I’m the ‘I got to see every damn corner of this place’ kind of person, so here’s my guide to my main campus over the past three years, the beautifully messy QUT Gardens Point.
There are three paths to everywhere.
Let’s admit it, the campus is laid out like a maze, with some buildings being so close and others being in incredibly hard-to-find locations. The QUT app and nice strangers have saved me from being late countless times, but now I’m slowly making sense of the mess. With how interconnected and dense the campus is, one thing to consider is how many different paths you can take to the same place. I know a lot of people prefer familiar routes, but it’s quite fun mixing things up and finding shortcuts through different buildings. The multiple small bridges, stairs, elevators, and how open everything is allows for at least three unique paths from one point to another. You might find some secrets, even if you don’t find a shortcut.
One of these random paths is what led me to discover the coldest water bubbler in QUT (it’s in such a strange location, and I’m taking that info to my grave).
Tall buildings are ripe for secrets.
Classes are great, but what do you do in between them? You got to do some good old explorin’.
After the first week at uni, you might think you’ve seen everything, but in reality you’ve barely scratched the surface. You’ve obviously seen the massive interactive screens at P Block, it’s the first thing they always show off during a tour, but have you seen the strange telephone memorial in Z Block? Or the random mini museums scattered throughout the university? The tall buildings allow for some great vantage points for looking out a window, for a great view of the city, or places to look over an edge, so you can wonder if you could survive that jump if you had a parachute.
There are plenty of random things to discover, including people. One of my favourite ways of meeting new people is also through exploring and getting lost because there’s always someone more than happy to help and talk to along the way.
You don’t need a library.
Somehow it seems that when I actually need to get an assignment done or practice a presentation, the library is absolutely packed. All the cozy spots are full, and the rooms are booked out seventy-two years in advance. So, what do you do then? Is that the universe sending a sign you should have an early snack pack? It’s a possibility.
Another possibility is thinking outside the box, and outside the library. There are tons of lecture rooms throughout the campus and plenty you’re familiar with because of your own classes. There is a high chance that those rooms are empty and free for at least a while.
These silent spaces provide the perfect places to think out loud, write in silence, and even practice presentations in front of an empty audience.
There’s more beyond.
The Gardens Point Campus is a beautiful mess and I hope you now know a little more about what to do there. Just over the edges of the campus, lie the Botanical Gardens, Southbank and even a river walk that stretches from the campus to Toowong. Or if you get onto a handy shuttle, the Kelvin Grove campus is within reach too, but I’ve heard horror stories about those stairs, so I just stay far, far, away…
Hi! I’m Abishai Sujith (he/him), a QUT student currently doing a Bachelor of Urban Development. My obsession has always been with how new technology and good design, are incorporated into the world around us. Even the most mundane things we see, are a result of the hard work of countless individuals, so it’s important to sometimes stop and look at the small pieces of our large world.
