Verse Magazine Edition 43 - Your Edition by Verse Magazine

Mistripple Learning Japanese with Amrit Doll House

All Shades of Beauty Me Imag[in]e with Elena Téa

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Verse Magazine acknowledges the Kaurna, Boandik and Barngarla First Nations People as the tradition custodians of the unceded lands that are now home to the University of South Australia’s campuses in Adelaide, Mount Gambier and Whyalla. Verse Magazine respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past, present and emerging. Verse Magazine also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and nwaters across Australia. It was and always will be Aboriginal land.

Contents

Cover Image Olivia Mannella, Elena Téa, Bridget Brazel, Sam Brown, Nikki Sztolc, Isabelle Raven, Lucy Turczynowicz, Nina Canala

Editor’s Letter

Verse Spotify Presents... Your Songs

The Tension Between History and Artistry

Imag[in]e with Elena Tea

Finding Meaning in an Indecipherable Encyclopedia

The Great UniSA 30th Anniversary Countdown Eyes of the Innocent Chapter Six: Epicentre

20 Refuge 22

Learning Japanese with Amrit

24 In[ter]view

38 Review

The Best Smashed Avo on Toast Hotspots in Adelaide

Humans of UniSA

Doll House

Untitled Comic

47 Mistripple 49

Recipe Mama’s Moussaka

Taboo All Shades of Beauty

Analogue Experiences with Light and Shadows

Looks of UniSA

The Signs as Your Next Travel Destination

The Olympians from Next Door

USASA Clubs: UniSA Space Club

I Wish I Could Peel Off My Skin and Replace it with Yours

President’s Letter

wanted wanted wanted wanted 20 22 wanted wanted wanted wanted • Head E ditor • Graphi c Design er • Comm s & Digi tal Edito r

LY ! LY ! A P P P P A ! Y PPL P P LY ! A A ! Y L P ! AP ! A P P LY Y L P P A Y! USAS Y! APPL A.sa. Y! APPL edu.a u / Ve r s e Rec ruit

APPL

Edition 43 | 2021

Verse Spotify Presents...

Your Songs Verse Magazine wouldn’t exist without the students of UniSA, so for the final edition of 2021 we wanted to dedicate our playlist to you - the students, contributors and readers. We asked you what you’re listening to right now and these were the results. Happy listening! Follow us @versemag on Spotify or scan our QR code to listen.

Artwork Nikki Sztolc Photo Nahum Gale Playlist You

Playlist

Edition 43 | 2021

The Tension Between History and Artistry Words Kate Newman

A philosophical question: if an artist lives but no one sees their work, did they ever make a mark?

If not a person trying to live forever? What is an artist, If not a figure, or soon-to-be figure, In history? An old name to be remembered. Revised, renowned, reprinted.

Can an artist exist in the quiet spaces the cracks and corners, the secret paths and back alleys of the world?

But what of the artists with no legacy? What of the poets who were never heard and the singers that never found a stage? What if the Mona Lisa’s rival never found a gallery to rest?

Or must an artist – to earn the title – create themselves into existence? Must they scream their presence along ‘big city’ streets and seek an audience who would grant their work value?

Did those artists exist? Did they ‘earn’ the title? Truly, is the value in history’s ability to perceive and reflect on art Or in the artistry itself?

Truly, is the value in the artistry itself, or just how others perceive it? Were Dickenson’s poems not just as profound when they were sequestered in a trunk? Were Van Gogh’s paintings not just as beautiful Before his death boosted their success? And why is it only when we die that others finally seek the value in our lives? A value, perhaps, that we were trying to convince them of all along. Of course, what is an artist

Artwork Alex Lam

Edition 43 | 2021

Imag[in]e Elena Tea

Photos Elena Téa Interviewer Nikki Sztolc

A European seaside town. The sunset on a vineyard backdrop. The smell of coffee, apparent in the morning air, and a shady spot by the lake, red wine at the ready. These are some of the images that might come to mind when looking at Elena Téa’s work. Heavily inspired by Italian aesthetics and culture, Elena has spent the last three years exploring her passion for Italy through the art she creates. Elena sat down with Verse to chat about her recent print drop, her desire to pursue ceramics as a medium, and her ‘golden dreams’.

I THINK YOU HAVE TO BE QUITE CERTAIN OF YOURSELF IF YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE A SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE.

Thank you for meeting with me today! Please introduce yourself and your artistic practice. I’m Elena Téa and I’m in my final semester of my final year studying a Bachelor of Contemporary Art. The form my work takes is more of an intuitive practice, but I really like working with tactile mediums that hold a lot of meaning and sentimentality. This year I have focused more on fabric painting and ceramics. You have your own business - Sogni Dorati. How did this come to be? Sogni Dorati came about because I’m a Virgo who, one day, decided I needed a new print for my living room. I just wasn’t happy with the state of my living room walls at the time. I started looking online but I couldn’t find anything that fit my style. So I decided I would just create one that embodied everything I love, which is this Italian, summer vibe. I designed it on my iPad that same day, printed it out, stuck it on my wall and when I posted it on Instagram people wanted to buy it, which was exciting!

Your work takes a lot of influence from European aesthetics, particularly Italian – was this purposeful or did it kind of just happen? I think over the last few years I have found a bit more of myself in this aesthetic, especially (and I keep talking about this) since COVID. It’s been nice to get back to this childlike sense of wonder. I used to travel to Italy a lot when I was little, so it’s really comforting to explore this within my style. What I love about this aesthetic and theme is that even if people aren’t Italian, they still relate to it and find something in it that speaks to them. I also think that goes back to Italy as a whole, people love to visit and it’s such a welcoming country and culture – all the food and familial practices – it’s nice to share that and also explore that within myself through my work.

Although you made the final print digitally, did you have any initial sketches? Not really – I guess that’s because it was already the same style as a lot of my Uni work. I was looking at vintage Italian posters; old Aperol bottles, Campari advertisements and things like that. I knew I wanted to have something that was kind of a portal to a different time since we can’t travel right now.

Imag[in]e

Going back to social media and Instagram, you have quite a big presence on there – do you find that it has more of a positive or negative impact on your work? That’s a good question. I think you have to be quite certain of yourself if you are going to have a social media presence. You have to be sure of what your work is and what you want it to be, because you can get a lot of comments from people suggesting that you do things this way or that way, or asking for commissions, and I think that just allows people to take artists and designers for granted. There is this tendency to fall into the trap of taking on too many commissions and you just end up doing what others want you to do instead of what you want to do. So, you just have to stay true to yourself, which is difficult, but ultimately it’s great to be able to share your work with so many people online.

That’s completely fair enough. Is there any medium you haven’t had a chance to try or that you’d really like to work with more often? Ceramics. I want to do so much more with it, but it’s such a time consuming medium and I have zero patience. I do love how much energy a fired and glazed ceramics piece holds though. It can last for years and is just so tactile. I can’t wait to do more – but I’m also kind of scared. There’s so much room for things to go wrong, they can crack, they don’t dry properly…

Have you been busy with commissions recently? I’ve had people say, ‘oh, you do prints of Italy – can you do Greece?’ and I have to say ‘I don’t know how to do that!’

I KNEW I WANTED TO HAVE SOMETHING THAT WAS KIND OF A PORTAL TO A DIFFERENT TIME SINCE WE CAN’T TRAVEL RIGHT NOW. 11

I GET THIS FEELING THAT THERE ARE A LOT OF OPPORTUNITIES THERE AND INSPIRATION WILL JUST FLOW.

I saw your ceramics pieces at the end of last year and they were really cool! I can see how it might be be a medium anyone would need to work at for a while though. As you’re graduating at the end of this year, do you have any hopes for the next year of your practice? My main dream is to go back to Italy. I guess everyone wants to travel after the last couple of years. I would just love to go back, get more inspiration, and create more! I get this feeling that there are a lot of opportunities there and inspiration will just flow. If I can’t go back, I would like to keep creating this welcoming space in Adelaide and around Australia. I feel like my practice has acted as a form of solace during this time, for myself and for other people, so I would love to continue that.

For those who don’t know, ‘Sogni Dorati’ means ‘golden dreams’, so I’d love to know what your dream life looks like. It can be a bit of a daunting question to some, but I feel like it fits the themes of your work and aesthetic quite well. Oh, you don’t even need to ask, I think about this every day. As a Sagittarius Moon and a Virgo Sun, I have planned out my dream life! No, but honestly, my dream life would be to keep living in Adelaide, in my little house with my two cats. Ideally, I would be travelling to Italy every year for their summers to gain inspiration, do some photoshoots... I would love to work more with brands and develop my own style in that way. Then I would come back to Adelaide and sell my ceramics and art. I am literally content with just that – a nice little life with my cats. ▪

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Edition 43 | 2021

Finding Meaning in an Indecipherable Encyclopedia Words Aira De Los Santos

Through the YouTube channel, Curious Archive, I recently discovered Codex Seraphinianus; a surreal encyclopedia documenting a fictional world loosely inspired by Earth’s plants, animals, scientific discoveries and society. Alongside detailed illustrations of fish resembling watchful human eyes and a life cycle of a tree which ends with the tree walking away, the fascination surrounding the encyclopedia is due to its rareness and expensiveness. If you’re fortunate enough to flick through a physical copy, it can feel like discovering a distant universe. As someone who’s only seen scans online, while I am amazed with its use of imagination, growing up with the internet, I’m desensitized to “weird” imagery. It would be more shocking to those who read it in 1981, when it was first published.

university, I still put pressure on myself to understand stuff like the autonomic nervous system immediately. Biology was one of my weak subjects (it’s neither formulaic like math, or allowed a degree of subjectivity like literary analysis), so I have to work extra hard to absorb what I have learnt. My thought process turns from, ‘Wow that’s interesting!’ to ‘Wait, if I don’t understand this, I might not do well on the test.’ Cue that feeling of dread. Sometimes my mind also goes to thinking about how privilege impacts my access to higher education. Born into a middle-class intelligent family, I am forever grateful that I grew up being able to afford school and having my parents help me with math problems I was stuck on. I can afford to be demotivated for a while because my parents can financially support me. Students with a poorer family might need to juggle work, full-time study and not have the luxury to switch majors if they’re having an existential crisis. It’s realisations like this that make the world random and cruel, and it’s even worse for women in developing countries who might never get access to proper education. Sometimes, it’s like why are any of us here anyways? Are some people just going to live their life always struggling to meet their basic needs? The issues some people go through are worse than the most awkward situation drawn in Codex Seraphinianus (that’s subjective, but my vote goes to the couple in bed slowly turning into one crocodile).

Still, Codex Seraphinianus beautifully conveys the fresh curiosity people get when learning about a topic they know nothing about, way before they are required to apply it academically or in the real world, and imposter syndrome kicks in. The author, Luigi Serafini, said that he wanted the encyclopedia to capture the feeling children get with books they currently lack the literacy skills to understand. This is shown through the text’s asemic script, without meaning, so the reader can interpret the sentences in their own way. Though, that hasn’t stopped people from trying to decipher its language, and though its letters are indecipherable, the page-numbering system is a variation of base 21.

