Transcript: Case study – Blaine
We hear from Blaine, a first-year student, about how he took his time deciding what he wanted to study, where he found the information to suss out how to go about things and how working at different times has helped him get through. Blaine is talking to us from the outdoor area at his workplace, a local café.
Hi, I'm Blaine. I'm 21 years old and currently doing a Bachelor of Digital Media Studies down south.
Well, since the first year or so when I was down at college, I had really no clue at all what to do, and then I thought about it - you know, I have a strong passion for movies - so I thought, why not try and get into the film industry?
So, how I went about it was I talked to Career Services and they gave me lots of options on funding, the courses I might want to do. Also a friend of mine who has been studying for the past couple of years said if you want to get into tertiary study definitely check out StudyLink. So I went on the website and there's just so much help on there, from allowances and things like that, and all of a sudden, tertiary study just seemed possible, and here I am.
I'm living with a family really close to tech, which I found on the internet. It's really cool, got my own sleep-out out the back but I'm still in that close family environment which is good, because I mean, it's my first time out of home. I occasionally have to buy a few groceries each week and a top up for my phone, and sometimes I want to go home for a weekend to visit friends and stuff. I've used the StudyLink online calculator. It's been good because I've never budgeted before, so now I'm budgeting and writing it down and yeah, I'm doing pretty well.
My Student Allowance is $130 a week which is great because I don't have to pay it back. However I sorted it out really, really late, like at the last minute which I don't recommend. There are just so many documents that you have to get together, and you need to send it away, and you've got to get it approved.
I just really recommend you do it as early as possible because being first year, you've got orientation, you want to find your way around, you don't want the added stress of a Student Loan when you're in your first year, you just want to have it all sorted!
I'm actually a barrister at this café here, just doing a few hours a week in and around study, when I don't have assignments and things. My boss is a super cool dude, he'll just give me a call and say, if you've got a few hours free, come and do some work. It's only a few hours but every little bit counts when you've got surprise costs coming up.
I also moved home for a year, and lived off Mum and Dad and saved $12,000. Now that I'm a budgeting man using the online budget tool, I worked out to put four grand into each year which just helps with course-related costs, I'm doing film, so a camera, pretty good laptop, so it just really provides me with that safety net.
The thing about tertiary studying is thinking that you'll never be able to afford it. You so can, think again, check out StudyLink - so much help on their website, they've got heaps of interactive tools and ways you can plan your study, heaps of scholarships out there too for different courses or whatever. I mean, there's always part time work which helps if you can get it. I never thought I would be studying, but here I am now, and I'm loving it.
