Name: Claire Jenkins
Hometown: Yinnar, Victoria
Course: Science, 2nd year

I completed Year 12 at Mirboo North Secondary College in a small country town in South Gippsland. With only 24 people graduating in my Year 12 class, we were a very close-knit group of friends, and the idea of leaving most of them behind at the beginning of this year was a terrifying thought. Living just two hours away gives me the opportunity to go and visit my family and friends on some weekends and I still keep in touch with most of my friends from high school.

I am currently in my second year at the University of Melbourne, studying a Bachelor of Science and planning to major in Psychology. I chose to apply to live in one of the residential colleges at the University and fortunately was accepted into my first preference, Ormond College.

After having lived in Yinnar, a tiny country town of approximately 600 people, for my entire life, the move from the country to the city has been a huge change for me but one that I have not regretted for a minute.

As Ormond is the largest college at the University of Melbourne with 408 residential students, 17 times the number of people in my Year 12 graduating class, I was worried that the number of people at Ormond might overwhelm me and was a little nervous about the move, albeit very excited at the same time.

I did not know a single other person at Ormond when I moved in, but within only a few weeks I had made many new friends and felt really welcomed and at home. My new friends are from all over Australia and overseas and, to be perfectly honest, are the most amazing people I have ever had the chance of meeting.

I couldn’t imagine going to university without being at Ormond. It has so many opportunities, with more than 25 clubs and activities offering everything from sport and drama to sustainability and billiards. Ormond never has a boring moment and there’s always something to be a part of.

Even the day-to-day conversations that occur in the Harry-Potteresque dining hall amaze me almost as much as the hall itself does. Being at Ormond has helped me so much in the transition from high school to the high standards expected at university. All of my tutorials at Ormond greatly assist me in revising the content of my subjects, as well as gaining a wider range of perspectives on the various topics.

Living with the people who are now a few hundred of my closest friends is the best experience I have ever had. I am so glad that I chose Ormond and was accepted into this value-based community of high achievers and all-round incredible people. I’m proud to call Ormond my home and I wouldn’t want it any other way.