It’s who you know, not what you know. I’d always assumed this saying was a sign of questionable morals and the people who uttered such things were the privileged amongst us who’d never known the true meaning of hard work. But the reality is your contacts and your networks can be a valuable part of…
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We often hear stories of people who have found success in various forms who’ll tell you they happened upon it somewhat serendipitously. The lazy within us hopes this might one day happen to us. But like all joyful brushes with fate, only a handful of us can lay claim to serendipitous success; the rest of…
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Two weeks out from my 26th birthday and I sit in a crowded Sydney café, watching the rain fall relentlessly and remembering how the looming threat of my 25th birthday a year ago caused me so much anxiety. I felt like a serial underachiever and was convinced that if I’d made nothing of myself by…
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There’s something really daunting about confessions of love, often because their validity seems to rely on the reaction of another. According to almost every girl I know and every “girl bible” ever, you’re never supposed to say I love you first. I have my own, probably controversial opinion about that, which I promise to divulge…
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Friends was arguably one of the greatest shows of the ’90s and early 2000s. Even those of us too young to watch the consistently hilarious modern day Archie and the Gangas they aired the first time around, have been privy to the ongoing reruns. It’s a known fact amongst my own circle of friends that…
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Sometime between high school and getting my first real job I grew comfortable with difference. So comfortable in fact I sought to define myself by how different I truly was. No matter where life takes me I tend not to “fit in” and once I’d accepted that, I learned to appreciate the minor similarities I…
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It’s a warm January in the early 90s. Every radio station in Sydney is playing ‘Ice Ice Baby’ while every child between the ages of four and 12 is watching Agro’s Cartoon Connection. Standing in front of the television I change out of my pyjamas and into my school uniform for the first time. I…
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Dear 2012 School Leavers, You’ve just graduated from your final year of school. Your parents/guardians/teachers/siblings/friends/dog sat in a packed auditorium and beamed with pride as you smugly strutted across the stage to collect some kind of high school memorabilia (mine was a mug!). If of course by strut what I actually mean is that you…
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As an undergrad I was a low maintenance student. It wasn’t uncommon for me to go an entire semester without exchanging a single piece of electronic correspondence with my tutors or lecturers. I went to class each week without fuss and handed in assessments on time, even if it meant not sleeping for two days…
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Last week designer label, Ralph Lauren proudly announced its first ever ‘plus size model’, Robyn Lawley. The 23-year-old Australian will make Ralph Lauren history when her size 12 physique appears on billboards and buses as part of the latest Ralph Lauren campaign. This move is particularly historic for Ralph, as it has previously been known…
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Father’s day, on par with my parents’ anniversary and my dad’s birthday, is a time of ambivalent emotion; time to be both thankful for the father I once had and to quietly miss him. I also know I’m not the only one who wishes she had one more chance to gift her father another packet…
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A couple of months ago I attended a panel discussion on Women in Film as part of the Arab Film Festival in Sydney. The chair for the session, Paula Abood, opened the discussion with a quote from Ways of Seeing (Berger, 1972): A woman must continually watch herself. She is almost continually accompanied by her…
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Sometimes we all feel a bit anxious about the future. Even with the knowledge that life is nothing less than a rollercoaster of highs, lows and everything in between, I sometimes need to be reminded that everything passes. Revisiting an old experience that turned out fine can offer some perspective when you’re feeling down. So…
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