Verse Magazine Edition 28

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CONTENTS Edition 28 | June - July 2019

02 Editor’s Letter 04 I exist therefore I write 06 Mais vinho para mim 08 I’m homeless, but I drive a Prius 11

The quiet death of the museum

12 Imagine: Dessy Georgescu 18 Photo series: GTM 20 Playlist: Songs to groove and

moo-ve to

22 Life 23 Don’t mistake lipstick for blood 24 The right touch of hellfire 30 Getting someone to fall in love with you 32 Humans of UniSA 38 Isla in Wonderland 40 Match Studio: Unlearning to be creative 46 Photo series: Old folks in foreign places 52 A commuter’s trip 54 Review: Savoury Biscuits 56 Horoscopes: The signs as degrees 58 USASA Clubs Feature: Indonesian

Student Society

59 Recipe: Soto Ayam 60 USASA Advocacy Column 62 USASA Calendar Above Image Isaac Freeman

63 USASA President’s Letter

Cover Image Grace Plunkett

We respectfully acknowledge the Kaurna, Boandik and Barngarla First Nations Peoples and their Elders past, present, and emerging, who are the First Nations’ traditional owners of the land that are now home to the University of South Australia’s campuses in Adelaide, Mount Gambier and Whyalla.

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EDITOR'S LETTER Edition 28 Head Editor | Annabel Bowles

At the pointy end of the semester, you’re probably looking for any kind of distraction from those impending final assessments.

Well, you’ve got one in your hands – and we think it’s a much healthier choice than that Netflix season you’ve already watched three times.

This edition contains a sobering dose of sincerity, with stories on student homelessness, emigration, and destructive love. You may also find yourself traversing unfamiliar places; a museum after dark, Europe through the wobbly footsteps of pensioners, or a glassblowing studio. Along with features on kick-ass creatives and a recipe for the most delicious chicken soup you’ll ever try, there’s a lot of juice to squeeze out of these pages.

Thank you to every writer, artist, and reader of this edition. I’ve pored over every piece submitted and I can’t wait to do it again at the end of the year – after the wonderful Tanner Muller takes on the next two editions.

Head Editor A nnabel Bowles | Co-Head Editor Tanner Muller | Co-Head Editor Ryan Colsey Communications and Digital Editor Geena Ho | Graphic Designer Oliver White | Printer Newst yle Print Design & Production Consultant Jack son Polley | Design & Production Consultant Rachael Sharman The views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily representative of the views of USASA or the editors.

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Created by students for students

Verse Magazine Submit @ versemag.com.au

Creative Writing

I exist therefore I write 'A writer,' I say.

The words, punctuated by an upwards inflection and a nervous giggle, reverberate around the

Words by Nina Phillips Illustration by Polly Wigney

'Are you worried about failing?' he asks and leans across the table toward me.

Slowly, like a wounded possum pulling itself

room too quickly to take back. I gulp and stare at

over fallen gumnuts, I raise my head to meet

my hands. The pints of Coopers Session I sculled

Toddy’s gaze. Beyond his sandy mess of blonde

at the Moseley, a few hours earlier, are steadily

curls, Hannah is chatting up the American

gurgling their way up my oesophagus with an

bloke we met earlier in the night. Her fingers

acidic vengeance. My $15 chicken parmy dinner

are tracing swirling patterns from the man’s

isn’t too far behind.

earlobe to his elbow as she gushes about her life

'But, you know,' I add in an attempt to settle

as an actor in a warm, breathy whisper. I grit my

my easily flabbergasted belly of

teeth. The girl’s been in two D-rated, Adelaide-

half-digested food, 'that’s probably not

based gymnastics movies for God’s sake. What

gonna happen.'

gives her the right to call herself an actor. Self-

I feel Konrad exhale beside me and sink deeper into the abyss of the tobacco-stained couch. The fresh, musky scent of Hannah’s outdoor strain shrouds us in a momentary veil of white smog. I suppress a cough. Without looking across the coffee table, I know Todd is smiling at me.

confidence? Naivety? Egotism?

'Slowly, like a wounded possum pulling itself over fallen gumnuts, I raise my head to meet Toddy’s gaze.'

'Why not?' Toddy asks, as I knew he would.

My body rattles from side to side as I attempt

'Why write then?' Toddy sighs. He sits

to stifle the rapid shaking of my left knee. I

up, arching his back like a cat on a lazy

feel the laces of my Dr. Martens brush against

Sunday morning, before slumping back into

a leather satchel by my feet. Conscious of what

his armchair.

I’ve left on inside the bag, I attempt to divert the

Why write? Why do I write?

conversation by directing a series of loud ums

My eyes flicker back towards the satchel

and whale noises at the floor. Konrad mutters

on the floor. I recall the lack of hesitation I felt

something about Finding Dory and yawns

when I arrived at Toddy’s flat and tapped the

loudly, but Todd isn’t as easily distracted.

large red button of my voice recording app.

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Nina Phillips

It was not with an Al Jazeera v. Pauline Hanson

I watched Hannah talk so confidently about

intention that I dimmed the hazy, fluorescent

acting. He can probably guess that I’m the type

light illuminating my face, and gently placed

of person who taught herself photography, not

my phone in my bag to preserve the echoing

only as a method of capturing adventures, but

voices of those around me. Rather, at the

to encourage my description to flourish in high-

time, I imagined listening back to our 3am

definition vibrancy.

conversations weeks or months from now and

As my face crumples into a mosaic of

writing an eloquent prose of self-discovery.

furrowed brows, parted lips and darting eyes, I

I fancied my words like a woodland path in

turn toward Konrad.

spring. The kind that snakes its way endlessly

'And someday soon, you hope your writing

in a flurry of wild flowers and hay fever. Worthy

will speak loud and clear. With proper purpose,'

of praise, beautiful and something ought to be

he says.

remembered for the good of posterity.

'It’s like, you feel like you have to. Right?'

Konrad says.

His voice cuts crisply through a cloud of

I breath in deeply and nod.

In ten, twenty or fifty years from now, perhaps I’ll listen to this recording of a stoned stranger mansplaining my feelings and laugh.

murky smoke and attracts the attention of

But tonight, with Konrad an unmistakable

Hannah and the American. As the pair tangle

leader of the Thinkpol clearly having hacked

their limbs in an attempt to sit down together,

my brain, I sink softly into Toddy’s tobacco-

in an armchair beside Todd, I feel Konrad

stained couch and dream of my spring woodland

shuffle upon the couch to face me.

of words. ◼

'You feel like you can’t bring yourself to say it. But, everything you do is because you’re a writer. Right?' he continues.

It’s as if he recognised the subtle way I decided to capture my surroundings tonight.

Perhaps he spotted the dozen or so voice recordings I keep locked inside my phone under a folder titled “Juicy Writing Prompts,” or noticed my heart glow green with envy as

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Poetry

Mais vinho para mim Words by Zoe Kassiotis Photography by Annabel Bowles

The waiter doesn’t remove an inch of my happiness when he strips the perfectly placed plates and glasses on the riverside table for four showered under the dim rays of a weathered Almada street light Instead he makes space for more food and drink to nourish my growing universe that folds and expands like waves in the milky way He makes space for silence so that galaxies can grow in my mind content in all its brilliant solidarity I am woman enough to fill every seat at this candlelit table in the merry-go-round of lovers and friends who dine with the Rio Tejo - Lisbon October fourteenth

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Zoe Kassiotis

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Reflection

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Jemah Finn

I’m homeless, but I drive a Prius

Words by Jemah Finn Photography by Isaac Freeman

Picture this: you’re homeless, but only at night. You’re sleeping in your car, but your mode of transport is a well-functioning Toyota Prius. You walk into class everyday with an instant coffee in your KeepCup that you made in the student kitchen. No one knows it's not one of the five dollar ones from the cafe.

