Debate | Issue One | Academia

COVER Tashi Donnelly

CONTRIBUTORS Corey Fuimaono, Chris Murphy, Neena Contreras, Joshua Black, Nabeelah Khan, Kathryn Knightbridge, Banisha Pratap, Brodie Hunter, Meoghan Craig, Eris Mardi, Ricky Lai, Jay Kennedy, Tracy Luong

D I S C L A I M E R M a t e r a l c o n t a i n e d i n t h i s p u b l c a t i o n d o e s n o t n e c e s s a r i l y r e p r e s e n t t h e v e w s o r o p i n i o n s o f A U T S A , i t ’ s a d v e r t i s e r s c o n t r i b u t o r s N c h o l s o n P r i n t S o l u t o n s o r i t s s u b s i d i a r i e s T h s p u b l i c a t i o n i s e n t i t l e d t o t h e f u l p r o t e c t o n g i v e n b y t h e C o p y r i g h t A c t o f 1 9 9 4 ( t h e A c t ) t o t h e h o l d e r s o f t h e c o p y r i g h t b e i n g A U T S T U D E N T A S S O C I A T I O N ( “ A U T S A ” ) R e p r o d u c t i o n , s t o r a g e o r d i s p l a y o f a n y p a r t o f t h s p u b l i c a t i o n b y a n y p r o c e s s e l e c t r o n i c o r o t h e r w i s e ( e x c e p t f o r e d u c a t i o n a l p u r p o s e s s p e c i f i e d i n t h

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Welcome to the ‘auuuugugfhfhgfhdgh’ times, freshers!

Alrighty gamers, listen the fuck up. There’s a 99% chance that I don’t know you personally, but I know that you’re one of three types of Debate readers:

1. Brand spankin’ new students, fresh out of high school or a gap year, and ready to make the world your sub.

2. Returning students, back after a summer, a semester, a year, or a lifetime. Like Winston Peters, this is not your first ro-day-o.

3. You’re one of my mates, a part of the aforementioned 1%, reading this out of pity for me. Cheers.

If you’re a part of the second cohort, then you know the gist. Debate Magazine is your voice on campus, we’re a part of AUTSA but we’re editorially independent, we aren’t a debate club, blah blah blah, yap yap yap. But really - what’s the point of all of this? Does AUT really need its own student magazine?

Well, yeah, it does. Let me keep my job, dude.

Seriously, though - student media is an incredibly strange blessing to tertiary education. It holds the people running some of the most powerful institutions in Aotearoa to account, creates spaces for stories directly affecting young people to be told, and for their voices to be heard amidst consistent silencing. It’s a breeding ground for emerging talent, giving folks the freedom to share their writing, journalism, poetry, art, comics, photography, or whatever else your heart desires. Without sounding too pretentious, Debate is its own little world, packed to the brim with stuff to inform you, entertain you, distract you, and maybe slightly disturb you.

Enough about us, though - let’s get back to you, ya little rascal. I bet you’re all packed up with a refurbished MacBook Air in a silly little AUTSA-branded tote bag you got at O-Week. You might be expecting to make lifelong friends, discover your passion, and party like there’s no tomorrow. It’s gonna be like the start of Saltburn, except the campus is less pretty than Oxford and you will NOT trust the kid that offered you his bike after yours got a flat tyre.

Take these Pinterest-board fantasies, breathe them all in, manifest them for a moment… And then throw them all out of the window. I know that’s a bit harsh, but you need to understand that uni really isn’t a fairytale, and Jacob Elordi with an eyebrow piercing can’t save you. For all of the best moments, there will be plenty more periods of stress, anxiety, frustration and boredom. This all takes work, and it isn’t easy to get through.

Remember that this is well and truly your time to shine. You have the freedom to discover yourself, to discover other people and new experiences, to start a band, join a sports team, make a zine, or do whatever tickles your fancy. The sunk-cost fallacy is real - you’re allowed to learn what makes you the most happy, and doing so will not be a waste of your time. You’re allowed to change your degree if you hate it, spend Friday nights buying groceries and studying, or spend Tuesday mornings on the piss. I’m not saying you should do all those things - but you have the freedom to do so (and live with the consequences).

Beyond getting the degree, there are no rules on the right way to do uni. This is your time to discover yourself and to take your life in the direction you want - even if you have no idea where that direction leads to. Just keep moving. Stop to take a breath every once in a while, take a break to appreciate the surroundings, and then keep going. You’ll be okay.

One last note from me: Some of you might remember the song recommendations our 2021/2022 editor, Nam, would put at the end of a couple of his editorials. I want to bring that back, with a particular focus on the tunes that felt like a release at the most difficult times of my degree thus far. Sorry in advance for all the emo shit.

Shannengeorgiapetersen - Home Again 4 (NZ)

Mousey - Pudding and Pie (NZ)

Years Gone By - Avantdale Bowling Club (NZ)

Colourbox - Amamelia (NZ)

Cheshire - Phoebe Rings (NZ)

something soon - Car Seat Headrest

Comfort - Hans Pucket (NZ)

2:45 (Getting Old) - K M T P (NZ)

This time a year ago we were reeling from the impact of gender-critical Posie Parker’s arrival in Aotearoa, and her subsequent exit. Her attempt to spew vile transphobia at a public forum had been met with a rallied community, allyship, and noise. Lots and lots of chanting, clapping, screaming, and whistling. She failed to be heard in Albert Park.

Yet this overwhelming show of support for trans communities was not indicative of unwavering support across the motu. Coverage of the day mainly focused on violence from the side of trans people, not the violence committed against them. Future articles would emphasise Parker’s fears about her own safety. But pro-trans protestors were also harassed at the time, and online afterwards. Destiny Church members had intimidated protestors, and even physically attacked Green Party Co-Leader Marama Davidson. Eliana Rubashkyn, who famously dropped tomato juice on Posie Parker, received threats against her life.

Posie Parker left the country and went straight to Twitter. She shared she felt threatened by counter-protestors, that they had put her life in danger. Infamous author JK Rowling tweeted her support for Parker and her disgust at Auckland. Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist (TERF) New Zealanders apologised to Parker on the nation’s behalf. It was obvious Posie Parker had left a more divisive Aotearoa than the one she arrived in.

Only a few months on from the Posie Parker incident, we began to see the rise of New Zealand First, making their way back into parliament via transphobic rhetoric. Policies were announced that would exclude trans women from playing sports and using public bathrooms - similar policies to those we have seen coming out of the United States. NZ First candidate Lee Donoghue made anti-trans comments on a national platform during the Re: News Young Voters’ Debate. Donoghue cited far-right talking points about the increase in the number of young people choosing to transition and blamed trans people for the negative mental health statistics associated with trans communities - statistics that have been linked to anti-trans discrimination.

In the beginning of the election cycle, NZ First stagnated below the five percent threshold needed to enter parliament. This harmful rhetoric seemed to have little to no impact. But then the unexpected happened. For the first time, my generation was witnessing queer people being used as a political scapegoat in Aotearoa. And it began to work - New Zealand First became part of the sixth National Government, with just over six percent of the vote.

Where does this leave us for 2024? I spoke to the leaders of Trans on Campus (ToC), the University of Auckland Group for trans and non-binary students. They highlighted that the current situation is not consistent with a fair and free democracy - if trans people are afraid to go outside, introduce themselves by name, or start at new workplaces, then this deserves as much attention as protecting people’s right to freedom of speech.

While National Leader and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has described the New Zealand First bathroom policy as “on another planet.”, his MP Shane Reti, who supports conversion therapy, is the Minister of Health. Someone who believes we should allow a pseudoscience aiming to erase trans people out of existence is in charge of the bigger picture decisions surrounding trans healthcare. Maybe nothing will get worse under this government, but nothing will improve either.

Trans on campus’s vision for the future is one where things change in the healthcare system, legislation, and people’s knowledge. Some of this, like ending stigmatisation, depends on the public - but a lot of it will depend on this government.

Healthcare, for example, remains one of several key priorities. Trans on Campus says we need better-trained healthcare professionals so trans people do not have to be their own doctor’s teachers, or enforcers of existing guidelines. Surgery wait times are a huge issue - top surgery, for example, is a one to three-year wait in the best-case scenario. It remains difficult to get insurance to cover gender-affirming surgeries, even when this is not the norm overseas.

As we head past February we will hear politicians cite their ongoing support for the LGBTQ+ community. Speeches will be made, pride parades will be attended, and selfies with LGBTQ+ community members will run rampant on political parties’ social media.

But Pride has not been relegated to celebrating achievements of the past but remains an ongoing fight. National needs to consider the policymakers they are in bed with. They may think the rhetoric of New Zealand First can go unnoticed, they may think a Posie Parker situation will not happen again, and they may believe they can attend pride events while ignoring issues important to LGBTQ+ people. But trans communities will be paying attention and know this government cannot have it both ways.

We reached out to New Zealand First to comment, but they have not responded at the time of writing.

