FASS Faculty Welcome: Great Debate and BBQ
16 February 2023
Good afternoon everyone. My name is Jamaica and I’m a fourth year Politics, International Relations and American Studies Student. I’m the President of the Sydney Arts Students Society, or ‘SASS’.
SASS is the official Faculty society for students within the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Sydney. We are run by students for students. Whether you are an undergraduate or postgraduate student, membership to the society is entirely free.
We currently have a stall set up outside of here on the lawns and the question I have been asked the last two days is: What is SASS? And I keep answering with the same response: What isn’t SASS?
SASS has the widest variety of events and initiatives you could ever imagine: from parties, to our Annual First Year Camp, Weekly Sport, Creative Journals, Trivia Nights, Career Events, Ball and so much more.
The first few weeks of University can be an incredibly overwhelming time, you are trying to understand all of this new terminology: Societies, FASS, O Week, Units of Study, Tutorials. Just breathe. I promise you by the end of semester you will be a pro at this Uni thing.
What is so beautiful about undertaking an Arts degree is that you are throwing yourself into a Faculty with an infinite amount of possibilities. And further what is so nice about SASS is you are making friends from such a variety of backgrounds; students who study English, Political Economy, Theatre Studies, Linguistics the list goes on.
I can truly say my decision to undertake an Arts degree at the University of Sydney has been the best decision I’ve made. The second best decision I made was joining SASS in my First Year at Welcome Week.
Back in February of 2020 little Jamaica had no idea what was about to be in store for her along with the rest of the world. Unassumingly I went to SASS’ 2020 First Year Camp from March 13th-15th and quite literally the next day Sydney was in lockdown.
Now you might think this is where the story ends, I could have panicked and thought that's it, my university experience is over.
I even had a conversation with SASS’ IT Officer the other day, Dan. I said to Dan I can’t have imagined how difficult it must have been to do your HSC during Covid-19. And Dan simply responded saying he felt worse for me, doing my first year of University throughout the pandemic.
I proceeded to explain that the singular SASS event I went to, First Year Camp in 2020 before the pandemic hit, is literally the sole reason I have had a social life at Usyd.
And don’t get me wrong friendships are inevitably going to change; the transition from high school to university, or even as you take on new classes here at the University. The one thing that has been a constant for me is SASS.
When I look back at my perceptions of an Arts degree in high school; I am truly embarrassed. I believed the rhetoric for a long time, “an Arts degree won’t get you a job”. In fact I even told that to my school's Career Counsellor when she recommended I look at Arts degrees. And yet here I stand promoting everything I love about the Arts.
And I’ll tell you what, all the Arts Graduates I know do have a job in their field of interest and are truly thriving.
But you’re not here to just get a signed piece of paper that says you did this x amount of units, graduate and go into a job and then another and another.
The University is not just a degree producing machine; pop one student through the conveyor belt, come out 4 years later with a piece of paper and some extra information in your head.
No, University is about learning how to think for yourself, how to collaborate, how to project manage. The uniqueness of being here, at University, is its very purpose, education for education’s sake.
So, when you leave the Great Hall today, I want you to hold your head up high and not let anyone tell you any different. You’re taking on this great new adventure and I am really proud of you.
I also want to tell you that you don’t have to have it all figured out. I still don’t know what I want to do with my life after university and that is totally, 100 per cent okay. In my short 21 years of experience life is quite unpredictable so don’t try to control it, just ride the wave and see where you land.
So to end, I am here to promote the society and have you sign up and come to all of our incredible events. But I could not do this if I did not wholeheartedly believe in the genuine work that this society does.
SASS aims to provide an accessible, vibrant, and holistic student experience that speaks to the diversity of our Arts degrees.
So what can you expect this year should you sign up to SASS after this?
Well, each year, SASS publishes three journals, entirely edited and run by Arts students. We have a SASS Welcome Drinks Week 2, A Welcome to Uni Party in Week 3, An Ice Cream Truck coming to Campus in week 5, First Year Camp Week 6, Interfaculty Sport Every Wednesday and so much more.
So, thank you so much for listening to me blabber on for five minutes. I hope to see you come by Stall #95 after this, outside on the lawns and we can talk more about SASS because quite frankly I won’t shut up about it.
Enjoy your University experience and make it your own. Good luck.
2023 SASS President
Jamaica Leech