Well, I don’t need to picture it. I lived it.

My name is Jemah Finn and I’m a 22-year-old full-time university student, who never expected to end up homeless, but was suddenly thrust into that world.

Between February and April last year, this was my life. No, I’m not a drug addict, nor a struggling gambler. I completely shatter the stereotype of what it means to be homeless, and I want to shed light on this growing epidemic.

It looks something like this …

You decide you want a tertiary education, to you know, ‘make something of yourself’. So you pack up your belongings, and move to the big smoke – a three hour drive from your hometown. You are loving your studies, and doing pretty well – until you’ve lost your job because you had to keep dropping shifts due to the onslaught of university work (which has to be top priority if you want that dream job, right?) Your Centrelink payments don’t even begin to cover your rent and your parents are going through a bad season on the farm, so they can’t help you out. Before you know it, your lease ends and isn’t renewed, and your parents drop the bomb that they’re moving ten hours away, so you can’t even crash with them between rentals. The next semester is fast approaching, but you’re having no luck finding a new place. ‘We don’t really rent out to university students,’ you hear repeatedly. It doesn’t matter that you work hard and have a flawless rental history.

You ring Centrelink (again) and explain your situation and beg for some financial help, but they say ‘actually, if you’re not paying rent, we need to cut your payment.’

With no family in the state to stay with and a bank account that’s suffering a severe drought, you have no choice but to crash in your car and pray something changes soon. Meanwhile, you continue to attend your nine to five classes like you haven’t just had two hours sleep in the backseat of your car, and used dry shampoo and wet wipes instead of showering.

I’m not alone.

The last Census revealed nearly one in ten homeless people are university students, and as many as 27,600 people aged 12 to 24 are without a home. But even these figures are an underestimation. The Australian Bureau of Statistics says generally those who are couchsurfing report a ‘usual’ residence, and therefore the numbers are likely to be much higher.

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Reflection

In April last year, several students were asked to leave a Charles Sturt University library, when staff discovered they’d been sleeping there. The students said they felt the building was the safest option for them – and who can blame them? Most universities have 24/7 areas, kettles, couches, showers and electricity. If you hide between beanbags, you might be able to get away with ‘studying’. Probably not though; you’ll eventually be seen on the cameras that are everywhere and asked to leave by security staff who don’t care where you go, just like these Charles Sturt students.

A guy I know, Brody* is another student who faced homelessness while studying.

He struggled to survive on Centrelink Rent Assistance payments of just $89.87 a fortnight for a single person sharing a house. Fortunately Brody could move back in with his dad, but he says it hasn’t been easy.

'Meanwhile, you continue to attend your nine to five classes like you haven’t just had two hours sleep in the backseat of your car.'

‘I have a single dad who shares his tiny two bedroom unit with me and my sister.

Having three of us there means he now sleeps on a fold-out couch in the lounge room so my sister and I have space to study and be 20-year-olds. It’s heartbreaking to think about.’

‘At 18 it’s legal to vote, drink and drive. The government pushes you into adulthood then, when it suits them … but when it comes to moving out to study, they say you’re still dependent on a parent.’

Until you’re 22, you’re not deemed independent, even if you’ve lived out of home for years. When I rang Centrelink and told them I was facing eviction, I was told to ask my parents for a loan because ‘it’s their responsibility.’ My family doesn’t work like that … once you move out, you’re on your own.

As I chat to Brody in their unit, I hear his dad murmur in the background ‘uni is only for the rich to get richer, the little people don’t matter.’

That seems to be the sad truth. Unless your parents can afford to house you near your campus, something will be sacrificed in place of whatever work you do to pay the bills. Often, it’s your studies.

Why am I eligible for more Centrelink money as an unemployed person than a fulltime student? Why are we considered adults at 18-years-old, but not independent until 22? Why do so many of us, who want an education and a career, need to sleep in our cars or on couches just to make that possible?

I’ve contacted many government officials in search of answers, and I’m yet to receive a reply.

Young people are the future of Australia, but we’re not even worthy of a response. ◼ Editor’s note: If this story raises any issues for you, there’s free financial counselling and support available at the City West Campus. You can book an appointment at usasa.sa.edu. au/financialcounselling.

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Creative Writing

The quiet death of the museum

T

Words by Frances Cohen

he museum will close in ten minutes. The

notice the whole building smells of a certain

taxidermy lion stares out proudly from his

kind of death. Not like dried blood or decay, but

plexiglass coffin. A little boy in light up

like the lingering stale air of a long undisturbed

sneakers has been eyeing him off for a while

room. Except it’s not, hundreds of people walk

now. The boy notices me noticing him. He sees

through here every day. The past just has a

me staring at his sneakers, so he clicks his heels

certain smell, like a second-hand store; the

together to make them blink. He knows this has

stagnating natural scent of people from a time

impressed me. He strides up to the lion’s tomb

before. Each artefact is doused in the smell of

and pushes his face up against the glass, leaving

its time, and the collective stench catches in

a greasy smudge in front of the lion’s face. The

my throat.

boy crouches there, unflinching.

A few minutes later he stands up, hands on hips, satisfied that the lion is not a threat.

A faint whirring sound from beneath the case draws his attention to the lion’s tail, which flicks up with a sudden jerk. The boy squeals and

'The past just has a certain smell, like a second-hand store; the stagnating natural scent of people from a time before.'

runs crying to his mum, who has been watching.

She points to the tail, which flicks up again with

I’m not alone in here, but the room is

the same mechanical motion. But he has been

somehow quieter with someone else in it. At

betrayed. She told him the animals couldn’t

the end of the day, when all the atmospheric

move. How could he believe anything she said

sound effects and interactive panels have

now? He cries harder.

been switched off, there are no illusions of

In the next room, two teenagers with school

life. Already inanimate objects seem to die,

bags are having a contest to see who can hold

suffocated in the glass cases. The remaining

their hands against a block of ice for the longest.

few people shuffle through the final room in

A bust of Sir Douglas Mawson oversees the

a respectful silence, regarding each artefact

proceedings. The pre-recorded whistles and

like an open casket. The canoes and spears

howls of the tundra fill the air like a cheering

mounted on the walls look like they have lived

crowd. The girl pulls away first. The boy gloats

their whole lives here. The placard of one spear

triumphantly, so she puts her freezing cold

tells me it was born in the Flinders Ranges; but,

hands on his face. He chases her, laughing, past

seeing it hanging in front of me, it’s hard to

the jars of Arctic parasites. I have a feeling they

imagine it has ever been anywhere else. I try to

want to kiss each other.

imagine the tree it grew from, the knife used to

The museum will close in three minutes. The

sharpen it, the hand that threw it. I even try to

voices and laughter drift further away as people

imagine the body it finally pierced. But all I see

leave. I go down the stairs into the next room.

is a stick. ◼

The sudden stillness catches me off guard. I now

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IMAGINE: Dessy Georgescu Interview conducted by Tanner Muller Illustrations by Dessy Georgescu

Dessy Georgescu is a third-year Illustration and Animation student with dreams of conquering the industry of fashion illustration. If you’ve got a keen eye, you might just find a couple of her murals pop-up over the coming year around the City West campus and the Hawthorn railway station. In this interview, Tanner Muller sat down with Dessy to discuss her love for nature, David Attenborough documentaries, and her pet bluetongued lizard.