How Southland Delivered Distance Learning

By Recreating

The Office

Written By Corey Fuimaono (he/they) @coreyfuimaono | Contributing Writer

What if you had to consume curriculum content via linear television? I’m sure you remember linear TV, your parents will. I certainly do. I remember watching CUE Television as a kid, seeing shows that were made for students of SIT’s distance learning courses, only to realise a decade later that what we know today as remote learning didn’t revolve around pre-recorded lectures or boring Zoom calls; but included interesting quirks on local TV. After chatting with some of the people behind the scenes, here is a brief insight into the SIT2LRN programme.

It was considered a giant experiment when the Open University was launched in 1969 in ol’ Mother England - the first of its kind to offer remote learning. It made sense to offer higher education to adults who missed out on it and were stuck with mundane work and family lifeor to those who didn’t have the necessary qualifications to attend university in the first place. But how could those students learn outside of printing and posting out thousands of learning material packets? By putting it on television. Sometimes, at odd hours of the night. The Brits weren’t the first or the last to do this, however. In the little southern hemispheric country of Aotearoa, New Zealand, we did the same thing… decades later.

It’s a bit of a mind blur for Tom Conroy, current sports broadcaster and former proprietor of CUE Television (previously Mercury and Southern TV). He says it was after the turn of the millennium when the idea was pitched that the Southern Institute of Technology could deliver its curriculum through television. The idea was genius. It could target those who couldn’t (or didn’t want to) move to Invercargill but still wanted access to higher education. SIT was enacting its Zero Fees Scheme at the same time. The scheme aimed to attract young people to Invercargill for their tertiary education - to stimulate economic activity and increase the population after deep declines in the 90’s. It was so successful and popular that it sucked me into their film school in 2014, but I digress.

To get the idea off the ground and onto screens, Conroy says it took financial support from SIT, thanks to then CEO and current Tertiary Education Minister Penny Simmonds, and a significant contribution from SKY Television to broadcast Southland TV to the rest of Aotearoa. For SKY, it would have been a manageable risk but a great opportunity, especially as educational content wasn’t their forte. Though the first productions were made to benefit primary and secondary school teachers in Southland, SIT2LRN started

broadcasting its programming proper in 2003.

The early years were described by tight turnarounds and studio-based shoots, all shot and edited on tape and then put to air. Back then, as Conroy remembers, a large portion of the shoots were incredibly simple and cheap to produce – even if it meant filming one person beside a whiteboard. Jade Gillies, who headed SIT Productions for a couple of years, says the shows covered a wide span of topics, from science to dog husbandry and cosmetology. Given that the programs were intrinsically linked with the academic curriculum, there was a fair bit of content to consult on, script, and pump out on time to students from all over the motu. Week after week, ideas flowed about what could be done and depending on what needed to be filmed. Outside broadcasts with four to five camera set-ups weren’t out of the question. With SIT. bankrolling these productions, you could expect 12 hours’ worth of educational programming on Southland TV a day. Conroy says it was easier for viewers once MySKY and Freeview DVRs came onto the market. These programs would have played at any time during the day or at the dead of night.

In 2006, one of the more memorable programs was created for students of the Diploma of Hotel and Tourism Management. Remembered largely because it resembled The Office in its approach to characters leading the drama, the mint handheld camerawork, and the remarkable resemblance that Nathan Kahukura’s character, hotel owner Paul, shared to early 2000s Ricky Gervais (facial hair is wild). Imagine that instead of a regional office of a paper conglomerate, you’re seeing the behind-the-scenes operations of a Southland hotel with dysfunctional characters and equally unorthodox methods.

One episode begins as Paul gets word from head office that revenue and booking numbers are down. He’s given tips on how to fix this, but thanks to not knowing how to do his job properly, his solution is to charge the heck out of existing visitors and cut down on offerings. Complaints from guests skyrocket. This ‘solution’ leads an angry mob to berate the receptionists. Paul tries to run and dash for the exit but to no success. Each episode covers one side of how the hotel tries to improve how it runs for guests and staff. Each major scene ends with the presenter, Melisa Jones, asking the viewer to contemplate what they thought of each character’s action and what they would do instead. Gillies, who now operates a holiday homes outfit himself, remembers how fun it was to create that program. Many times, the cast and crew

burst out laughing in the boardroom scenes. The series had to be filmed on Sundays at the Kelvin Hotel, which is still running in the heart of Invercargill. The talent was all sourced from the town’s amateur theatre scene – or at least those who might have been available back then.

How could drama ever possibly reinforce learning for a tertiary course? I hear you asking from that bewildered face of yours. Teri McClelland, who worked with Gillies and the small SIT Production team as a producer, explained it as edutainment. I asked her whether she had approached this edutainment with a research-led approach. No, she said. However, she did explain that students needed to learn through a multitude of different ways – where one of those ways was through situations and role-play. It was a fine balance between making sure programmes delivered the curriculum and making sure the viewer was engaged. Thanks to the positive feedback and interest in the SIT2LRN Distance Learning programs they were getting from students and random viewers to Southland/CUE TV, this approach worked better than expected. There was even a point, as McClelland told me, where SIT2LRN’s series on Learning English, hosted on iTunes U, was outperforming course content from Stanford University (which really got to them, poor Yanks).

As the saying goes, good things come to an end. CUE Television ceased broadcasting in 2015, after 19 years on the air. The SIT2LRN programme continues to this day but is fully online. Some courses have videos, but they don’t have the edutainment factor. Rather, they’re more explanatory of concepts, with interviews of practitioners from different industries, and of course lecture recordings are included too. While insightful, it just doesn’t have that quirk and charm that The Office recreation had. McClelland agrees that edutainment has room within online spaces so perhaps we tell those tutors recording lectures to get good and give us some tea to learn from. If you’re interested in learning more about SIT2LRN’s programming of the mid-2000s, contact the folks at the Southern Institute of Technology. Tell them that Corey Fuimaono sent you.

Entertaining Things I Did During University Lectures That You Shouldn’t Do: An Anecdotal Record

Whether you study arts or science, there is a universal truth in how students avoid the tedium of learning through entertaining themselves in the oddest ways. A table tucked away in the corner of the library, a freshers’ club your friends dragged you to, or the campus mini-mart can define the university experience. We all grow from specky-faced teens to mature adults who file taxes and drink corked wine. Soon, the hours spent in frigid or mouldy lecture halls will be nostalgic; the oppressive stillness of a drearily long class is sacred.

How did you entertain yourself during these lectures?

During my four years at university, I spent hundreds of hours doing anything but taking notes in dozens of different ways. There’d always come a point in any lecture where my eyes and brain would wander, desperate for an ounce of drama or thrill. As I reminisce on what I did to entertain myself during my lectures, I’ve compiled a cautionary tale of things not to do. Falling asleep or doom-scrolling TikTok is acceptable, but giving yourself caffeine poisoning is not.

Vice Vice Baby

We all have our vices, from social smoking and online shopping to over-indulgence in junk food. Like many other students who stay up late playing computer games or binge-watching Netflix, caffeine is the elixir of my life, a potion that cures sleep deprivation. Students must struggle perpetually. Instead of pushing a rock up a hill, it is a persistent struggle against the absurdity of a 9AM lecture. We accept our fate and find respite in our vices. My vice as I lumbered up Symonds Street has always been caffeine served, as an ice-cold energy drink or an overpriced coffee.

I’d always walk into a lecture with a half-finished Blue V, Monster Energy Zero Ultra or Oat Milk Flat White. Groggily, with my eyes finally bringing the world into focus, I’d find an empty seat. My preferred row, halfway down the left, would never be full. There’d only be a smattering of familiar faces zombified by the time.

My reliance on caffeine imposed by late nights hurrying to finish assignments eventually caught up to me. This self-prescribed opiate, which came in a luminous can or beige cup, had its vengeance. As the lecturer droned on about the specifics of an upcoming assignment, I began to feel dizzy, and my stomach began to rumble. I’d not slept as I’d left an essay and the banality of referencing to the last minute. Instead of supplementing my late night and early morning with a tasty, nutritious breakfast, I had even more caffeine.

Per the internet, you shouldn’t consume more than 400 milligrams per day, and I’d not heeded that warning. So, as I began to feel even closer to death, my heart thundered as I knew that this was it. If I was sick in the lecture hall, I couldn’t live with the embarrassment—it’d follow me around like the curse of Sodom and Gomorrah. If I could escape to the bathroom from my lecture in time, I’d be ashamed - but at the very least, I’d have some dignity left.

Did I make it? That’s a secret, but please take this lesson of idiocy to heart. Sleep well, eat healthy and don’t think caffeine is the answer to all your problems.

Eeny, meeny, miny, moe

We’ve all developed a crush on a classmate. You may sit across from them in a tutorial, or be assigned to work together on a presentation. Many crushes start in the sanctum of a lecture hall. You’d turn up to class not wanting to learn but hoping to catch a glimpse of them. If they hadn’t turned up, fate had personally slighted you.

I’ve had plenty of these one-sided crushes. They all start innocuously, but they grew, and nothing good or healthy came from them. Your meet-cute will never come from them sitting next to you in class or when you saw each other at Countdown. You’re setting yourself up for heartbreak. It’s 2024, the year of the dragon, and we can do better than unrequited love. If you’re that desperate to meet someone, download Tinder or try Bar 101 on a Saturday night.

