Friends Cafe - social space for members under 25

[Kazzl]

Hey! Welcome to Friends Cafe.

This is a chill and chat space for young BB members to talk about anything and everything and make new friends.

When school's getting to you, uni or work has got you down, parents, partners, friends don't understand, and especially if you're feeling alone or lonely - come and relax awhile and talk to others who know just how you feel.

Our minds can cause us trouble, but they can also be amazing things that imagine beauty, love and fun. This cafe has everything you can imagine. To start with it's, well, a cafe. So there's chairs and tables, comfy couches for flopping, a big screen tele, unlimited download on computers for games, Spotify (or an old-school jukebox if you prefer), every movie you can think of on instant demand ... whatever you want, it's here. Post and tell us what'd you'd like.

Plus, there's an infinite menu of whatever food or drinks takes your fancy. And it's all free!

To kick it off, today we have a special range of Monster Milkshakes - those thick gooey shakes topped with cronuts, chocolate bars, cake, cookies ... whatever you want. And if you can get through one of them, you're a legend (and probably feeling a little bit sick LOL!)

Welcome friends.

[Zeal]

Hi Grace,

It's great that you're interested in psychology - it's a fantastic area of work to pursue! There are so many different career opportunities as well. Getting into Psychological Science at my uni didn't require a very high ATAR, but it's of course best to do as well as you can. I also did Legal Studies in high school! I had a great teacher who would use puns constantly. A girl in my Year 12 class decided to keep a tally of all his puns, and she stood up in class and clapped when he reached 500! It was hilarious!

Uni is fairly busy at the moment, but it will be even busier in several weeks. Often at uni, many assignments are due around the same time. It's as if the lecturers are plotting against us! Nah, all the psychology lecturers at my university are lovely actually 🙂

My boyfriend is doing well, thank you! I see him every day or two, but we were both too busy yesterday to spend time together unfortunately. The weekend is coming up, so that will mean I have a bit more time 🙂

Hope your day is going well Grace 🙂

Best wishes,

SM

[Zeal]

Hi Crystal,

It's great to have you here! No worries about your short-term absence. I have had to take a little time off from the forums because of uni commitments before. Sometimes it's unavoidable. If you don't mind me asking, what's the focus of your diploma? Do you work part-time?

I hope you have a nice day - the weekend is so close!

Best wishes,

SM

[Graceeeeee]

Hey dear Crystal!!

No apologies needed for your absence, I know it gets really busy, same here even though I'm only in year 11! Hope you've had a good week Crystal? And what's some plans for the weekend? Have a good night!!

With Love,

Grace xx

[Graceeeeee]

Hey dear SM!

How has your day been? It's interesting to hear you did Legal as well! And it's always funny to hear teachers telling puns haha, I can imagine how hilarious it was when the girl stood up and clapped! How did the whole class react? 😛 Uni can be very busy I can imagine, are you taking some time out to relax at times as well? That's very important!! 🙂 Don't stress yourself out too much 🙂 And it's great you do Psychological Science, and I was thinking maybe I'd focus on the researching, social psychology, or things like that, I'm not very good at Science 😛 And if you don't mind me asking, what was the Atar required that year for Psychological Science? Just so I can get a general idea haha, feeling stressed for Uni already!

It's great that you and your boyfriend see each other often, do you go to the same Uni? Also, happy Friday!! I hope you have a relaxing weekend by yourself/with him 🙂 Thinking of you!!

With Love,

Grace xx

[Zeal]

Hey Grace,

Yesterday was a little tough, as I discontinued my work role. I had been training to become a behaviour therapist for kids with Autism since late last year. It was going fine, but the practical applications of the job and the emotionally draining effect it had on me was not sustainable. My boss was amazingly kind and helpful, so I made sure I left the company with as much respect and consideration as possible. There were six of us who started training at the same time last year. Two ladies are in their thirties, and the others are in their early twenties, like me. Only myself and one other lady hadn't officially started the job yet (receiving clients). The client is the young child with Autism and their family. I had met a family I was likely to start working with. The Mum and little girl both really liked me, which pleased my boss. On Tuesday this week my boss wanted me to run a 2 hour session with a young child (a client of my boss who gets free sessions when trainees like me work with them). I was nervous and wanted to do well for my boss. I struggled. The child happened to be having a tough week, and they were getting agitated and distracted, and I had to be constantly alert. I struggled to write down the data (correct/incorrect responses the child makes during learning tasks etc.) while maintaining his attention and delivering the instructions. There is so much multitasking involved, and the therapist is required to work quickly through as many learning programs as possible during the two or three hour session. My anxiety about the job was worsening, as I am not naturally good at multitasking and responding quickly in certain high-pressure environments. I now realise that hands-on work of this nature is not a good fit for me. I am glad I realised this before I started officially working as a paid behaviour therapist with my first client, as that would have involved very directly letting down the family. I went and told my boss in-person my decision yesterday afternoon. At first I felt relieved, but now I feel a little sad. Later today I will write a formal email thanking my boss, and I'll send an email to the five girls I had just finished doing training with.

