LIM College

by Nicole Porras

Going from LIM College to RMIT University was definitely a big change. At LIM, the classes have about 20-25 people and at RMIT I have lectures with over 300 people in them.

Although it’s different from what I am used to, I love it. At RMIT University I have met people from all over Australia and even the world. Each of them studying different things such as Engineering or Professional Communications.

While I'm here in Australia I am taking three marketing electives and a Market Research course. In all I am taking: Foundations of Public Relations, Service Quality, Intro to Advertising and Market Research.

As we signed up for classes one thing I found different than back home was that you have to enroll in both a lecture and a tutorial for each class. The lectures are usually 1-2 hours depending on the course, and tutorials are also 1-2 hours depending on the course.

I was so nervous on the first day of my Service Quality Lectorial (A class that combines the Lecture and Tutorial in one.) because as soon as we started, the professor began to talk about different service businesses in Australia that I was not familiar with. Then he began asking random students questions about these businesses. The last thing I wanted was to have to say “Sorry, I’m American. I don’t know what that is.”

So I kept googling every company he mentioned in the class. It was a funny experience looking back at it now, and as time went on I definitely felt more comfortable in each of my classes. Also I’m learning a lot about different businesses native to Australia.

The professors ask that you call them by their first names, which I find very hard to do because I am so use to calling professors by their last name. Uni is definitely an adventure all on its own, but the work load definitely feels doable to me. We don't get homework assignments every class, but there are assigned readings. The only grades or “marks” as they say here, are the group projects and the exams. So, in each of my classes there are just those two big grades for the whole semester.

It's a nice feeling to be a part of the RMIT University community. It’s such a large, fun group that embraces creativity. I am so grateful to be able to experience something so different than what I am used to back at home.