First impressions- a talk by Norma Novell

 RNIS was invited to Norma's talk by Perwakilan Melbourne and they took away a lot of things from that talk. Norma is a successful image consultant in Australia and she gave her talk at the Malaysian Consulate in Melbourne.

The session. Image courtesy of Periwakilan Melbourne

Malaysians are always positive and hopeful. They have a good sense of humour and their English is just as good as any Australian.

Food. Image courtesy of Periwakilan Melbourne

This was a positivity talk about how the first impressions last and how to make yourself look good to someone who you will meet for the first time (and maybe the last time). The first 40 seconds count and this is not taught in school. Rather it is self taught. It is from the way you dress, do your hair to the way that you speak/act.

Looks
How you dress and do your hair is important especially for functions. This is how people see your inner self. Make sure that you do your research about the place, the weather and all. Do find out the dress code and if you don't know what that style is then Google it.

The book. Image courtesy of Periwakilan Melbourne

Norma's tips
*You should be humble and kind
* Do have a sense of humour
* If you do something wrong, it doesn't matter. This is a chance to improve yourself.
* Respect people
* Shake hands with people and if you do have a business card then give it to them. The card tells a story about you.

Do try and be a positive person as many people will always befriend positive people.

Loneliness

Many International students feel lonely at some point in Melbourne. Loneliness is one of the biggest source of depression and weight gain. We illustrate some steps to assist students.

Loneliness. Image courtesy of useast.mymarkettoolkit.com

Some steps

1) Blog if you can
With blogs you can meet people online and sometimes there will be some face to face meetings, usually in a public place. This is a good chance to explore a place.

2) Join meetups such as Newbies International. Here they have free food Fridays among other things. And drinking class in Melbourne is a Facebook group so do join them

3) AFIS (Australian Federation of International students) have lots of opportunities for students to meet and mingle. You can even volunteer for them if you like.

4) Exercise
Join a gym. Join a fitclub. There are many in Melbourne and you could make some new friends.

5) Follow the Plus Ones. The Plus ones are a social group which organizes a lot of free or cheap activities for everyone. They meet on a weekly basis.

6) Don't be afraid to venture out on your own. Sometimes being solo is best. No arguments and you get to do what you like and love. This is a great way to try new things and you'll discover what you'll like and what you don't. after all isn't that what going to a new country is all about?

How to love yourself

As part of Bupa's best blog competition for 2015

As International students it is hard to adjust to life in a new place. This is Sally's story about adjusting to life down under

This is a valentines love post.
Accepting yourself for who you are is really important. As new International students coming from a different country the high expectations of getting good grades and adjusting to a new country can make you feel stressed out. In reality no one is perfect and you have to love yourself for who you are.

Your values and outlook on life may change whilst you are living in Australia. Moving to a different country from another changed my perspective on life. I learned to make friends from different walks of life and that made me look at myself from a different side.

I really learned that grades are not everything. To my parents living in China and every other Chinese/Asian International students grades are everything to the parents. If I failed something in China my parents would spank me. In Australia I learned that my friends parents loved them and accepted them for who they are not their grades. This was from the local, Australian friends.

Aaliyah said "If at first you don't succeed, just pick yourself and try again", its very true. Grades are not everything, they are just a tiny part of you, its whether you can be happy and adjust to life Down under well.

Living down under is about rediscovering yourself and who you are. As someone once said to me it is not about the grades but its about find your true self and loving thy self