So, instead of just enjoying my time at university, I am constantly trying to justify that I made the right choice by asking myself questions. Am I making the most out of this opportunity, or am I slacking off with assessments again? I love my courses, but maybe I was meant to be a journalist instead. Do I even have the work ethic to

Lately, I have been struggling to find that fresh curiosity children get easily. For context, I’m a first-year cognitive neuroscience student who’s 19. A lot of university-level courses build upon knowledge from high school, so even though I barely learnt about human brain structure before

Finding Meaning in an Indecipherable Encyclopedia

IT DOESN’T HAVE TO HAVE MEANING FOR US TO FIND MEANING, LIKE LIFE ITSELF.

become a researcher? These textbooks I already bought were expensive... Preparing for the future and reflecting on your privileges are both good, but sometimes I wish I could experience the world from a child’s perspective again. Their ability to just wonder excitedly about things, not motivated by anxiety, but because there’s so much, they don’t know yet about their surroundings and how society works. This overthinking also bleeds into what should be a relaxing pastime: creative writing and roleplaying. With one of the worlds I’m currently constructing, I’m obsessing over whether a fantasy alternate retelling of World War II is historically accurate or if the made-up inventions I added fit into a 20th century setting. Meanwhile, when I was a child, I just wrote whatever came to mind. Children are less inclined to make sure their world is logically consistent regardless of how realistic it is, or if their characters seem like they could be actual people. I like how with Codex Seraphinianus, there’s an unspoken rule that the world appears logically consistent. With the text being indecipherable, we only rely on Serafini’s illustrations. Throughout the encyclopedia, the colour palette used is similar. But do the images really have anything that ties them together besides being surreal? I don’t know, but he presents everything like they’re fact, as if the reader should just accept them. Some pages are better left seen rather than described; they’re hard to put into words. This confidence is something I need to learn when writing.

Part of me is disappointed that the mystery was explained away by the creator himself, and now I can’t see the world in the encyclopedia as anything but Serafini randomly mashing things together in his sketches for his own amusement. The other part of me thinks Serafini’s intentions when creating Codex Seraphinianus are fine. It doesn’t have to have meaning for us to find meaning, like life itself. More importantly, you don’t have to have all the answers figured out, and sometimes you have to make peace that there is no definite answer. Serafini is able to balance fantasy and reality not only by incorporating aspects from our world, but also by tapping into the human need to make sense of what we don’t yet understand – no matter our age.

For those looking for a deeper meaning within Codex Seraphinianus, Serafini eventually admitted in a WIRED interview that the encyclopedia “is similar to the Rorschach inkblot test” and readers project what they want to see. The images exist to let you make sense of them with your imagination, even though they’re not supposed to make sense. Without this context, I would have spent a considerable amount of time trying to understand the pictures and the words.

I know I’m not the only young university student worrying about grades and how my future is going to go. For us overthinkers, shutting off the need to think through situations is uncomfortable because it’s like losing a sense of control. It would be hard for me to approach the world like a child. But it would be helpful for us to step back and appreciate the process of learning for the sake of it. Our own world can feel just as confusing as the one in Codex Seraphinianus sometimes, but it’s also just as mesmerizing and such an honour we get to learn aspects of it in university. We even have our own “bizarre” examples, like the blue-ringed octopus, and how the brain processes signals from eyes! ▪

SOMETIMES I WISH I COULD EXPERIENCE THE WORLD FROM A CHILD’S PERSPECTIVE A G A I N . 15

Edition 43 | 2021

Great UniSA 30th Anniversary Countdown The

Volume Six (5-1)

30 years. 30 Degrees. 30 students. 30 accomplishments. To quote the band, Europe, here we are... it’s the final countdown! For the University of South Australia’s 30th birthday, we have covered 30 different degrees through the eyes of 30 different students, understanding their experiences at the uni, but, most importantly, their accomplishments. Our quest over the calendar year has welcomed some spectacular voices from Aviation to Environmental Science, Aboriginal Studies to Architectural Studies, Creative Industries to Midwifery and the list goes on. Hopefully, we have provided a fair bit of curiosity for you to start researching for yourself what UniSA has to offer. The uni experience is what you make it and the more you explore, the more you are treated. So, hopefully over the course of this countdown, you have found a means to experience the degrees that operate right next door. We hope you have enjoyed this countdown and, most of all, enjoyed your year in this very special anniversary for UniSA.

Alex Porter – Bachelor of Business (Finance) & Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting) I have found with my experience at UniSA that the uni is very flexible with my [cycling] training and racing and having extensions. I have used [my studies] as a way to switch off from when I am racing and riding. It is something that has helped me so much, especially leading into the Olympics with COVID. It was something when I was younger that I didn’t think was necessary, but now I couldn’t imagine not studying while I am competing and racing. You get told as an athlete that having something else to focus on and genuinely put your attention into helps so much for when you need to revert all your focus away from the sport. You then have just so much more energy to put into [sport], because you have been able to completely forget about it for two or three hours of the day. [For further features of Alex’s work in Edition 43, check out In[ter]view: The Olympians from Next Door on pages 26 & 27] Photo Mindy Dao

Mindy Dao – Bachelor of Business: Tourism, Event Management and Marketing After high school, I was passively following a path that was expected of me since I was unsure of who I was or who I wanted to be. It was halfway through my science degree that I realised it wasn’t the life I wanted. Despite the criticism that would entail, I took the risk enrolling into business school and, honestly, it’s been the best decision I have ever made. Through chance and strategic encounters, this led to experiences and opportunities I never saw coming. From travelling interstate for volunteer work, going overseas for the first time through a study tour, becoming a committee member for academic clubs, joining affiliated university programs (UniMentor, BCMP and Student Ambassador) and being recognised for my efforts at award ceremonies, has allowed me to meet so many wonderful people who have pushed and shaped me into the individual I am today. And so, my biggest achievement while studying at UniSA would be the person that I have grown and evolved to become; someone that is courageous, confident, open-minded, resilient, but most importantly, empathetic.

30th Anniversary Photo Prabhnisha Kaur Keshminder Singh

Prabhnisha Kaur Keshminder Singh – Bachelor of Pharmaceutical Science & Bachelor of Pharmacy (Honours) My biggest accomplishment studying at UniSA would be the network I have built in the last 4 years. From my time studying at UniSA, I have met so many people that do so many different things in the field of pharmacy and pharmaceutical science. UniSA’s Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Science degrees are renowned locally and globally. The academic staff consist of pharmacists working in various health care settings as well as pharmaceutical scientists that conduct world-class research. I think it’s a privilege that we get to meet and learn from academics that practice in different settings. Both the degrees incorporate placement topics in various relevant settings that allow students to not only get first hand practical experience, but, once again, to connect with people and build a professional network. Networking is vital to establish your place in the real world and that is my biggest accomplishment here at UniSA!

Abbey Kelsey-Evans – Bachelor of Early Childhood Education (Honours) I believe the accomplishment I am most proud of attaining whilst studying at UniSA is being employed in the field in which I am studying whilst representing my cohort as both an ASR (Academic Student Representative) and Student Ambassador. After completing my first-year placement, I was offered a casual position as an Early Years assistant. I worked that position for 2 years and recently acquired a permanent part-time educator position at another centre. I am proud of this as I have been able to apply my learning to the context of the job throughout my degree, which has really benefited the development of my knowledge, skills and pedagogy. I’m also really proud of the leadership roles I have taken up whilst studying by representing my cohort in the role of an ASR for the past three years and this year also taking on the role as a Student Ambassador which allowed me to become part of the Uni Open Days and inspire other future students to study in the Early Childhood field.

Daisy Evans – Bachelor of Primary Education (Honours) Photo Daisy Evans If big accomplishments mean “actually doing alright” within my studies, then that is my biggest accomplishment while studying at UniSA. Throughout my course I have had the opportunity to spend lots of time on placements which has allowed for me to network and make connections, which are crucial for employment and gaining firsthand knowledge about working in a classroom. Uni has been great for me to find like-minded people who have similar passions and can keep me sane during intense study periods! I have grown so much as a person all due to entering my course and having wonderful supportive tutors who have opened my mind to so many new concepts that are relevant for me as an educator, as well as so many life lessons that have grown me personally. So, for me, my big accomplishments have been personal growth through expanding my horizons. Knowledge certainly is power.

KNOWLEDGE CERTAINLY IS POWER. 17

Edition 43 | 2021

Refuge Words Malvika Hemanth

Sometimes whilst lying down in my room, I hear footsteps. Of thick, muscular legs and flat-footed soles. During these times, I can see the future or drift into the past. But now, as I step outside my refuge, I’m confronted by these white walls. Plastered with dancers, of a house on the riverside and large frangipanis that beam with vigour. They crack and squeak in different octaves and I wonder, is this a new form of communication? A medium for those that have travelled to new places and those that remain confined.

Poetry

Artwork Jessie Walker

Edition 43 | 2021

Learning Japanese with Amrit Words Amrit Kumbhar

My Experience of Learning Another Language

What it Means to Learn Another Language

Born in India, raised in Australia, but speaks fluent Japanese… How did this happen? My journey to learning a new language started in Year 8 of high school. Like many, initially, it was my passion for anime and love of Japanese food that led me to start learning Japanese. Once I started, I simply couldn’t stop – I fell madly in love with it. 8+ years of learning and now we’re here. Over the next two pages, I have laid out some useful titbits, tips, and advice for learning Japanese or, in fact, any language.

As we learn in Applied Linguistics, language cannot and does not exist in isolation. The meaning of any utterance is shaped and determined by the sociocultural contexts that surround it. This complex and inseparable relationship between language, culture, and context is the reason why learning a language is a lot more than simply learning the vocabulary, grammar, and sentence structure. A language’s history, the changing societal values, ways of expressing politeness and the culture; unique, yet, shared ways of doing and being. In trying to learn another language, you are attempting to learn a whole new way of perceiving, interpreting and understanding the world.

How To Learn

So, are you looking for the best studying technique or the fastest way of learning a language that works for everyone 100% of the time? Well, too bad, because that simply doesn’t exist. It comes down to how fast you pick up the sentence structure and grammar, how long it takes you to learn the alphabet, and how well you can pronounce words. All these factors will differ at an individual level because we all come from different language backgrounds and have access to different linguistic, socio-cultural, and economic resources that we draw when trying to learn another language. That being said, in my personal experience, two major factors that influence the rate of language acquisition are “intrinsic motivation” and “level of cultural immersion”. The principle is quite simple, if you have a strong desire that comes from within to learn the target language and are motivated to do so, you will enjoy learning it, you will see studying as fun as opposed to “work” that must be done; you will be more prone to actively seeking new ways to learn or involve yourself in the language or culture. This brings us to the next factor: the level of immersion. The more you delve into and immerse yourself in the culture, the more you learn about the language. You don’t have to go to the language’s target country to immerse yourself in the culture, especially in Australia. We have numerous clubs and communities (both in-person and online) for a range of different languages. Involving yourself in such communities can further pique your interest in the culture and, in turn, furthering your motivation to learn the language. I myself saw, and still see, learning Japanese as a hobby. In pursuing this hobby of mine, I studied Japanese as a subject in school, watched anime, hosted Japanese exchange students, participated in and even made Japanese conversation clubs, entered speech competitions, went on exchanges to Japan, hosted a radio show on Japanese songs, and made covers of my favourite songs on YouTube and much more. Yet, not once have I considered any of this as “work” or a “chore”, because it’s something I love and enjoy doing; this is how I became fluent. In terms of studying techniques, the point to remember is there isn’t one technique that will magically make you fluent; different methods target different aspects of the language, and they are all important. As such, use textbooks for learning grammar and structure and video resources to practice listening and learning useful phrases. Actively practice speaking with other learners, as well as native speakers; just make sure you don’t limit yourself to one method. Use all of them in combination as they all complete each other. With that being said, I would particularly encourage people to make speaking a component of focus. I say this because, language is inherently a social act, whether it be spoken, signed, or, heck, even danced, it’s meant to be used to communicate something to someone – so use it!! You can have a perfect understanding of the grammar and an extensive vocabulary, but if you cannot or do not use it... what’s the point?

Learning Japanese with Amrit

Let’s Learn Some Japanese!

Useful Tips Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Many learners feel shy, embarrassed, or even afraid to make mistakes when speaking and, as such, limit or avoid otherwise perfect opportunities to practice speaking. Here’s the thing: no one starts fluent, and everyone makes errors. My outlook on faltering when practising speaking is that each mistake presents you with an opportunity to learn from and improve. Ironically, with this mindset the more mistakes you make the better you get because you keep learning and improving with each opportunity. When you start to appreciate making mistakes as opposed to fearing them, you will find that over time you have more confidence in speaking and end up making fewer errors.

