports, residents fought for the coveted prize of blocks of chocolate.

Spring festival

Spring Festival is a great chance for everyone to come together outside as the weather begins to warm up and the leaves return to the trees. From fun arts and crafts like decorating bags, to selling second hand clothes donated by other residents, Spring festival sees residents come together out in the courtyard for a bunch of market style stalls.

RMCSA Annual General Meeting

The RMC student association Annual General Meeting, or RMCSA AGM, is an important event on the RMC calendar. It’s the time of year when we elect the Student Executive for the upcoming year, as well as voting on any amendments to the constitution. Student exec are important roles that greatly contribute to the college community and atmosphere throughout the year.

2023 Student Exexutive

President: Holly Hudson

Vice President: Owen Williams

Secretary: Jack Burge

Treasurer: David Elliot

Social Representative: Christ Taggart Community, Commincations & Marketing

Representative: Mitchell Clarke

Sports Representative: Patrick Noble

Diversity & Equity Representive: Daniel Kemp Sustainability, Volunteering & Fundrasing

Representative: Madi Rabinowitz

RMC Ball is one of the final events of the year and is often the biggest. Ball provides a chance for residents to dress up in their fanciest clothes and go out to a venue in the city for an equally fancy three course meal before spending the rest of the night on the dance floor. This year, we were lucky enough to host ball at Luna Park, with a beautiful view of the harbour and the city skyline.

Annual Ball

Recovery Breakfast

Recovery breakfast is held the morning after Ball in order to help residents recover from the exciting night they had before. With a bunch of pastries and other food brought in by exec, it’s a great way to bounce back from the events of Ball as well as meeting up with friends to talk about the amazing time you had.

Valedictory Dinner

Valedictorian Dinner is the final of the five formal dinners in the RMC calendar. It celebrates the academic year and everything that RMC students have achieved. While Dean’s and Master’s list awards aren’t given out until next year, there are awards given for non-academic achievements in music and sports. It also gives us a chance to thank all of the RMC student leaders; exec, RAs, DOs, AT’s and others who’ve contributed to college throughout the year.

IMOGEN ROGERS

YEN HUA KONG

GRACE PAWSEY

KESHNI HARIA RIYA HARIA

LILY LOGUE

Afeef AhmedRhea LukoseCeradwen Cole

Yen Hua Kong

Dan CornishAnna SingleMindy Tan

A Block

Arcade

This year has a been wild ride for A Block with lots happening in our little Arcade! We have loved every second with our residents this year and are so thankful for all the passion everyone has put into the block atmosphere. With games and pop culture a big focus for us, we hope everyone has enjoyed the decorations and used that little bit of inspiration to enjoy the journey that each of us is on.

It has been a jam packed semester 2 and 2022 as a whole with lots of things happening in our lives and in the world. Some of our favourite events this semester were our victory at the Inter-Block Debating Competition for the 3rd Block Wars of the year and we’re super proud of the team and all the A Block students who came out to support us! Whilst we weren’t as successful at the last event for block wars we certainly enjoyed getting sprayed with buckets of water and exploding a few water balloons against the other block teams.

We’ve all been pretty busy with our studies, work and life so having fun at Love Week and RMC Ball has been a fantastic experience for our residents. We saw some interesting costumes for our Ranch couples night and everyone looked stunning for the RMCSA’s annual ball. Your enthusiasm in our events has been felt more than ever and A Block has shown a lot of friendliness and camaraderie this year (especially helping each other with spiders)!

Lots of people have been out and about around Sydney this semester and its been fantastic to hear stories and see photos of your adventures. The Central and South coasts, Blue Mountains and Hunter Valley seem to be block favourites and we implore to keep exploring this beautiful country with some images even featured in last semester’s Arts Week competitions. Here at college, Block Supper and Christmas in Winter were wonderful ways for us to see each other and learn about other cultures and festive holidays as we had some cosy fireside chats and great food.

As your RAs it has been fantastic to see each of you grow as people and we can’t wait to see some of you in positions of leadership in the college next year. It has been a pleasure to be among you all and get to know you, we wish you all the best in your endeavours and best of luck to next year’s RAs.

Much love and good vibes from your 2022 RAs!

B Block Brooklyn Nine-Nine

B-Block is the best block. B-block is where it all happens. If you don’t believe us, let’s ask ourselves a few questions.