Dessy Georgescu

You’ve contributed plenty of content to Verse in the past, but for those who might not be aware, could you describe the sort of art you do?

I would consider myself to be a fashion/ botanical illustrator. I absolutely love mixing these elements together. For example, I’ll sketch something that has come straight off the runway, but also add my own floral prints to it. I’m very fascinated by the natural world, especially its intricate details – if you look closely enough at a flower (or anything for that matter), you notice features that you would have missed without taking the time to really observe it. My career aspiration at five-years-old was to be in the fashion industry, so sketching clothing and print designs is how I’m able to fulfil that.

What motivates you? Where do you find inspiration?

I have three favourite fashion illustrators that really inspire me: David Downton, Megan Hess and Jessica Durrant. They’ve all worked with iconic labels, such as Chanel, Tiffany’s and Dior, and that’s what I aspire to be one day. These artists work in other mediums too, and I feel like that’s such an important asset to have in the industry. You have to be multifaceted and can’t just stick to what you’re comfortable with.

I also adore the David Attenborough documentaries. In Natural Curiosities he speaks about the death’s-head hawkmoth, which has this skull pattern on its back. So, I started a bit of an internet spiral when I looked for images of them online. I guess that’s the sort of approach I take with most of the work I do. I become so enthralled by something that I just naturally start to invest my time towards it. The creative process flows a lot more for me that way too.

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Imagine

When did you discover your passion for art? How did it all start for you?

Ever since I could pick up a pencil, basically.

Back in kindergarten, I always sat myself at the painting table and created something on those thin scraps of paper. I also used to sculpt little figurines and dresses out of Play-Doh. My parents have always encouraged me to follow my artistic passion, even though all of us were unclear on where it could lead me. Thankfully, I have a bit more direction nowadays.

You’re in the developing stages of creating your own children’s book, ‘Meet Blue.’ What’s it all about?

Well, I have this pet blue-tongued lizard called Blue, who’s been with me for about seven years.

A friend of my dad’s found him in his toolbox as a baby, and ever since I’ve kept him in my home.

He’s my little baby dragon, you know. Although he isn’t as affectionate as I would like him to be, I just love having him around. When I tell people that I have a pet blue-tongued lizard, a common reaction I receive is how afraid they are of the animal. So, with the book I want to let readers know that they’re not as harmful as they seem.

The native blue-tongue is actually a really calm creature. ‘Meet Blue’ hasn’t been released to the public yet, but I intend on taking it to a publisher once I’ve finalised everything.

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Dessy Georgescu

'When you’re working on something you’re passionate about, a piece of yourself becomes attached to it, so the viewer is able to recognise the emotion, and intent, behind your work.'

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Dessy Georgescu

What sort of advice would you give to yourself during your first year at university?

I would tell myself not to stress out so much and to stop thinking about what others might want from you. It wasn’t until recently that I discovered my own illustration style. I spent so many years trying to emulate an idealised version of what I thought everyone wanted from me, that I lost track of myself and the approaches I wanted to take. When you’re working on something you’re passionate about, a piece of yourself becomes attached to it, so the viewer is able to recognise the emotion, and intent, behind your work. So, it’s better to follow your own direction and your own voice. ◼

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Spotlight

SONGS TO GROOVE AND MOO-VE TO Words by Annabel Bowles Photography by Oliver White

@VerseMag Listen to the playlist through our Spotify!

Annabel Bowles

1 Hold On

Crooked Colours 2 Ukiyo Hermitude 3 That Message

Holy Holy 4 FALL BACK Duckwrth 5 Jupiter

Haiku Hands 6 Keeping Time

Angie McMahon 7 Killing My Time

G Flip 8 Better in Blak

Thelma Plum 9 Egyptian Luvr (feat. Aminé and Dana Williams)

Rejjie Snow 10 wish you were gay

Billie Eilish 11 Child’s Play

A$AP Twelvyy 12 Dennis Rodman

Carmouflage Rose 13 Capricorn

Pinkish Blu 14 Tremble

Nicole Millar 15 FUTURE BAE Jimothy

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Poetry

Life Words and Illustration by Taylor Siemelink

life’s not simply black or white its white and black wrong and right it’s brightness in dark shadow in light darkness at day moonlight at night it’s yin and it’s yang the good in the bad it’s black and it’s white joyous and sad

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Poetry

Don’t mistake lipstick for blood Words by Lauren Rawlings Artwork by Monique Coetzee

a cracked lipstick kiss tastes more than pink, like spat cherry pips staining curtains and carpet. a scratched cheek, bloodshot eyes from not enough sleep, a heart that is hot with too many beats. have you ever noticed veins splitting the skin can resemble rivers of life or cracks in a wall, contingent on how your closed open eyes meet them. and red wine can drip sweetness or claw at the throat, the colour of that lipstick, fervent as a rose or a silent scream, Pandora’s box concealed behind those lips you want to kiss, be careful. consider the lipstick cracks a fracture in the mask, watch for the warning to keep your closed eyes shut, but wide open.

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Interview

The right touch of hellfire Words by Annabel Bowles Photography by Poppy Fitzpatrick Studio images supplied by Drew Spangenberg

For Verse Mag’s regular Interview segment, Annabel Bowles met UniSA Visual Arts graduate and JamFactory glassblower Drew Spangenberg.

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Drew Spangenberg

In Adelaide’s West End, a hub of activity hisses and steams behind the manicured JamFactory gallery. The door to the workshop is open, but it’s not inviting me in. Through the window I see a man twirling a metal pipe into the glowing hole of a furnace. A young Japanese woman in pink-tinted glasses paces nearby, effortlessly twisting another rod between two hands, with a radiating blob stuck on its end. They pass the

‘Glass is its own language ... you can convey your point without using words, most of the time.’

two-metre long pipes to each other in sweeping movements, and continue to dance with their molten lava.

The man is Drew Spangenberg, a 27-yearold glass artist. He finds me outside the door and I follow the back of his messy brown bun to stand at a different entrance, further away from the furnaces. He gives me a rundown of what’s going on, reeling off words like ‘punty’, ‘gaffer’ and ‘glory hole’. It all goes over my head as I half-listen, half-look at what he points to.

My eyes are continually drawn to the whitehot balls of goo, which a few people are now elongating in overhead swings. Wordlessly, they work in sync; though I doubt they’d be able to communicate anyway. I can barely hear Drew over the reverberating noise of the workshop in front of us.

‘Glass is its own language ... you can convey your point without using words, most of the time.’

Another rod is now propped onto a frame, and a short-sleeved guy sits at the hot end, tweaking the orb with ungloved hands and metal tools. The woman sits at the other end and follows the twirling pipe with her mouth. ‘You can see there, she’s blowing a bubble now,’ Drew tells me.

Clearly, the language of glassmaking requires an explanation, so we find a seat in a shared studio-turned-storeroom upstairs.

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Interview

‘It’s a bit of a jungle in here at the moment,’ he says with a chuckle, as I sit down between cardboard boxes and shelves upon shelves of shiny glass shapes.

The pieces can take anything between a few minutes to five hours to produce, but no matter how long Drew spends glassblowing, ‘it doesn’t really feel like work.’ Despite the unimaginable temperatures and delicate skill required, he describes it like child’s play. They twist honey on sticks, blow bubbles into it, and mould the balloons like Play-Doh. It seems to be done with leisurely ease, though I only watched from afar.