The Three Writing Systems of Japanese

The Three Different Levels/ Forms of Politeness Jyotaigo (常体語): Lowest level of politeness (i.e., for close friends and family) Teineigo (丁寧語): Normal level of politeness (i.e., for strangers and those with similar social status or age). Keigo (敬語): Honorific form used to show deference or respect to those of a higher social status (i.e., boss or employer).

Hiragana (ひらがな): The standard Japanese alphabet with 46 characters in total. Katakana (カタカナ): Also 46 characters, but used to translate words from other languages. Kanji (漢字): Over 3000 different characters, in most cases each character denotes a particular meaning, i.e., 愛＝love, 家＝home, 犬= dog.

Politeness in Japanese Whereas in English we achieve politeness by adding words, for example, “please”, or phrasing them in particular ways that denote politeness, like, “may I” or “would you mind”, in Japanese, politeness is built into the language. Depending on who you are talking to, honorific morphemes are attached to nouns, verbs and adjectives, in order to denote particular levels of politeness.

Greetings Below are a few ways to greet others in Japanese! My name is Amrit = Watashi no Namae wa Amrit desu (私の名前はアムリットです。) Good morning = Ohayougozaimsu (おはようございます) Good afternoon/ day = Konnichiwa (こんにちは) Good = Konbanwa (こんばんは) Goodnight = Oyasuminasai (おやすみなさい) Nice to meet you (for the first time) = Hajimemashite (はじめまして) Farewell = Sayonara (さようなら) See you again = Mata ne (またね)

Edition 43 | 2021

In[ter]view The Olympians from Next Door Interviewer Nahum Gale

The Olympic Games – the world’s largest sporting event. An event inspired by the 8th century BC to the 4th century AD ancient Olympic Games based in Olympia, Greece. An event which brings together over 200 countries for both a Summer and Winter clash of talent and skill. An event which occurs every four years... until COVID-19 said, ‘No, no, no, I don’t think so.’ When the coronavirus pandemic swept across the world early last year, I doubt anyone suspected the 2020 Tokyo Olympics would be one of the major losses of the year. Delayed to the calendar year of 2021, finally, here we are now, and the Olympic Games we all waited for has come and past. So instead of dwelling on what may have been in a COVID-less world, let’s instead just bathe in the now and celebrate the accomplishments we as a society, as Australia, as UniSA, as our very special students, have achieved in this international event of near impossible magnitude. Verse caught up with three awesome Olympian students who made the trek to Tokyo, kicking butt in their chosen fields. Over the next few pages, we will be deep diving into the lives and pursuits of Alex Porter, a Team Pursuit Cyclist and Bronze Medallist, Katarina Kowplos, a Target Rifle Shooter placing 45th in Women’s 10m Air Rifle, 36th in Women’s 50m Rifle 3 positions and 22nd in 10m Air Rifle mixed team, and Flynn Ogilvie, a Perth-based Hockey player and Silver Medallist. These three students have portrayed exceptional strength, tenacity, and power from their training to their eventual performance on the world stage. Working closely with UniSA’s Elite Athlete and Performer Program, the trio have managed to live out their dreams and embark on, quite literally, an adventure of a lifetime. But firstly, what is UniSA’s Elite Athlete and Performer Program you ask? Well, we also touched base with Brooke Zabrowarny, the coordinator for the program, to understand how these students managed to juggle both their studies and the Olympian experience.

In[ter]view

UniSA’s Elite Athlete and Performer Program

What have you found to be the biggest successes of the Elite Athlete and Performer Program? In my experience, the biggest successes of the program are where we can assist a student with an assessment extension or rescheduling, a placement scheduling variation, or providing advice on flexible study options. It may seem like a simple thing, but students are always so grateful when we can help work around their training schedule with their placement requirements, or when a competition has meant last minute travel, and we work together to figure out when and where assessment can take place. We aim to help strike the right balance between work, life and sporting and performing commitments and understand that anything can change at a moment’s notice when it comes to an athlete or performer’s schedule. We also receive great feedback from recipients of our Elite Athlete and Performer Program grants; reimbursement of some of the costs for travel, accommodation, registration fees and official uniforms for competitions makes such a meaningful difference to grant recipients.

with Brooke Zabrowarny

What is UniSA’s Elite Athlete and Performer Program UniSA’s Elite Athlete and Performer Program was formed in 2004 through partnership with the Australian Institute of Sport’s Elite Athlete Education Network (EAEN) Program. The goal of UniSA’s program is to support athletes and performers, from emerging to elite, to achieve academic excellence while also pursuing a professional career in sports or performing. The program provides tailored academic support to a cohort of approximately 250 current students who represent around 50 different sports and performing disciplines. In short, the program has three main components: 1. Facilitating flexible study arrangements We understand that performance and competition commitments may impact program participants’ studies, so we work with students, and Academic and Professional staff to facilitate flexible study arrangements. 2. Providing financial support In addition, we also offer Elite Athlete and Performer Program specific grants to provide helpful financial support both in times of financial hardship, or to help recoup some costs from travelling for competitions. 3. Industry engagement We also undertake an Industry Engagement role with a variety of sporting organisations to provide advice to prospective students, and to help facilitate the application and admission process for elite athletes looking to start study.

What has the process been like preparing students and helping them on their journey to the Olympics? In addition to the students and graduates who participated at the Tokyo Olympics, there were a number of students who were in training for the Olympics and attended National training camps for the Olympic selection process. Understandably, it’s a hugely exciting opportunity to prospectively participate in the Olympics, so we wanted to help as much as possible when students got the exciting call up to attend National selection camps. It was around Olympic selection time that there was a flurry of activity, to either arrange alternative assessments, drop enrolments, add enrolments in future study periods, provide advice on online study opportunities, and subsequently to assist with media enquiries. I felt so much pride watching UniSA’s five students and recent graduates compete at the Olympics; I have so much respect for their drive and ability to successfully coordinate the complexities and workloads of both study and competing at such an elite level.

How can students get involved? Athletes and performers can apply to join the program via an online application form on the UniSA website. A letter of support from a relevant sporting or performing institution/ association and a copy of a current training/ rehearsing and competing/ performing schedule should accompany an application.

How does the Program relate to UniSA Sport? UniSA Sport offers an innovative Athlete Development Program which is specifically available to elite athletes studying at UniSA. The program offers unprecedented access to UniSA Sport’s high-level facilities and training environments with support from highly qualified staff. In addition, students in the Athlete Development Program will have access to on-campus allied health services and fitness testing facilities, in the areas of physiotherapy, podiatry and exercise physiology. You can see a list of the 2021 Athlete Development Program participants here.

IT’S A HUGELY E X C I T I N G OPPORTUNITY TO PRO SPE C T I V E LY PARTICIPATE IN THE OLYMPICS. 25

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Alex Porter Why did you initially pursue cycling? I had hardly ever ridden a bike until I was about 15. When I was at school, the South Australian Sports Institute did fitness things around different schools and we were just having to do it as a part of PE. They said from all the testing they did that I had the right makeup to be a cyclist. I originally turned it down, because I thought, ‘Why would I want to be a cyclist? That sounds stupid.’ Then they asked me again the following year. In between that, I had watched the Tour de France with my uncle and thought, well they asked me again, so I may as well see what it is about, and it kind of just snowballed from there. How did you become affiliated with UniSA’s Elite Athlete and Performing Program? After about two or three years, after school, I kind of wanted to do something a bit different, away from the bike to help me switch off, because I was getting pretty bored. Literally for three years, all I would do was ride a bike, watch Netflix and play PlayStation, which was good for a time, but after a while I got pretty sick of that. We have sport coordinator type liaisons who help us with uni and they just recommended me to do the Business degree at UniSA, because it’s a really broad degree and I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. So, then I went into the Business degree and, from that, I really enjoyed the accounting subjects, so I switched across to Commerce and Business Finance. How does one train to get to an Olympic level? A lot of time and effort. On average, every week, I train anywhere from 22 to 26 hours. So, most days you are training either morning or night and you get maybe one or two days a week where you can have a day off or just ride for a little while. Then, if you are doing one session in a day, it can be from a 4 to 6-hour ride and then you basically just have to do that day-in, day-out for pretty much your whole career. At the moment, I have two months where I can just kind of do my own thing, but I think up until this point, I have been riding for about 10 years and the longest I have had off a bike is three weeks.

Addressing the elephant in the room, with COVID-19 pushing back the Tokyo Olympics for about a year, did you feel any uneasiness around the event being cancelled? Definitely. Up until we left, we were still preparing for it to be cancelled. Once it got postponed and we knew it would be a year later, and that was pretty hard at first. Then it was just rumours. I remember we were racing in January, and there was an article that came out saying the Games were cancelled. So, we pretty much just had to focus very short term and worry about what we could control. We were running the mantra of, ‘It’s better to be ready and it not be on, then not to be ready and it goes ahead.’ So, we just played ball, as per usual, and you just had to block out that outside noise from the media and people constantly asking if it was going to be on. As far as we were concerned, it was always on. What was it like travelling overseas during a pandemic? It was crazy! I remember when we flew from Brisbane down to Sydney to head up there, and we were in Sydney International Airport, I reckon I saw 30 people in the whole airport. So even leaving the country was weird. It felt bizarre being on a plane. I hadn’t really been on a plane in ages. And then, once we got to Tokyo, because it was so regimented and everything, it took us 4 hours to get out of the airport. We had to go through six or seven different screening checkpoints. Then we had to wait in a room and wait to be allowed to leave. But it was definitely strange going over there. When we arrived at the airport in Tokyo it was empty. There wasn’t a single person in the airport, which was surreal. It felt like when you see airports in zombie movies and there is just no one there. It felt exactly like that.

In[ter]view

Tell us a bit about that hazardous fall you had on the track. For anyone who doesn’t know, the handlebars on Alex’s bike detached midrace at the Olympics. Well, they’re still trying to work out exactly what happened to it, but that was not something I was expecting. We had a really good prep; everything was going according to plan. Everyone was feeling very confident that we could get a gold medal; we were excited to race. Everything was going normal, I got out of the gate and I was really happy with my start. We were all moving well, the team was going really fast, and then, I was literally coming into the track and I felt my arms disappear away from my body and I could see the track getting closer to my face. But my brain didn’t piece together what was happening; you could have given me a billion guesses and I would never have guessed anything like that would have happened. It wasn’t until I was this far away from the track that it clicked in my head that something at the front of my bike had just snapped in half. By the time I could process it, I was sliding across the ground on my face. How do you come back from that as a team and as yourself? The main thing that got me through was the support of the team. After it happened, I was pretty frustrated at first that something like that could happen there, but we had all put in so much effort and so much work. Us, as a group, had been together for five years. For the five years leading into that, I wanted to go out there and, for me personally, do the best I could for the team. So that was what was maybe motivating me to get back out there. The other boys, once they saw I was up and fine and I was walking, they were all coming up to me, telling me, ‘I would be good to go; let’s go out there and rip it again.’ It was definitely having them around and thinking of everything we had all been through. That was one of the main things that helped me switch that mindset back from that being a really bad situation and wanting to have it be the end of our Olympic story at Tokyo, to wanting to try and help them turn it around.

To look back on it now, and when I look at the medal, I am just really proud of what we managed to do. It just showed what our team had tried representing for five years of resilience and never giving up. So as much as I would love to go back, I am almost prouder of it now, looking back on it, then if it had just gone to plan. What does it feel like representing your country in something as big as the Olympics? As cliché as it sounds, it is hard to put into words, because when you put on the green and gold tracksuit, at first, you can feel the hard work has paid off to get it on. But then to be able to walk around wearing the green and gold, seeing photos of yourself in it and especially coming from a country like Australia where we are so passionate about sport, there is just this immense feeling of pride. It’s a very special feeling that whenever you put [the tracksuit] on, it doesn’t diminish its impact at all. You can put it on 1000 times and it doesn’t feel less special to know that you are representing everyone.