Who won Block wars? Um, I think that was B-block.

Who has a TV where you can play Mario cart? It’s B-block. Who won Block wars? Um, I think that was B-block.

Who won Block wars? By now we can all say that it was B-block. And that says it all.

Throughout this year, B-block has continued thriving from the moment our new freshers walked through our doors. Having a block that consists of outgoing freshers, a large portion of Exec and returners who got involved, we were able to create an environment which was heavily based on community and fun. This was evident when the RAs main jobs were to answer noise complaints which came only from the competitiveness of Mario cart as well as the cleaning day lockouts. The dining room was always filled with the faces and spirit of our B-block members, making tables so full that people struggled to eat without elbowing their neighbour.

It’s been exciting to see the freshers join our block at the beginning of the year full of energy and excitement and bring this attitude to block events, block wars and the common areas. We’ve enjoyed watching them grow and become independent, forge strong friendships and study their passions. The college is in great hands next year with many of the new student executive team coming from B-Block. We wish them all the best of luck in their positions.

We have also had a great year recommencing our friendships with the fellow returners. The friendships formed at college will truly last a lifetime. Being in B-block we have been lucky enough to be so close to many of our friends as well as bonding through friendly rivalries with the other blocks. The majority of this year’s exec have also come from B-block and they have provided college residents with so many fun events. These have brought life to the college and provided memories we won’t forget and for that we can’t thank them enough. With so many other things happening in their lives, they are selfless make time to run these events for the enjoyment of others.

It’s been a privilege to lead B-block over the last 12 months and assist our residents when in need. We couldn’t have asked for a better block to be a part of this year and we hope it’s the same for the incoming RAs, Afeef and Lina.

C Block Celestial

C block stand for “the COOLESTTT block” – we went with the celestial theme this year as Cera is obsessed with unicorns and this discussion gave birth to our theme. We decorated our block with a lot of things. To start off the entrance with a beautiful curtain to give our residents a sense of classiness when they enter the block. We also have starry sky surrounded by Pinterest vibes and twinkly fairly lights and blue and black patches on the walls that adds to the colour scheme giving the block a certain ‘je ne sais quoi’.

C Block stands for Competitive – w e started the year with block wars but seeing how we outperformed every other block;  we were robbed off from our glory but next year we will just have to come back stronger. C Block is such a diverse community of different individuals and groups but no matter what the event their creative spirit shines through, and they always participate in each and every event and give 110%.

C Block stands for Connection - This time we decided to do our block supper in D flat (thanks Mickey) with some cheese crackers, garlic bread, soft drinks, and chips. It was a really cool bonding experience with the new residents, getting to know them and also enjoying some hot chocolate along with some music that set out a good vibe to great night. We also had a block supper where we welcomed Dave and Jess Buster in the common room where the unofficial CG RA ‘Scarlet’ joined our block alongside the bundle of energy and noise named ‘Bear’. This provided a fantastic opportunity to check in on everyone after the break and continue to build deeper connections with one another and make our C Block Community even stronger.

C Block stands for Creative – We had an amazing amount of talent and creativity displayed at arts week ranging from the Taylor Swift Lego artwork from Mitchell Clarke to artwork from Bhagyashree Dhebe to Nicholas Ho’s photography and even Patrick Noble and Joseph Chandrasegaran giving a Monty Python inspired acting performance. This is also highlighted through our performance at the debating competition where despite not winning … Natasha Naiju, Patrick Noble, Brian Wekulo and Henry Ting put up a good fight discussing smartness vs attractiveness and the laundry token system at college, and they collaborated to come up with creative cohesive points and a lot of hilarious wiretap content.

No one EVER goes hungry in C block.  We had an amazing movie night later in the year where we had watched Thor: Ragnarok and got lots of pizzas, garlic bread, drinks and the GREATEST krispy kreme which did surely attract people to get their hands on. We also had a variety of fun shenanigans throughout the year including an outing to pancakes on the rocks, picnics, cookies, secret santa and MUCH MUCH more.

Huzzah and Lots of Love, Afeef and Cera

D Block

Dungeons and Dragons

Hello from the inside scoop, The World of D&D D Block gang have the most funtastic and amazing people you will ever meet! Although some had busier schedules than others, there is always time for gang members, friends, and family to vibe around the D Den. We could either be watching TV, catching up with some much needed rest and self-care, chit chat about different topics, etc. around the Den. And hey, it is without saying that the D&D gang indulge and became emotionally and mentally invested into their characters within the D&D game every now and then.

