A few weeks ago Kim asked us to take a photo of something on our way home from class. I believe she asked us to take a photo of something that was to do with a journey, or our journey. I had a few ideas of things I could photograph but as i found myself riding past St Hildas college I slammed on my breaks and back up a little to take my photo there.
It’s funny because directly I didn’t have much to do with the college but somehow it ended up shaping the events of my life and has lead me to become who i am today. Two of my older siblings went to St Hildas when they moved to Melbourne to attend Melbourne university. I remember both having a great time and making lots of new friends, but I also remember other things. I remember being the only child left at home with my parents and I remember them arguing about how expensive it was for their children to stay there, I remember them saying mean things about them because they never came home and visited anymore because they were having too much fun in Melbourne, and I remember thinking that I never wanted to go there because I didn’t want my parents to think those things about me. I also decided that I absolutely did not want to go to Melbourne University because from what Claire and James had described it sounded cold and awful, definitely not the kind of learning that would suitme.
Despite being contacted by the college asking me to apply and attend I decided to stray from any of the colleges. I instead decided to go to RMIT Village, where it was cheaper stay and filled with much different people than you will find at a Melbourne Uni College. I made a group of great friends there and it changed who I was a bit, it changed what I did, how I acted and even how I dressed. I believe I became independent quicker there as I had to cook and buy all my own food, I was able to maintain a job and play netball almost every day of the week. I would never have been able to keep up that style of life at St Hildas.
After my first year of university I was ready to move into my own place, and it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I believe that all this stemmed from wanting to stray from the path that my siblings had paved for me.
Funnily enough I ended up dating a boy who went to St Hildas, and again the college shaped my life. As it was so close to where I was staying I was able to connect with him whilst he went through some tough times in his first year of uni. Despite having my own place I also ended up staying with him in his Hildas room for most of the year, I ate the food there and I made friends with all his friends there.
Somehow the college has always been connected to me and I would definitely say that it caused me to make decisions that shaped who I am today.