Mogadishu is the Capital of Somalia

If you have the misfortune of knowing me, you’ll know I love my weird and wonderful facts. The Yangtze River in China is the third-longest river in the world. Chainsaws were first invented for childbirth. Napoleon invaded Russia in 1812. I’m often insufferable because of this useless knowledge.

During lectures, I’d often indulge in my thirst for knowledge by spending hours going down Wikipedia rabbit holes. In mere moments, I’d have spent the entire class traversing subjects ranging from the Terra Nova Expedition to the last photo of the Barbary Lion and how the microwave oven was invented.

I Spy

When you get bored in a lecture, your eyes begin to meander, searching for anything interesting. Like on a long-haul flight, you often end up watching the screen in front of you. It’s a thrill. Who knows what you’re going to see? This invasion of privacy shouldn’t be encouraged, but we’ve all done things we shouldn’t have. Instead of knuckling down and working hard, I peeped at the laptop screen or phone of the person in front of me for most of the class.

Sometimes, your gaze should be kept to yourself as for all the exciting glimpses into someone’s life I’ve seen, I’ve witnessed untold horrors that left me scarred. Fan fiction, cringeworthy love letters, creepy dating app pick-up lines, and an incel’s Reddit posts. My life would have been better off not discovering the YouTube channel of a classmate who tried to debunk the male gaze. Yes, you can peek at someone’s screen to copy their notes but don’t look at someone’s screen if you’re not willing to risk witnessing your classmate sexting.

Graduation

You’re paying thousands for an education. Try to make the most of your degree, unlike me. If you don’t take full advantage of the university and its resources, be warned: you may end up working at a student magazine in your mid-20s.

Written By Thomas Giblin (he/him)

Brains, books and Megadeth - oh my! In a fascinating discussion with associate professors Daniel Shepherd (DS) and Mangor Pedersen (MP) from AUT’s Psychology and Neuroscience department, we dive into the intriguing realm of music’s impact on wellbeing and how it could enhance students’ academic journeys.

Has there been much research that focuses on the effect the arts have on brain function and mental wellbeing?

DS: The connections between psychological states and wellbeing are deeply connected, so there has been a lot of research done in the area. There are also clinical applications to these studies, in terms of creating environments that encourage certain states of wellbeing - for example, keeping someone calm. The arts can be used to do that through means such as murals or logos on walls to reduce aggression in high schools.

When creating something like that, you’d have to think about certain colours they’d use for painting and the messaging that comes with it so it can be effective. This mindset and creation of these environments or artworks, essentially, are done in many areas. Another example is testing for road safety messages - in this example, we would show the participant these sayings and see how people respond. We would note down things such as how the participant felt before seeing the messaging, how the messaging affected their thinking, and how their body reacted. Providing tranquil spaces is very good for wellbeing, especially in cities, as you can’t get up and go to the middle of nowhere and see these landscapes in real life easily.

How did you come to research the effect of music on wellbeing?

DS: We have done work at AUT previously in the labs. One of the studies we did focused on stressing people out - it’s always one of our favourite things. We got some students in a lab and sort of threw numbers at them to add up while we were sitting with a clipboard telling them they were wrong or to hurry up. We also increased the difficulty further by giving them numbers even faster and playing different types of sounds like construction or aircraft noise.

After that, we wanted to see how quickly we could calm them down. It came to our attention that of course, young people are

ably not interested in birdsong and ocean noises and stuff like that. They like music.

So we started looking at a little bit of music too, and we were looking at a song that was created in England called “Weightless” by Marconi Union, and we published that study that highlighted the calming effect of the song on young people. All of a sudden, the Benee management people came up to us and said, “Hey, we saw your study and we were shocked at how little work had been done in this area.” They were interested in creating a song that was proven to be calming, desiring a similar effect to Marconi’s “Weightless”.

What was your testing process through this collaborative project with Benee’s team?

DS: Our involvement with “Bagels” was really just two steps. Initially, we had some online meetings where we talked about the research that already existed and pointed towards songs that were relaxing and calming and songs that weren’t. We discussed how people listen to different songs to influence different feelings or states. People can listen to songs to energise and focus themselves, for example, before playing in a sports match. So we don’t always just listen to music to calm down, it can go many ways. We discussed with the Benee team in more detail the types of sound characteristics that influence a relaxed state. After that, the team went off and they brought the song back to Mangor and myself and the team, Dr Amy Kercher and Geet Vashista, and we had a little listen to it. We gave them some more feedback and the song sort of came together.

MP: My interpretation would be that Benee’s song would provide the best focus in terms of what we saw in the brain. Through testing, We saw that the brain went into a different state, a more zoned-out state. The song also didn’t activate any stress responses in the brain and so forth, which we have later corroborated with how people’s heart rate and skin responses were as well. The evidence lines up.

I also think culture plays a huge part in how you will react to different types of music. I’m Scandinavian and we have very different music compared to New Zealand. For example, my brain will be completely relaxed listen

levels of focus, arousal and pleasantness. Looking over a graph, it was calculated that both of the songs: Marconi Union’s “Weightless” and Benee’s “Bagels” average a score of 7 ½ out of 10 for individuals regarding focus, whereas songs from bands System of a Down and Tool averaged at about 2 ½ .

Was there some back and forth in terms of testing and edits of samples of the song, or was it quite streamlined?

MP: Yes and no. We listened to a couple of iterations of the song, and from there provided input based on what we knew about how different music affected the body. Throughout our time working with them, there was very good communication to get the song to the best state. It was a process to get there, but in the end, it was working with great people from the music side, the publishing side, and us from the academic side. While often quite busy, it was a very enjoyable process. I think it’s the feeling everyone had in the end.

Are there any certain types of music or sound environments that researchers found to enhance focus and concentra -

Through many people’s academic lives, study and test environments have been purposely set to ‘silent’. What are your opinions regarding ‘silent’ study environments while working?

DS: There’s been some research done on silence. We don’t have such a thing as silence, or true silence, something comparable to “absolute zero” for example. We can have quiet, though, so we often prefer to use the word quiet. What typically happens when you put people in quiet environments or silent conditions is that an increase in ruminations occurs. When a person is sitting down with nothing going on in silence, often stress-inducing thoughts such as assignments being due or work drama, et cetera. To tune out the silence, people will often replace it by thinking about other things. If they think about positive things, they’ll relax. But invariably what we find is that people don’t tend to

dwell on the positive. Instead, they’ll sit there and start thinking about life problems and in turn, stress themselves out. The idea that silence itself is necessarily a relaxant is a little bit of a myth, and studies are showing that.

What are some key factors or advice that students should consider when deciding whether they would like to listen to music while they’re studying?

MP: I wouldn’t Google it, I would follow my own gut. Even if bands like System of a Down and Tool are your favourite bands, they might not be the music that’s gonna give you the best focus - however, recognising what you do like is a good start. I remember at uni I found specific genres like contemporary classic postrock quite easy to study with. I think it was because it still had the vibe of the harder music that I liked.

DS: In my experience, I found it was talking, specifically the human voice that distracts my attention. I found classical music to be a helpful tool to get me to focus during my studies, so yes, it’s very much curated based on each individual. When I finished studying, I put on Metallica and Megadeth.

MP: There has been a lot of research on the effects of classical music. If you play Mozart, it’s not going to cure your epilepsy, but there are studies to prove you’re going to have fewer seizures if you listen to it. So it already happened years ago, science told us that your brain is going into a different mode by listening to relaxing music.

Is there evidence to suggest that associations can form between activities and the music we listen to while doing them, and could this potentially negatively impact studying?

MP: Well, you don’t want the music to distract you. You want it to focus you, not take your attention away. If the music is associated with emotion is gonna detract your attention as well.

DS: You also get into a state-dependent fix or a context-dependent fix, which can be beneficial in some cases. People often say the best way to study is to mimic your exam environment, so sometimes it’s important to move from one room to the other so that you associate those environmental cues with knowledge and study. If you’re studying at home and in bed, listening to loud music around a bunch of posters, when you walk into an exam room there’s nothing consistent between the two environments. Likely you will feel a lack of

preparedness or alienation from doing the exam, whereas if you study in a blank room, without music and in an upright chair, once in the actual exam you’d feel more familiar with the environment. It’s kind of like what they call “classical conditioning”. To a degree, it gets you in a calmer, prepared state.

What should learning institutes and students take away from your research?

MP: I think we are doing research in a different way here. Especially doing research with real-world outcomes through the project with Youthline.

Usually, we do experiments in the lab where we go through brutal reviewers and are published in scientific journals and no one hears about the research. However, through working with Youthline on Bagels, the impact of our tests went way beyond the lab. The decision-making around listening to music is a very simple thing that can have a real impact on people’s lives. So I think the new generation is gonna be a better generation of students and will get more hands-on and closer at bridging the gap between science and larger society.

DS: I think for me the exciting part was when Mangor started doing all this brain modelling and exploring these largely unknown territories when it comes to the effects of music. Doing things that included brain modelling and measuring heart rate, what he was doing was pretty special and very exciting to see. And as we’ve said, there’s not a lot of that’s going on in the world.

