The Case for a Fairer University Admissions Process

A popular topic for discussion in Year 11 and 12 is the choice of university and degree. After all, students have just completed 13 years of schooling, and now, they face a new challenge: pursuing education in a new environment and adjusting to a different lifestyle. Gone are the regimented high school timetables; in with…

ByCathy Wang17 April 2025

Opinion

Who Gets to be Smart?

Over a year ago, my mum was accepted into Oxford for her Master’s in Global Health Leadership. While this achievement may be a significant personal milestone to some, for our family, it was a generational milestone. My mother was raised in apartheid South Africa by a single mother who could no more imagine studying at…

ByArya Moodley30 January 2025

Collaborative

How to Build a Bridge

Jules Vahl and Akin Brown reflect on their educational experiences, through the fictional persona of Miro. In doing so, they provide a penetrating insight into the heart of the education system, both in Australia and New Zealand. Authors’ Note: This article tells the story of Miro. As you read it, reflect on your own educational…

ByJules Vahl17 August 2021

Uncategorised

The Meaning of Grace at Formal Dinner, Among Other Latin Phrases

Resident Fresher ‘Latinist’ Jules Vahl does a deep dive into the mystical world of Latin mottos, interrogating everything from Sydney high schools to St Andrew’s College itself. It’s Monday evening: Formal Dinner at St Andrew’s College. All the normal pomp and circumstance. Before we eat, Principal Wayne Erickson speaks an ancient, supposedly “dead” language that…

ByJules Vahl3 August 2021

Opinion

Don’t Forget about Disabled People: 3 Ways to Make Events More Accessible

Gemma Hudson discusses the practicalities of living with a disability and the need for increased accessibility. Author’s Note: Throughout this article, I have elected to use identity first language (disabled person) rather than person first language (person with a disability). I have done this because my disability does encompass many aspects of my life, and…

ByGemma Hudson18 July 2021

Uncategorised

A Survival Manual – How to Read and Write Uni Style

This guide is aimed for fResh who haven’t had much (if any) experience with Reading and Writing for University. Who made this guide? Following a lecture where one of my unit coordinators uncharacteristically outlined so clearly the expectations for general Uni essay writing and reading, I thought I would summarise his main points into a…

ByCommunications Manager10 April 2020

Uncategorised

Is the grass greener on the other side?

As a new wave of Australian university graduates move over to the U.S. to pursue postgraduate studies and scientific research, Mei Zheng wonders whether the grass is truly greener on the other side. As I enter my final year of undergraduate studies, I wonder where I should plan my next chapter, whether or not to…

ByMei Zheng27 March 2020

Uncategorised

Feminism in the 21st Century: Sinking or Swimming?

Kupa Matangira examines the current state of feminism and investigates the profound impact the collective can have. Is the world sexist? Or, are we sinking deeper and deeper into the tide of second wave feminism? The theme for the 2020 International Women’s Day: I am Generation Equality: Realising Women’s Rights raises a lot of questions:…

ByKupakwashe (Kupa) Matangira11 March 2020

Opinion

Procrastinati—

Everyone at Drew’s is talented in one way or another. Whether it’s athletically, academically, musically, socially… you get the gist, everyone here is pretty much brilliant at what they do. Being in such an inspiring environment got me wondering, what is my special talent? And after thinking long and hard, I concluded that I’m ok…

ByZoe Latham21 February 2020

Opinion

PEP and the Coercive Culture of Employability

"I hate PEP." If any phrase has embodied my (brief) time as a first year engineering student at USYD, it's this. Muttered over laptops at 3 am, chanted across megadesks in PNR building, or proclaimed with gusto beside beers at the Royal, it has become the clarion call of a cohort. They're talking about the…

ByJohn Bivell18 October 2019