And to still walk away with a Bronze Medal... How euphoric did that feel at the end of the day? It made it feel so much easier to deal with what had happened. To go through all of that and get a bronze, it was as close to a gold medal, without getting a gold medal. And I had moments after, back in my room, later that night, where I had to clean my arm for like the fourth time and it was just covered in blood, absolutely burning, and I just looked at my arm and it didn’t hurt as much, knowing we were able to turn it around and bring that bronze home, as opposed to not having anything.

WHEN YOU PUT ON THE GREEN AND GOLD TRACKSUIT, AT FIRST, YOU CAN FEEL THE HARD WORK HAS PAID OFF TO GET IT ON. 27

Edition 43 | 2021

Katarina Kowplos What was it like receiving the news you had qualified for the Olympics? It was completely surreal! I found out last year in 2020, in either March or April, I can’t remember for sure, but I was completely expecting the phone call I was getting to be like, ‘Oh you haven’t been selected’, even though I was in the top of the people who were listed. I was completely expecting that even though I was on the top of the rankings for three positions, which were the events I qualified for officially, I wasn’t expecting them to use my quota for that. I was just completely expecting it to be a not qualifying phone call but when they said I did I was just in shock for a while. I wasn’t even allowed to tell my parents immediately.

Who has been your biggest support base over the years, leading up to the Olympics? Over the years, it’s not exactly been a single person, but I would say my home club, SSAA (Sporting Shooters Association of Australia) Para. They have really helped push me to where I am now. Obviously, my family, I can’t discredit them. My grandma last year even had a Channel 7 news report done on her, following how she helped fund a rifle for me to go over [to Tokyo]. I actually qualified with a borrowed rifle I didn’t own. Also, people at uni I have met this year. I have been stuck on very long phone calls with them over in Tokyo. Like 4-hour phone calls or longer; they have definitely been there emotionally for me while I was over.

How did it feel knowing the Olympics would be delayed a year as well? It was kind of surreal. I don’t think I fully processed the fact I was still going, and it actually took until a couple of months ago that I thought, ‘Wow, this is getting close.’ There were all these posts on Instagram saying, “50 days to go”, and I was like, ‘Ah... that’s close!’ But honestly it was really good for me. I am younger, so I needed that extra bit of training, even if it was all in Australia. What was it like travelling internationally during a pandemic as well? I was lucky enough to have both my vaccinations a bit beforehand, so they were at their max sufficiency. It was a bit shocking, the fact we were flying out of our little safe bubble. In Australia, we were really taking for granted the cases we had in the country and the fact we were leaving that. The flight to Japan, considering we were all on the same flight, I was sitting there thinking like, ‘This is fine, we are all from Australia, we will be COVID negative’, but you don’t really know that when you are over there. We were all really careful with masks everywhere (we also had Australian masks – I loved those masks), and hand sanitiser, using it on seats if we were sitting down in places, especially in the first few days. But the number of precautions they took over there was pretty full on, which was definitely good. We even had daily COVID tests.

In[ter]view

How do you focus when you are shooting as well? How do you get into a ready mindset right before you pull that trigger? Honestly, it’s a lot of practice and learning how to get your head down into it. So, if you have a bad shot, you really have to push it behind you, because you cannot do anything to change that and it’s now on the screen. There are electronic targets, just for reference, so you can see how you shot the shot before or any other shot before that. You just kind of have to accept it’s there, acknowledge it and just push it away and try and get back into that headspace and not blow your lid, because once you have done that, it’s really hard to close it back in. Being a uni student as well, how did you juggle these two massive commitments? Definitely have made use of the Elite Athlete program because I definitely needed it. I am still a full-time student so I am doing four subjects still, even though I competed [at the Olympics]. It’s really been having to work around assignment due dates. Speaking directly with teachers has helped out a bit. Also, there has just not been a lot of sleep. A mix of the three.

Did it feel like a big weight on your shoulders representing your country on the world stage? Prior to going over there, I already understood that, at the level that I am at, I was already lucky I had been given the opportunity to compete for Australia at such a young age. I mainly wanted to go over there to do as well as I could, and I understood I wasn’t aiming for perfection or to be at the top of the rankings or anything like that. I just wanted to do well on the day. So, I think I lost a lot of pressure from that. A lot of people had high expectations and as soon as you can’t reach those, it breaks you down.

What advice would you give students wanting to pursue a spot in the next games? I would say go to your local come and try; there is really no pressure. For people who are already in elite levels, make sure you get close to your [course] coordinators because without their assistance it’s really hard to do anything and the fact they help you one on one or via email at dumb times, it is just definitely helpful to ask a few things. And just make sure you get into asking teachers earlier, and not even just in learning. They want you to succeed in any way possible, and if you are going to give them the opportunity to work around you then they are just as happy to do it.

What was the Olympic experience like for yourself in general? We actually had a temporary range set up there. It wasn’t exactly how it would have looked. Sometimes they use temporary ranges and sometimes they use permanent ones they build for the game. They do that for a lot of structures, so they aren’t wasting facilities. Honestly, the thing I liked about competing the most over there were the volunteers; the Japanese hospitality. We had to have specific volunteers for us because we used firearms, so these people who had been helping us out for the last two weeks, waving us goodbye at the airport with these big purple signs... the games, there was just this incredible environment around it. What did a typical day at the Olympics look like for you? I had to wake up at 10am and then there would be a 45-minute bus to the range. You walk to the bus depo and, once you finally get to the range, you are kind of stuck with a little bit too much time. So, you go from rushing earlier only to slowing down as soon as you get to the range. Rifle shooting is set up in qualifications and finals, so everybody shoots in the qualifications and the top 8 people make it into the final and the qualification is maybe an hour. You get to the range about an hour and a half before that time and you prepare, you stretch, kind of chill out and get into the right headspace for it.

IT WAS A BIT SHOCKING, THE FACT WE WERE FLYING OUT OF OUR LITTLE SAFE BUBBLE. 29

Flynn Ogilvie THE OLYMPICS IS THE END GOAL OF A FOURYEAR CYCLE. Hockey, being a team sport, have you always found more comfort, success and confidence in a team environment rather than a singular sport? I never really did any individual sports. As a kid, I always played hockey and cricket, they were the main two, but then I also tried touch footy and basketball and things like that. So individual sports never really appealed to me. I think I just prefer to be a part of a team then just be by myself and I am pretty happy about that decision now because when we go to training at 6:30 in the morning, it’s much better to go with some other guys than go by yourself.

players at the start of the year to train until the Olympics, but then they pick the Olympic team of 16, because the rules at the Olympics are different with the amount of players you can have. They pick the Olympic 16 about a month out from the Olympics and then that’s the Olympic team. So, whoever is picked in that 16 gets ratified by the AOC (Australian Olympic Committee) and then they are a part of the Olympic team. How did it feel finding out you were going to the Olympics? A bit weird. I live with my girlfriend over here now and my mum came over to visit, so she was in our little apartment with us the day I found out, but she went for a walk because we knew when we would be getting the email. The whole household was a little bit nervous, because we didn’t know what the outcome would be; either, very disappointed or really, really excited. When I found out though, I was really excited. So was mum. So was my girlfriend. But it was a bit weird, because we are all mates with everyone in the squad and obviously 11 of those guys missed out on the team. So, you do feel for them at the same time as being excited for yourself. We are all really close; we train together, get coffee, play golf. So, it’s super exciting reading your name on the email, but 2 minutes later you begin to realise 11 names aren’t there and you feel pretty sad for them.

Being from Wollongong, affiliated with a South Australian university and having moved to Perth, how did all this moving around for Hockey work and feel for you? It’s sort of the thing you have to do with hockey, because the whole squad is based over here [in Perth]. So, as you start to move up through the ranks in Hockey, and if you want to make the Kookaburras, you have to eventually move to Perth. It’s just sort of something I had to do. It still isn’t an easy decision having to move away from family and friends, but I was lucky because my sister and her now husband were over here when I moved over. So, I lived with them. It made it more comfortable and easier for me to move. But it was difficult moving away from family, in particular, but it was just something I had to do for hockey. It’s all been worth it. What are the processes like for qualifying in the Kookaburras and then qualifying for the Olympics? So, every year, the Kookaburras pick a 27-man squad. We usually play with 18 players on the field, so for every tournament they need to cut that squad down to 18, but that 27 will train all year in Perth and they will take different people to different tournaments. There’s not much difference in an Olympic year, they will still pick the 27

What did international travel during the pandemic do to the stress your team was presumably already facing? Before we went was definitely the most stressful, because we really didn’t know what to expect. We were getting information from the AOC about all the restrictions and such that were being put in place and we, expecting the worst, thought we would probably be sitting in our room

besides when we were at hockey. So that was probably the most stressful, but once we got there, we were really cautious as a team – both the hockey team and the whole Australian Olympic team. The first few days we were really, really cautious and didn’t want to go anywhere near anyone else; even going to the dining hall was stressful, because other counties just weren’t being as cautious as we were. But as you settled in and got used to the protocols the Australian team had put in, it started to feel more comfortable. You felt much safer being in the Australian team than some of the other teams. The building was very clean. Rules were in place and people were sticking to them. Whereas you would see other countries walk around without masks sometimes and not doing the right things in the dining hall, not distancing themselves from other countries. So, I think the Australian team and the AOC as a whole did a really good job making us feel safe. We really weren’t that stressed about coronavirus after the first couple of dates. What were the facilities like when accommodating athletes as well? They were really clean. When we travel, we usually stay in a room with one other person, in sort of hotel rooms, but at the Olympics it is always a bigger apartment. We had six of us in a room which was different and a bit busy, but it made it fun. The accommodation was really nice. Japan did a really good job of putting the village in a really nice area. In a lot of other Olympics, the village is usually just put where it can fit, but Japan reclaimed some land in the Tokyo harbour. We were right in the middle of the city. They reclaimed the land and put a nice little village on it. I think they are now selling the hotels as high-end apartments. So, it was all very nice, it was just a shame we had no fans there to share it with.

