Feature article on a stranger

Today's class involved doing a short feature article on someone we found within the university campus. Names and places have been altered for privacy reasons.

Working for eight hours five days a week may sound like a career, but for one University student this is his regular study plan. The 18-year-old’s timetable resembles that of someone’s working hours, but his workload is far from that.

Born in South Australia, Scott moved with his parents to ((town deleted)) while he was still a toddler, and is now the eldest in his family of three sisters and a brother. Educated in the town all his life, he is now doing a double degree in Engineering and Chemistry at this university's local campus. As one would imagine, this takes up a lot of his time.

“I have a few lectures in the morning, [then a] small break and then a few more lectures,” he says. Wednesdays are not consistent with the rest of his week, in which he works seven hours with no breaks.

At the time he is being interviewed he is having an hour long break with another person doing his course, Sashi. “He’s a dick,” Sashi says. “No, it’s a joke… He’s a smart guy, very smart, [and] a very hard worker with all [of his] designs.”

Another of Scott’s friends, Brad, is also at the University and has known him since primary school. Although unwilling to be interviewed, Brad described Scott as a “good friend”.

Dr. Legge, head of Engineering and Science at the local campus, describes him as a very able student. “His results so far suggest he does very good work,” she says. Although he shows promising signs Dr. Legge believes that, like most engineering students, he will seek work after gaining his degree rather than do postgraduate work.

So how does Scott believe those around the campus perceive him? “Generally, alright,” he says. “Probably from a teacher’s perspective it would be understanding the topic but not doing the work. By peers, a little bit crazy, [but] fun.” These brief moments interviewing him suggest that would be an accurate summary.