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Med camp?

lilibli

Member
Hi guys!

I'm not sure if this goes in this forum or not. Let me know if it doesn't!

So I've been hearing about a med camp that Monash organises each year and have been pretty excited about it since.

But couple of my older friends have been telling that it's mostly about drinking heaps and heaps and you barely remember anything/anyone afterwards? I personally know no one from the cohort this year, so my main target was to make as many friends as I can! Plus I don't drink, AT ALL.

So this has made me a bit skeptical on whether I should look out for the tickets when class starts or just let it pass.

Can someone share their experience on this please? Like did you go to the camp, if so, how was it? Do you think it was worth it? And if you didn't go, did it affect in any way, like was it a bit harder to make friends and stuff like that?

Sorry if this is a very stupid post, but this has been bugging me for a while, so I just thought to vent it out! :$
 

lumos

Regular Member
Hi guys!

I'm not sure if this goes in this forum or not. Let me know if it doesn't!

So I've been hearing about a med camp that Monash organises each year and have been pretty excited about it since.

But couple of my older friends have been telling that it's mostly about drinking heaps and heaps and you barely remember anything/anyone afterwards? I personally know no one from the cohort this year, so my main target was to make as many friends as I can! Plus I don't drink, AT ALL.

So this has made me a bit skeptical on whether I should look out for the tickets when class starts or just let it pass.

Can someone share their experience on this please? Like did you go to the camp, if so, how was it? Do you think it was worth it? And if you didn't go, did it affect in any way, like was it a bit harder to make friends and stuff like that?

Sorry if this is a very stupid post, but this has been bugging me for a while, so I just thought to vent it out! :$

I'm actually one of the medcamp organisers this year so I'll be happy to give you some info about it :) And also welcome to Monash!

Basically it is a party camp, there's no denying it. Almost all uni camps are, believe me... And there is a lot of alcohol. We usually go down to the camp on the Friday afternoon (in mid-March), and then come back on Sunday arvo. There are dress-up parties on Friday and Saturday night (toga night, anything-but-clothes night, that kins of thing), and during the day on Saturday there are games which, I won't lie, are mostly drinking games. It's at a great camp near Traralgon where the people that own the camp are super lovely and really willing to let us do our thing...

The thing is that (and I'm not necessarily promoting drunkenness as a lifestyle...) a couple of drinks does tend to make everyone friendly, make people less shy and help everyone socialise. I knew a couple of people coming into med, but not many, and was really wanting to make as many new friends as possible. And the people that I was in a dorm room with, who I'd been getting to know over the previous few weeks, are now my closest friends. Plus you'll be placed randomly into teams for the events so you'll get to know your team pretty well. Only first-year med students are allowed, and a couple of second-years who will be running everything, so there's a great sense of camaraderie and it's a good situation for people to get to know each other.

You'll find out soon enough that med students, collectively, are not quite as tame as people expect us to be. We tend to work hard, party hard, and medcamp is no exception. But we would never force you to drink, at all. If you don't want to do something we would never make you. For a lot of people medcamp is their first experience of drinking, and for others it most certainly isn't, but there are always people who stay sober.

I'd recommend you come to as many things as you can in the first few weeks of med, including all the o-week stuff. It's even more important if you don't know anyone coming in. In terms of making friends and having sober fun times, medcamp is probably not the best, but it's not for another six weeks so you have time to decide. Definitely come to all the days of o-week: the MUMUS barbecue, the Bounce day, MedCruise, futures forum, etc. Settling in will be easier than you think.
 

bingcicle

Member
hi drisa,
i'm one of the second years at monash this year. I didn't go to med camp last year because i already had other events planned and i don't like drinking much.. if at all! A lot of my friends who went said there were loads of drinking... but of course i also know people who went and didn't drink! I think it's a good opportunity to get to know people who you'll be spending the next 5 years with, but at the same time it won't be harder to make friends if you don't go. A lot of my close friends now went to med camp but i didn't find it hard to make friends with them (after the camp - they didn't just stick to each other etc.) so i can assure you that med camp isn't the only opportunity you'll get to make friends! Don't worry too much right now, you have plenty of time to decide! pretty sure the tickets went on sale after uni's already started last year - but not sure what's happening this year so check with lumos. good luck and welcome to monash med :)
 

lumos

Regular Member
I do recommend that everyone goes to as much as possible in terms of o-week stuff and med activities (I think it's really important socially), but it's totally up to you. I gotta admit, I don't know what it's like going to these things not being a drinker, and did participate wholeheartedly in medcamp-related festivities (classic uni alco). So if you think you'd be uncomfortable being sober when everyone else is drinking large volumes of alcohol, then uni camps may not be for you.

In any case, tickets will go on sale after semester starts, since the camp isn't until the end of week 3. As long as you're part of the MM17 Facebook group then you'll hear about all the events from the second years.
 

lilibli

Member
Thank you lumos and bingcicle. :)
Didn't really end up going but hopefully I won't regret it (that much) 50years from now!
 
Thank you lumos and bingcicle. :)
Didn't really end up going but hopefully I won't regret it (that much) 50years from now!
If not going to medcamp is what you regret in 50 years time, you'll have done well for yourself :p
 

chinaski

Regular Member
If not going to medcamp is what you regret in 50 years time, you'll have done well for yourself :p

Ha, true. I think a bigger regret would be getting 50 years down the track and still not being able to say no to something that didn't appeal to you. Going with the crowd is so much easier, but full of potential misgivings.
 

Season

Emeritus Staff
Emeritus Staff
Yeah, if you are one those people who doesn't drink - but enjoys going out, then go for it. Medcamp will create stories that will be retold. However if you're one of those people who doesn't drink and doesn't like hanging out with drunk people - you are less likely to enjoy the camp.

Also if you are living on campus/ in a college, the medcamp is generally not as good as what goes on in the colleges.
 

chinaski

Regular Member
Yeah, if you are one those people who doesn't drink - but enjoys going out, then go for it. Medcamp will create stories that will be retold. However if you're one of those people who doesn't drink and doesn't like hanging out with drunk people - you are less likely to enjoy the camp.

…And if you are one of those people who likes going out but who doesn't think hanging around with drunk people is fun, then med camp probably isn't your thing either.

Who actually enjoys hanging out with drunk people? These people exist...?
 

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Season

Emeritus Staff
Emeritus Staff
Who actually enjoys hanging out with drunk people? These people exist...?

I do actually have a fair few friends who don't drink but love going out. By necessity they have learnt how to deal/enjoy being with drunk people. Some of this is religious reasons, I have a friend with Diabetes though, others just don't like being hungover. I think they've just learnt how to deal with it over the years. I always did think it was pretty admirable because they often did get a lot of shit about it.
 

chinaski

Regular Member
It's a shame that some people need to learn to tolerate drunks and their oh-so-hilarious behaviour in order to continue having a social life - but we're straying onto a completely different topic and it's late so I won't go on. ;)
 

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