Did you guys have any struggles during play as well? We definitely had things go wrong. In the first game, one of our players tore his hamstring. We were pretty lucky that this year, due to coronavirus they changed some of the rules. Normally you have sixteen players and two reserves and those reserves can only come in once a player is completely out of the tournament, but this time they gave us 16 and 2 reserves, but the 2 reserves could come in for any game and swap back out. It was a lot more flexible, just because of coronavirus. Were the Games more a positive or negative experience for you? I think just because the Olympics is the end goal of a four-year cycle, during those four years you are stressing about being selected and playing well and you don’t want to miss out on teams and all that sort of stuff, but once you are selected in the Olympics, that’s sort of the end goal and you don’t have to stress about selection pressure and playing well too much anymore. You are there. You have been selected. All you have to do is play. So, for me, it was a really fun tournament and I think that’s just because the pressure was off and I could just go out, play hockey and do what I do. Coming back with a Silver, what emotions came from achieving that? Initially, we were very disappointed. There were a lot of upset guys in the change rooms straight after and I think that disappointment has carried on. I think the boys are still disappointed when they look at that Silver Medal because we realised we didn’t win the Gold. But the biggest thing for us is the support we received during the Games and after that it makes you realise the Silver Medal is a huge achievement even though we wanted to win the Gold. And even though we still have a bit of disappointment when we see the Medal, we realise it is a massive achievement. 2.9 million Australians watched us in that game, so we reached a lot of people and hopefully influenced a lot of people. I think we did, because we were getting messages from people that we had never spoken to saying they teared up or that someone is starting to play hockey because they watched the Kookaburras play. I think things like that are more important than the Gold Medal. ▪

Edition 43 | 2021 Artwork Jess Bruno

Edition 43 | 2021

I Wish I Could Peel Off My Skin and Replace It with Yours Words Mai Nguyen

5 minutes. It was 5 minutes into the date before he popped the question. ‘Where are you from?’ It doesn’t matter who asks me, whether it’s the catcalling tradie and his rammer on Kilburn Street, or the old lady on the bus with the wiry hair and too much lipstick. Every time I get hit with the question, I always hesitate approximately 4 seconds before I answer. I know they want me to say where I was born – Vietnam, in the vibrant, historical city of Hanoi. And after those 4 seconds, I do, and I always make sure to give them a smile as they start gushing about how much they love ph or bánh mì. Of course, I don’t really talk about how I’ve lived in Australia the majority of my life and I have more memories of this country than of my hometown, or how, although I am not a citizen here, this is my home, and even though I am a citizen of Vietnam, I don’t know if it is home. That lengthy sentence usually stifles people. Even the tradie. ‘Vietnam! I was born in the capital city.’ The Kensington Hill garden trail was a beautiful place for a first date. All sorts of objects from famous stories were tucked away in secret corners, like the Nimbus 2000 hanging from the fig tree, or the Narnian lamp post half-hidden behind the eucalyptus. ‘Oh, cool! I’ve never been overseas so I don’t know what it’s like. So, what’s it like?’ We stopped to sit on a log, right outside Bag End. I turned away quickly and smiled. It wasn’t going to be a typical phở discussion. ‘It’s a pretty city. Lots of Vietnamese-French architecture. And the people are really lovely.’

‘Nice.’ I peered at him, sitting there in his Nike Airs and North Face jacket. His skin tone was almost the same as mine – pale, discoloured, and yet, anyone could tell he was White and I was Asian. Here I go again. This focus on skin, my skin, his skin, their skin, and how just because I was born in this skin, my identity has been shaped. It’s supposed to be an organ. Why can’t it just be an organ? ‘Well, your English is really good.’ He stood up and tried to open Bilbo’s door. It was locked from the inside. I wanted to be a smartass and say his English was good too, but I didn’t. ‘Thanks! I moved here when I was 8, and it’s been 12 years, so that’s probably why.’ ‘That’s pretty cool. Can you speak Vietnamese then?’ A bougainvillea bush grew right next to the log, all magenta and pink. I rubbed a leaf between my fingers. It was soft, like Mum’s skin on the back of her hand. Grandma said all the kids in their war-ravaged neighbourhood thought she was a porcelain doll, skin white and velvety. Those same kids grew up to chastise my sister on the day she was born. Bronze and coppery and wrinkly, straight out of the womb. Đen, they called her. Black. A slight exaggeration, but Vietnamese aunties are good at that.

I Wish I Could Peel Off My Skin and Replace It With Yours

Dad always said to ignore the haters. I always thought it was easy for him to say. His skin glowed chestnut, tanned and singed from the sun. But everyone loved it. A darker man looks strong and proud, they’d say. His skin was fitting to his name – Quang, which literally meant “the sun”. Maybe that’s why my parents believed it was fate that they ended up together. Mum’s name meant “the moon”. She glowed like ivory too. ‘Yeah, it’s more like Vietlish though.’ ‘Oh, so like both in a sentence?’ ‘Yep.’ The words didn’t come so easily. Our skin made me agitated. He sat down next to me, his Nikes touching my greyed Kmart shoes. He stroked his thumb against mine, soft and gentle. I looked at his hand, his long fingers, and the organ that stretched over them. Maybe in a few years, I’ll tell him that I was never nervous on our first date. I just never spoke because my obsession with skin filled up all the empty spaces in my body. It clogged up my stomach, weighing me down just enough for me to still breathe, but not fully live. It spilled into my larynx, blocking the words from coming out. But that’s the thing. I might not even be here in a few years. There’s no way to properly plan for the future when you’re astray in an immigration system designed to kick you out. They don’t want us here, Mum always said. It doesn’t matter if I am an Honours student or I speak perfect English or I pay taxes.

It all comes back to skin. This organ, this layer of epidermis full of melanocytes. My skin wasn’t pearly like Mum’s or scorched like Dad’s. It was somewhere in between. Like me. Stuck in between my home and my home. A gust of wind blew past us, churning the leaves on the dirt trail. ‘I love the wind,’ I said. ‘This is my favourite type of weather.’ ‘Oh. Well, I hate the wind.’ ‘Oh.’ I closed my eyes and imagined the wind blowing me away. Far, far away, past Buddhist temples and sausage sizzles at Bunnings and airport officers in uniforms and rickety bánh mì carts. Past Vegemite jars on supermarket shelves and cracked roads and towering churches and women clutching Louis Vuitton rip-offs bought from street vendors. I imagined it blowing me home. ▪

EVERY TIME I GET HIT WITH THE QUESTION, I ALWAYS HESITATE A P P ROX I M AT E LY 4 SECONDS BEFORE I ANSWER. 35

Edition 43 | 2021

Me Words Eliza Dunn

I once feared being alone, but now I dream of it. Peaceful selfishness, forget solidarity. No one to share with fight with reason with or talk to. A blissful emptiness full of only me.

Artwork Sonia Zanatta

Edition 43 | 2021

Review: The Best Smashed Avo on Toast Hotspots in Adelaide Words Nate Drewett

Tell me, fair readers, is there a more satisfying simplicity than a meal that literally consists of just a smashed avocado on toast combo? I think not. Over the last year or so, I have decided to occupy myself with a quest to find Adelaide’s best spots for avo on toast. Now, I would like to preface, it was difficult enough ranking the 30 or so smashed avocado on toast that I have tried at various cafés, let alone being able to experience every Adelaide café’s brunch menu (which is probably in the hundreds). So, bear with me as I whittle my experiences with this brunch staple down to just 10, presenting the definitive (not really) best smashed avocado on toast in Adelaide. 10. Stella’s, Henley Beach Right in Henley Square, Stella’s provides a solid avocado on toast, really setting the standard for cafés in Adelaide. Topped with cherry tomatoes, feta, watercress and a balsamic glaze, it nails all the right flavours. Nothing too fancy, just incredibly delicious, with a beautiful seaside view.

4. Dear Daisy, Forestville Probably the best presentation of any dish on this list, Dear Daisy, down in Forestville, provides another take on smashed avocado. With adorable 70’s inspired artwork of some doggos on the side of the café wall, it provides a great spot for an awesome Instagram post and delicious food. Dressed beautifully, you might want to take a photo before enjoying this one!

9. The Brady Brunch, North Adelaide It is very difficult for me to not give this Melbourne Street café bonus points for including a pun in its name. The Brady Brunch delivers a tasty edition of smashed avocado on toast and a stand out balsamic vinegar which is a little bit different in its flavours compared to the others on this list.

3. The Nourish’d Kitchen Café, Stepney Tucked away on a little side street in Stepney, this café keeps it simple with cherry tomatoes, dukkah, edible flowers and poached eggs topping the avocado – simple. But, when you have the freshest avocado, you do not need to overload it with extras. Hands down the best tasting avocado on this list, just some of the intangibles made it drop to the third spot.

8. The Moseley, Glenelg The Moseley is not really a café, nor would you think it would be known for its smashed avocado on toast, but here it is at eighth. Smooth avocado, perfectly toasted ciabatta, and knockout dressings, it is a damn good avo on toast. It also gets some extra points for providing a cosy place for breakfast on a rainy winter morning.

2. East Borough Eatery, Parkside East Borough Eatery in Parkside has more of an adventurous take on smashed avocado on toast. Including jalapenos amongst other familiar additions such as dukkah, radish and beetroot puree, providing a spice that balances out the other flavours, because if there is one thing you do not want an avo on toast to be is bland.

7. Peter Rabbit, Adelaide If it is good enough for Hugh Jackman, its good enough for anyone. Peter Rabbit, tucked away off Hindley Street on the west side of Adelaide, is one of the more popular cafes in SA. With a large portion of avo on rye toast, cherry tomatoes and dukkah, this one is a classic.

1.Banksia Tree Café, Port Adelaide Located in the heart of Port Adelaide, this ethical café sources almost exclusively South Australian produced ingredients, which gives it a massive plus before we even get to their avocado on toast! Delightfully seasoned with crumbly feta, balsamic glaze, and beetroot dust, this smashed avo on toast is not too complicated, but that is what makes it the best. With some of the freshest ingredients and perfectly dressed, Banksia Tree Café takes the number one spot. ▪

6. Pickle in the Middle, Unley One of the more stylish cafés with fantastic décor, this little yellow pickle specialist café has a fantastic smashed avocado on toast. With crispy kale, pickled red onions and tamari seeds, you cannot go wrong with this choice. 5. The Loose Caboose, Hindmarsh Set in a refurbished train station, hidden away near Plant 4, this avocado on toast is very inventive. Served with a sweet hummus and chorizo jam and additional dukkah and chermoula, its creative flavours that work so well together definitely has it deserve a spot on this list. 38

Artwork Danielle Fopp

Edition 43 | 2021

Humans of UniSA Presented by On The Record

Everyone has a story... It is the concluding entry into Verse’s Humans of UniSA segment in 2021 and On the Record have contributed a final three individuals to the ranks of amazing talent they have garnered over the year. OTR’s reporters have endlessly shown their commitment and passion in bringing the most hidden, distinct and intricate voices to print in this year’s magazine issues. The people we have managed to document in this slice-of-life article series have continued to provide riveting insight into how just the everyday person you pass on the way to class is involved in a whole wonderful world separate to your own. If anything, this tapestry of students will continue on in Verse as the perfect snapshot of how diverse our cohort is in this day and age, from passionate artists to curious physios to headstrong journalists.

Want more? Scan the QR code to visit OTR’s website!

Humans of UniSA

Interview by Ashleigh Buck

Natalie Bellardino

Photo Natalie Bellardino

Bachelor of Contemporary Arts

What has been the highlight of your degree so far? Learning analogue black and white photography has been such an insightful and exciting experience within my degree thus far. Learning from scratch how to navigate and take images on a film camera, then develop, scan, and print them manually (using the facilities that most are unavailable elsewhere) has been great. It makes you appreciate the craft in a whole different light (pun intended). Meeting like-minded individuals who appreciate the arts as much as you do is wonderful too. Art literally can be created from whatever and by whoever. Being able to see everyone’s different visual styles, perspectives and artworks are exciting. It makes university worthwhile. Especially in the art community, it is valuable to meet people who share a similar passion as you.

my Instagram. From there, I attracted friends and family wanting similar portraits in this style. Whether it be of a dog, cat, family, friends, or a baby portrait, gradually my followers, close contacts and community were wanting a custom portrait for themselves. From large to small scale, colour to black and white, paint to pencil, my commissions ranged to what best suited them. These are all posted on my Instagram. I am so blessed to have this opportunity to create custom art for people. All in all, my main priority is that they are happy, and that’s honestly the thing that I enjoy the most about sharing my work. Not only can I create sentimental and personal pieces, but additionally use my skills to capture exactly what they want. What do you hope to achieve career-wise through your degree? Inside the arts, there are so many opportunities that come where you can be involved. I guess for me it’s to be involved in those activities, chances and events and build connections with other artists and professionals to further strengthen my standing as an artist. This degree has challenged and pushed me creatively every day, in hopes to strengthen my practice and conceptual ideas. Career-wise, I hope these can be clearly articulated inside my work. I am open to exploring new fields that allow me to employ my artistic perspective.