So here we are, down in little New Zealand, little Aotearoa, and he’s conjuring up all these connectivity diagrams and connectomes and things.

And it’s like, wow, you’re sitting right on the frontier there.

Written By Stella Roper (They/She) @stellyvision Arts Editor

at charts! Gays can’t do math! Our brains are too small - that’s just a scientific fact. Well, that’s what I thought anyway.

It sometimes annoys me when I see queer people making jokes about how they’re stupid, or can’t do math, or whatever. I know it’s a joke, and I’m not going to write a 500 word essay about why it’s problematic if I see it on your meme page - but it still irritates me. Especially because it always reminds me of what I hate most about science education in schools; it’s for the smart kids, and it’s boring. We’re always led to believe that it’s too difficult, or some people are just naturally too dumb to understand it. Queer kids tend to be pretty insecure about their academic abilities to begin with (I mean, so many of us are also neurodivergent, but that’s a whole other conversation), so I think hearing that people like us are just not as smart as their peers makes it more likely that they just won’t bother. I think it’s why I’ve felt that a lot of queer people I meet think that science and maths aren’t cool. It’s probably in my head, but I always think that I’m silently being judged by art gays when I say that I study STEM subjects. But, I would remind all the arts bottoms out there that without science, we wouldn’t have PREP, we wouldn’t have poppers!

Even if it’s a joke, I think the queer community’s tendency to stereotype itself is unhelpful, and often leads to even more isolation for some people. It’s strange when you feel like an outcast but also can’t fit into another group of outcasts. I think I spent a lot of my life concentrating on other people; on other queer people; what they were doing, and what I was doing differently. I felt so insecure around other queer people because their interests so often did not align with my own. I always felt different, but then I would look at other people who were different and they didn’t feel like me either. I spent years twisting myself into knots, trying to be someone I wasn’t because I was conditioned into thinking my authentic self wasn’t interesting or cool. I now know that it doesn’t matter. No one is cool; people are just people.

But, I neglected my interest in the sciences for so long because I didn’t see queer people doing science. I thought we were too dumb! Now I get incredibly excited when I meet other queer scientists. I can be myself and talk about random, nerdy interests. I think that’s one of the best things about the queer community (especially at university) - while you may have to search for it, there will always be a niche for you.

Queer people are everything; office workers, tradies, artists, journalists, biologists, filmmakers, engineers, doctors, physicists, writers, educators… We can do anything. We are people who are engaged with ourselves and therefore, engaged with the world. Science, for me, is the deepest possible engagement one can make with the world. Seeking to understand how the world functions in an objective and fundamental way may seem cold and calculating, but I truly don’t believe it is. The insights you can gain about the universe and about yourself, by studying science, are deep and often spiritual. I think the most profound fact for me is how little difference there is between things on a basic level. There are only a handful of fundamental particles that make up everything in the cosmos and they can create seemingly infinite variations of matter and energy. Any two humans share over 99% of their DNA; all life shares between 60-70%. So, when you look at it from that perspective, it seems pretty silly that I was ever worried about how other gays perceived me because of what I study. At the end of the day, we’re all just some slimy, wet cells made from a collection of atoms that collided in some cosmic furnace billions of years ago, that then crawled out of the primordial soup a few aeons ago, and now we can think, feel, love, create, be anxious, and even be gay. I think that’s pretty fucking cool.

written by

I had an intense Duolingo phase. The app became my brand. We’re talking about a 365-day-long streak, winning in the Diamond League, and never missing a monthly challenge. We’re talking World Freaking Champion level - that’s the top 0.1% of learners, by the way. It was an addiction.

Wake Up. Eat. Drink. Sleep. Duolingo. Repeat. It wasn’t a successful day without my fix of Duolingo. The ‘correct’ sound effect would give me the biggest dopamine rush, while the ‘incorrect’ sound made me want to curl up in a ball and rot.

The internet villainised Duolingo’s mascot, Duo, and the company themselves leaned into it. I thought it was hilarious. All in good fun. “Russian or Concussion.” “Spanish or Vanish.” “Japanese or I’ll break your knees.”

A giant green owl coming to break my knees? No way. I knew Duo wasn’t real - but my guilt from not being productive was. I created a voice in my head and used the mascot as a vessel for my own self-loathing - kind of like the whole angel and devil on your shoulder thing. Duo’s voice was between the two; chaotic neutral -from words of affirmation, “Everyone can Dolingo” to “You really are useless. Quit doom scrolling and get a job, you waste of space.”

Eventually, I got too sidetracked by other commitments and struggled to find the motivation to do my daily lessons. It wasn’t enjoyable anymore, plus I already had my French classes — this lime green avian has nothing on the legend that is Madame Lynch.

I stopped receiving push notifications because they “didn’t seem to be working”, but I still get reminders in my widget to practise. Duo would be staring down menacingly, batting his eyes behind a fan, crying on the ground. A little manipulative if you ask me.

“Got 3 minutes?” Nope, busy with this internal.

“Last chance!” I’ll survive.

“Time to practice!”

Enough! I finally deleted the widget. Mistake numéro un.

When I close my eyes for bed that night, something feels off, like I’m not alone. I open my eyes again and try to sit upright but I can’t. Then, the most artificial, irritating green saturates the room in a flash, before immediately fading back to pitch black darkness.

My head won’t budge, but I can see a sliver of a green feather in my peripherals.

“Pouvez-vous me comprendre?”

Duo doesn’t have a single voice. When he

speaks, it’s like static, a grating blend of every single language to have ever existed.

Before I can form the word “yeah”, Duo hits me with the classic, “EN FRANÇAIS”. I shudder.

“EUh, ouais, ouais. Qu’est-ce que tu-?” With one swift movement, I hear him pick up my lamp and fling it across the room with a piercing screech.

I try again. “Qu’est-ce que vous voulez?”

”AH, so you’re not completely clueless. Use the subjunctive.”

”Il faut que vous pratiquez votre français.” I smirk. Gotcha.

”Alright, sycophant. What about your Swedish?” Shoot. I totally just learned a few phrases because of Young Royals.

“Uh.. Hej ! Jag är en dotter.” I cringe. Super basic and I butchered the word, “dotter”. Mistake nummer två.

“Your parents will be lucky to still have a daughter after that pathetic pronunciation”. He saunters over, looks down on me. I can analyse him properly now, I can see that his velvety suit, his cartoonish fluffy facade, are speckled with dark red blots. Not a good sign. Stay calm.

“I work SO hard. I do so many collaborations, plan subscriptions, and even offer you incredible options like Klingon, yet hundreds of millions of students have nothing to show for it. ‘Everyone can Duolingo’. Yeah right, so much for that motto.” Duo is shaking and he collapses to the ground in distress. I hear sniffles. Is he seriously crying?

Duo continues, “I’m sorry for caring. I’m sorry I want to use my knowledge to help others. People take advantage of my kindness. That’s why I have to be assertive.”

A beat.

He sniffles one last time and slowly rises, “Oh well, there’ll always be another polyglot-wannabe. You’re dead weight.” Duo reaches for the French Collins Robert Dictionary on my bedside table and swings it around a few times to gauge the force needed to take me out.

Yikes. The “Duo” in “Duolingo” should really stand for dangerous, unstable, and obsessive. Never meet your heroes I guess.

Desperate, I resort to reasoning with the unreasonable. Mistake number three.

“Wait! You should take a break. I think you uh- put too much pressure on yourself and your students.”

”It’s a lot of pressure. My head is so full. It must be so easy to be you.” I try to look as sympathetic as possible, while Duo’s exasperation turns into realisation. He gasps and my heart stops. “It must be. So. Easy. To. Be. You.” He tilts his head at me, and suddenly, I can move. I spring into action, crumpling my sheets as I kick them off of me. I bolt under his outstretched wings which close in just as I pass him, and I shut

Written By Neena Contreras (she/her) Contributing Writer

the door behind me.

Chest heaving, I spy the owl across the road, through a window. Just staring.

With a jolt, I open my eyes. I’m sure that I’m awake this time. So, it was just a nightmare. Solo una pesadilla. απλά ένας εφιάλτης ただの悪夢. Okay, weird.

Then I notice that I’m across the road, looking into my own house. I make eye contact with myself. Very weird. She speaks — I speak?

I distinctly hear my voice. “Everyone can Duolingo.”

I look down at my hands but they’re not hands at all. They’re lime green wings.

I watch myself smile, turn around, enter my room and close the door.

“Merde.”

Tashi’s feedback: I really love it, very spooky and funny! There are just a few parts that could be reworked to make the language a bit tighter. Otherwise, I think it’s a very neat short story.

Liam’s feedback: pretty much everything Tashi said! Really great, funny interpretation of the prompt with some great creative ideas. On the note of making things flow better, I personally like slightly longer sentences to avoid the text sounding too jolted and robotic - that’s a personal preference, but worth keeping in mind. Great piece overall :)

Illustration By Cameron McCurdy (She/Her) Social Media Coordinator

You’re set up to study but just can’t focus? That’s ok. It makes sense, considering the past few months have been filled with drinking, burning in the sun, and anything else that got you far away from thinking about studying. If you’re trying to get back into that studious state and happen to feel your attention pulling away, I have some musical recommendations for you.

