It’s a right of passage for young people about to embark on university studies across Australia, and Wollongong is no different.
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Orientation Week, otherwise known as O-Week, is a time for students to celebrate life as a poor undergraduate before getting knee-deep in essays and text-books.
The University of Wollongong turned it on for three full days this week of free bands, DJs, food, games and celebrities for their new and returning students.
Triple J breakfast hosts Matt Okine and Alex Dyson visited the last of UOW’s O-Week shenanigans on Thursday and completed stunts for their national radio show.
The pair have spent the week at various tertiary institutions as part of an #OMazingRace competition with their drive-time counterparts Veronica and Lewis and were subjected to random challenges such as swimming across the Murray River naked.
Wollongong was slightly more tame for the duo who were made to run through a jumping castle, buy a sausage sandwich and comb the uni campus in search of angry rubber ducks - in reference to an evil feathered friend who was notorious for chasing people and stealing lunches.
Dyson then pulled out his biggest tunes as a featured DJ at the UniBar’s GLO Party to close out the week.
He said O-Week was important to students because it tested boundaries and helped young people “find themselves”.
“It’s not the most comfortable week because you are doing these crazy things and thrown in with other people you don’t know,” said Dyson.
“But you find where you sit within yourself.”
He said the friends he made during his time tackling a bachelor degree in Melbourne have become some of his closest.
Okine agreed O-Week was a time for young adults to find where they fit in.
“At high school you might be ashamed by your crossword puzzle addiction but you come to uni and realise a love of Sudoku is had by many,” he said.
It’s the fourth O-Week organised by UOW’s entertainment co-ordinator Kayla Berry and she said it’s the best yet.
“We’ve expanded a lot this year … there’s been a great turn out, for clubs and societies, students and also all the outside businesses coming in as well,” she said.
Ms Berry said the event was more than just a party, but an important tool for students to connect with the UOW community and enrich their time as a student.