It has definitely been a crazy semester 2 2022. With a couple of journalist on the block, they have committed themselves to paparazzi-ng and divulging details of RMC life through the voice, encore, and echo. Despite having the least number of residents among all blocks, the D&D gang has participated in various activities and events throughout the semester. First of all, the gang have helped out with setting up for the Block Supper for the combining C & D Blocks. Moreover, there was the celebration of love among family and friends (and anyone who matters in your life) during the Love Week. At Love Week, there was the Relationship Q&A sessions, Open Mic and Fire Pit Night, Ranch Costume Night, LGBTea, and Ballroom Dancing where some of us had actively participated and contributed to the events.

Sparks flew in the arguments, and sarcasm ran thick during the Interblock Debating. Running by their own politics, the gang has decided to be an all round supporter of all blocks. Truth be told, a D gang member was carrying another team to a home run (back hurts). And that is how you know which block is the best ;-) On a separate occasion, there was also dancing and clapping and circling round each other with different partners each time for Bush Dance. It was a pretty memorable event. You can hear the giddiness and laughter all around with the ambience of Aussie folk music playing in the background.

Despite facing several predicaments throughout this semester (not listing them out, however, it includes one or more little unwelcome pets found within the block), I hope that they feel supported and cared for throughout my abrupt appointment as their RA.

I believe that everyone in this block will be able to achieve whatever ambitions they have when they put their mind to it. Overall, it has been a privilege meeting everyone in the block and getting to know all of them.

- Yen Hua Kong.

E Block

Extraterrestrial

E Block Extraterrestrials has been one to remember!

We’ve run a few really fun events this year: In Semester 1, Dan and I ran a Nerf war in which we decided the best use of our budget was to spend half on Nerf Guns and the other half on pizza. While slightly exorbitant, we managed to run a really unique event where everyone who came could have some fun with new people, and experience something new for E Block.

In Semester 2, we had a large influx of new residents from all over the world. Mindy joined the team, and we are so grateful for her contribution! We had a lovely block supper to welcome everyone, complete with bubble tea made by Lillian and fairy bread that we did a wonderful job creating…

To end the year, Mindy, Dan and I ran a good old fashioned pizza and movie night in S Conference. While it was pouring rain, it was a great way to wind down the year together, complete with far too much garlic bread, and Dan and I making the executive decision to expose you all to the greatness of Cool Runnings for most of your first time. Seriously though, if you haven’t watched it… watch it.

Thank you to our residents! E Block 2022 wouldn’t have been the same without you.

All the best, Mindy, Dan and Anna.

Community Portfolio Report

This year the RA Community Team were back with their full gamut of events and projects (see ya Covid!). They excelled with their passion and energy for the RMC community. The RA Community team’s primary task is to support one of RMC’s 3 key values which is to “develop a college community” through a range of events across college. Ceradwen Cole (aka Smiling Assassin), Tully Maurer (aka Five Leaf Clover), Ben Parsons (aka Top Self) and Taylena Kong (Last Minute Saviour) have done a cracking job! In a word from the infamous Honey Badger, they were “going off like a bag of cats” the whole year! Their joy with which they have taken to the task of supporting community I hope will make a lasting impact somewhere in your memories of RMC.

There are two primary events organized by the Community Team, these are: Arts Week (Semester 1) and Wellness Week (Semester 2). Arts week is week-long celebration of all things arty from Shakespeare to chalk and from photography to stories. This year Shakespeare and Co was a great expansion into movies and stories as apart of the normal Shakespeare line up (even if it was mostly Star Wars… ;). As always Bob Ross Night is a highlight to the Art’s Week ensemble.

Wellness Week which primary purpose is to encourage and support all types of wellness in RMC’s community also occurred in Semester 2. Now in its sixth year, Wellness Week has carved a name for itself as a staple on the social diet of the RMC community. Self-Care Fair, PJ/Oodie Movie Night along with all the other RA events provide a nice reset as we head into the final term of the semester.

The Community RAs also assisted in supporting various other outdoor events such as Zoo Day and B-Art Night outing. Along with the infamous Haunted RMC this team is committed to bring people together through fun and even fear! I hope you got a chance to meet the RA Team and enjoy one of their events or a conversation with one of these great people.

