dear juniors.

salam. as the title implies i dedicate this entry especially to my soon-to-be juniors. 

first of all i'd like to congratulate all of you for getting out of ausmat ALIVE and most importantly making the cut off point. this is God's favour to you. 

welcome to curtin university. *previously known as curtin university of technology*

 the library. you'll be spending most of your time here chitchatting  studying. you'll also pass by this building hundreds of times in a day to get to your lecture venues. plus, banyak mat salleh guling2 kat sini. you'll see

i am not certain how many of you out there who are right now on pins and needless having sleepless nights tossing and turning in your bed anticipating for whatever that's waiting for you guys in perth.

so far i've only come across two of you who are going to be studying at curtin as pharmacy undergraduates.

first of all, get yourself out of your house, put both of your hands on each side of your hips, and inhale deeply, hold for a couple of seconds and exhale. let it all out , your worries, anxieties, and fears.

it's going to be all right. 

the reality is going to turn out a lot better than your fears, in fact, forget all your fears, they're just dark clouds hanging over you, threatening despair.

now, i've lined up a few snippets of what you'll be facing once you've touched down. in perth, australia.

1.you might want to read this. she's your super senior and she knows more than i do. read this thoroughly and follow her wise advice. get all the things that you'll be needing soon. things are a lot more pricey in australia. trust me.

2. have you contacted any of your curtin seniors? if not, you can find a bunch of them on my facebook page. if so,  you can practically harrass them, ask them anything at all. they'll try their very best to answer your every question. insyaALLAH. make it a point to inform them how many of you are actually on the same flight and how many flights are there going to be. communicate with your future uni mates. this will make us fetching you guys a whole lot easier. insyaALLAH there will be seniors fetching you guys at the airport. again, contact your seniors.

3. regarding accomodation. last year, we flew in on 14th of feb *if i'm not mistaken. my memory is little rusty* classes will start on the 28th. so you'll have more or less two weeks to find that perfect house that can accomodate the lot of you. if you've arranged for on campus accomodation, you're safe and unless you can't find a way to make the full payment requested, you're on the safe side. but if you haven't, fret not, insyaALLAH you will find  the suitable house. remember to seek help from your seniors! i must underscore that you must be mentally and physically prepared to take on this challenge because frankly, house hunting aint easy. it's going to take a huge amount of your time, effort and not to forget, money. so once you've arrived in perth,do  kill all your desires to shop around. you wont have enough money for that unless you're really lucky. a point to note, house hunting requires team work. so being selfless goes a long way.

4. upon arrival, your seniors will have designated some of our houses for you to stay temporarily. and of course, you'll have to pay the bills once you've comfortably settled in and found your own houses. no worries, we wont charge you extra. we know how it feels to be stranded. we get the idea. :)

5. i am sure there'll be some seniors who are willing to take you around on campus, get your registration done, student cards and all. if they're not willing to, or preoccupied *which is pretty highly unlikely* no worries, you'll survive anyway. insyaALLAH. 

6. ever heard of MISWA? go here. all the information you need, just a click away.

7. we were told at the end of our previous semester that the first year syllabus would undergo some changes and i am not sure if you will be using the same textbooks as ours.if so, you can contact us for books. we've got lots of them, i think.lol. as soon as you've enrolled, check your list of 'essential books' available on oasis (the uni's portal) or you'll find out all the books you need at the orientation briefing. you'll meet your  lecturers  at the orientation briefing. mereka kebanyakannya orang putih, which is fun! *monash banyak foreign lecturers. boo*

8. all you've got to do now is sit tight start getting together everything that you'll need, bit by bit, because it's going to be a lot. your only allowed 20 kilos on board but they'll waive an extra one or two kilos. insyaALLAH. if you're lucky. and dont worry and think too much about what awaits you on the other side of the world, it's going to be a great life experience  and survival  lesson for you! 

9. be optimistic! and pray hard. insyaALLAH, God is near to us all. may God ease your journey and untangle the knots in your guts!