Hazel talks about the Master of Construction Management
Chen Shiting (Hazel) is an international student from China who is currently in her final semester of the Master of Construction Management. We had a chat with Hazel to talk about her studies so far.
What did you study before commencing at the Melbourne School of Design?
I studied land resources management, specialising in real estate investment and development at the South China Agricultural University in Guangzhou, China.
What attracted you to study here?
Melbourne School of Design (MSD) at the University of Melbourne has many excellent professors and fellow students. I like the MSD building, especially the Atrium, and the arrangement of facilities to encourage students to gather together, share and learn from each other. I can always talk to students from other courses related to the field of built environment, allowing me to gain better knowledge.
I think the curriculum is arranged in a good way. For example, high-level courses are designed to follow the knowledge learnt from previous courses. Furthermore, the course is rather practical and well connected to what is happening in the industry.
So far, what are the most valuable skills that you have learnt?
The most valuable skill I have learnt is being open-minded. Studying and living in another city or another country means that there will be lots of people and things outside of your comfort zone. It’s best to keep your mind open and to respect and accept the differences between people.
Melbourne consistently ranks highly amongst Universities in Australia and the region. How important is it for you to graduate with a degree from a world standard university? Why?
Studying in a world-class university means that fellow students you meet are mostly well educated, so you can learn a lot from each other and make connections for your future career. It shows you have strong learning ability and problem-solving skills, which I believe are two of the most important soft skills that employers prefer in this fast-changing world.
What advice do you have for other students from thinking of studying at the Melbourne School of Design / University of Melbourne?
Studying at the University of Melbourne will be an extremely great life-changing experience. It’s not always easy to achieve good grades, but if you work hard on your assignments you can achieve high grades.
Being able to communicate the knowledge you learn is one of the most important aspects of your study. Practising English as much as possible will help not only during your study but also after graduation.
What trends do you see being important to the future of our built environments? What do you hope built environment professionals will achieve?
Most of the buildings in Melbourne and Australia were built and constructed during the mid to late 20-century. However, these structures may no longer be able to fulfil the needs of people today. Therefore, being able to transform the building (materials) into a circular loop, and avoid the waste of material is becoming an important issue in the future of the built environment. A circular economy should not only apply to existing building, but also to new developments.