‘It’s kinda like playing with lava. It’s molten, it’s gooey, it’s constantly moving. Once you start a piece, you can’t put it down and go for a cuppa like you can with ceramics. You’re with that piece until it’s in the oven, until it’s done.’

Like moths to a lamp, the ‘glass bug’ draws international and interstate students to the JamFactory workshop, which Drew believes is the country’s best alongside Canberra Glassworks. After completing a Bachelor of Visual Art (Glass) at the University of South Australia in 2013, he began a two-year Associate Program here, which I’m told is ‘second to none in the world.’ A four-hour shift usually costs glassblowers $260 in raw materials and running expenses, as well as their assistants’ wages.

But an Associate has only a small annual fee, and the ability to hone their craft with much more freedom.

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Drew Spangenberg

‘You can essentially blow glass for twelve

the cancellation of several interstate glass

hours a day if you want. You wouldn’t because

programs, he says it’s only a matter of time

you’d bloody kill yourself, but y’know, that’s the

before UniSA’s furnaces stop burning.

most time you can get on the tools in two years,

‘Their facilities are old and haggard, and it’s

anywhere. That for your skills is invaluable.’

reflective of the amount of funding the arts get.

JamFactory is a sharp contrast to the

But if that goes, it would kill glass in Adelaide, as

university’s ‘pokey little hot shop’ and ‘handmade mud furnace’ where Drew

far as local glassmakers go … which is really sad.’

But Drew’s in the glassblowing game for

unexpectedly fell in love with glassblowing.

good, even though he currently spends more

A desire to leave his hometown of Whyalla and

time assisting well-established artists than

a remote interest in photography saw Drew

working on his own products. This only drives

pick a visual arts degree, and with that he

his obsession to develop his craft, and besides,

became one of few – and perhaps one of

he likes being ‘constantly surrounded by

the last in Adelaide – to take to glass. After

creative people that make really sweet shit.’

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Interview

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Drew Spangenberg

‘Even the masters are always learning. They say it’s ten years until you make work you like, which I think is bullshit, twenty years before you can teach someone else, and forty years before you can call yourself a master.’

He shows me some of his work; a set of three tall cylinder jugs, in muted colours of mint green, pearl and blue. Other than their thumb indents and glazed finish, they look as simple as they sound, but the process couldn’t be any less.

‘Even the masters are always learning. They say it’s ten years until you make work you like, which I think is bullshit, twenty years before you can teach someone else, and forty years before you can call yourself a master.’

Aside from the fact that the material must be kept at a working temperature well above 600°C, I ask Drew exactly what can go wrong in the process.

‘Everything. If you start with a shit bubble, it’ll be a fight the whole way through to keep it on centre. If you let it get cold, it’ll fall off the punty. If you get it hot in the wrong spot or at the wrong time, you’ll lose your shape,’ he tells me, Rossi boots eagerly tapping the concrete floor.

‘Glass has a really good memory. Whatever you do to it at the start will more often than not be visible at the end of the piece.’

With this in mind, I have a new-found respect for the symmetry of Drew’s products and the meticulous nature of the process. What’s essentially sand (and a bit of ‘nasty stuff’ like fluxes, stabilisers, lime and silica) becomes something immaculate – with the right touch of hellfire. It’s easy to see why glassblowing is so compelling.

‘Glassblowers don’t really retire … they just work till they’re dead. It’s too addictive,’ Drew says, eyes beaming behind his glasses. ◼

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Creative Writing

Getting someone to fall in love with you Words by Gabriel Olaer Artwork by Grace Plunkett

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Gabriel Olaer

'So fine. I will do the right things, wear nice clothes, and say the correct words – but not too many, and only at the right time.'

How do you get someone to fall in love with

There are so many games you can play. Just

you? Do you ‘like’ their Facebook statuses? Not

thinking about the self-imposed rules of dating

too much, of course, because that would seem

in our generation is enough to make me weep.

desperate. But a little bit, sparingly, so they

Can’t I just go up to you and be like, ‘Hi. I really

know that you like the things that come out

like you. I feel like I could possibly love you. Do

of their brain. Perhaps you can even leave the

you feel the same? Blink once for yes and twice

occasional comment on their Facebook wall so

for no.’ Wouldn’t it be so much faster if I cut the

they remember you; remember that they should

crap and just spoke the truth? Why do I have to

love you.

let my phone and the internet and the advice

Do you wear a flattering outfit when you

from my friends dictate the pace? If I texted you

go to meet them for coffee? That way you can

four times in one day, would that really turn

remind them that you’re someone worth seeing

you off forever? Is this how fickle feelings have

naked. (It’s all an illusion anyway. How you

become, where one false move could be enough

look naked is completely different to how you

to end something that’s potentially great?

look clothed but at that point, a naked body is a naked body. You can always just turn the

I guess it is.

So fine. I will do the right things, wear nice

lights off). Do I rub your knee unnecessarily like

clothes, and say the correct words – but not too

Cosmopolitan once told me to do? Will that turn

many, and only at the right time.

you on? If you were on the fence about loving me

For the record, I don’t care if you call or text

back, would a good knee rub be the thing that

me. I won’t dock you points for using emojis or

pulls you onto my side of the fence?

telling me that your favorite band is The Fray.

Do I text you? Do I DM you? Do I DARE call

Why would I care? I’m not falling in love with

you? You’ve called me a few times in the past

your texting skills or music tastes. I’m falling

and I almost passed out every time I saw your

in love with you. Only you. So you don’t have to

name on the screen. I thought to myself, ‘This

play games (please don’t actually).

man has balls! He must really like me!’ and you

If you become mine and I become yours, I’ll

do. You do like me. That I know for certain. But

text you endlessly, and I won’t give a shit about

I’m not interested in just ‘like.’ I’m interested in

rubbing your damn knee. ◼

getting you to love me.

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Humans of UniSA: Edition #28 Everyone has a story. A defining moment of their existence that makes them the person they are today. For Humans of UniSA, we delve into the depths of human nature and speak with some students to discover a slice of their personal history.

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Humans of UniSA

I hate to admit it, but I was scarily homophobic during high school, which is very much the polar opposite to who I am now. When I look back, there was a lot of self-hatred within myself and I was experiencing a major identity crisis. Those who were out of the closet at my school were targeted and bullied for being

Lachie Blackwell Bachelor of Arts

different, so I tried my best to fit in and became one of the perpetrators. In hindsight, I realise that I was envious of the people who were so open with themselves, because, in the meantime, I was suppressing all these emotions

Interview and Photography by Tanner

and didn’t know where to channel

Muller

my frustrations.

I grew up in a religious home and went to church practically every Sunday, which I think contributed to all of that because I was influenced to think and feel a certain way. In front of my church peers, I had to define myself as something I clearly wasn’t and there was a real struggle between these ‘heterosexual’ and ‘homosexual’ identities. In our Australian culture, there seems to be a real stigma attached to this because of masculinity and internalised homophobia, but we need to make more of an effort in closing the gap. The next generation shouldn’t be living in fear because of who they are. I’ve heard there are some religious practices in the U.S. that are more accepting of queer people and try to marry the two together – which is such a great thing. But unfortunately, that just doesn’t seem to happen a whole lot here.