As an artist, what would you say is your biggest inspiration? How do you incorporate this into your pieces? Recently, my biggest inspiration for my art is pinpointing what I am genuinely interested in and then, therefore, creating work that is both intuitive and evaluative. There’s sometimes an absence of appreciation when considering how much time, skill and technical application that comes with creating art. I try to highlight certain aspects, like shadow, tone, light, and dimension, to further celebrate these qualities while incorporating subject matter that overall is inspired by the world around me.

To aspiring artists out there, what would be one piece of advice you would give them? The best piece of advice I can give to others is to not be afraid to share your work with people, both digitally and in person. You never know who it might inspire.

You do commission work for the public; how did you get into this? What do you enjoy most about creating work for friends and family? Yes, I do! It was so unexpected! It all started last year through COVID when I decided to create an Instagram page sharing my art publicly. I was out of my comfort zone when I first began posting, but I kept it as honest and real as I could. I started sharing my past works done from high school and experiments from university, manifesting my account as a digital journal of some sort. It wasn’t until Mother’s Day where I created a gift for my mum of our two precious dogs. As black and white portraits, one of each dog, I posted the framed pieces to

ART LITERALLY CAN BE CREATED FROM WHATEVER AND BY WHOEVER. 41

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Interview by Clem Stanley

Isabelle Higgins

Photo Isabelle Higgins

Bachelor of Physiotherapy (Honours)

Tell me a bit about your degree and why you study it? I thought it would be something that I’d be quite good at and enjoy. I love movement and the human body. It’s also really relevant to my life and my passions. I just really enjoy it and it has a lot of different avenues and areas to go down.

If you weren’t rowing or studying physio, what do you think you would be doing? I would definitely be at uni still, but probably back in Tassie. Maybe another type of allied health; I think that field is definitely my area. Maybe nursing, I thought about that the other day; I would quite like to be a nurse. Or maybe medical imaging. I almost did a medical radiation course in Tassie. I also almost did Law, but I can’t see myself as a lawyer nowadays.

I hear you are a pretty good rower. What can you tell me about that? I have been rowing for nine years and started when I was at school back in Tasmania. Since then, I have made a few state teams, won a national title at the start of this year, and got a third-place medal in the quad (fourperson per boat). I love it; it has good vibes.

You are someone who has relocated interstate to study. How did you find that experience? What is it like being in South Australia versus Tasmania? It was really scary because I had no friends or family in Adelaide. I moved into a residential college which was good for settling in and making friends. I love Adelaide, it’s bigger than Hobart, but still not that big, which makes it easy to navigate. Also, the physio degree at UniSA is one of the best in the country, so that was a good reason to come. I found that it’s helped me challenge myself and gain independence, which made me grow up and mature quite a lot. I have settled in, and I really love Adelaide. I definitely think I made the right decision. I do miss Tassie, though.

I have never been rowing before; how would you convince me to give it a go? It’s really good socially. If you have a good club, it’s good fun. Just being out on the water is so fun. Going fast is also exciting. Rowing is a way to challenge and discipline yourself. It’s very good for fitness and teamwork, but you can also work on yourself a lot. Rowing is something a bit different that not a lot of people do. Racing is full of so much adrenaline and good vibes. When you win, it’s an amazing feeling. It makes me feel strong.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years? Hopefully working as a physio, but I don’t know what area yet. I do quite like hospital work, like the acute care field. I can definitely see myself working quite closely with people for a long period of time. How old will I be in 10 years... 30? Geez! Probably not rowing anymore, but still involved somehow. Possibly coaching, or maybe a rowing physio? Most likely, I’ll have moved to another state and hopefully be set up and working. I don’t know though, we’ll just let nature take its course!

Have you looked at rowing differently since studying physio? I have a bit in how I look after myself, and my training. I have definitely taken care of myself more seriously. I also think of rowing from a more biomechanical perspective now too, such as how your muscles and forces propel a boat, as well as different aspects of the rowing motion. All the physio I have had done in the past makes sense to me and how it’s actually helping.

ROWING IS A WAY TO CHALLENGE AND DISCIPLINE YOURSELF. 42

Humans of UniSA

Interview by Ashleigh Buck

Jessica Dempster

Photo @juans_image

Bachelor of Journalism and Professional Writing and Bachelor of Arts (Creative Writing)

Tell me a bit about your degree and why you chose to study it? I thought about teaching for a long time, specifically English, and that led me to a Bachelor of Arts. Through reading about that, I discovered this double degree with journalism. I had never considered a career in journalism, but as I read more about it, attended the university Open Days, and spoke to some UniSA representatives, I realised it was something I wanted to try. The course embodies a lot of the subjects and skills I enjoyed and excelled at in high school such as writing, research and communication. While it has its challenges, completing the work is a lot easier when it’s something you enjoy.

the first time do) with learning how to balance my finances. I missed my family and my life back home and the city was at first a lonely and scary place. What made the move easier for me was forcing myself to go beyond my comfort zone. I refused to let my fear of city driving and public transport keep me in my small apartment and soon found navigating Adelaide wasn’t nearly as hard as I thought. The main thing I did to help myself cope with the anxiety and uncertainty that comes with moving away from your hometown was to keep myself busy by throwing myself into my studies and a new life up in Adelaide. What do you hope to achieve through your degree? My current aspirations for after uni are a little up in the air as I still have two years to go and am trying to keep an open mind about what my options are since the journalism industry is quite competitive. Now I’m hoping for either a career in radio or maybe moving back to the country where I can hopefully contribute to the preservation of rural and regional news.

What has been the highlight of your degree so far? The highlight of my degree has been the number of opportunities I’ve had. These have allowed me to gain experience in the industry both through my studies and extracurriculars. Over the January holidays, I wrote a story for UniSA’s publication On the Record about a bushfire that happened back home in Naracoorte. It gave me a good opportunity to utilise the skills I had learnt throughout my first year and it helped me realise my passion for sharing rural and regional news. The other highlight would be creating and producing the radio show I do with my two friends, Ally and Millie, called Goodness Me that airs on UniCast.

To anyone else who may consider moving to study, what would be your advice to them? My biggest piece of advice would be to just give it a go. I have so many amazing opportunities, accomplishments, and people in my life that never would have been a part of it if I hadn’t moved. I would also like to stress the importance of looking after yourself mentally and physically as well. When you are living out of home for the first time it can become easy to fall into a trap of just trying to get through the day and often that involves maybe not exercising or eating enough or doing extra things with family, friends, or even by yourself that make you happy. It’s important to make sure you are enjoying and living life, not just getting through it. ▪

Moving from a country town to a big city would be hard, how did you handle this? What made it easier to settle in? I was worried before I did it, but the actual move wasn’t as hard as I expected it to be. It had its challenges. My living situation last year wasn’t exactly what I was expecting, and I struggled (as a lot of people living out of home for

WHAT MADE THE MOVE EASIER FOR ME WAS FORCING MYSELF TO GO BEYOND MY COMFORT ZONE. 43

Edition 43 | 2021

45 Photography Lara Pavlovitch Model Moisty Hair/MUA Ali Knight

Doll House

Artwork Michelle Chan

Poetry

Mistripple Words Eugene Tabios

in+fused audio audio audio

trifling over the {insignificant} DESIRING to be jolted <> away by neon green [[and]] pink the \detrotsid\ :::dreams::: of the virtual subconscious of cycles

the echoeoeoes of nostalgia of m|e|m|o|r|i|e|s... long past... or / did they even exist? a f-l-e-e-t-i-n-g yearning,,,, for things n(ever) experienced-looking at them as if

-> it’s all he in your ad

----parts---they me. were ----of----

.but i don’t understand. can anyone?

**is it the door** the ?glorious? exit the mind seeks======01101000 01100101 01101100 01110000 from ████████ cycles of subconscious

Edition 43 | 2021

Artwork Liam MacRaild

Poetry

Recipe: Mama’s Moussaka Words Helena Radocaj

Here is a homemade dish you can sink your teeth into! Moussaka is certainly no good soggy (looking at you, eggplant) and, to be fair, it’s just not that massive of a vibe. With this meaty dish, you can pair it perfectly alongside fresh salad and sour cream, for dinner or even your lunch! Even better, you can keep this dish refrigerated for a couple days and reheat it at will. All you need to do is grab a couple of baking dishes, a grater, a food processor or even a knife (depending on your knife skills). This dish I can guarantee will feed five hungry slavs! And just remember, when in doubt, “od oka” which, in Serbia, just means estimate it all by eye!

You Will Need:

Method:

2kg potato – peeled and grated 700g veal and pork mince 2 big onions 2 carrots 6 eggs 250ml milk

4. Add onions and carrot to food processor or chop finely. Add to meat mix.

Seasoning: 1.5 tbsp Vegeta 1tsp salt

8. Serve!

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees. 2. Peel and grate the potato, place half on the bottom of the baking dish. 3. In the pork and veal mix, add Vegeta and season with pepper. Add to taste.

5. Lay the meat on top, then lay the rest of the potato. 6. Whisk the egg and milk together, pouring on top of the moussaka. With a fork, make some holes so the mix can bleed into the dish. 7. Put in oven for an hour or until golden and crisp on top.

WHEN IN DOUBT, “OD OKA” WHICH, IN SERBIA, JUST MEANS ESTIMATE IT ALL BY EYE! 49

Edition 43 | 2021

Poetry

Taboo: All Shades of Beauty Words Eiesha de la Cuesta Artwork Lauren Fox

racism n. prejudice or discrimination; the belief that different races can be distinguished as inferior or superior to one another.

colourism n. prejudice or discrimination against a person with a darker skin tone among people of the same ethnic or racial group.

xenophobia n. dislike against a person from another country.

Growing up around three separate cultures in the Maldives, Philippines and Australia, I have spent most of my childhood in the Maldives where casual colourism is as much part of our culture as our bodhu beru (traditional drums) and dhonis (traditional sail boats). From a young age, I grew up noticing the not-so-subtle value placed on those with fairer skin, whether that be fairer Maldivians or white foreigners. Racism, colourism and xenophobia are rampant in our small community, especially towards islanders and expatriate workers. Many feel free to comment and discriminate against those naturally darker or those that spend too much time under the sun. The daily discrimination against a number of communities such as the Bangladeshi, Indian, Sri Lankan and Nepalese people has become a societal norm where even the youngest children are conditioned to treat them differently due to their race and colour. It’s safe to say, a dark skin tone is definitely not on par with the Maldivian beauty standards. We discriminate against these workers through a hierarchy that determines them inferior to us. There is this perception that Maldivians are better than them, and therefore, our treatment of these migrant workers include daily harassment and abuse, constant teasing and mockery. Even more so, they experience the barrier created to reduce their institutional access, employment, safe and liveable housing just because of their nationality. All this is considered taboo in our country when it needs to be addressed. Such behaviours and attitudes are prevalent to this day and there seems to be no end in sight to this. In the Philippines, another country that I familiarise as my home is full of the blatant practice of colourism. Across the country, there is a desire for fairer skin to live up to the standards created by western media and entertainment. There is an obsessive belief that being white is beautiful, and anything less isn’t. This belief has grown a disturbing habit and custom of casual colourism, allowing people to freely show prejudice and discrimination against the darker skin tone. When I watch national television, I only see actors, actresses and hosts that are fair. When I walk into a regular supermarket to buy an ordinary product like lotion, there is a wide variety available to choose from, but they all have whitening properties. Thereby creating a huge market for skin bleaching products containing toxic ingredients. I can see this practice of colourism going through generations of Maldivians and Filipinos. However, it is engrained across people in every culture who are people of colour.

smell of my traditional cuisine. People have assumed that I can’t speak basic English before I even open my mouth to speak. I have received so many looks and comments regarding my skin tone, appearance, education, and background based on the perception that I’m an uneducated Indian that barely speaks a word of English. While I may not be Indian, it’s disturbing how the race has been used in a derogatory manner and in association with a lack of education or knowledge of the English language. My personal favourite is the many comments on how my English or accent is so impressive for someone who has only been here for such a short time. In reality, I possess the knowledge and fluency of two languages while some of those that belittled me, can only speak the one language. While I have experienced and witnessed these subtle moments of racism and colourism, I hope to see a world united despite the colour of their skin. One thing I would like to strongly express is that every colour is beautiful in its own right, that every shade of colour is something to be proud of and value. There are different shades of beauty. ▪

On the other hand, I have lived most of my teenage years in Australia. It’s a country where I have faced people calling me derogatory names and telling me to go back to where I came from when I have considered Australia my home for the past eight years. I have been bullied and named a “curry muncher” by people who don’t appreciate the flavour in a bowl of coconut curry or the

Edition 43 | 2021

Analogue Experiences with Light and Shadows Words + Artwork Caitlin Preece

In my third year studying a Bachelor of Contemporary Art, I have been primarily working with analogue photographic processes. I shoot with black and white film on my manual 1970’s film camera, develop the film in my bathroom at home, and then produce 8x10 prints in the darkroom at uni. My work captures the light and the dark within the things I see. I am fascinated in how light interacts with people, objects and places (both in and outside the studio environment). I capture light, shadow, reflection, transparency, depth and perceive them as visual metaphors for vulnerability, intimacy, mystery, self-reflection, darkness, beauty and hope. The analogue process is meditative and immersive, the formality in composition is ordered, the light is controlled or uncontrolled, the abstractions are mysterious or surreal. My aim is for the compositions and elements in my photographs to reflect my own perception, experiences, thoughts, feelings and emotions.