As someone with many years of studying, I’ve found that particular genres of music do well at getting the brain cogs turning. Because I’m so generous, I’ve curated a selection of noises that can hopefully get you concentrated, feeling successful and eventually turn you into the lo-fi study anime girl of your academic dreams.

Lo-Fi Hip Hop

Best if you’re studying English or communications,

Let’s start with a classic. As the name suggests, lo-fi hip hop is music with low fidelity and borrows many sounds of hip hop - though to be honest, the music strays far from hip-hop conventions. You won’t find lo-fi replicas of what Travis Scott, Future, or Drake beats - Instead, it leans more into jazz rap, with a spaced out piano or saxophone. Throw in some modern, EQ’d drum kicks and it rounds out to be very slow, spacey, and minimalistic.

Lo-fi hip hop rose to mainstream prominence thanks to the YouTube channel Lo-fi Girl, (Originally named Chilled Cow until 2021). Lo-fi Girl started streaming in 2017, and its second stream lasted over 13 thousand hours until a copyright strike temporarily shut down the channel. Although this wasn’t the first channel to stream lo-fi hip hop, it stands as the most well-known, cementing a place in history along with its iconic anime-inspired imagery of a girl studying in a cozy room while it rains outside. How aesthetic.

Where To Start

Just type “beats to relax/study to” into YouTube. I’m certain you’ll find something.

Barber Beats

Best if you’re studying art history or classics.

Barber Beats is the spiritual successor to, or at least the latest wave of, Vaporwave. But don’t be discouraged by its relation; if you ever heard Vaporwave, you’d be right in imagining it’s run its course for innovation, but Barber Beats is a far more refreshing rebirth. While it often samples 80s jazz and pop as well, it’s yet to be boxed in and is memed to hell. Turning both the pitch and tempo down, it’s even more melodic, bassy, simplistic, and well, I’d like to think a bit cooler. It doesn’t force the “this is a vinyl you found in the boot of whatever car they drove in Miami Vice’’ vibe. Its simple and relaxing flow offers something new and niche for studying.

The name of the microgenre comes from its almighty king and pioneer, Haircuts for Men. Sites say it gained mainstream popularity in early 2022, though I remember discovering HFM on my YouTube homepage as early as 2020. Perhaps this is the fault of leaving music history up to bloggers - or maybe I’m just really cool. I’m not gonna lie to you though, it seems like it’s becoming pretty diluted with how many damn artists and albums appear interchangeable on my YouTube homepage.

I recommend the artists: Haircuts for Men, Oblique Occasions, and Macroblank. Honestly, you’d be sorted with any album that has naked Greek men or a foreign alphabet on it.

Jungle DnB

Best if you’re studying computer science or software engineering.

If you’re not in it for the vibes and just need to get stuff done quickly, try harnessing the energy of Jungle DnB. Being distinctly UK 90s, it’s not as West Auckland high school party-core as modern DnB. It won’t have as many distracting womp-womps, as it relies more on reggae and hip-hop samples to create an atmosphere. People more versed in music than I even dare to compare its soundscape to a movie score. Though there’s no beating around the bush, it’s DnB -

it’s the damn predecessor to DnB. If you’re not remotely interested in high-pace drum kits and artificial, womp-like noises, then move along, buster!

Born from the streets of London at the dawn of the 1990s, it evolved as a more “intelligent” form of breakbeat hardcore. Jungle DnB appears to have been the eventual and inevitable culmination of UK rave, US-imported hip hop and funk, and reggae from its Jamaican demographic. This is the part where I can finally tell you Jungle DnB is also the staple genre of 1990s-early 00s video game soundtracks! Thanks to composers such as Soichi Terada, if you ever played the PS2, you’ve probably already heard Jungle DnB.

Where to Start

I’d give the album Sumo Jungle by Soichi Terada a play and have a look at the Youtube accounts FIREWALKER, for atmospheric drum and bass compilations that will make you go ⋐(◉▾◉)⋑ & Ryland Kurshenoff (my personal fav of theirs being Nintendo 64 jungle mix 01).

Psychedelic jazz/soul

Best if you’re studying biomedical science or chemistry.

Speaking of getting stuff done, what do you listen to if your assignment is due TOMORROW and you HAVEN’T EVEN STARTED!? You’ve thought about what you need to do for weeks, but you’ve been doom-scrolling instead. Well then - it’s time to step it up, disassociate, and work like a machine! I was in this exact situation once, and at my absolute lowest I discovered Larry Fisherman’s Run on Sentences Volume 1, which did just the trick. A mash of bizarre samples and demanding instrumentals, the harmonious and surreal soundscape of neo-psychedelia/acid jazz/psychedelic soul/whatever a bad LSD trip sounds like. It probably works so well as music to write to, because nothing else could possibly be more distracting. You’ll never feel more tied to your computer.

Maybe something like: Within psychedelic jazz/soul, there aren’t any solid contenders for artists that epitomise the genre as a whole. An artist/band (maybe just stick to one or other) might create that perfect trippy mix of jazz and random violent noise on one song, yet often have a hundred other songs that miss the mark. Just don’t get into an all-consuming anxiety state about assignments too often, and you won’t need to explore this niche too much.

Where to start

While this is my secret weapon, I’ll pass down my knowledge of three albums to you: Larry Fisherman - Run on Sentences Vol 1 or 2, Lil Yachty - Let’s Start Here, and Weather Report - Heavy Weather

So much research has gone into how Lo-Fi Hip Hop being “study music done right”, and while those studies aren’t wrong, don’t let the memeification of these streams convince you that it’s your only option - there are alternatives! Hell, I didn’t even touch on listening to straight-up café or nature atmosphere, but that can tie you in even better than being in a café itself! My simple anecdotal truth is that it’s all about making sure your distractions are coming from where you’re working. If any of this music was playing in the room next door, you would struggle, but wearing headphones can be the best thing to glue your juicy booty to the desk. I hope I piqued your interest in some of these options, and to be honest, this was just an excuse for me to show off my taste.

Written Contributing

A Guide to Filling Your Ears A Guide to Filling Your Ears

Written by Joshua Black (he/him) Contributing Writer

MONDAY 26 FEB

BBQ on the Balcony

12-1PM | AUTSA Balcony

Come learn about AUTSA over some free food!

Paint & Sip

2-5PM | AUTSA Balcony

Join us for painting and a free drink on the balcony! Bring a friend, or come and meet new people while you create.

Pick up & Play Basketball

1-3PM | WQ104 (Te Āhuru Recreation Centre - Box)

Come play some basketball, grab some snacks and meet some like minded people.

Karaoke Night

6PM onwards | Vesbar

Come out to Vesbar and sing your heart out! R18, ID required.

TUESDAY 27 FEB

Discover Auckland Expo

12-4PM | Hikuwai Plaza

Come learn about AUTSA over some free food!

DJ + Giveaways

2-4PM | Hikuwai Plaza

Live music and free goodies, what could be better?

Art Gallery Tour

1-2PM | Meet: Hikuwai Plaza

Get a guided tour of the Art Gallery from our of our friendly AUTSA team members, and make some new friends while you’re there!

Pick up & Play Volleyball

1-3PM | WQ104 (Te Āhuru Recreation Centre - Box)

Come play some volleyball, grab some snacks and meet some like minded people.

Pub Quiz

6PM onwards | Vesbar

Grab your mates or make a team on the night! R18, ID required.

WEDNESDAY 28 FEB

Breakfast on Us

9-10AM | AUTSA Balcony

We’ve got 50 free coffees and breakfasts to giveaway!

Art Gallery Tour

10-11AM | Meet: Hikuwai Plaza

Get a guided tour of the Art Gallery from our of our friendly AUTSA team members, and make some new friends while you’re there!

DJ + Giveaways

1-3PM | Vesbar

Live music and free goodies, what could be better?

Free Burgers & Drinks!

12-1PM | Hikuwai Plaza

We’re giving away 150 free burgers and drinks! First in, first served!

Pick up & Play Futsal

1-3PM | WQ104 (Te Āhuru Recreation Centre - Box)

Come play some futsal, grab some snacks and meet some like minded people.

Live Band in the Bar

6PM onwards | Vesbar

Come along to the bar and watch G spot play live! Grab a cold one and chill out. R18, ID required.

THURSDAY 29 FEB

Inflatable Activities

11AM-2PM | Hikuwai Plaza

We’re bringing in some huge inflatable activities to try out - see if you can win a prize!

Giant Games

11AM-2PM | AUTSA Balcony

Come play some giant games between classes (or regular sized board games if you prefer)

Campus Kai + AUTSA Zone

11AM-1PM | Hikuwai Plaza

Join us for your fortnightly free feed - AUTSA’s shout! Learn about what AUTSA do, grab some free stuff, and use our free photobooth!

