Specs

(1) Dessert at Meetfresh (2) The sunset at Darling Harbour (3) Nando's with Helen last holidays (4) Nachos and a frozen Sangria from Guzman Y Gomez (5) Matching Herschel backpacks with Eugenia (6) Cow's eye dissection featuring the lens, sclera, retina, optic nerve and tapetum (7) Ushering at RICE Rally 2013 with a lovely bunch of brothers and sisters in Christ + eating lunch Toms N Toms Coffee beforehand

G'day mate. No, let's try this again. 

Aloha friends! 

That's better. 

The weather is finally warming up as winter is drawing to an end in the southern hemisphere. The days are getting longer, flowers are blooming, armies of insects are trying to break-and-enter into my house and mid-session exams are around the corner. But I will spare you the details because I do in fact do more than eat, eat and never study in contrary to the verisimilitude presented to you by these low quality Instagram photos.

Spectacles

Running on the background of my laptop are several drafts for a letter that I'm sending to the Hong Kong Health Department about their need to crack down on dodgy optometry clinics. A fake optometrist prescribed my glasses.. several Dioptres too high (I didn't know until I went for a routine checkup back home)! Be warned that while glasses are prettier and cheaper in many overseas countries, it is safer to just buy the frame and get your prescription lenses back home in Australia. Regulation of the optometry industry in the UK and most parts of USA are pretty safe too. I'm not sure about other countries but it is safer to double check beforehand. In the case of what happened to me, the man borrowed his cousin's license to open the shop. He lied about his qualifications and it was only when I paid for the glasses and he found out that I was from overseas that he told the truth.

Speculations

You don't need to hear the election speeches of Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott to speculate that they have no clue what they're doing and have no firm standing with their ever-changing policies. You're hot and you're cold, you're yes and you're no.. Yes, Katy Perry's remark was a laugh but in all seriousness I trust neither men to run our country nor represent our 22 million citizens in important national decisions. It will be my first time voting in the upcoming election and I am not particularly thrilled. It would be easier to just vote for policies rather than parties and particular politicians. But I guess something we can do now is to be prayerful for the politicians of our country to screw their heads on, show some wisdom and have enough courage to grow a backbone to stand up for what's right as opposed to just winning people's votes and neglecting their election promises.

As a voter, it would be irresponsible to chuck a blank of to donkey vote. As much as I'm sick of politics, I will try to do this voting business properly. Every. Vote. Counts.

Let us not vote for personal economic gain or for a party who's name sounds good or the same party simply out of tradition. 

Instead, vote for the welfare of the poor and disadvantaged, the displaced and nationless, for the moral welfare of our nation, and, speaking as a Christian, for the furthering of the gospel and a chance to show people God's love.

For any Christian voters out there, my friend linked me to this interesting article: [LINK]

Spectacular

That is the word that I'd choose to describe the last few months of my life (no arrogance intended or implied). 

A year ago at this time I was an insecure HSC student uncertain about her future and applying for any and everything. I even made a list of least desirables. But God had other plans for me and I got all of my least desired choices.  But looking at the bigger picture, the reality of the situation was that I had been receiving blessing upon undeserved blessing, and for that I am truly thankful.

I have met a bunch of great new friends and grown closer to the old ones. CBS, the Christian group, is run well and has helped me gain maturity as a Christian and draw near to Christ. The volleyball girls are a great crew and we've improved our skills together heaps!

Many firsts have happened from first alcoholic drink (of legal age anyways), to first drive, to the first time changing important accounts over to my name. Being an adult can be a pain with all the responsibilities that come with the freedoms. Still, it's worth it.

Last but not least, FREE FOOD. No lies can be told about this. UNSW is very generous with the quantity of free food that they dish out to the masses regularly. Every Wednesday this semester I have not brought lunch from home because of the multitude of free bbqs scattered around campus. If I went to another university, would they be as generous with sausage sizzles?

After this long rant, you probably won't be hearing about my university life much again. But for any high school students reading, don't be scared! Have faith that no matter how well or stuffed up your HSC becomes, there are always alternate university entry plans and there is definitely so much more to life than uni or TAFE (I know, cliche). Chase your dreams! Career possibilities are endless but how you choose to live out your life and what you choose to live for is far more important.

Anyways, that pretty much sums up my 'specs'. 

Have a nice day!

p.s. I have three day weekends for the first half of this semester. How dope is that! It's a really big deal because optometry students normally have very long hours and a full week at uni. Here, have a song to celebrate. 'Ready for the Weekend' by Icona Pop.