Edition 43 | 2021

Your Look (Matters) Interviewer Stephanie Montatore

This year at Verse, we have tried exploring student life through multiple stylish angles and lenses. Most notably, in this corner of the magazine, we have found a nuanced, fresh and fashionable means to divulge insight into the identities and passions of uni youth in the segment we call Looks of UniSA. From sustainable fashion to vintage fashion, from one-on-one interviews to single voice analyses, what we have discovered most with this segment is just how much a person’s look speaks to who they are. So, in this final edition of Looks, we are taking things back to basics. Similar to our first edition, we sat down with three awesome students to understand, yet again, how their look defines them. Specifically, as the year wraps up and a handful of our cohort enters the workplace, we aimed, this time around, to explore how our students plan to continue their unique style far into the “real” world of the workforce.

LO OK S

If there is one thing we hope you took away from Looks in 2021 is... Take pride in your appearance. Sometimes it isn’t “style over substance”. Sometimes the style is the substance.

ISA N FU O

Rebecca Maloney Photos Rebecca Maloney

Tell us a little bit about you; what are you studying and what makes you, you? My name is Rebecca and I have a wide range of interests and passions, some of the main ones being health and fitness. I love being active and I always like to try to consume products that are good for me. Although, funnily enough, for most of my life I did not exactly consider myself a “creative” person in the traditional sense. However, here I am, in my third year of studying Interior Architecture. What does clothing/fashion mean to you? Is it an important means of your self-expression? (Why/why not?) Fashion is something that I have embraced more so throughout my time at university. I love that I can dress to express myself, whether that is a sporty, casual, or professional look. How do you feel your style has evolved overtime? What factors do you think have encouraged this change? As I have gotten more into fashion my “style” is something that has gained more depth and has many different sides. This was mostly influenced by starting my studies and wanting to have varying versatile outfits. However, during my studies, I read a journal that mentioned that once you know the rules, you can break the rules. This is something that I think is extremely important to remember in many creative outlets. When people ask me if something “goes” together, I typically say that if you’re wearing it then it’s going together. I do this because I feel that if it is something that you personally like and are happy in, then that should come before the “rules” surrounding fashion. As you move into industry after studying, how do you want to present yourself and why? What do you want your co-workers and employers to see? Recently partaking in work placement, trying to find clothes that are work appropriate was a challenge and it also introduced another dimension when buying clothes. In the workplace and particularly in the creative field, one’s style can be seen as rather important. I try to find a balance of being professional but also fitting for my style and age, particularly playing with colours and textures. And finally, what clothing pieces make you feel most confident and secure in yourself and why? A staple piece that I always wear is a light wash wide leg jean; they are both comfortable and very versatile, making them easy to style with other pieces. I also really enjoy pairing shoes with my outfits, whether that’s Air Force 1s for my casual outfits or cute ankle boots for my work outfits.

LOO KS OF SA NI U

Edition 43 | 2021

Gagan Kaura

How do you feel your style has evolved overtime? What factors do you think have encouraged this change? My style has evolved massively throughout the years. I used to mostly play it safe and put almost no effort or thought into my style even though I did have a liking for trendy looks. It had a lot to do with my low selfesteem and the environment around me as I come from a conservative country and lack of self-dependence. As soon as I had an income, moved to Adelaide, and began my self-acceptance journey, I became very experimental and daring with my style. I am not scared to try new things that may make me stand out a lot, but I am not scared to blend in the crowd either.

Photos Gagan Kaur

Tell us a little bit about you; what are you studying and what makes you, you? My name is Gagan (I also go by Gigi) and I am an International student studying a Bachelor of Mathematics (Data Science). I believe what makes me me is my comfort in my own skin and contentment with who I am. I don’t wish to be anyone else even though there are things I don’t like about myself. There may be a lot of instances where I have envied people for their styles, their fashion sense, or their personalities, but there isn’t anything I would change about myself for or because of anyone else.

As you move into industry after studying, how do you want to present yourself and why? What do you want your co-workers and employers to see? I would still want to be as expressive with my style as I am now as I don’t want to lose my edge. But I might need to tone it down a bit to fit into the professional environment. What I like to do when I must stick to a strict dress code is have one element in my look that stands out. It could be a piece of jewelry, an unusual color palette, or an uncommon combination. If possible I would like not to get rid of any of my piercings and hair colours too, as they are a part of how people around me know me. I would also like my coworkers to know me like that too.

What does clothing/fashion mean to you? Is it an important means of your self-expression? (Why/why not?) Fashion is a way of expression for me. I like to express not just my moods or my personality through my outfits but also use it to practice self-love and acceptance. Fashion is a source for me to destress and release all negative emotions. On my worst days, I like to dress exceptionally nice even though all I could have planned is grocery shopping. Picking the outfit, the accessories, putting them on, and applying make-up is almost like a soothing therapy session that I have with myself where I can clear my thoughts and make space for the comfort that fashion brings me. Fashion is what made me achieve self-acceptance as, in my late-teens, I started playing around with my style, trying new things, where I would pick my outfits and makeup looks the night before and feel confident throughout the next day. Fashion is what made me be at peace with myself and who I am.

LO OK S

And finally, what clothing pieces make you feel most confident and secure in yourself and why? That is a very open-ended question for me; there are so many factors like the occasion, the place, and the weather. As long as my outfit doesn’t make me uncomfortable or make me wish I should have worn something else, I feel confident and secure.

ISA N FU O

Vinola Joseph Charles Jothi Arokiamary Photos Vinola Joseph Charles Jothi Arokiamary

Tell us a little bit about you; what are you studying and what makes you, you? I am Vinola, I am currently doing my Masters in Health Services Management at the City East campus at UniSA. I think my attire makes me, me. I often dress according to my emotions (I know it sounds funny, but it’s true). For instance, if I am thrilled, I might treat myself to a colorful top and pair it with skirts or jeans. When the opposite happens, I won’t mind walking around in suits. I think that makes me, me. What does clothing/fashion mean to you? Is it an important means of your self-expression? (Why/why not?) Clothing makes us all feel good in our otherwise very vulnerable skin, and we all have our moments of vulnerability. Clothing is an essential means of my self-expression because it represents me. Aal paadhi aadai paadhi is a Tamil proverb that means half-human, the half dress makes our identity clear. I believe before I introduce myself, my attire speaks for me. So, it is indispensable to use clothing in a proper way to express our emotions. How do you feel your style has evolved overtime? What factors do you think have encouraged this change? I think my style has evolved to be more confident and bold. The prime factor would be the area I now live in, my friends, and the other people around me. When I see people who look and walk boldly in their clothes, it makes me want to wear that confidence too. As you move into industry after studying, how do you want to present yourself and why? What do you want your co-workers and employers to see? I want to present myself as brave, bold, confident and compassionate because I want to inhibit all of these qualities and be introduced to others as such. My employers should see these empowering qualities through my actions and clothes.

LOO KS OF

And finally, what clothing pieces make you feel most confident and secure in yourself and why? A top with a knee-length skirt, top with jeans, a dress and a saree (the traditional attire) would make me feel most confident and secure in myself. This is because of the freedom I feel when I wear those clothes. It helps to be myself, and the comforts make me confident to speak and stand for myself. ▪

SA NI U

The Signs as Your Next Travel Destination

The Signs as Your Next Travel Destination Words Nikki Sztolc

Aries

21 Mar - 19 Apr Fiji Did someone say easily bored? Never again when you’re in Fiji. Here’s a non-exhaustive list of things you can do in Fiji: Hike to Biausevu Waterfall, take an island cruise, walk through the local markets of Sigatoka or Suva, or try some local Kava.

Taurus

20 Apr - 20 May Singapore You’re known to enjoy the finer things in life, but when it comes to travelling you enjoy being outdoors, making Singapore the best of both worlds. Enjoy a UNESCO Heritage Site at the Botanic Gardens one day and a cocktail or two atop the Marina Bay Sands the next. Don’t forget to visit Sri Mariamman before you leave.

Where Are You Going? We may not be able to travel again just yet, but when the time comes we’re all going to be in desperate need of a holiday. As the year comes to a close, I leave you with some travel destinations to add to your list of places to daydream about. It’s never too soon to start planning… Wish you were here.

Gemini

Leo

Cancer

Virgo

21 May - 20 June Quito, Ecuador If you really want to test your friendship with someone, bring them to Ecuador with you and see if they can keep up. There’s a lot to be curious about in Quito, little Gemini. Explore the many historic churches in Old Town, hike to the top of Pichincha and don’t leave without visiting the Equator line. 21 June - 22 Jul Cusco, Peru Don’t lie, you love a city that’s rich with history, cities that have those walks with information posts every kilometer, and with weeks worth of tourist attractions to explore. A week in Cusco is the spiritual experience you might not realise you need after nearly two years of living in a global pandemic.

23 Jul - 22 Aug London, England What better place to be your most authentic, bad bitch self than one of the most expensive, yet somehow still endearing cities in the world? If you’re travelling here and you’re a Leo, it’s probably for your birthday weekend or a shopping spree; just the way our Lord intended. 23 Aug - 22 Sept Crema, Italy Any small, Italian town that you can romanticise will do. My dear Virgo, you were made for planning exactly when you will sit on the front steps of your Airbnb - perfecting the moment when the sun hits just right and the chances of an attractive Italian walking past and falling in love with you are high.

The Signs as Your Next Travel Destination

Libra

23 Sept - 22 Oct Vienna, Austria Sweet, sweet Libra who hates being alone. You’ll never feel lonely in Vienna. I promise. A friendly city where the people are kind, you’ll fall in love with the art galleries and the pretty shop fronts. You won’t need to flex your inability to make decisions here if you leave enough time to see everything.

Scorpio

23 Oct - 21 Nov Valletta, Malta Malta should be top of your list because just like you, Scorpio, Valletta is unique. I’ll skip the history lesson because I know that bores you, but post any pictures from Malta and it’s guaranteed to attract comments such as ‘Is that Venice?’ or ‘This is beautiful! Where is it?’. Now you get the immense pleasure of knowing you’re not like the other girls.

