Father’s Day :)

The idea for creating a day for children to honour their fathers began in Washington. A woman by the name of Sonora Smart Dodd thought of the idea for Father's Day after her mother died. She wanted her father to know how special he was to her. It was her father that made all the parental sacrifices for her. Sonora's father was born in June, so she chose to hold the first Father's Day celebration in Washington on the 19th of June, 1910. The officially recognized date of Father's Day varies from country to country.

5th of September is FATHERS DAY in Australia, celebration of honouring fathers. Almost all the children don’t forget to make the day special giving a gift to dad and go for a dinner..Etc. But I really miss my dad in Sri Lanka. I find myself wondering did I ever thank him for everything has done for me...to celebrate my success...to accept defeats...to deal with life’s stress...teaching me the value of hard work...courage...laughter...smiles..Good times together...HAPPY FATHERS DAY DAD!

I LOVE LIVING LIFE. I AM HAPPY – Nick Vujicic

Hi, I need you guys to see the amazing link below. It will inspire you! It will give more strength for your life!

Visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8ZuKF3dxCY

Nick Vujicic (pronounced Voo-ya-chich) born in 1982 in Melbourne, Australia with no arms or legs. Did anyone know that this beautiful limbless baby would one day be someone who would inspire and motivate people all over the world?

By the age of 19 Nick started to fulfil his dream of being able to encourage other people and bring them hope, through motivational speaking and telling his story. Now at 26 years old this limbless young man has accomplished more than most people even twice his age.

He is the president of Life Without Limbs an international non-profit organization, California, USA and also has his own motivational speaking company; Attitude Is Altitude. Nick has travelled around the world, sharing his story with millions of people and also told his story and been interviewed on various televised programs worldwide.

Nick says:
People say to me, "How can you smile?". Then they realize there's got to be something more to life than meets the eye if a guy without arms and legs is living a fuller life than I am.

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/NickVujicicFans
Visit: http://www.lifewithoutlimbs.org/

The God tried sending one person to this earth to pass the massage to humans but humans crucified him. And then God decided to send heaps of them to tell humans to understand who truly we are. And I believe he is one of them!

Stay Safe and Think Before You Travel!

Australia is a great place to live and everyday you will learn new things and meet lots of interesting people. Your studies, part-time jobs will keep you busy but it is important to think about your safety as well.

There’s a new safety campaign called Think Before by an international student called George and he stars in his very own animation and can speak 14 languages. The international student safety campaign thinkbefore.com is designed to sharpen safety skills and they need international students to view the attached videos and read key messages and then share the information with family and fellow students.

Website: www.thinkbefore.com
Mobile site: http://m.thinkbefore.com
Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/thinkbefore/110826412301397?ref=ts
Twitter: http://twitter.com/ThinkBeforeCom
You can also find videos on YouTube.

There are a lot of helpful people out there to support you but it’s important that you go to them when you need support. You can find very useful information on George’s website such as safety tips and web links. Being aware of safety issues will help deliver a positive student experience when studying in Australia.

Stay Safe and Think Before You Travel!

Tips for a Student

1.Get organized
There is lots of potential to get stressed out at university. It is much more important that you are able to manage yourself and your time so as to keep you disciplined.

2.Get to know your campus
It’s where you will spend a lot of your time and you will settle in much more quickly, making those first few weeks more pleasant. You will also learn the quietest place to study, or the busiest time in the cafe, library etc. By knowing about your campus you will be able to make the most of the facilities.


3.Track your spending
It’s a valuable habit with all the difficulties of juggling expenditure, is a good time to start practicing it. You can find exactly where your money is going and make important conclusions from it. Found out you are spending the bulk of your money on study books? Look at buying them second hand or using the library.

4.Nights out
It’s a pretty common thing going to a bar, parties, nightclubs etc. If you are worried about spending a lot, take out a set amount of money beforehand and then leave your bank card at home!

5.Social network
Get to know many people as possible, whether it be other students or lecturers. It makes much easier if you have people you can talk to and trust. It can also open up lots of opportunities. A lecturer you can comfortably talk to may be able to provide advice on your work, and it can be so much easier to do group work if you have friends on your course.

As Sir Winston Churchill says,
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty"

Tony Stiller - CQUniversity Brisbane

I think I forgot to mention that I have studied in CQUniversity Brisbane in my first year of Master program. Now I’m in Melbourne but it was an unforgettable 12 months in Brisbane. Whenever I think about Brisbane campus, I never ever forget my lecturer ‘Tony Stiller’, one of the nicest teachers I have ever met! He taught me System Development Overview and Database Development and Management subjects in my first and second semesters. He is excellent in making theoretical subjects more interesting and the way he delivers lectures and tutorials with his broad knowledge in the IT field is more effective to all of the students. A bit of humour makes it more absorbed. The preparation for all the lectures and tutorials are much appreciated.

He is very generous for all the students anytime anywhere giving priority to help students in each and every aspect, especially in assignments and exams. He is energetic all the time even we are half dead at the end of the day making me think, how he is active this much? I have never seen him with a tired or bored face. And sometimes I see him walking to the train station, but it’s not actually walking its running! I have to run with him to say good bye!

He is an unforgettable person in my LIFE! Hope to see him again soon!

God bless you Tony!
Your favourite student
Nimna

Melbourne to awesome Sydney beaches...

It was an awesome trip to Sydney beaches which are some of the cleanest and most abundant of any tourist area in the world. The pristine waters of the Pacific wash up on their shores every day, and the mild climate means there is always plenty of greenery around to detract from the heat of the sun reflected off sand and water.

There are plenty of famous beaches in NSW, Bondi, Manly and Coogee are well known around the world, while harbour beaches include Balmoral. There are hundreds of gorgeous beaches up and down the coast.

La Perouse is a beautiful beach, but in a very strange kind of way. The La Perouse peninsula is the far northern end of Botany Bay. The old military outpost at Bare Island is fascinating, and is somewhat the defining feature of the area. A great spot have not so much a swimming or snorkelling hole, but one to soak up the history of the area and enjoy the severe beauty of the area.

Sydney has an amazing variety of beaches - if you only make it to Manly, Cronulla and Bondi in your time in Sydney, you are definitely missing out!

Photos of South coast and La Perouse

Have fun guys!

It was a great Saturday night at my place for my cousin’s 21st. I realized organizing a party can sure be one heck of a stress. From the decorations, to the guests down to the menu, it can eat up a lot of time and energy leaving you drained with the pressure and headache that goes stronger as the countdown to the big day approaches. My cousin and I had to spend couple of nights to get the decorations done as both of us were busy with uni work. It was awesome to see our old friends and relatives and to have a couple of drinks and hit the dance floor!

I love partying usually on weekends to relax; it makes me more energetic for the coming busy week. There are plenty of clubs and bars around Melbourne at affordable prices. You really don’t need to worry about the cost of a night out because most of the clubs are free of entrance fees before 10pm. It is a great experience to have fun with friends in a night out in the Melbourne city with bright lights, music and evening breeze ushering everyone towards jumpers!