If I could give my younger self any sort of advice, I would say chill the fuck out! I spent so much of my time worrying about the worst possible consequence in everything, especially with my sexuality. Nowadays, I take a more optimistic approach (within reason, of course) and ask myself: ‘what’s the worst that could happen?’

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Humans of UniSA

I was born in Adelaide, but my parents are from Manchester. We spent a bit of time there when I was three and I came back when I was four with a very thick accent.

Throughout high school, I was able to be true to myself in terms of my appearance and

Emma Horner

Bachelor of Design (Communication Design)

sexuality. I was able to date boys and girls without experiencing any homophobia. Straight after graduating, I started a social sciences degree, but my twenties ended up being a continuation of my teenage years where I just worked in hospitality and partied. I ended

Interview and Photography by

up partying more than going to uni, so over

Oliver White

the years I’ve dropped out of a few degrees.

Truthfully, I was a substance abuser – it was a way for me to ignore the fact that I didn’t know what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, and the fact that I was terribly bored. I used it to put off making any adult decisions.

For a long time, I was making coffee at lots of different cafes. I landed at one particular cafe where the owners gave me a lot of responsibility, but sometimes also took advantage of me. It made me realise that if I was going to do all of this work for somebody else, I might as well be doing it for myself – so I decided to open my own café with a business partner, Horner & Pratt. Running a cafe is hard because there is no safety net. If you have a quiet week you don't take home much money, so it can be very stressful. You're never off, always on. You can never fully relax. What I loved about it was being able to create my own space, and working front of house is amazing from a social aspect, I formed many lasting relationships at Horner & Pratt. I was there for two years before my partner bought me out. Partnerships can be difficult if it turns out that you don’t have the same vision.

Sometimes I think I could have been more productive in my twenties, but then if I had done anything differently, I wouldn't have ended up where I am now. I might not have started this degree, I might not have met my partner, I might not have made the friends that I've made.

I have no idea where my future is headed, which I really like.

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Humans of UniSA

I moved to Australia when I was six-years-old.

I was born in a city called San Diego, California, which is right on the border of Mexico. We lived in a bit of a party area in San Diego. A lot of college students live there and, for people our age now, it’s a great area to live with lots of

Harrison Davies

interesting people, cool restaurants, bars, and cafes right next to the beach but, as a young family, it’s not a great place to live. So we were

Bachelor of Journalism and Professional Writing

going to move out of the area anyway and my

and Bachelor of Arts (International Relations)

dad, who’s Australian, wanted me to live in Australia for a little while at the very least.

Interview conducted by Geena Ho Photography by Oliver White

He suggested we move here and we just never left.

It’s actually a funny story how my parents met. My dad, who’s a civil engineer, was on long service leave for a year. He travelled the whole world. He went to over thirty different countries. He became an adult at the end of the whole flower power era so he was still kind of living out this hippie fantasy of being really earthy and travelling the world meeting all kinds of different people. He’d been all around; Europe, Germany during the collapse of the Berlin Wall, South America, Asia and India. He knew a bunch of people from America through work and was visiting them and staying with my mum’s neighbour. On the second to last day of his long service leave, before he went back to Australia, they were all going out to a bar.

My mum’s neighbour pressured her into coming out with them and that’s when they met.

They had their ‘night of romance,’ as mum describes it, and did long distance over the phone until they both had a $1000 phone bill which, in the ‘90s, was one dollar per minute.

After about two and a half months, my dad kind of half-proposed over the phone and my mum said ‘if you show up with a ring, I’ll consider it’ and so, two weeks later, he showed up with a ring. They’ve been married for twenty five years. I actually calculated it and 1000 minutes is about 24 hours so, realistically, they had spoken for about 48 hours before deciding to get engaged. They’re a bit of an odd couple. They don’t have a whole lot in common other than fine wine and ‘70s rock music, but I guess that’s a good basis for a relationship. ◼

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USASA Clubs & Societies Find your flock.

Make friends with like-minded people, celebrate cultures & boost your resume by joining a studentrun club! Find your flock with over 90 special interest, cultural, academic & social justice clubs.

To join a club visit USASA.sa.edu.au/Clubs

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through... · Student Representation · Academic Advocacy · Student Clubs · Social Events · Club & Leadership Grants · Verse Magazine · Financial Support · USASA Student Spaces

USASA.sa.edu.au

@ USASAadelaide Edition 28 2019

39

Reflection

Isla in Wonderland Part 1 Words by Isla Photography by Maria Petroff

Dedicated to all the mourners

Just like a magnifying glass, my sorrows

Adelaide saw me seek companionship. I had

were amplified. I began to develop a measure

biological need for love that was so intrinsic

of learned helplessness, and started fostering

and primal. I yearned to be nursed, to be seen,

symptoms that looked like extreme forms of

to be sought. However there is nothing more

despair. I became imprisoned inside my own

dangerous than seeking adoration in a state of

fear, walled off where connection could not

heightened vulnerability. I was a woman with

reach me. I was alive but so intimate with the

an injured soul, bathed in brokenness, blazingly

dead, scrambling to survive with no way of

committed to the indulgent thought that love

telling friend from foe.

would save me.

I met men who were well articulated and rehearsed, men who became the imposters of my life. Men who wreaked havoc and destruction, men who corrupted my innocence.

Men who became more dangerous when

'I was a woman with an injured soul, bathed in brokenness, blazingly committed to the indulgent thought that love would save me.'

aroused, men who were only around when the lights went down. Men who lacked authenticity,

I lived in a twisted black hole of sin and

men who drove me into submission. Men who

chaos, where fire rained down on me, and

waved false wands, men who deeply misled,

a poisonous hatred consumed my heart. I

men who kicked away my pillars of hope.

festered in a place where thoughts drift rather

Although wary of their promises, some part

than engage, constantly reminded of the

of me believed I was being looked after – that

insurmountable fractures in my life – the

I was being offered a solution. The rigorous

people I no longer spoke to, the parties I could

process soothed, at least a little, to some

no longer in good conscious attend. I was a

degree. The basic itch was addressed, but I was

woman of sorrows, a wingless angel, dismantled

not satisfied. These men did not have to push,

in the horror and the misery of her life. Chaos

for love was a story I was already sold on, and

had followed me, surrounded me; and what once

maybe a story I overcompensated for. Though I

seemed startling became normal. I lived in a

felt duped, I believed the glitch lay within me.

realm where the notion of retaliation became more relevant than that of provocation, which further accelerated my retreat from the world. â—ź

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Isla

Match Studio: Unlearning to be creative Words by Forum Bakrania Illustrations by Ethan Haylock

At UniSA’s innovative learning space Match Studio, students are taught different design processes and thinking methods, and how they can be used in both their creative and personal lives. However, as Master of Design (Communication Design) student Forum Bakrania explores, learning new ways of thinking also requires the ‘unlearning’ of old ways.

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In the 1960s, creativity researcher George Land

degree. This why as we get older, introducing (or

began studying the imaginative capabilities

reintroducing) the concept of ‘unlearning’ can

of three to five-year-olds. 98 per cent of those

do wonders for our creative capacity. Unlike the

children scored in the ‘highly creative’ range.

name suggests, unlearning isn’t about erasing

Five years later, Dr. Land retested the children

or rejecting what has already been learnt. It’s

and only 30 per cent of them scored in the same

about letting go of an assumption you may have

range. By age 15 this number dropped to 12 per

otherwise relied on for predictable results, and

cent, and as 25-year-olds, just two per cent. You

experimenting with new methods that could

don’t need an long-established study to tell you

lead to similar (or new) outcomes. You may

that children are more creative than adults,

think that everything you’ve learnt will get you

but it’s interesting to note that our imagination

past that blank canvas or blank screen, and most

progressively declines the more educated

of the time, it eventually will. But in unlearning

we become.

for a moment and recalling those childhood

Maybe this decline in creativity is somehow genetic, but throughout school we’re generally taught everything has ‘right’ and ‘wrong’

days of play, you may find that creativity comes more naturally.

