Text 1
My first busking experience took place in early 2003. I was in the midst of an adventure across
Australia with my then-boyfriend, and we had little care for anything apart from causing
mischief from coast to coast. Due to our mutual conviction that we were the ‘chosen ones’
being guided by the forces of the universe, we found ourselves utterly lost – broke and starving
in Byron with no place to live and no money for food or accommodation. And so it came to be
that I was forced to set up with my lucky hat and guitar on the main street and busk for the first
time in my life. So I positioned myself on the sidewalk outside the bank, and swallowed a few
gulps of pure fear before beginning the first song with sweaty, shaking fingers.
An interesting and surprising thing happened after I had completed my first song. I was
approached by a dark-skinned man with a braided pony-tail and a British accent. He said he
was holding auditions for instrumentalists for a house band at a club. He complimented my
guitar playing and encouraged me to go and audition for it. I knew I wasn’t going to be
auditioning for any house band anywhere, but his encouragement and compliments achieved
something far more wondrous - the rock of nerves inside my stomach vanished. During our
conversation I relaxed and started to feel comfortable playing there in the morning sunlight,
with my glitter guitar in full view of all who passed by.
At one point a strange-looking woman sneaked up on me, bent down and swiped $2 without
missing a beat. I was seething with rage; she was obviously better off than me! ‘You’ll see,
you’ll pay for it,’ I thought watching with a dark glare as she disappeared from view. Despite
being robbed I began to really enjoy myself, sitting there playing my guitar in the sun, having
friendly folk drop coins into my lucky hat and receiving smiles from passers-by.
I felt fantastic as I walked back to the car. I had faced and conquered my fear and the feeling
of achievement was unlike anything I had previously known. Aside from being able to afford
food on that day, my first busking experience was a personal lesson in facing fear. The
prospect of playing music in public had terrified me for years, but once I did it, I realised it
wasn’t that bad. In fact, it was quite enjoyable.
adapted from www.buskerworld.com
Text 2
Linda Fleur, aged 29, received Bachelor of Science degrees in two different fields. The first
one, in Marine Biology, came from a small private school, while the second one, a B.Sc. in
Environmental Studies, was from a state university. She agreed to talk to us about her
experiences.
Interviewer: Your first degree was from a small, private university in a remote area, and
the second one was from a very large state university. How would you
compare your two studying experiences?
Linda:
The first degree, that is Marine Biology, was much more theoretical. And even
when we did some fieldwork, it was mostly for the sole benefit of the university
department. We did have a research trip once to the freshwater springs system
of Florida to study alligators there but it was more of an excuse to take a trip to
Florida on the department’s money really. My second degree, the one in
Environmental Studies, was much more hands-on. I learned about ecosystems
mainly by exploring environments. We just went to a particular area for a week
or so and we had to make a record of every animal or plant we identified there.
And this fieldwork was strictly correlated both to our interests and the courses
we were required to take at university. And another advantage was that the
department interference was limited to the necessary minimum. Within our
research area we were free to choose whatever topic we wanted.
Interviewer: And what are the differences between the two schools when it comes to
job opportunities?
Linda:
Well first and foremost, I was able to get letters of recommendation from the
state university. A very useful thing for a graduate, and highly sought by
prospective employers! The private school was extremely unresponsive and
unprofessional even with their letters. Also, as the state school is local, I have
the continued opportunity to interact with some of my professors. I have run into a number of them again in my work and through them I’ve managed to make
useful employment contacts. I’m lucky to have a job in my field and I must admit
that doing a degree at the state school was a great advantage.
I know graduates from my first private school who are still trying to get jobs in
their fields. Several others are just doing temporary jobs without any chance of
a real career. Just to quote one example, I have a friend who had a job at first
where she had a mandatory unpaid 6-month vacation, then she had
a part-time job in her field for a few years and is only now finally employed full-
time, but not doing what she had studied.
Interviewer: Thank you very much for talking to us, Linda.
adapted from www.thetalkingtwenties.wordpress.com