Sagittarius

22 Nov - 21 Dec Rocky Mountains, Canada Every Sagittarius has thought about moving to Canada, and that’s a fact. If it’s not the pristine blue lakes, stunning mountains and endless opportunity for adventure, it’s the possibility of getting lost, which means you never have to go back to work. How exciting!

ic m e d n a P ! be gone Join a group of avid manifesters, share your affirmations and find emotional support for your travel blues. www.pandemicbegone.com.au

Capricorn

22 Dec - 19 Jan Edinburgh, Scotland You Capricorns are pretty hard to please, which is why Edinburgh might just be the perfect place to go. If you want to do nothing, you can rent a cute Airbnb, drink tea and stare out the window longingly. Alternatively, you can see some cool as fuck castles, have a sensible drink at the pub and still make it to bed by 10pm.

Aquarius

20 Jan - 18 Feb Port Antonio, Jamaica Yes, Aquarius, you can disappear for three months to embark on a spiritual journey on the other side of the world (as long as you come back). Take a dip in Blue Lagoon, attend a street party, teach yourself to surf, and when you get home just shrug and say, ‘Yeah, it was nice.’

Pisces

19 Feb - 20 Mar Łodz, Poland This might not be at the top of your list, but it should. Once a huge industrial centre, Łódz has established itself as a creative hub for artists just like you, Pisces. Explore the street art, museums and boutique stores during the day, and stumble over to Piotrkowska Street on a cool, summer evening for some patio dinner and pints. Ask the bartender for a “cytrynówka” if you dare.

Edition 43 | 2021

USASA Clubs: Interviewer Nahum Gale Interviewee Simon Rosenzweig Photo Ella-Maude Wilson

What and who is the UniSA Space Club? We are a group of students interested in space! We run a variety of activities like, for example, your typical rocketry stuff. At the moment, we build projects like water rockets and things like that, through 3D printings as well. We are all just fascinated with space and would love to get into that area. Does the club tackle more the engineering side of rockets and space travel or the astronomy angle? I would say more the engineering angle at the moment. I, for example, am an engineering student, but we do have business students, IT, PhD students all of which are on the exec as well. So, it is kind of a mix. But even though it is engineering mostly, its not like we are experts in this field. It’s a completely different world to what we study at uni; so, we are all just a bunch of students with mainly a fix on engineering.

Maybe in the future we will look at running a space program games night, but that will probably be when COVID settles. That’s the whole goal, in regards to events, we are going to try to aim to have industry nights with industry people coming in to have a chat. What have been the biggest successes and events you have found from your time in the club? Definitely avionic workshops which compiles electronics, writing up code, doing a bunch of sensors and data. They have done pretty well in the past. I guess [the club] is all about things that uni courses don’t do a lot of, especially with engineering as it is all mainly fun projects.

What are the main activities that the club engages with? Projects are what we mainly try to engage in. We used to participate in the Australian Universities Rocketry Competition which is basically a bunch of unis, or, more specifically, a student run event, where the clubs will design and fuel a rocket that shoots 10,000ft or 30,000ft and basically you have to build a rocket that gets closest to that distance. But with the whole SA Rocketry Legislation and their whole classification of explosives, we have had to pull out of that one at the end. But we are certainly aiming to attempt that again in the future. Our main aim though is to build up the club and once we get big with enough funding we will try and participate in that whole event again. We also have run workshops on rocketry simulations and all that in the past; it is really space orientated from a hardware point of view, a physical point of view. Typically, we run the workshops by showing [guests] what we do and have them follow along with us as well as also have them add their own ideas to it. So, we start off by running through the whole basics with them and then having them expand on it, basically adding functionality and making it more interesting.

What is the general atmosphere and anticipation you all build up in the Space Club? It is the mix of having fun whilst all learning, I would say. We will play with rockets, water rockets, go through the whole prototype design, pressure test it, blow things up, and see how it goes, having a little fun along the way.

WE ARE ALL JUST FASCINATED WITH SPACE AND WOULD LOVE TO GET INTO THAT AREA. 60

USASA Clubs

WE WILL PLAY WITH ROCKETS, WATER ROCKETS, GO THROUGH THE WHOLE PROTOTYPE DESIGN, PRESSURE TEST IT, BLOW THINGS UP, AND SEE HOW IT GOES, HAVING A LITTLE FUN ALONG THE WAY. What does a normal launch day look like for your club? It’s fun! When we build [a rocket], we have to go test it out eventually and see how it goes. It’s all about the anticipation of how well it is going to perform. Now, we haven’t had a propulsion launch in a while, but we currently do water rocket stuff, like it is pretty simple and no massive checks are needed. But on a check, we obviously can’t launch near airports and that; we have to make sure we have the air clearance per say. As for what a water rocket is... imagine a Coke bottle upside down and you have a bit of water in it, a bit of air in it. You pressurise the whole thing, so the water skirts out and the rocket goes up in the other direction. Obviously, the more pressure you put in there, the higher it will go, because you have more thrust. Obviously, the 3D printing side of things optimise it for the highest pressure possible. Stick some electronics to it. Add fins, because without fins it wouldn’t be stable. Basically, it is about simulation, but a lot of it is trial and error.

You also have to find the materials to print it out of. You have to find out what is best. There is the whole budgeting side of things, mainly so it will actually fly and is not too heavy. Really early on in this project, we chucked some initial designs together and that was about it, but obviously 3D printing can take a while to do. Design is pretty critical, but the main thing is having it all checked over by other people. Then we organise the launch, where we are launching it from, when it will all happen and making sure it goes well. We work in teams with scheduling and there is a lot of documentation and management. A successful launch for us is anything really! If it launches up and beats one of our records; as long as it is a bit of fun! ▪︎

Written by USASA SP2 Advocacy Intern, Veda Lin

USASA Academic Advocacy Everyone knows that gaining work experience during studies is important, as well as doing the “right” internship that helps to make you more job-ready, but what is a “right” internship? I’m an international student studying Master in Information Technology (Enterprise Management). Choosing a career that I like has never been a choice for me. The chosen field of study was planned to fit the cultural expectation and trend back in my home country. Even though everything was on track, I was always looking for something different from my academic field as an inspiration for my future career. One day I was browsing through Facebook as usual, and I saw the advertisement for USASA advocacy internship from UniSA career page. Advocacy is a term that I was completely unfamiliar to me, and it seemed like a program that is more suitable for student in social work and human resource field. However, since there is a chance for me to understand a different field of career, I gave it a try and I was lucky to be selected. It took me a while to understand what the USASA Academic Advocacy Service was all about ; and was gradually exposed to academic policy and advocacy. I joined advocacy meetings and observed how advocates assisted students through different cases related to Academic Integrity, Grade Disputes, Complaints etc. This provided me the opportunity to learn through real cases and I liked how much we got to be involved in each meeting and contribute our thoughts after the meeting. It was very beneficial to learn and go through the real process of a client-based service and have the opportunity improve each subsequent week for 14 weeks. Most importantly we get got to experience the practical aspects involved in an Advocate’s role and learnt about complex interpersonal and decision-making skills and had the opportunity to improve organising and writing skills.

USASA.sa.edu.au/Advocacy

One of the best thing about working with USASA was the culture. I loved how they worked hard but also encouraged us to take care of ourselves before anything. Our mentors played an important role during our internship with USASA. They had been supporting us throughout the process, letting us be exposed to a lot of opportunities and perspectives to learn from. It doesn’t matter if it is professional related or our personal situation, our mentors were always there to support us. It was an enjoyable experience working as an advocacy intern at USASA. I’ve got to explore different field and discover an inspiration of what I really want to do for my future career. Working with USASA was an opportunity that helped me to grow both personally and professionally. Even when it was not closely related to my professional field, it will still be a major contributor to my achievement in the future. Applying for this intern position was definitely one of the best choices I have made while being a student.

Written by USASA SP2 Advocacy Intern, Riya Shetty

Here’s all you need to know about USASA Financial Counselling What is USASA Financial Counselling? Well, it is one of the many support services available to UniSA students, and it provides free, confidential, and non-judgmental support to students who are experiencing financial hardships or who would like to gain financial literacy advice on matters such as money management. Thanks to Financial Counsellor Chanelle and her outstanding service in empowering and advocating for students, I believe it is one of the most essential services available at university that substantially benefits financially disadvantaged students. Why would someone need to speak to financial counsellor? I am sure many of us are struggling financially in these challenging times, whether it is due to a loss of job, lack of family support, domestic violence, debt, or other causes. There have also been several cases of international students facing financial difficulties. In such circumstances, it is favourable to contact USASA’s financial counsellor, who will be able to assist in finding a solution, whether it is through offering a grant, negotiating or advocating on behalf of the student, or assisting the student in better budgeting their finances, to mitigate financial stress. I need help with my landlord and rental payments what should I do? I have faced a similar dilemma before, and I reached out to Chanelle, the financial counsellor, who was able to assist me and pull me out of this stressful situation. So, in circumstances like this she is your best help. She will be able to assess if you are eligible for a grant for rental payment and she can also advocate on your behalf to negotiate with the landlord.

USASA.sa.edu.au/FinancialCounselling

I can’t pay for groceries this week, is there anything I can do? USASA financial counselling offers emergency food support and can help you in accessing it. They have contacts with food banks and can help provide you a voucher to get groceries. Life as a university student is stressful enough, but when you add financial pressure to the mix, it can be exhausting and have a negative impact on your mental health. USASA financial counselling recognises this impact and is available to assist you in overcoming any financial difficulties that may be interfering with your life. They are also working on an exciting podcast, so stay tuned. How can it help students? Financial counselling at USASA is focused on a preventative model that aims to assist students get out of hardships by empowering them to make changes and better life choices. The financial counsellor can assist you in identifying your options and providing the information you need, as well as pointing you in the right direction for additional financial support and assistance. They can help you, • when you are struggling to pay your bills and have a grant support programme in place to assist you in applying for grants, • when you have a bad financial standing like a credit card debt or an overdue university fees and try to talk and negotiate on your behalf, • develop a budget to manage your finances better and provide you financial literacy education. • if you are in or on the edge of a crisis, such as financial difficulties brought on by domestic abuse or homelessness. Even if it is not mentioned on the website, USASA Financial Counselling can help you with a variety of financial issues. Simply book an appointment with a counsellor.

Contributors Abbey Kelsey-Evans Aira De Los Santos Alex Lam Alex Porter Ali Knight Amrit Kumbhar Ashleigh Buck Brooke Zabrowrny Caitlin Preece Clem Stanley Daisy Evans Danielle Fopp Eiesha de la Cuesta Elena Téa Eliza Dunn Eugene Tabois Flynn Ogilvie Gagan Kaura Helena Radocaj Isabelle Higgins Isabelle Raven Jessica Bruno Jessica Dempster Jessie Walker Juan van Staden Katarina Kowplos Kate Newman Lara Pavlovitch Lauren Fox Liam MacRaild Lucy Edwards Lucy Keatch Lucy Turczynowicz Mai Nguyen Malvika Hemanth Michelle Chan Mindy Dao Moisty Nahum Gale Natalie Bellardino Nate Drewett Nikki Sztolc Nina Canala Noah Beckmann Olivia Mannella On the Record Prabhnisha Kaur Keshminder Singh Rebecca Maloney Rylee Cooper Sam Brown Sonia Zanatta Stephanie Montatore UniSA Space Club Vinola Joseph Charles Jothi Arokiamary

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Verse Magazine Edition 43 - Your Edition

Articles inside

President’s Letter

Looks of UniSA

Analogue Experiences with Light and Shadows

USASA Clubs UniSA Space Club

Taboo

The Signs as Your Next Travel Destination

Recipe

Humans of UniSA

In[ter]view The Olympians from Next Door

Review The Best Smashed Avo on Toast Hotspots in Adelaide

Imag[in]e with Elena Tea

Finding Meaning in an Indecipherable Encyclopedia

I Wish I Could Peel Off My Skin and Replace it with Yours

The Great UniSA 30th Anniversary Countdown

Verse Spotify Presents Your Songs

The Tension Between History and Artistry