Hello Hello!

A bit of a light hearted post today, I’ll be sharing with you all my ‘favourite’ things, UoA edition!

Favourite study spot:

I’d like to say picnicking at Albert Park because that would be a great pun to start off this post. Unfortunately, my actual favourite spot would probably be my room. I’ve recently tried out the Carlaw study room, general library, Kate Edger and the Engineering TDJ Leech study area as well, and those are pretty great spots too.

Favourite classes:

INFOSYS110 Business Systems, ENGGEN131 Introduction to Engineering Computation and Software Development, COMLAW101 Law in a Business Environment and ENGSCI255 Modelling in Operations Research. Coincidentally there’s one from each semester. Uncoincidentally, all these courses had some amazing lecturers and I really believe there is a correlation between great lecturers and enjoyment of a course. Information systems, programming, law and optimisation were all things I’ve never interacted with before and as a person who loves trying new things, these courses were really up my alley.

Special mentions go to: CHEMMAT121, ECON151, ENGGEN150, the drawing section of ENGGEN115, and the logic gates/Boolean algebra section of ELECTENG101. All of which had great lectures and/or topics that tickled my fancy.

I’ve basically listed all of my first-year papers…point is, first year is great, you’ll love it! 😉

Favourite place to go for lunch:

As a poor university student, I’m going to have to say St Pierres. I wouldn’t say it’s my favourite, but it would be the place I frequent the most (though I’m trying to eat out less 🙄). I have my moments of weakness on Tuesdays (Salmon Supreme) and Fridays (Smoked Salmon Avo) 🤤🤤🤤.

Favourite method of procrastination:

Since I’ve watched F.R.I.E.N.D.S more times than I can remember, I no longer feel the same sense of satisfaction from watching. My new obsession: Modern Family. YouTube is, as always, a black hole. Jumping on the Game of Thrones bandwagon I’ve also been reading a song of ice and fire. Even though I started reading the series ironically, George R. R. Martin is a master of his craft. Let’s just say I was hooked by chapter 5.

Favourite songs/playlist to study to:

It’s either no music, or Sungha Jung. Check out Etude, Andante, Blue Day etc. My favourite pieces of his in general (not for study as they’re quite upbeat), is Flaming and Start. He also does covers so go check him out!

Favourite dessert spot:

A friend and I recently discovered Aqua S. We’ve already concluded that their ‘new flavours every half a month’ policy is going to bankrupt us. Creamy ice cream, the perfect blend of sweet and salty, all for just $4.90, with discounts and perks from clubs like TANSA or Kiwi Asian Club etc.

Favourite place to sit in a lecture theatre:

I don’t really have a preference for left, right or middle, I enter though whichever door is closest to when I enter the building. My glasses prescription is getting worse though, so I do have to sit quite centrally otherwise I can’t see 🤓😅.

Favourite hall:

O’Rorke. Sorry Carlaw, but they cooked and cleaned for me at O’Rorke (and they didn’t have a giant hill to climb). First years, appreciate your halls because once you move out you’ll really come to miss it.

Favourite place in Auckland:

I think I might have mentioned this in a previous post (or at least gushed excessively), but I’d have to say Queens Wharf or the Viaduct! There’s something about the way open water swallows up sound, washing away the hustle and bustle of the city, blanketing the area with an air of calmness, that I really really love. Looking at how the waves ripple on the surface of the water really helps clear my mind and lets me know that things will be okay. I don’t know who needs to hear this, but things will be okay!

Alrighty! I’ve run out of chocolates. I’ve also come to the conclusion that I’m a basic person. But hey, there’s nothing wrong with basic, these preferences are popular for a reason! Writing this post was really fun and if you’re feeling stressed or overwhelmed, I would recommend listing a bunch of your favourite things too (we’re edging closer to another type of pun, *cough* the musical kind).

What’s your favourite ‘favourite’? Mine’s picnic (but crunchie comes a close second!)!

– Cecilia