This is easier said than done though;

answers. Even within creative disciplines at

creativity is a fickle thing. If you’re a writer,

university, this thinking still applies to some

artist, designer or any other creative,

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Match Studio

I’m sure you’ve spent many late nights lying in bed, head racing with ideas – only to spend much of the next day staring at a blank page.

Speaking as a designer, these creative blocks are particularly frustrating as in many cases, they come when you’re trying to address a real world problem. Designers are taught to identify an issue, understand it, and then generate ideas to solve it – before moving on to discover, test and implement a solution. But this process of generating ideas is often the most difficult and time-consuming, due to the complexity of the problem or restrictions imposed. So, designers are often stumped before they’ve even begun to address the issue.

Creativity is also hindered with our natural inclination to solve problems in the most obvious way, which in most cases, is the solution you come up with first. After all, the philosophy of Occam’s razor states ‘the simplest solution is most likely the best.’

While this kind of thinking encourages the removal of unnecessary complexities, in terms of generating creative ideas, it’s very limiting.

However, designers often apply the concept of ‘unlearning’ to their practice, sometimes without even knowing it. Successful designers naturally come up with outlandish and childish concepts, which (although rarely make their way into a final design) are an important process in forming innovative solutions.

To do this, they must reject what’s the ‘norm’, and create unique ways of thinking.

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'our imagination progressively declines the more educated we become.'

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'Futurist Alvin Toffler once wrote, "the illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn."'

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Match Studio

Futurist Alvin Toffler once wrote, ‘the illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.’ It may sound ridiculous, but unlearning is much more than disregarding what we know. It’s the continued process of learning, unlearning and relearning – which is so important in today’s state of constant change. It can be hard to put into practice, but it’s worth noting that it’s the process of unlearning that’s important, not necessarily the outcome from it. Letting go of the mundane and forming a new way of thinking can be liberating. With a touch of childlike naivety, fewer concerns for the consequences of your actions can allow your mind to blossom. ◼

Old Folks in Foreign Places Photography and Words by Poppy Fitzpatrick

Exploring rich historical locations through people that have long-walked their worn and weathered streets.

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Gdansk, Poland

Photography

Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina

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Poppy Fitzpatrick

Murano, Italy

Rome, Italy

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Photography

Porto, Portugal

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Poppy Fitzpatrick

Bergamo, Italy

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53

Reflection

A commuter’s trip Words by Eugene Tabios

There it is again; the sun extending its light, illuminating everything within the vicinity, windless heat accompanying it. Maybe I shouldn’t have worn a long-sleeved shirt. But it’s hard to determine the autumn sky’s mood with each passing day.

Sometimes it would sweep the roads with breeze and give me the shivers, but on other days it would draw out, irritatingly, each drop of sweat from my skin.

It’s noon after my only class at university today. I see tents placed over the stretch of grass on the path adjacent to my classroom, and I can sense they’re gradually filling with visitors. It might be nice to participate and probably socialise with people I haven’t met before, but I don’t. It’s not that I look down on people, it’s that they might look down on me.

But the times I spend by myself are the most relaxing moments of my day. I don’t have the difficulty of translating my words verbally, or keeping up with the accents of the people around me. Lately, I’ve been taking leisure in my alone time, without someone interfering in the pleasure of my self-pondering. Although maybe it’s actually bad, I think, that I willingly immerse myself in self-reflection without trying to look at what’s beyond the mirror; the world in which I exist.

Anyway, these thoughts circulate around my head as I stand under the bus shelter. I soon greet the driver, tap my MetroCard, and find an empty seat. I always try to find an empty seat whenever I get on a bus. Again, it’s not that I want to be alone, I just enjoy sitting by the window. I have the chance to look, through the bus’s thick glass panes, at the city that’s still alien to me. The buildings I pass by, with all their stories to tell, cannot speak to me in a way I would understand. The unexplored streets would not greet me as they lovingly do for locals.

Funny enough though, I feel as if the bus itself has become part of my home. In any place, in any time, I would find romance in the beauty of commuting, even if it wasn’t as nice as the public transport here. Back in the Philippines, buses are no more than a life-sized can of tuna with wheels; vacuum-sealed, suffocating, and oily. When all the

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Eugene Tabios

'The buildings I pass by, with all their stories to tell, cannot speak to me in a way I would understand.'

seats are filled, the conductor will squeeze in every last passenger, having them stand back-to-back in the already full aisle. The worst spot to be is nearest to the aisle, as you’re sandwiched between the standing passengers and the person seated next to you.

The seats aren’t the most comfortable thing in the world either.

It might sound like a really big inconvenience, especially compared to Adelaide’s empty and air-conditioned buses, but commuting is an integral part of the regular Filipino. Everyone expects to be troubled by the tiring, sweaty and often disgusting commuting life. But you learn the nitty-gritty of time management, how to take seats in morally questionable ways, and to endure standing or sitting awkwardly for hours on end. I also got to know more of the world beyond my home, without ever really leaving it.

After my family and I moved to Australia, a friend told us that travelling by car is the way most people get around here. Buses follow a route and timetable after all.

Yet I still feel like I get to know this world more and more with every bus ride. There are people caught up in conversations on their phones, parents fitting their kids into strollers, and passengers on their weekly trip to the supermarket. Sometimes they would talk to each other, in a way that still intimidates me (I don’t understand why most of the people seem like they’re shouting at each other – though apparently that’s just normal talking), and sometimes they would miss their stop and blame the bus driver for it. But a lot of times they would wait for the automatic doors to open and thank the driver as they exit.

In some ways, my emigration feels like a very long commuting trip. I hope to go back to my country someday, but for now, I’ll take my time and enjoy the scenery, and bask in the sporadicity of autumn’s sky. It’s the third season since I started riding a bus to university, yet no matter how cold or hot the weather can possibly get, I never tire of commuting. The bus tells me the stories of the houses along its route, acquaints me with the city’s faces and, slowly and gently, brings me closer to this place; to home. ◼

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Review: Savoury Biscuits Words by Poppy Fitzpatrick Illustration by Oliver White

Shapes

Cruskits

Captain’s Table Classic Water Crackers

A reliable pantry staple of any

Crunchy, but chewy. Really

Picture this: you’ve just

well-functioning Australian

good, but simultaneously

smashed half a wheel of

family. Best to buy a value

underwhelming. Rarely crave

brie with a mate, all the Jatz

pack of Originals and commit

them, but sometimes they just

are gone, and the hummus

only to individual servings

hit a spot you never knew you

still has a good few scoops

– buying by the box risks

had. Best served with lashings

remaining. What do you do? Go

seven serves being devoured

of vegemite and butter. Is it

to Mum’s back-up biccies, of

in one sitting. Which flavour

supposed to feel like I’m eating

course. There will always be,

reigns supreme: Cheddar?

cardboard, or did my sibling

without fail, a packet of below

Pizza? BBQ? Cheese & Bacon?

forget to store them in a snap-

average, slightly peppery, very

Dangerous territory to enter

lock bag after they opened the

chalky water crackers in the

and bound to result in major

box? Perpetually stale. You

depths of the pantry. Who is

relationship rifts. Start a

probably still have a half-eaten

buying these? I never actually

flavour debate at your next

packet in the pantry from

see them in the shopping

gathering, sit back with a box

2007. Eat them; they are only

trolley. Conspiracy?

and observe as chaos ensues.

exactly the same with age.

