Within my first semester of studying interior architecture at Curtin University, I have gained quite a few skills and knowledge within my area of study. I feel like as an architecture student most of your past architecture knowledge is either from youtube or informative websites are given to you by your own research, as architecture isn’t really something that you study prior to a university degree. So when I started my first semester I have very little knowledge about my degree, but Curtin does a really good job at teaching students the basics to get started, so I felt very comfortable and confident in what I was doing as Curtin was able to teach me the skills that I needed to understand what it was that I was working towards. Personally, I found that a lot of my tutors were honours students, and I found that really helpful because as a student it’s much easier to communicate with your tutors and you feel a lot more comfortable doing so, and I feel like that is due to the shared experience of the fact that you are both students. So, tutors are able to feel some sympathy for their students as they are studying as well, and you kind of have that closer relationship with your, tutor because you are able to gain study tips, past knowledge of assessments and shared experiences.

Within my year and a half of study, I’ve only ever had good experiences with Curtin, especially regarding the tutors as they really go an extra mile to help you with your studies, and they really care about you and your education, and that’s really shown when they go out of their own time to help you with your work, or even in my experience coming into a workshop with you and helping you with physical skills that you may need to complete an assessment.
I’ve noticed over my time here at Curtin that the school is very diverse, especially in my area of study. I’ve actually met a lot of international students some have come from India, another from the UK, and it’s very interesting hearing about their experiences coming from another country or how their past education may have been completely different from how things are taught over in Australia. I’ve also found that there is a very diverse range of lecturers and tutors as well.

The student life and culture are very relaxed and encouraged at Curtin. There have been multiple instances where I’ve been encouraged to come along to get drinks with my classmates and tutors after exams have been done, as well as the number of student events that are constantly advertised as well as the clubs that are very consistent. So I feel like the atmosphere is always very welcoming and comfortable, especially for an introvert like myself.

I feel the only thing that kind of has its downside is student services at Curtin. In my experience and I feel like this could be a cause of COVID-19 is that student services are very slow and it seems as if there isn’t as many staff available compared to the demand of students needing to use that resource, which is a shame and does make enrolment issues take a little longer than advised.

In the end, I would recommend a friend of mine to study at Curtin. I’ve had friends and relatives that have influenced me to study within Curtin due to their careful consideration of student wellbeing and success and I would say that they defiantly live up to their values, as Curtin really pays attention to the student itself rather than how prestige the school is, and I feel like that really is what makes Curtin different from other universities.