Profile story: Tori Parker

Campus East student Victoria Parker in her personally decorated room

Sitting cross-legged on her single bed with endless photographs running on the wall behind her, first year psychology student Victoria (Tori) Parker appeared relaxed. We are situated in her homely Campus East room, with myself momentarily mesmerised as I take in the huge personality that her room so proudly boasts. 

 “I grew up on a farm in a small country town called Young”, Tori reveals, going on to later inform me that she went to a very small primary school of thirty-two kids. “For your grade?” I ask. No; for the whole school. 

Tori back home in Young: professional photo's done
with the Australian landscape as the backdrop

Following this, Tori went to a catholic high school in her area that had more than fourteen-times the population of her primary school, at around four-hundred people. To put that in perspective, this is about two-hundred people less then she finds herself not only going to school with, but actually living with at Campus East today.. 

Tori back home in her catholic school uniform at graduation

Moving from the country to the city was a huge endeavour for Tori, and she was very homesick for the first few weeks. “It was a bit of a shock at first because you think oh my gosh I’m in a unit with 2 other girls I don’t even know and we share a bathroom... but it’s really nothing”, she shrugs.

After a few weeks of living at Campus East, Tori was approached in a club and asked if she would like to work for ‘The Harp Hotel’ in Wollongong. Initially disbelieving and rather blasé about it, she never rang. She did however, give them her number.

 So two-weeks following this, Tori receives a call to again ask if she would like to work for the Harp Hotel. After discussing a few sketchy details, she hesitantly accepts and soon transforms into a night owl as the job demands.

“Bartending is good with uni because you work at night- normal start time is 10pm and you get home around 2:30am in the morning”, she happily informs me.

But what is life on campus really like?

Tori takes in her room, pausing thoughtfully before she states“...It’s good but your whole life is just in one little room. My fridge is in here, my study, my bed, everything is in here”.

Tori's bedroom: her boyfriend Shannon on the
computer next to her fridge

Although Tori’s initial fears about moving to Campus East revolved around her having no friends, she has actually made some of her closest friends on campus.  “I really had to put myself out there which was a bit intimidating”, she muses of her first few weeks at Campus East. Tori has now formed a group of five girls; two from Sydney and two from the country that are in the same situation as her.

“Everyone on campus is pretty close”, laughs her roommate and 1^st year arts student Sam Rancan. It was due to this that the campus was devastated when earlier in the year a Campus East boy aged 20 drowned as he was surfing in Fairy Meadow beach. Tori tearfully describes how she was close friends with him and how the shock and mourning of his death reverberated throughout the entire community.

Despite this, Tori and her companions have moved on and Campus East remains a tight-knit community.