STEPS - Library - Central Queensland University

Part Four: Student transformations
allotted time to the apparent satisfaction of the staff. Then, just when I
thought the torture was over, I was informed that I would have to front for
an ‘interview’! This was where I found out that the teachers weren’t the
intimidating stand-over merchants that I remembered from high school.
They were, in fact, real people who seemed keen to help in any way they
could (a revelation!!).
The feeling of relief at being accepted into the program was soon overtaken
by the aforementioned panic. I worried about the most insignificant of
things, including whether to take an ordinary pencil and sharpener or to go
with the formally cool (20 years ago) clutch pencil; and had the clutch
become ultra nerdy in the interim? As it turned out, I needn’t have worried.
Of course, no one gave a hoot what sort of pencil I used, how old my
calculator was, which way I parted my hair, etcetera, etcetera — although,
as the program progressed, some of my colleagues admitted to a few similar
concerns. These petty worries were soon overtaken by genuine doubts
about some of the content of the courses. The maths posed few problems
(long-term memory did kick in), but I faced some huge hurdles in trying to
write creatively. We were also asked to reveal ‘feelings’ in front of the rest
of the class. At this point, they were still relative strangers and I had trouble
talking about feelings to my closest family let alone to this unfamiliar
bunch. As the program progressed, these sessions became the source of
much motivation. Hearing of the journeys undertaken by some of my
classmates just to get the opportunity to participate put all my perceived
hardships well into perspective.
These opportunities for personal disclosure were eventually revealed
merely to be a tool to ease us into the most terrifying part of my whole
university experience — the 20-minute oral presentation! This involved
participants (most of whom had never spoken to more than two people at a
time) standing in front of the class, speaking with authority on a subject of
their choice for 20 minutes, and trying to remain in a standing position
throughout. Eventually, we all achieved most of the criteria. Of all the
subjects and social interactions involved in STEPS, I think that the oral
presentations did most to forge the friendships that we have carried with us.
The empathy and encouragement shown were often inspirational, and the
bonds formed throughout the 13 intense weeks helped to see most of us
through to completion.
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