I personally think this year’s RA team did an outstanding job. Creativity, commitment, and energy characterized the Community team. There are big shoes to fill for Lina, Kelly, Joe and Chirag who form the Community RAs for 2023. I am sure we can expect great things again next year. Comms! Comms! Comms!

David Buster

Academic Portfolio Report

What a great year it has been. I am proud of the creativity and dedication shown by the Academic Residential Advisors. Terrific Theresa, Amazing Anna, Awesome Afeef and Marvellous Mindy have all worked hard to promote academic excellence and fun learning opportunities.

In addition to this, they have supported other RAs and the Exec team at the many college events. They have also supported a number of residents academically, practically and emotionally throughout the year. What an excellent team!

Nerd Night is a weekly event run by the Academic RAs. It gives all residents the opportunity to study in the dining hall. And its’ great that once a week there is somewhere different to get some work done, especially when there is hot chocolate. Kahoot has become a regular fixture of Nerd Nights and is a welcome break from study.

Trivia is another fun night where friends can get together and put their knowledge to the test. The trip to the Powerhouse Museum was another fun event. If you’ve never been, it’s an applied arts and science museum with some interactive exhibits. It’s in Ultimo, which means residents who wanted to kick on continued to explore Sydney.

A fan favourite – Kindifarm – will be returning to RMC in Week 13. With many classes and assignments wrapping up, and exams about to begin it’s a stressful time of year. But who can think about those things when there are baby animals wanting a hug!

It has been great to get back to normal and see so many residents in-person at events. I can’t wait to see what the new Academic RA team – Afeef, Mindy, Saad, and Tees – decide to do next year!

The Voice

Writing The Voice has been a great experience for us. Attending all of the events on the RMC calendar, getting early access to event planning and scheduling, and most importantly, receiving all of your wonderful wiretaps, has given us a new outlook on college and the people who live here. Getting to put our own stamp on the place we live has been a great opportunity and we hope that you’ve all gotten a bit of enjoyment over our fortnightly magazine.

Everything that we’ve done this year is all online! For everyone who misses out on getting a print copy of The Voice or if you want to show off photos to people outside of college, everything we make goes up on Issuu. Issuu is a site that’s been used by The Voice for a while now, but we were dedicated to having everything we made, from issues 1-10 (and maybe a special bonus), online for people to see for years to come.

We don’t know where The Voice will go from here or what will happen in 2023, but hopefully whoever takes it over will have as much fun as we have and can create something that everyone here at college can enjoy for years to come. Thank you to everyone who’s helped us out with photos, trivia, or sent in wiretaps, we couldn’t have done it without you.

Your 2022 editors, Susanna & Alice

The designs and colour palates for The Voice this year were based off the pride flags (minus the first issue of Fresher Orange), each issue was designed around a certain pride flag. Here they are all labeled for you.

ANNA SINGLE Georgia Murphy Subject: Ancient History

MINDY TAN

BEN PARSONSTHERESA WALSH

Duty Officers Report

was early in the morning, and I got a call from the police near the front office asking to be let into college but, by the time I went down to let them in, they were gone. Their police car was still there but they were nowhere to be seen!”

“It was good shift that night and I was showing a new DO how to lock up the chapel on their first shift, and then before closing up we heard water running, turns out the whole kitchen was flooding, and it turned to be a long night ��”

“It

“Love seeing residents rock up wet to the post-Pub Crawl fire alarm because they were in the shower”

“The funny thing was I wasn’t even on shift that night, and I thought I heard the DO phone ringing, turns out it was in my head, because I’m traumatized by the ringtone”

“I once got a boomgate call from someone who missed the driveway to DLC and wanted to park here instead -.-”

“This one time during my 2nd shift as a new DO, I went to lock up the chapel, and then when I left, I was wondering why it’s so quiet and no calls, turns out 5 mins later it hit me that I left the phone in the chapel”

“The number of times I’ve had to tell residents that getting rid of spiders at 12AM is not part of my job description is not even funny”

“I once had a 4am lockout and was so out of it that I forgot to put on pants when I went down. Thank god for the oversized shirt that I was sleeping in that covered me up … for the most part”

Dogs of College

Autograph Page

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Robert Menzies College