This blog post was written by Semester 1 Storyteller, Niharika Malviya.
How I went from “I’ll Just Observe” to “I’ll Host the Event”.
If school knew me as “the quiet girl,” uni genuinely never got the memo.
When I first imagined university life in Australia, I thought it would mostly be classes, part-time work, assignments, and the same routine every week.
Study. Work. Repeat.
Very practical. Very responsible. Very international student coded.
But deep down, I wanted the full movie version of uni life.
I wanted random friendships, campus events, late-night conversations, and the confidence to introduce myself first instead of rehearsing a sentence in my head six times before speaking.
The problem was — I wasn’t naturally that person.
Back in school, I was quiet, underconfident, and honestly a little too comfortable staying unnoticed. I always wanted to be involved in things, but from a safe distance. Like emotionally supporting the event without actually attending it.
But moving to Australia unexpectedly gave me something I’d never really had before:
A reset.
Nobody here knew me as “the shy one,” which meant I could finally stop acting like I had to stay that way.
And somehow, I actually started trying.
Audio – First few weeks at uni
Audio transcript:
Hi, are you also new?
Oh, what are you studying? Oh, I see, hmm alright. Nice, I’ll see you later, bye.
It started with Res events.
Which, looking back, is dangerous — because free food and “just come for a little while” are genuinely gateway experiences into campus involvement.
One event became another. Then another.
At some point, I stopped waiting to feel confident first and just started showing up anyway.
I started talking to random people, joining conversations instead of pretending to check my phone, and meeting students from completely different countries and backgrounds.
Then came the unexpected parts.
The random friendships.
The quiet campus crushes.
The realisation that I suddenly had stories from campus instead of just classes.
And somewhere in between all of that, I became… social?
Not fully. Let’s not get carried away.
But enough for someone to once tell me:
“You don’t look like an introvert.”
Honestly? That weirdly felt like a compliment.
Not because being introverted is a bad thing, but because for the first time, it felt like people were seeing the version of me I always secretly wanted to become.
Voice note – Two years later
Audio Transcript:
Hey, you seem new here. Oh, you’re from Kenya. So cool! I really want to go on a safari there someday. Also wait, have you tried the kebabs in the Agora yet? You definitely should. They are actually so good and there are some more good spots to eat around uni.
At some point, “just volunteering once” turned into helping run events, speaking in front of crowds, and becoming a Senior Leader — which genuinely sounds unreal if you knew first-year me.
And somehow, alongside that, I also became a Storyteller.
Which basically means holding a camera, filming students, interviewing students around campus, and somehow acting confident while doing it.
There was a time when introducing myself to one new person felt emotionally exhausting.
Now I walk up to strangers and ask them to be in one of my reels.
Honestly? Still slightly terrifying sometimes.
But also really fun.
And weirdly enough, I love it.
The same thing happened with job interviews.
Voice note – First interview era
Audio Transcript:
Hi, this is Niharika and firstly I really want to thank you for this opporunity. To let you know my strengths are I am a quick learner and I can work well with a team.
Voice note – Current era
Audio Transcript:
Hi everyone, I am Niharika and what really stands out to me about this role is the opportunity to connect with people through customer service and uni leadership roles I have realised I generally enjoy fast paced, people focused environments and I am really keen to get started on this one.
Still nervous, obviously. Some traditions survive character development.
And maybe that’s the strangest part of all this.
I spent so long thinking uni accidentally changed my personality.
But looking back now, I’m starting to think it was never really an accident.
Maybe this version of me was always there – just waiting for a place where she felt brave enough to show up first.