Sorry about the mini-essay! I was debating whether to mention this at all, but it has felt good to put it into words!

I will send another message now, as I'm running out of words 😛

Best wishes,

SM

[150lashes]

What a great idea!

I really felt like a monster milkshake! If only I wasn't 33..

All the best to everyone here 🙂

[Zeal]

Hi again Grace,

Thank you for listening to my long job-related spiel!

When the girl clapped for my teacher, the rest of us started laughing and eventually stood up and clapped too! The teacher loved it! 🙂

I do get time to relax, and thanks for caring 🙂 I hope you are doing the same too. I'm not naturally good at science either. English plays more to my strengths. Social psychology is a good area, and one of my lecturers this semester focuses on that area for both her research and teaching. As I transferred from Bachelor of Arts (which I had barely started) to Bachelor of Psychological Science, I didn't get in purely based on my ATAR.

For the university I attend in my state, the 2015 ATAR (I just looked it up) for Psych Science was 65.05. That is lower than I thought it would be, actually. Keep in mind that this number is the lower-end cut-off, meaning the lowest possible ATAR someone got to be accepted into the degree was 65.05. You will definitely be able to get into this degree program if you work consistently during Year 12 😄 Perhaps look up the ATAR cut-off for your local university too.

My boyfriend and I both attend the same university. He is concurrently studying Marine Biology and Bachelor of Science. He is doing his second year in science right now, and has postponed his fourth year in marine biology for the time being, as the marine industry is looking dismal at the moment!

Thanks so much for your kindness Grace. I saw my boyfriend yesterday afternoon, and I'm seeing him a fair bit tomorrow. We're both a bit too busy to catch up today.

Have a great weekend too!

All the best,

SM

p.s. I always use my username SM to sign off. Sorry if it seems a bit impersonal. I do it so that I remain anonymous. I volunteer on this forum and end up talking a lot about my personal life in order to relate to others and to give advice.

[Kazzl]

SM - thank you for sharing that experience. I think you're amazing and from the viewpoint of someone much older, I can tell you no experience is ever lost. It will serve you well at some stage in the future.

Hey 150! There's no age limit on monster milkshakes - and when you're my age, 33 is very young. Anyhows, in case you'd like to join an older crowd, we are about to introduce monster milkshakes in the BB cafe too and you would be very welcome. So, take your pick - or have one in each cafe! (Oh, I feel a bit sick just saying that haha).

Right, having just consumed a real ice cream sundae and had the huge excitement of meeting a lovely new friend, I'm all tired out. So I will leave you young 'uns to it and go for a nanna nap. 😃

Kaz

xxx

[Graceeeeee]

Hey dear SM!!

First of all no apologies needed for the lovely stories and for using your initials, totally understandable 🙂 And as for your stories, they are very interesting and I liked the one about your job, sometimes you just have to write it down and that makes you feel much better, doesn't matter that much even who you are writing too! It's awesome to hear you've done training in helping children with Autism, in 2014, when I was 14, I volunteered with some friends in an Autism centre in Shenzhen, China, we didn't help all that much in a practical sense I guess because we hadn't done any professional trainings or anything like that, but we got to play with the children, and attend their lessons with them, or sometimes just sitting there quietly watching some cartoons with them. I really didn't do all that much, and I'd pick the cutest looking little kid to play with which makes me feel a little embarrassed and bad... I would try to help all and be more engaged with them all now if I still had the chance to go back, they are little gems and they live in their beautiful worlds, it is a wonderful thing for the rest of the world to have them, they are treasures 🙂

Haha I got carried away for a little bit, hope you don't mind 🙂 And the thing is it is hard to multi-task I understand!! I can't imagine having to do all these things at once, and I would feel anxious as well because I'd be nervous that I was doing something wrong or not guiding the child in the right way, it is very stressful. I'm glad to hear you felt a bit relived and it's normal that you'd feel a bit sad too 🙂

I'm running out of words as well! The time when you all stood and clapped for the teacher sounds amazing haha... I can imagine it could've been a pretty funny scene 😄 And I'm glad you've had sometime to spend with your boyfriend, and it's cool what he does at Uni as well! I check and last year at Sydney Uni the ATAR for Bachelor of Psychology was 97, maybe I could start with another degree and transfer there, that'd be great 🙂

Thank you for the kind words and sharing your lovely stories, have an awesome night and hope to hear from you soon!! You are awesome SM!!

With Love,

Grace xx

[Graceeeeee]

Hey dear 150lashes!!

Welcome welcome welcome!! And no you are never too old for a monster milkshake!! And who says 33 isn't young? I reckon you are young and you can stay forever young!! You are also welcomed here at anytime, there will be bean bags available and books as well on the corner shelfs, all drinks available, hot and cold, there will also be a chief there sometimes to cook some fancy food as required, because Kaz has said--Spare no expenses!! So we are going to enjoy ourselves in this cafe 🙂

Happy Saturday 150lashes and hope you have a great night!!

With Love,

Grace xx