Adopt a Club

11AM-1PM | WC202

Learn about what clubs you can join (there’s heaps!) or find out how to start your own one!

Pick up & Play Badminton

1-3PM | WQ104 (Te Āhuru Recreation Centre - Box)

Art Gallery Tour

3-4PM | Meet: Hikuwai Plaza

Get a guided tour of the Art Gallery!

DJ in the Bar

12-4PM | Vesbar

Live music and free goodies, what could be better? R18.

Games Night

6PM onwards | Vesbar

Mechnical bull, pool, guess the drink and more! Come through for a night of laughs and good vibes! R18, ID required.

FRIDAY 1 MAR

University Clash: AUT vs UoA Dance Battles

12-1PM | WQ104 (Te Āhuru Recreation Centre - Box)

Some friendly university competition to start off the semester! Come along and you decide which Uni did best!

HIKUWAI SESSIONS

CHURCH & AP FROM OUTSIDE NAAVII

CWO RIZVAN

HIKUWAI PLAZA

4-9PM

Hikuwai Sessions is back for 2024, and it’s free entry! There will also be some epic food trucks on site if you’re in the mood to buy some tasty eats while you enjoy the beats.

Hikuwai Afterparty

10PM Onwards | Vesbar

Had a good time at Hikuwai Sessions? The party don’t stop - simply hope over to Vesbar for more amazing music, food and to party into the early hours of your Saturday! R18, ID required.

MONDAY 26 FEB

Coffee on us!

9-10AM | AN101A

We are giving away 50 free coffee vouchers! All you gotta do is let us know what you are studying - that’s it!

Free Burgers & Drinks

12-1PM | AJ Fields

We are giving away 150 free burgers and drinks! Don’t worry, we’ve got your lunch covered!

TUESDAY 27 FEB

Make a Splash

11AM -2PM | AJ Fields

Water balloons, water guns a dunk tank and towels. Bring a spare change of clothes and come and participate in the summer activites.

Giant Games

11AM-2PM | AN101A

Come along and play giant versions of your favourite games!

Campus Kai

11AM-1PM | Outside Library

Free lunch - AUTSA’s shout!

AUTSA Zone

11AM-1PM | AJ Fields

Come get the low down on AUTSA, grab some free stuff, and use our free photobooth!

WEDNESDAY 28 FEB

Adopt a Club

11AM-1PM | AE119

Learn about what clubs you can join (there’s heaps!) or find out how to start your own one!

Performances & giveaways

11AM-1PM | AJ Fields

Join us for some performances, music and a spin-and-win wheel.

THURSDAY 29 FEB

Social Sports Arvo

2-4PM | AUT Gym North

Come and play some pop up sports at the gym! Music and snack included!

MONDAY 26 FEB

BBQ on the Balcony

12-1:30PM | AUTSA Balcony

Come and meet some of our staff and learn about what we do and where we are in the South Campus.

Surfs Up 12-2PM |AUTSA Office

Ride the surfboard, win some prizes and start the semester off on a high!

TUESDAY 27 FEB

Breakfast on Us

9-10AM | AUTSA Balcony

We’ve got 50 free coffees and breakfasts to giveaway!

Adopt a Club

11AM-1PM | ME109

Ever thought of starting up a club? Want to meet current club leaders? Come along to this interactive session to find out more about the clubs space on campus!

Performances & Giveaways

11AM-1PM | Outside MH

Join us for some performances, music and a spin-and-win wheel.

Free Burgers & Drinks

12-1PM | Outside MH

AUTSA has your lunch sorted! We are giving away 150 free burgers and drinks.

WEDNESDAY 28 FEB

Crafts & Connection

11AM-2PM | Outside MH

We are bringing in a bunch of crafts for you to get into during your lunch break!

Campus Kai

12PM-2PM | Outside MH

Free lunch - AUTSA’s shout!

AUTSA Zone 11AM-1PM | Outside MH

Come get the low down on AUTSA, grab some free stuff, and use our free photobooth!

Blaze Pod Challenge

11AM-1PM | Outside MH

Join the AUT South Gym Staff and try your luck in the Blaze Pod Challenge!

THURSDAY 29 FEB

Pool Party

2-5PM | AUT South Pool

Bring your swimming togs and good vibes - we will be giving out ice creams and sausages on the day to make sure you are fed while you are having fun.

The teen movie genre is a cinematic darling. The genre evolves as we do, magnifying modern youth culture's changing landscape. Genre favourites like ‘Ferris Bueller's Day Off’, ‘Dazed And Confused’, and ‘The Perks Of Being A Wallflower’ capture the hopes, dreams, fears and horrors of being a teenager on the cusp of adulthood. There's a pressure to fit in, discover one's identity, come of age, fall in love, and rebel.

The teen movie genre is interwoven with many other genres, like sci-fi, sports, thriller and horror. The possibilities are endless. With the genre encompassing the breadth of adolescent life, there's a movie for you whether you are a jock, geek, diva or outcast. Try the list below; you might discover one that speaks to you.

Nabeelah Khan

@nabibihabibi on Letterboxd

‘Sing Street’ (John Carney, 2016)

‘Sing Street’ is set in Dublin in the 1980s, a decade defined by mass unemployment, continuous immigration, and the ongoing shadow of The Troubles. Fifteen-year-old Conor endeavours to break free from his turbulent family life by forming a band. Amidst this journey, he strives to adapt to his new school and peers while attempting to catch the eye of a mysterious girl he fancies. The film captures adolescent angst, the discovery of self (and style), and navigating tricky relationships. The stellar soundtrack includes iconic hits from The Cure and Duran Duran, along with original catchy tunes from the Sing Street band such as “The Riddle Of The Model” and “Up”.

Although ‘Sing Street’ is quintessential of the standard comingof-age movie - Nerdy, shy boy tries to shoot his shot at the hot chick - what sets this film apart is its Irish charm and heartfelt demeanour.

Miss Stevens (Julia Hart, 2016)

High school teacher Miss Stevens (Lily Rabe) escorts a group of students to a drama competition. As Stevens grapples with her grief following the loss of her mother, we witness her forming unexpected bonds with her students, each struggling with their own insecurities.

Miss Stevens forms a particularly strong bond with Billy (Timothee Chalamet), who is a troubled teen who also feels outcast and lonely. As the pair find solace in each other's isolation and attempt to make each other happy, Billy shows clear affection for Miss Stevens which is unrequited. Don't worry–they don't pull an age-inappropriate Ezra and Aria.

A young, pre-’Call Me By Your Name’ Timothee Chalamet car-

ries this movie with so much emotion and sincerity that you'll want to join him, jumping up and down on the bed, yelling, "Don't be sad!"

This coming-of-age story touches on themes of self-discovery, compassion, and the universal longing for connection. ‘Miss Stevens’ is authentic, vulnerable and precisely what a teen movie needs to be.

‘Rushmore’ (Wes Anderson, 1998)

Eccentric high school student Max Fischer (Jason Schwartzman) is ambitious, but has terrible grades. While involved in numerous extracurricular activities, including a presidency in Rushmore Academy's beekeeping club and the fencing team captain, Max falls into academic probation.

Max quickly becomes infatuated with the new teacher, Miss Cross (Olivia Williams), when she arrives at Rushmore. His awkward crush leads him to battle his affection for her against a wealthy industrialist, Herman Blume (Bill Murray).

Wes Anderson's second feature film is told through a mature lens, dipping out of the typical teen movie formulae. The offbeat comedy still manages to be touching, even while dealing with obsession, masculine rivalry, and a taboo love interest. Max’s character is entitled, jealous, and at times a little shit - reminding audiences of the character traits that accompany being a teen in high school.

‘Ghost World’ (Terry Zwigoff, 2001)

Best friends Enid and Rebecca spend their first summer out of high school wasting time in their small-town neighbourhood. Enid has no plans for herself, reflecting adolescence's self-destructive impulse, while Rebecca approaches the new phase of her life with realistic expectations. When Enid takes a liking to older loner Seymour (played brilliantly by Steve Buscemi), the girls’ friendships diverge due to different priorities.

The girls’ friendship was built on them being social outcasts through their teenage years. It’s only once they’ve graduated that Rebecca wants to go out into the world, while Enid fails to see any plan for herself. The film feels relatable for many fresh-outof-high-school graduates, as Enid captures that post-high school malaise and aimlessness we all seem to go through, along with the fear of growing up. Enid being haunted by this directionless feeling, is a familiar experience that lingered with me after graduating high school.

‘Ghost World’ is complex, witty and dry; the dark comedy captures the cynical wit of the late 90s and early 00s (a la ‘Daria’).

The film is complete with childish antics, a reluctance to grow up, and the uncertainty of how to live your life in a world where you feel like you don't fit in. ‘Ghost World’ hits all the right spots for an end-of-summer reality check before hitting the books again.

Kathryn Knightbridge @katstails on Letterboxd

‘Empire Records’ (Allan Moyle, 1995)

This classic 90s ensemble film gave me lofty expectations when I started uni and went looking for a part-time job. Sad to say these kinds of niche, intimate workplaces are few and far between. This isn't the case, however, in ‘Empire Records’, a film centred on a group of young misfits fighting to protect their independent store from being bought out by a bigger company and sticking it to the man.

