Above The Clouds

Australia Day (previously known as Anniversary Day, Foundation Day and ANA Day) is the official national day of Australia. Celebrated annually on 26th January, the date commemorates the arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove in 1788 and the proclamation at that time of British sovereignty over the eastern seaboard of Australia (then known as New Holland). Although it was not known as Australia Day until over a century later, records of celebrations on 26th January date back to 1808, with the first official celebration of the formation of New South Wales held in 1818. It is an official public holiday in every state and territory of Australia and is marked by the presentation of the Australian of the Year Awards on Australia Day Eve, announcement of the Honours List for the Order of Australia and addresses from the Governor-General and the Prime Minister. With community festivals, concerts and citizenship ceremonies, the day is celebrated in large and small communities and cities around the nation. Australia Day has become the biggest annual civic event in Australia. Outdoor concerts, community barbecues, sports competitions, festivals and fireworks are some of the many events presented in communities across Australia.

For this year Australia Day, I want to pay tribute to my Alma Mater – Murdoch University. Every year my Australia Day post will be regarding Perth’s familiar places, sights & sounds. Murdoch University will be a fitting tribute as it was a place that I learnt and developed a lot during the whole studying process, a place that was once inspiring and burning me to plan, organize, develop, write, design, photograph, create, imagine, and dream…of course, that doesn’t happen anymore these days. Now, all is captured and simply stored into little boxes & memories labelled for future use. I was also at a stage where a part of me that wants to keep going, to keep achieving, to keep growing. I also missed my friends, the academic staffs, the campus atmosphere and the campus related activities.

Murdoch University is a public university based in Perth, Western Australia. It began operations as the state's second university in 1973, and accepted its first students in 1975. Its name is taken from Sir Walter Murdoch (1874–1970), the Founding Professor of English and former Chancellor of the University of Western Australia. According to the Times Higher Education Supplement 2012 – 2013, Murdoch University was ranked within the top 301 – 350 universities worldwide. Murdoch University was only one of two universities in Western Australia to be listed in the top 400. The QS World University rankings placed Murdoch University as among the top 401 – 450 universities worldwide in 2012. Murdoch University is also home to over 18,500 students including 3,000 international students from over 100 countries. There are four faculties and fourteen schools at Murdoch University. I was at the Faculty of Law, Business and Information Technology and was a student at the Murdoch Business School; doing my degree in Bachelor Of Commerce with a major in Marketing Management & Management. Murdoch University has three Australian campuses: South Street Campus, Rockingham Campus and Peel Campus. The main campus is on South Street, Perth, in the suburb of Murdoch, near the Kwinana Freeway . The South Street campus is Australia's geographically largest campus at 2.27 square kilometres, large enough to accommodate the veterinary school and its animal stocks—the only such school in Western Australia. Most of the southern part of the university consists of paddocks of livestock, farms and renewable energy facilities. The original group of buildings surround an open court, known as "Bush Court", in the northern part of Murdoch campus, which rises to the highest altitude on campus. Features of the campus include the Chinese Garden and the Joglo Rahayu (Peace Pavilion), a semi-enclosed pavilion near the Education and Humanities. A monument to the ongoing association between Murdoch University and Indonesian academic institutions in Java, it acts as a stage area for the Western Australian Gamelan Orchestra.

I have lots of good memories there :) My second home. I remembered that on the day that I say my goodbye to Bush Court, leaving the South Street Campus – I told myself that I will work with United Nations, travel to exotic places, will not work for money, building communities & nations, touching lives – than Reality hits. The term earning a living emerges. I do not deny that along the way, I have compromise my dreams. But I guess it’s still not too late. I can still fulfill my dreams & ambitions selectively. Thinking back, it doesn’t seem real. It all makes me laugh. I guess in the end, I believe I’m a healthy mish-mash of both worlds (corporate & communal). And I’m glad I’m living in a place where mish-mash is OK :)

To Travel Is To Live – Hans Christian Andersen