A day after the Academic Year began at James Cook University, those U3A members who had successfully requested to join the "Creative Writing" Course (EL2001) as "Internal" Students were delighted to find themselves in a class with a number of much younger students and a charming lecturer, Dr Emma McGuire.

Since that beginning, the U3A class members have learned about some of the elements that help to make Creative Writing "good" such as movement, power, meaning and sound; the 'tone' of the setting; making interesting characters who interlock with one another in a creative plot; and reading the work of other authors who can increase the learners' vocabulary and demonstrate a variety of writing styles.  

We hope that what we learn in this course will assist us in our own creative writing efforts and our contributions to the U3A Creative Writing Group.

This course is certainly proving engaging for U3A members who have chosen to participate both on-line, in the comfort of their own home and on-campus in the lecture theatre.

We look forward to continuing with our youthful classmates and Dr Emma McGuire for the remainder of this very interesting course and we extend our thanks to the U3A/JCU coordinator Lori McGuire who assisted us to make successful applications to J.C.U. and who has remained willing to answer any administrative enquiries we have asked of her.

“I’m doing MA 1000 this semester and really enjoying my lectures and the workshop. The subject matter is fast paced and requires some serious application at times. 

I’m involved with a study group and the discussion gives me a greater understanding of sections that I would not otherwise have. Many thanks to the lecturer and tutor for their help and their willingness to mark my tests. Their feedback is much appreciated. 

One word of advice: I recommend masking up if you are unable to socially distance yourself, as the students are very dedicated and come to lectures even if they are sick.  I try to tell myself it is just hay fever or a cold, but wear my mask anyway. ‘

The course I did was Reading and Writing the Short Story. I attended lectures once a week for one hour. The lecturer was fine with me attending tutorials, although I chose not to attend the tutorials as I was often working. Lectures were recorded, and the lecturer/tutor summarised the tutorial. These were put online along with the readings. I did not have much interaction with other students because I didn’t attend tutorials. However, the content of the course was exactly what I wanted. I did not undertake the assignments (because I didn’t have to! I did enough of that to last a lifetime.) Having said that though, the assignments were interesting. I enjoyed the readings each week, and the short stories assigned for study. As you would expect, the course was well structured, and I enjoyed the learning.

It's a wonderful opportunity offered through U3A to be able to attend JCU lectures. I've enjoyed being surrounded by enthusiastic young (and older) learners. I also appreciate being able to be a 'sponge' only - able to listen and learn without the worry of exams and assignments. I'd recommend anyone who wants to continue their lifelong journey of learning to look at signing up for a course next semester at JCU.

I was delighted to be able to sit in on the Intermediate French classes at JCU and I found it very rewarding in many ways. Initially I did not know what the ground rules were in terms of my level of involvement. A colleague had told me that because I was a non-paying student I would not be able to participate fully in the class activities. I found this was not the case. The class is extremely small, and Florence seemed to be pleased when I contributed. One drawback for me is that there is no textbook, everything is online. During the classes Florence would indicate on the screen lessons which we could complete at our own leisure. If I can get myself organized I will download all the lecture notes and exercises and thereby participate more fully. Up until now my stock standard reply is 'the Cloud' ate my homework!'

I am enjoying my NM1014 Design Foundation Course. This is the foundation course for those studying for their degree in Graphic Design and you learn about typography, colour and design. Professor Russell Milledge provides a very flexible online course. You are free to attend the weekly online tutorial alternatively he confirmed you can view the recorded tutorial at a time that suits you. There is not much reading at this stage of the course. It is instead a very hands-on course learning how to use the software program Adobe Illustrator. You would not be able to do the tutorial tasks without access to this software. It is to learn how to use such software that I joined the course.

It's a wonderful opportunity offered through U3A to be able to attend JCU lectures. I've enjoyed being surrounded by enthusiastic young (and older) learners. I also appreciate being able to be a 'sponge' only - able to listen and learn without the worry of exams and assignments. I'd recommend anyone who wants to continue their lifelong journey of learning to look at signing up for a course next semester at JCU.

My journey into a University degree begins with U3A. Through U3A I was able to access an Under Graduate course in Australian History in what I view as a unique ‘try before you buy’ opportunity. No looking back now.

I have been thrilled to learn about Astronomy in the very last course provided at JCU for this very interesting subject. It’s almost like interacting with televised documentaries. You can clarify points that had been puzzling you but never got around to following up. John has a very easy manner and is a delight to listen to and encourages questions from all the students, so I have never felt afraid to ask for help in any way.

I did enjoy both subjects I undertook and learned much – certainly stirs up aging brains! I am grateful to U3A for arranging the partnership. Best wishes for a new year of study.

I did intermediate German this semester. It went well, I enjoyed it a lot - although unfortunately the timing of the class clashed with my work commitments so I had to watch some seminars on-line. I don't think the on-line format is very effective for a language class. Sometimes there were only two of us in the class, so not much opportunity to develop conversations skills. My level was probably a little higher than the class required, so I hope I added some value to the group. I think it's a great initiative that U3A have negotiated and I certainly intend to do more courses in the future.

I have loved my Sociology lectures at JCU. Depending on when you plan to have the Friday talk, I am willing to participate. I have been very lucky in that my subject was presented by a very entertaining and informative lecturer, Glenn Dawes. I wanted to do the subject for interest and to keep my brain active. It exceeded my expectations in terms of content that allowed me to understand so much more about Australian Society, including: socio-economic class; the effects of education; crime, especially youth crime; work and 'life chances'; why subcultures develop; and the impacts of mass media and globalisation. I attended every lecture but did not participate in the tutorials (as I had limited available time). I purchased the textbook and kept up with most of the reading, however, did not attempt the mid-semester essay. I like not having the pressure of an end of semester exam. A good friend also did the subject with me and we had a chat after each lecture, amazed at how our own life experience, particularly at work and in other dealings was explained in social and cultural theories.