You'll recognise a young Liv Tyler (‘The Lord of the Rings’) in one of her earliest roles as future Harvard alumni Corey Mason, as well as Renée Zellweger (‘Bridget Jones's Diary’), who plays her friend and colleague Gina. Who truly shines is Debra, a Florence Pugh circa Met Gala '23 look-alike struggling with depression and self-harm. Yet, as the movie plays out, it becomes apparent that each kid has their own troubles. Troubles that their boss, Joe, is incredibly patient dealing with.

As Deb says to Corey after an emotional breakdown, "So I guess nobody really has it together." It's a love letter to the music and freedom of those who grew up in the '90s, but if you're not a Gen X baby like me, don't worry; you'll still love it. The film sports a fantastic soundtrack with everything from The Cranberries, Gin Blossoms and Dire Straits to The Martinis and Duran Duran.

‘Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging’ (Gurinder Chadha, 2008)

Out of all my picks, this one truly captures the awkwardness of girlhood, from accidentally shaving her eyebrow off to stuffing her bra with toilet paper. The film, directed by Gurinder Chadha (‘Bend it Like Beckham’), follows fourteen-year-old Georgia and her best friend Jas determined in their pursuit of becoming women. It's about learning the art of kissing and how to keep your friendship when it comes to boys. Two boys in particular - one performed by a young Aaron Taylor-Johnson (‘Kick Ass’, ‘Godzilla’), a musician named Robbie, who Georgia lovingly refers to as her "sex-god boyfriend."

The film is filled to the brim with deliciously bonkers 2000s British slang that will forever live in my head. It imprinted on me so much that perhaps it isn't a coincidence that, at my most unforgiving moments, my high school-ex was quietly referred to as discount Robbie.

‘Submarine’ (Richard Ayoade, 2010)

This indie comedy stars fifteen-year-old Welsh schoolboy Oliver Tate–a dark storm cloud in a duffle coat. Oliver (Craig Roberts, ‘The Fundamentals of Caring’) fancies himself a spy to the adults around him, especially his own parents. His other pastimes include both light arson and maladaptive daydreaming. In the first act, we find him undergoing a romantic relationship with his classmate Jordana, played by Yasmin Paige. In the second, we see him attempt to juggle between being "the best boyfriend in the whole world" and trying to save his parents' struggling marriage.

This film is Richard Ayoade's (‘The IT Crowd’) film debut as director, well known for his particular sense of humour and mannerisms. Perhaps these are what made him feel so connected to Joe Dunthorne's novel of the same name, from which he adapted the film. The similarities between his and Oliver's demeanour are, after all, noticeable. Ayoade, who before this directed the concert film, ‘Arctic Monkeys at the Apollo’, somehow formed the magic pairing that combines his script with the dulcet tones of lead man Alex Turner in his only solo body of music to datewithout which, this film would not be the same.

‘Me and Earl and the Dying Girl’ (Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, 2015)

This film often gets compared to the much more famous ‘The Fault in Our Stars’, presumably because they both feature young people suffering from cancer. What really connects them is the idea of what it means to truly live - a question that our main protagonist, Greg, comes to answer throughout the film.

Greg is all our innermost insecure thoughts as a teenager made into human form. Self-deprecating, witty, and incredibly sharp, he saves his most acerbic remarks for himself. They land so well that he's utterly convinced no one could ever like him. Only when he's urged by his mother to befriend a girl named Rachel (Olivia Cooke, ‘House of the Dragon’) does he learn to let people in.

‘Me and Earl and the Dying Girl’ is moving, funny, full of heart and features wonderful supporting roles, in particular, Greg's friend Earl and comedy favourite Nick Offerman (‘Parks and Recreation’) as Greg's eccentric dad. The last twenty minutes will leave you feeling personally victimised by Brian Eno's song "The Big Ship."

I need to know the name of the night where I drank so much at a friend of a friend’s flat party that I couldn’t stop throwing up in their bathroom. I need to know the name of the train I catch every morning at eight and the shape of the buildings I like. I need to know the name of every star in the sky. I want everything to have a name, a word to explain it. Something to call it. I want everything to be in boxes and on my shelf. There should be a neatly-written label and it should be colour coded. Blue for my emotions, orange for trivia I saw on the internet and bright red for my memories.

I can’t bear this savage desire growing in my spine and my tongue that hangs heavy with hunger. I need to know. It’s turned me into a story older than the water trapped in sand. I’ll follow the whispers knitted in the air and sneak into the garden. I’ll unhinge my jaw and swallow the apple whole, seeds and all. I’ll wipe my chin and look into the sky, I’ll learn the unknowable. I’ll keep a box of all the sorrows of the world under my bed and not open it like I’m instructed to. But I am weak and greedy so I’ll give into my temptations and see what could possibly be so bad.

My hunger is a ferocious beast that I can never satisfy. There is always more to know, more to learn.

The Turmoils of Primary School Speech Finals

For many students, school speeches are a threat looming in the not-so-far distance, a nightmare only Satan himself could have conjured up. The idea of being forced to stand in front of all your peers and give a 5-minute speech on some topic is terrifying to most, and it doesn’t make it any better when you only wrote it 12 hours earlier cause you couldn’t be fucked writing it sooner. Just saying.

I, on the other hand, have always welcomed Satan with open arms. Speeches have always been an opportunity for me to stand up, take charge of an audience and be the centre of attention for at least the next 5 minutes. My mission has always been unwavering: to entertain my fellow peers and prove to everyone that I am the king of speeches!

The first time I got into the speech finals was in year 8. Habits was the theme I had chosen, and I have to say, it was to this day the funniest thing I have ever, and will ever, write. I did so well that I got the entire class laughing - even the teacher! It was clear I would be the class representative to go to the speech finals. I remember bursting with confidence: while everyone else would be talking about boring topics like “How Electricity Works” or “The Water Cycle”, my speech would prevent them from falling asleep completely. I’d show them that speeches could be informative and funny.

Then along came Harriet - my future speech rival and the winner of every speech competition so far. Harriet had chosen to do her speech on “The Meaning of Life” - like she was some ancient Greek philosopher in a 12-year-old’s body. It was just as long and boring as you think, so I thought I had this one in the bag. The crowd would be bored, the judges would snooze off, and when I took my turn to speak, I could revive the audience from their deep slumber. I could almost hear my name, chanted by the entire year group: “Brodie! Brodie! Brodie!” Wiping tears of joy from their eyes, the judges would announce the winner (me), and I would lift the trophy so, so high

Well, that would’ve been nice. Unfortunately, once again, arch-nemesis Harriet had her way with the crowd, and our modern-day Socrates pulled out a win for the millionth year in a row. I was gutted. I fumbled the bag and now I had to wait till next year to try again. Fast-forward to the year after and the same scenario played out again! Harriet serenaded the audience with her colourful use of language features, and I yearned for redemption. However, despite my efforts, it never went in my favour. She-who-shall-not-be-named won the year after that and the year after that. Not the next year though, because she changed schools. Although, I still lost to her chosen successor - always the bridesmaid, never the bride, I guess. To this day I will forever chase that dream of being the speech champion of my school and the prestige that goes with it. The chants of my name still keep some fires in my heart alive, but somehow I don’t think they’d let me compete, seeing as I am no longer a student there. Maybe I should give the man downstairs a call after all.

written by Brodie Hunter (he/him) @brodiehunter01 | Contributing Writer

illustration by Stella Roper (they/she) @dodofrenzy

post grad advice

Everyone has something they wish they could redo.

Moments you wished you had the mindset you have now, the emotional maturity, work ethic or the foresight to take a different path. But have you ever actually been able to do it?

The truth is there is nothing that has truly made me feel this way more than university. In 2020, my third and supposedly final year, COVID-19 struck. On top of the traditional hardships of studying, this cherry on top was the beginning of an academic downward spiral. Don’t get me wrong, I managed to graduate with my Bachelor of Communications - but it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.

Since then it’s been a busy couple of years.

At some point as the new year ticked over, something changed. Whether it was my mentality or something else entirely, the feeling of something unfinished gnawed at me. I realised the moment study became all too much back in 2020 was the moment I turned away from a goal of mine that hadn’t faded since.

“Do I dare go back to University?”

Maybe all of the academic hardships I faced have built up a stronger and more prepared person, capable of facing tertiary education one more time.

Now, I’m about to start my postgraduate. New feelings of excitement and anxiety are dancing around the front of my mind. But while this will be a brand new kind of struggle, I know that I have enough in my university arsenal to support myself. Everything that went wrong I can avoid, and the things I can’t I will face.

In that same way, if I had known back in my first year everything I know now I could have done so much better. So while I may not be able to go back in time and change those things, I know there is a lot I can share with anyone else who is worried or scared walking into their first year.

We can do it together. Consider me a figurative first-year post-grad who’s ready to pass down their know-how to you, the hypothetical first-year undergrad, who might also need all the help I did.

