What City of Melbourne can offer students

Students often complain about the sky high fees and the high cost of living. But did you know that the City of Melbourne offers a few things for free to assist students? Well they have and we explain below. 

Students there are many ways to be involved with the City of Melbourne. After all this is your city and it is home to more than 30000 International students each year.

1) The International student welcome- this is offered every semester for newly arrived students. The Lord Mayor's event varies from year to year but their aims are the same. Their aim is to bring local and International students together.

2) Free access to libraries- In the City of Melbourne alone there are about 5-6 public libraries, all of which you can use for free.  There is one in the

3) Parks at Docklands and Treasury Gardens- here this is where you can relax or take a walk. On a nice sunny day you could have a nice picnic here.

4) Other events for International students such as Information sessions on work rights, migration etc.

5) The Couch- run by the Salvation Army and the City of Melbourne, the couch is a lovely place to relax.

6) Chances to volunteer- such as volunteering for the Lord Mayor's event, the Couch amongst other things. This is a great chance for you to make some friends with the locals.

7) Assistance for time visitors such as the Welcome desk in Melbourne airport, the tourist guides in the city etc.

For more information about the City of Melbourne and what they do, do check out their website.

Roll'd at Chadstone

There is a new Roll'd store just opened in Chadstone. And also at RMIT SAB.

Like the other stores they do just rolls and Vietnamese meals. But here you can see a production line going.

I went to this Roll'd two times. Both these times they were very busy with huge queues. Here you see the production line and the rolls being made freshly.

In terms of cost Roll'd has a few great lunchtime combos and you can check it out on their site. Most of them include soup or a drink.

Both these times I was served by an Aussie. In the second time they forgot my third roll until I had to politely remind them. I had paid $7.20 for three rolls.

Both these times I had the tofu, soft shell crab and the barramundi roll. Both of these times the rolls were bland and that they had too much vermicelli over other fillings.

The last time my rolls were dry. This time though they were moist.

The second time I also got an iced tea for free as part of their combo deals. The iced tea tasted more like cordial rather than tea, as it had that artificial flavour.

A little birdy told me that there was a new Roll'd at SAB, but with the many other great Vietnamese places around I don't know about coming to this one. Nor will I return to the Chadstone store.

The Local Burger Co by Katherine

This is a relatively new place in a quiet part of Carlton. It just opened a month ago

and already they have had a fair few shocking reviews on Urbanspoon. But they are still setting up and playing with the menu hence give them a chance.

They are across the road from Depot De Pain that has been around for a while hence there might be some competition for customers at lunchtimes and on Saturdays and Sundays.

I met the lovely owner Evan. Here he was honest and told me that they don't have EFTPOS at the moment but they will. The lady at counter looked very sad and wasn't friendly. But Evan was. He loved to smile and show off all of the artworks. He tells me that this place is kid friendly.

Because they have just opened, they have a limited menu. Its only meat and veggie burgers at the moment, but they are thinking about getting fish and seafood on the menu. Oh and they have just applied for a liquor license but they have not got this yet, hence no alcohol.

They have outdoor and indoor seating.

I loved the look of this. This reminds me of the Grigons and Orr store where all the decor is very 50's like. Oh and because they are so small, there are no bathrooms.

Because it was so cold, I sat inside. The owner has a dog and sometimes he brings it.

I had their popular mushroom burger ($12) and a side of sweet potato chips ($3). Note these are rare in Melbourne.

I loved the mushroom burger. It was so big and the haloumi was lovely in flavour. It had that nice creaminess to it.

When you visit just ask for Evan and he'll happily serve you. And no there is no such thing as a 45 minute wait unless they are really busy.  Their burgers are good trust me. Also their chips as well. Give them some time and a chance.

I hope other bloggers can come and review the place soon.

Run The World Conference

 Disclaimer: I was invited by RMIT University and The League of Extraordinary women. Therefore entry to this event was free

Free water

Normally the event costs $75 and $50 for League Members, but for students it is free. Everyone got a free lunch, cupcake, water and gift bag.

This event was on last Saturday at RMIT SAB.
This was an all day affair that started at 9:15am. And by that time there were queues and queues of people all trying to get their seats inside the mega cool cinema theatre.

Prizes in which people won by putting their business cards in the box. It was a raffle.

This was a part of our showbags in which we got beer, shampoo and other goodies.

Free lunch all thanks to RMIT

Here I got to meet with the League of Extraordinary women. The League started two years ago when these women were lonely entrepreneurs and they needed the support that they can get.

There were about ten awesome and inspiring speakers and these were:
- Naomi Simson (Founder of RedBalloon)
- Kristina Karlsson (Founer and Creative Director of kikki.K)
- Prue MacSween (PR Guru)
- Tania Zaetta (TV Presenter)
- Annah Stretton (Founder of Annah Stretton Fashion)
- Valerie Khoo (Founder & Director of Australian Writers' Centre)
- Sheryl Thai (Founder of Cupcake Central)
- Samantha Gash (Ultra Marathon Runner, Entrepreneur and Lawyer)
- Catherine Moolenschot (Speaker, Facilitator and Author)

The one really important lesson that I really learnt was to never give up and keep on trying and trying. Never be afraid of failure. A lot of women are.

Another thing is to take action. If you have a dream just go for it- don't hold back. By then someone else will have also gotten the same idea as you

The money may be hard to find and you may need to get a loan from the bank manager. But it is so worth it.

The other main theme is networking. Surround yourself with positive people. Get rid of the negative people that constantly drain you.

Oh and one final thing was the project that RMIT School of Management was working on. It was showcased today. It was about Fast growth business and talking about how you can grow your business quickly. It was about the different characteristics of women and men in Entrepreneurial roles. In that they surveyed about 81 participants and found that women tend to be more emotional and want to connect with people where are men tend to be all about the money. This was a great chance to showcase some of the courses that RMIT teach such as good Leadership and Entrepreneurship courses. To find out about these courses head to the RMIT site.

To become a member of the League it is about $150 and you'll get lots and lots of chances to mingle with other like minded people. To join this League head to their site.
So I would like to say a thank you to RMIT University and The League for inviting me. I hope to be invited again soon as it was really lovely getting lots and lots of ideas about starting your own business. Students I hope that you can start as well.