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Remember that time in primary school when you met your childhood bestie? You probably had Saladas for lunch that day. Last week, when you had a long overdue catch up with old friends? I bet you talked about your mate’s shitty partner over Jatz and dip.

Every wholesome Aussie memory is made all the more fond with its light sprinkling of a good savoury biccy.

Jatz

Sakata

Salada

Slightly sweet, perfectly

It’s impossible to see a packet

Slap on that spread, sandwich

salty and the most satisfying

and not break out into the

those bad boys together,

amount of crunch you could

jingle we all know and love.

squish, and watch as the

ever want in a savoury biscuit.

SA-KA-TA. You’re doing it

butter worms squiggle out

Beautifully paired with a Black

right now, aren’t you? One of

from the holes. You may find

Swan Tzatziki, but also stand

the more enjoyable options

yourself covered in crumbs

perfectly well on their own.

for our gluten-free friends

after demolishing a Salada

May destroy the inner lining of

out there. Every flavour has

stack. Beware when breaking

your mouth, but it’s the things

its own charm, but chicken

along the dotted line – there

we love that hurt us the most,

tastes like my childhood. Put

will almost always be one

right? Be careful not to buy

entire biscuit in mouth, lick off

dastardly morsel left behind.

Ritz just because they’re on

flavouring, get it stuck, break

Every lunch box has its Salada

sale and ‘basically the same’.

jaw, eat, repeat. If this doesn’t

days. Every lunch box wants to

They’re not.

trigger fond (or traumatic)

go back. Sigh.

memories, I feel bad for you.

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Horoscopes

THE SIGNS AS UNI DEGREES Words by Geena Ho

Illustrations by Oliver White

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Geena Ho

ARIES

TAURUS

GEMINI

Bachelor of Commerce

Bachelor of Primary Education

Bachelor of Nursing

• •

• • •

• •

21 Mar – 19 Apr

Friends with your parents Owns the same shirt in three different colours

•

Counts the hours of sleep

they’re going to get before

going to bed

20 Apr – 20 May

Loves visits to the zoo Shops at Savers Obsessed with stickers but

will never commit to sticking

them anywhere

21 May – 20 Jun

•

Always has Band-Aids Will reply to texts in 0.5 seconds Has orange juice with breakfast

CANCER

LEO

VIRGO

23 Jul – 22 Aug

23 Aug – 22 Sep

Bachelor of Health Science

Bachelor of Engineering

Bachelor of Laws

•

• •

• • •

21 Jun – 22 Jul

• •

Suggests studying together but never gets any study done Brunches way too often Has an existential crisis every other month

Party animal Has a framed photo of themselves in their room

•

Never reads prescribed text

books but continues to buy

them anyway

Owns one too many coats Lives on drama Their shoes cost more than your rent

LIBRA

SCORPIO

SAGITTARIUS

Bachelor of Arts

Bachelor of Business

Bachelor of Contemporary Art

• • •

•

• • •

23 Sep – 22 Oct

Indecisive af Drives a Suzuki Swift Has a ‘live, laugh, love’ sign somewhere in their house

23 Oct – 21 Nov

• •

Pretty much already has a job lined up Orders UberEATS too much Loves birthday cake

22 Nov – 21 Dec

Has no filter VSCOs all their Insta pics Always down for a shopping trip

CAPRICORN

AQUARIUS

PISCES

Bachelor of Architectural Studies

Bachelor of Psychological Science

Bachelor of Communication & Media

•

Always complaining about homework but never

•

Always walks into class with

doing homework

•

Owns a Kathmandu

• •

•

Liked that indie band before

22 Dec – 19 Jan

• •

Can’t stand public transport Hates camping

20 Jan – 18 Feb

a coffee in hand puffer jacket

19 Feb – 20 Mar

•

Will outtalk anyone Easily distracted by swivel chairs Has a lifestyle blog

you did Edition 28 2019

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USASA

USASA Clubs Feature: Indonesian Student Society Words by Ryan Colsey Image provided by Arnis Silvia

A

dopting the motto, ‘Play and Learn’, the

While they are called the Indonesian

Indonesian Student Society (ISS) prides

Student Society, at UniSA their membership is

itself on being one of USASA’s most friendly

not just restricted to Indonesian students. Any

and nurturing clubs.

Formed several years ago, the club is just

UniSA student with an interest in Indonesian culture can join in the club and partake in

one of 33 branches of the Perhimpunan Pelajar

events and activities. The club boasts a diverse

Indonesia Australia (better known as the PPIA);

membership with students of all ages, degrees

an organisation that supports Indonesian

and backgrounds taking part.

students studying in Australia.

ISS currently has 53 active members

The biggest event ISS helps coordinate is the annual Women’s Research Day in May, in

registered through USASA, although the actual

collaboration with the Indonesian student

membership of the club is likely to be higher.

associations at both Adelaide University and

‘We know how hard it can be living

Flinders University.

In addition to this, the club is involved

away from home but we have each

with a number of events throughout the year,

other’s back and that’s the best

including game nights, networking sessions,

thing about this club.’ Arnis Silvia, Indonesian Student Society.

Keeping in line with the PPIA, the club’s

sports days and food events.

Speaking of food, Indonesia is home to some truly delicious meals, including nasi goreng, beef rendang and soto ayam. For readers that are handy in the kitchen (or at least think they are),

primary goal is for Indonesian students

there’s a recipe for soto ayam on the opposite

studying at UniSA to connect and support each

page. It’s Indonesia’s version of the humble

other as they study in a foreign country with

chicken soup, laden with ginger, turmeric and

different norms to their homeland.

coriander … do we need to say any more? Enak!

To check out the Indonesian Student Society, find them at @ppia_unisa on Instagram. ◼

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Ryan Colsey

SOTO AYAM Serves: 4 (or 3, if you’re hungry) Illustration by Oliver White

Ingredients

Method:

Yellow Spice:

Process all of the yellow spice ingredients

6 shallots

together into a paste and stir fry for a few

4 garlic cloves

minutes in a saucepan.

8 cm piece ginger 3 tsp ground turmeric

Add chicken stock, lemongrass, chicken, white

3 tsp ground coriander

cabbage, and tomato to the saucepan, and allow

2 tbsp vegetable oil

to simmer for 20 minutes or more. Season with salt and pepper.

Broth: 2 litres chicken stock

Add some cooked rice/vermicelli to each bowl.

1 stalk lemongrass, bruised

Remove the lemongrass stalk, and add the soup

250 gm cooked chicken, shredded

to the bowls.

120 gm white cabbage, sliced 1 tomato, chopped

Top each bowl with bean sprouts, half a boiled egg, fresh coriander and fried shallots.

To serve:

Squeeze over lime juice and tuck in.

Cooked rice or vermicelli

Selamat makan!

60 gm bean sprouts 2 soft-boiled eggs 1 bunch fresh coriander 4 tbsp fried shallots 1 lime

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USASA Advocacy Column Words and photo supplied by Tanya Mackay

Advocacy Officer Tanya Mackay gives Verse Magazine the rundown on what USASA’s free advocacy services are all about, as well as opportunities for students to become an Advocacy Intern.