AT Student Discount

As someone who was and still is a licence-free queen of public transport, the tertiary student discount is a BLESSING. I am beyond happy to be having it back. Anyone who is studying at AUT gets a tertiary discount for as long as their course takes place. For example, studying for a standard bachelor’s degree means for three years you will get 20%30% off each trip on trains, buses and ferries.

It is the easiest thing in the world to set up if you have the AT app. Open the menu, hit tertiary concessions, add in your

tertiary provider, take a photo of your student ID for review and you’ll have your discount up and running in no time at all!

AUT Library

The first and biggest difference I encountered with university vs high school was purely the jump in level expected in your writing. It can be jarring, and possibly take a toll on your assignments if you’re unprepared.

The AUT Library not only provides any student with a plethora of writing examples, but they also put on workshops in both digital and physical spaces. There are workshops aligned to help with getting to know AUT’s resources, learning a style of writing, and ways of referencing. Each aligned at all levels of study from undergrad to master’s.

As a baseline, I found the following to be the most helpful:

(1) Finding Library Resources for Assignments, (2) Academic Writing, (3) How to Write Reflectively and (4) APA Referencing.

In due time you will become familiar with the APA 7th referencing system in all its glory. Let me tell you now that you will want to investigate that particular workshop sooner rather than later.

Student Hub Resources

If you are having any kind of difficulty while studying, the Student Hub is the place to go. It runs as the link between you and the facilities you might not know of but need. They’ll help you if you’re overwhelmed, struggling financially, or need disability support; Rainbow students and those struggling with technology can get support too.

The first time I set foot into the Student Hub was because I was experiencing personal circumstances that were weighing on me so heavily that my assignments were suffering. Within ten minutes of talking with an advisor she had set me up with academic support. She told me that life throws unexpected things at people and there is no shame in asking for the help you need. My tutors were informed and linked to the solutions. I walked away from that meeting with a plan and a support net that helped me through the rest of that semester successfully.

Disability Support

Speaking of academic support, I feel it is very necessary to specifically mention AUT’s Disability Support. Disabilities come in all fashions with different needs to support each unique person. Going through the services myself allowed me to see the full spectrum of support systems they have available.

I’m dyslexic, so my disability falls under the umbrella of a ‘learning disability’. Like many people who have a learning disability it also comes ingrained with feelings of academic

inadequacy. Please, please do not let that get in the way of your success at university. The Disability Support team can help your work to be at the best level it can be.

Talk to your tutors

I cannot stress this point enough. Alongside presenting their lectures and teaching their tutorials, tutors will never turn someone away who needs extra guidance and clarification.

I never asked for any help during my first year. I’m sure that came down to me not wanting to look stupid or even just personal judgment that I should just be able to work it out on my own. But thinking like that gets a person nowhere in academia. Talking to my tutors became a habit over the course of my second year and then second nature in my third.

Ask questions live as they’re talking, take a few extra minutes during or after class face-to-face, or, if you feel uncomfortable going up to them in person, send them an email. I did this every time there had been content that I couldn’t seem to understand. I was given extra resources, pointed to bonus readings or a quick explanation that helped the information to click. Tutors who see that you want to learn will always actively help you. As good as any tutor is, no one can fully help those who don’t put out their hand.

While these services were the ones I personally used, many friends of mine used counselling and mental health services, LGBTQIA+ services, utilised scholarship student support, Maori and Pacific student support, and so on.

But that’s enough from me. This piece is for you, my friend. I hope this makes even the smallest part of your university life easier to navigate. As you head into this new year of study, remember that even though there is much to learn you have so many people behind you.

Everyone has something they wish they could redo. Together let’s make sure university isn’t yours.

Written by Meoghan Craig (She/Her) Illustration by Eris Mardi (They/Them)

eral semesters of failing papers. This is the sort of sign that an inner God gives you to jump ship – maybe take a breather and consider starting anew. It’s not their fault. The program was well-resourced, supportive, and extremely rigorous, and I remember the warm words of a lecturer encouraging me over Zoom to keep pushing if I really wanted to resit another year; so I knew the problem was me, hacking away at equations that I could do but didn’t want to, and ironically unable to piece two and two together. COVID-19, as you’d expect, didn’t help the matter.

But the promise of a secure future looks like something worth clinging to. Amid all the uncertainty in a student’s world: the grinding away at a workload you feel half-passionate (and then eventually quarter-passionate) about, takes a thick skin that I discovered I no longer had once I was forced to stand back watching waves of my fellow co-eds swim out with the tide. Being unable to be as happy for yourself as you are for your graduating friends is the perfect soil for imposter syndrome to germinate, burgeoning in the absence of the self-esteem that it would’ve taken to stand my ground on pursuing the career path that I really wanted – of film, of media studies, of communications – in the first place. I’m here now, in my final year of a new degree that I sincerely look forward to completing, but I made that decision off the back of a significantly more gruelling and exhausting experience: fast-food graveyard shifts for an entire year.

My full-time job at a fast-food restaurant – one that stands on a main road and collects plenty of hungry traffic – was the way for me to pay the bills, while I half-heartedly studied electronic and electrical theoryaydreaming about some tenuous, vaguely possible circumstance in which I would no longer have to complete the obligated 800 (!) hours of related on-site work experience in order to graduate. I soon offered to change my schedule, then four days a week I was pushing shifts at 9:00pm one night and finishing at 6:00am the next. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday. (I was also doing a morning shift on a Monday, which meant Sunday wasn’t much of a day off.) This is the kind of decision you reflect on and raise an eyebrow at, but the reality is that exhaustion seems like small potatoes to any student needing to side-hustle over the better part of a week to get by. ‘It builds character’, or ‘it’s nice to prove to myself that I can do it’, I’d justify to myself on the bus ride there. Already disillusioned about my career path, this seemed like the lesser of two evils.

The night shift involves two halves: cleaning the restaurant for the next morning, and slinging out burgers for an ever-rotating ensemble cast of famished townies. These two large responsibilities spill over each other like splurts of mustard and ketchup, and you’d usually not get enough time to mop the floors and rinse the equipment before the next rush of cars pulls into the drive-thru. It is a routine in which you become one with the automated grill press, learn the work playlist off-by-heart, and earn plenty of vacant time to tune out and ask yourself questions. David Byrne’s voice lights up the liminal space: ‘Well, how did I get here?’ (That’s a joke – nothing as good as Talking Heads ever played.) I’m lucky enough to have never engaged with as many aggressive customers as you might expect for a popular 24/7 food chain, but I did receive

Written By Ricky Lai (he/him)

@rickylaitheokayperson Contributing Writer

a paper bag of chicken bites to the face before being accused of selling a ‘COVID sharebox deal’. Credit where it’s due – that’s pretty creative.

Miraculously, I also didn’t acquire a taste for coffee until my sleep schedule buckled under this new routine. Dark, bitter, keeping you on edge – these are certainly three ways to describe the graveyard hours. I remember the hectic, relentless nights. I remember needing to pack the warmers full of chicken nuggets in a pre-apocalyptic fashion during the comedown of Six60’s first post-quarantine show. I remember contractors coming in to renovate the building overnight and us having to pause service every time their drilling into the walls and floor got close to deafening. But I also remember, just as clearly, the nights that felt long and lonely; the ones where I tuned out all of the music; the ones spent mostly mulling over what I wanted to do when I punched off the clock and strode out into the dawn of a different day. I kept my spirits high and optimistic until the night spun around again, and so did another espresso.

This arduous time spent under a different kind of unpleasant pressure, which crucially, I could’ve also opted out of at any moment if I wanted, is what actioned an obvious realisation: I don’t need to be doing this to myself. Just like the two aforementioned halves of the job, the stakes of my university life felt at odds between making time to wipe everything clean or staying in service to the expectations of people on the outside. And thus: Goodbye, engineering. Goodbye, night shifts.

Changing degrees is the sort of realistic shift that typically happens after a year, at most a semester, of exposure to a field that you realise isn’t what you were looking for. (The late ‘fees free’ policy under Labour helped a lot of folks figure this out without the deterrent of accumulating a loan fee too quickly.) I, on the other hand, made it as far as the early third year in a four-year degree. A heel-turn this late in the game seemed unheard of. Unheard of to whom? To me, of course! The irony is that while life is too short, learning takes time, and I actually regret none of the time spent in engineering nor on night shifts. (Except for that 21st birthday I missed one time. Sorry, homie.) I carry these lessons into my new Communications degree with an unshakeable enthusiasm and gratitude. A character arc built on only perfect choices can’t withhold the stress of a faulty compromise.

There’s a crude joke I remember as a child where three castaways of different hair colours try swimming back to civilisation. The brunette makes it only a quarter of the way, gets tired, and swims back. The redhead makes it only a third of the way, gets tired, and swims back. The punchline, of course, is that the blonde manages to swim halfway, gets tired and swims back. As a kid, of course I laughed, but if you’ll excuse the killjoy in me, I’d also secretly responded to this with, ‘How could she have known that she managed to get halfway?’ The joke then becomes something of a funny Aesop-style fable. It’s hard to gauge your own progress when you’re in the midst of the discomfort, sure. But even more than that, it becomes essential to look back and laugh at your own decisions.