Junias Tjanaria is making the most of her first year at UNSW, global pandemic or not! As well as commencing her combined Bachelor of Chemical Engineering/Bachelor of Commerce, she has also joined the UNSW Wind Symphony on percussion and the UNSW Orchestra on viola. Now, Junias is back in Sir John Clancy Auditorium with the UNSW Orchestral Strings for Term 3.

Transcript

Alex Siegers: [Off Screen] That was a good sales pitch. You’re good at this.

Junias Tjanaria: Oh my god. Thank you.

AS: Junias Tjanaria is making the most of her first year at UNSW, global pandemic or not! As well as commencing her combined Bachelor of Chemical Engineering/Bachelor of Commerce, she has also joined the UNSW Wind Symphony on percussion and the UNSW Orchestra on viola. And now, Junias is getting ready for Term 3. 

Why did you start playing the viola?

JT: So, I started the viola in Year 7, initially wanted to do the violin, but they said that I had, like, really long fingers. They were like “Yeah”, like, “Go do the viola”. So, that’s what I ended up picking up. And, if I were to give a sales pitch for the viola, I’d say it’s a more richer sounding violin, but with the strings of a cello, so it’s easier to carry around.

How have you been connecting with your peers this year and getting the most out of your time at UNSW? 

JT: Yeah, so, like, because of this situation I’ve been really trying to just engage myself with every event that I come across, you know like all the Facebook events that come up. So I’ve just been, like, pressing ‘interested’ and trying to go to all of them. And I’m also really proud to be a part of the Wellness Warriors and also part of the Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Society. So, you know, I’ve met a lot of connections and friends along the way through that.

You did an internship in Japan at the start of the year – tell us about that! 

JT: Yeah, so umm, I reached out to some connections that I had made at, like, the end of Year 11 and I just asked them if I could, you know, have the opportunity to have an internship there and they happily agreed. So, it was mainly involving CAD design and coding in the printing industry. So, I learnt a lot there and I was really, like, fortunate to have mentors that spoke fluent English, so it was a very good time, yeah.

Why did you decide to join the music ensembles when you started at UNSW? 

JT: Yeah, so, umm, since, like, I was in Kindergarten I’ve been heavily involved in music. Like, in Year 12 I was still in six music ensembles. So, you know, when I got to uni I knew the first thing I wanted to do was, you know, get into some music ensembles and, you know, keep going on with my music journey, even though I don’t study a degree in music. So, yeah, like, even though we only had five weeks of rehearsals, I really enjoyed every moment. Like, meeting new friends, and the repertoire is amazing. So yeah, I think the music community is something that everyone should go for because it’s, like, a place where you can learn new things and make new friends whilst jamming together.