Exams were disrupted and postponed. Trees were uprooted … most notably the large tree by the Hocken Collections and Gallery, and more in front of the Clocktower building.
A video went viral in the student community of a tree falling outside the Business School, narrowly missing a student who, luckily, had the quick thinking and the ability to sprint out of danger.
The Wi-Fi went down on campus, and safety warnings were issued soon after.
It is easy to make light of it all, and many have, posting videos hanging off fallen trees and sharing in the hectic excitement it caused, but for many people, the storm was really damaging.
People are facing power outages, broken homes, and loss.
Knox Church, Forsyth Barr and the Dunedin Ice Stadium were hit hard. Now, people are rebuilding.
On campus, it has been quite sad walking past the felled trees and detached branches.
As students, we have been navigating another kind of storm: end-of-year exams.
Yesterday, I went to my friend Marshall’s piano recital for a performance paper, a welcome break in a day of studying and a reminder that this final stretch looks different for everyone.
The fruits of a semester's work look different, too.
Whether you are buried in textbooks, buying batteries to refuel your calculator or in the science lab, or some combination of all, we are all nearing the end of another long academic year.
Every exam season comes with its share of minor scandals — this time, a law paper contained an error, a medical exam got cancelled and replaced with an internal assignment.
I am sure other contentious moments have passed by unnoticed by me.
These moments remind us of the pressure on both sides of the marking table.
It has been a head-down, tail-up fortnight. The library is full until close, and most spots in the central library fill up within the first two hours.
Days blur into each other; weekends start to feel the same as weekdays, with the same crowded desks and focus. I sat what I expect to be my most challenging exam last Thursday.
The atmosphere afterwards was a mix of exhaustion and quiet relief.
Often, after exams, you can gauge how people feel about their performance by the silence in the room, and even by the invigilators’ expressions as they collect the papers.
Earlier in the week, I had another law exam on Tuesday morning: Treaty of Waitangi.
This reminded me of a developing discussion further north at the University of Auckland. This year, a Te Tiriti and te ao Māori course was made compulsory for first-year students, but from next year it will be optional following feedback from staff and students.
Act’s tertiary education spokesperson called it "a huge victory for students’ choice over Treaty ideology".
Perhaps I feel drawn to this debate because of my studies, or maybe because it contains echoes of the importance of understanding the relationship between our place of study and local mana whenua — Ngāi Tahu here in Ōtepoti, Ngāti Whātua Ōrakei in Tāmaki Makaurau. The discussion highlights the tension between viewing te Tiriti education as political or foundational.
The number of students using library facilities daily must be a strain on services.
Recycling bins are overflowing with empty energy drinks, the printer paper is frequently restocked, and lines form to refill water bottles and get notes bound at Uniprint.
Local cafes have kept up admirably — Precinct at Tūhura (thankfully) stayed open on Labour Day, and the restaurants around campus are no doubt seeing a surge in business from students spending all day revising.
Things are abuzz on campus and in Dunedin.
Soon it will be study leave for our NCEA students.
Year 13s will balance study with weighing up their university offers, hopefully deciding that Otago is the right fit.
This is many students' final semester of study, with graduation season rolling around the corner again.
As 2024 OUSA president Liam White wrote in a recent ODT article, "They [students] want to stay if the city gives them reasons to: jobs, warm homes, and a community that welcomes them all."
At this time of year, though, most students want nothing more than for exams to be finished, and to go home — likely to sunnier weather and certainly to less stress.
The anticipation of the return home is a staple of this season, and we are almost at the finish line.
Kind regards,
Grace
• Dunedin resident Grace Togneri is a fourth-year law student.