What is USASA Advocacy and what services does it offer to students?

The advocacy service is a free, confidential and independent service. We are experts in UniSA Academic Policy and Procedures and provide support and advice to students that are facing academic issues. We are centralised at City West but do travel to support students at all campuses if they need to meet with academic staff to resolve an issue. The support we provide includes helping students analyse and prepare their case, mediation with various parties involved in an issue, attending meetings and reviewing documentation.

What is your educational background and how long have you worked as an Advocacy Officer?

I am a qualified social worker and I’ve worked as an Advocacy Officer for two years. Prior to being employed at USASA I worked in the mental health sector undertaking research and providing policy recommendations. This work involved co-designing projects using the expertise of people who have a lived experience with mental health issues themselves or in being a support for someone who did.

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Tanya Mackay

During your time as an Advocacy Officer what

What are the perks of working at

are some common student academic issues you

a student organisation?

come across?

We see a huge variety of academic concerns

Not only do I work in a fantastic team at USASA,

and complaints. The most common issues we

I also get to meet students and help support

see are academic integrity issues, removal

them in their journey through university. It’s a

from university (preclusions), requests for re-

really rewarding role, where we get to make a

submissions or re-marking, appeal against final

difference in students’ experiences.

grades and placement issues. Though they are often common issues every case is unique, so we

Even though USASA Advocacy and the university

can analyse each case individually and provide

are independent from each other, what on-

specific advice that’s tailored to the student.

campus events are USASA Advocacy involved in?

What advice can you share to help students avoid

The advocacy service is often at events like

academic issues?

O-Week, Campus Fair and UniTopia, so students can meet us and learn about our service.

Communicate with staff early and

We often have cool activities like colouring

professionally and read the course outlines,

competitions for students to get involved in

especially in regards to assignment criteria

as well. Together the advocates and advocacy

and referencing instructions. Engage with the

interns also support the broader USASA team at

university’s support services when needed,

as many events as possible!

including advocacy, counselling, international advisers and learning advisors. If something

Can students get involved with USASA Advocacy?

isn’t going well there are a lot of people at UniSA

If so, how?

to help! If students are unsure they are always welcome to contact us, and we can refer them to

Students can apply for our Advocacy Internship

the right service if it isn’t an advocacy case.

if they are interested in gaining some fantastic professional and personal skills. They’ll also

With exams and major assessments approaching,

get a chance to see how the advocacy service

where can students find information about

works, learn about the policies of the university

final procedures?

and provide peer-to-peer support. We open the internship twice a year, and all UniSA students

Students can contact us if they are having

can apply.

any issues with their exams or they can refer

For more information: https://usasa.sa.edu.au/

to the university’s Assessment Policy and

AdvocacyInternship

Procedures Manual. Students should also check their course outlines, Learnonline page

If a student requires assistance how can they

and review any information provided by their

contact USASA Advocacy?

Course Coordinator or Campus Central about their exams. If students are unhappy with their

The best way to contact us is via our website

grades, the advocacy service can help arrange a

https://usasa.sa.edu.au/advocacy, or email

meeting to review or appeal their final results.

USASA.Advocate@unisa.edu.au

Edition 28 2019

63

June & July May & June

What’s On What’s On Here’s a whole stack of things to do

Here’s a whole stack of things to do

June May

8

Ending Semester Party - UniSA Ballet Club

Chill Showpony Vibes - WindOpen down, Mic relax & enjoy.

7 & 8 14

PSSand Trivia Night Games Chats - Evangelical Students Magill 9 14 10

Showpony Mic29 - Showpony Verse Open Edition Submission Deadline 17

PSS Pub Crawl #1 - UniSA Physiotherapy Student Society 10 28 USASA Leadership & Club Grant June Deadline 14, 15, 21 & 22 UniTopia SP2 - Free wellbeing event for all students.

17 USASOE Mario Kart Crawl 2019 July 31 USASA Leadership & Club Grant May deadline

12

UniSA Psychology Freudians Pubcrawl 2019

June 12

UniSA Physiotherapy Student Society **Members Night Exclusive** Movie Night 14 PSS Trivia 17

Verse Edition 29 Submission Deadline

& Club Grant June deadline 28 USASA Leadership Weekly Recurring Events

2019 Social Studio Sessions Psychology Study Group Evangelical Students Magill Recurring Events Weekly

TheTalks Bible TalksCity - UniSA CityStudents Evangelical Students The Bible - UniSA Evangelical

Weekly

MusicStudy Lovers Rehearsals Psychology Group - UniSA Psychology Society

Weekly

SocialOverseas Studio Sessions - UniSAFellowship Art Club Christian Sessions FridayUniSA Sessions Overseas Christian Fellowship Ballet Classes

Weekly Weekly

Ballet Classes – Ballet Club

Check out these events and more at Check out these events and more at USASA.sa.edu.au/Events USASA.sa.edu.au/Events 64

Edition 28 2019

USASA PRESIDENT'S LETTER Hi everyone!

University is a time of significant change and challenges, and most likely an experience different to anything you’ve done before.

If you’ve made it this far – whether you’re completing your first semester or fifth – I commend you. Throwing yourself into the competitive and stressful world of higher education, with its constantly looming deadlines and increasing workload, is not something to take lightly. It is important to constantly look after yourself and your fellow class members, especially around exam periods, to lighten feelings of anxiety that inevitably come with final assessments.

While studying at university often feels

I know for a fact that everyone is on at least one social media platform, so when you have your phone in hand, follow USASA

overwhelming and stressful, it is important to

UniSA Student Association on Facebook and @

keep in mind that there are plenty of services

USASAadelaide on Instagram to keep updated

here to support you. UniSA has a free and

with everything that’s going on around campus.

confidential counselling service available to all

There are also more than 95 USASA clubs to get

students. You can book an appointment through

involved with. They regularly host social events

Campus Central, the UniSA counselling website,

and food stalls on campus, and provide great

or over the phone:

opportunities to interact with different people

Metropolitan Campuses – 1300 301 703

outside of the classroom. There’s no reason to

Mount Gambier Campus – (08) 8723 1999

feel alone at uni.

Whyalla Campus – (08) 8645 8233 Just keep reminding yourself: once you get

Until next time, keep safe and sane, with a smile on your face!

through the dreaded month that is June, with all its exams and final assignments, you essentially

Grace Dixon

get a month off to recover!

USASA President

And, once SP5 commences, you get to do it all over again! However, it’s not all doom and gloom at uni; there are always great events to get involved with. You might have seen UniTopia on your campus a couple of weeks ago, and took part in enjoying the FREE FOOD, live music, pot planting and decorating, as well as my personal favourite – the Doggo Cuddle Cafe! If you missed it, fear not; USASA will have another ClubsFest and UniTopia in the new semester, as well as few Chill Vibes events. There’s always a little something to breakup the constant routine of lecture → tutorial → sleep → repeat.

65

USASA Leadership & Club Grants

Launch your ideas.

Have an exciting idea for your club or campus that needs a kick-start?

Apply for grants ranging from $500 - $2,500 each month.

Find out how to apply at USASA.sa.edu.au/Grants

USASA Academic Advocacy

Free, confidential & independent advice.

Advocates help you to pursue your rights on a wide range of academic troubles & can increase your chances of receiving a positive outcome.

To book an appointment visit USASA.sa.edu.au/Advocacy

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