This past Sunday was Murdoch’s “Open Your Mind” Day. Essentially it was a very fancy version of the typical open day that many of you may recall from past schools. A big difference was the sheer amount of attractions on offer: tea-cup rides, a petting zoo and (my favourite) a candyfloss vendor.

Fortunately for my maturity, I couldn’t linger for too long at the tea-cup ride as I actually had a job to do. Another R.A, Callum, and I were going to be giving the tour of the village to any interested parents and prospective students. We figured it would be an easy case of showing maybe 5 or 10 people around the place and answering any questions they would have. We really underestimated the interest in the tour. By one o’clock the time had come to lead the group down to the Village, I did a quick headcount and estimated there were maybe 20 people. What I didn’t realise was that the big crowd of people standing behind the 20 I’d counted were also part of the tour.

Completely oblivious to the huge group that was following me I was amiably chatting to the people at the front of the line about Uni life and how badly Australia had been thrashed by England at the Ashes. I did notice a few strange looks by some friends of mine from the village, looking back I must have appeared as some modern interpretation of the pied piper, but again I didn’t make the necessary connections. Callum had already realised how big the crowd was as he had been responsible for the stragglers (the result of a lost coin toss on my part) but it was a bit late to warn me by then.

The first inkling that something had gone horribly wrong began to creep in when I climbed up some steps and turned to address my audience. I’m not terrible at public speaking, I’ve given presentations at Uni and for the village where I’ve had to address as many as 20 people, but the sight of 40 or 50 people waiting in breathless anticipation (or so I’d like to believe) for what I was about to say was un-nerving to say the least. Regardless I drew on all the Lessons University had taught me, preparing to launch into a hilarious account of living in the Student Village, peppering the account with useful information to help the prospective make an informed decision. Instead I pointed shakily at one of the security call buttons and explained in a stuttery voice what purpose they served. It didn’t improve from there.

Luckily I was able to procure a megaphone by the second stop on the tour so everyone could hear me trying to explain what the deal with the administration building and study centre was. Callum eased the pressure by effortlessly leading the rest of the tour and generally doing everything I’d wanted to do, only better. I, of course, take full credit for all of it as I’ve always considered myself to be his teacher and therefore any good that comes from anything he does I can shamelessly take credit for. He may not agree but that’s just the usual backchat you expect from your pupils. But in all honesty I think the tour did go smoothly overall and I hope there will be a few people who found it useful enough to make a decision on.

The rest of Open Your Mind looked just as successful. Murdoch really brought its strengths to the game in the Unit co-ordinators and lecturers who always seem so passionate about the subjects they teach. There were even a few live music acts scattered around campus, providing a nice atmosphere that reminded me a lot of the market days on Thursdays.

Anyways my final impressions were that, as nice as Open Your Mind was, it isn’t necessary to attend it. I don’t feel International Students are particularly hard done by if they don’t get to speak to the lecturers and unit co-ordinators before they choose Murdoch as the majority of the stuff being explained didn’t differ one iota from anything available online. As nice as the candyfloss was I would’ve felt gypped if I’d flown all the way from Zimbabwe to experience it before choosing Murdoch.