The story behind the rant re-design of the Western Sydney University shirt on Facebook.
Meet Hayley Elford, a passionate individual who has recently completed her Bachelor Arts Pathway to Teaching and is now studying her Masters of Teaching at Western Sydney University. Even though she’s currently studying at Bankstown campus, she is a regular at Parramatta and Kingswood. Elford is known on campus for her excessive barking in the library, her Tourette Syndrome Awareness posts, volunteering, The Academy, and her activities at the university such as MATES and PASS and all those fun student leadership things!
Read more: ‘They were screaming swear words at me.’ What life with Tourette syndrome is really like & Hayley Reflects on Teaching Kids While Living with Tourette’s.
Ms Elford found the Western Sydney University shirt sitting in her cupboard after going through her drawers as a means of procrastination. She initially bought it for wearing while volunteering on campus until her health took a decline. She says she discovered the shirt about six moths ago and thought it would be cool to re-design.
She originally posted the design of blue, green and black modifications on the new WSU rants page (a page featuring anonymous rants related to university) and made the shirt as a joke to amuse herself. But what made heads turn was when she put a name to her post.
“I intend to wear it on campus next time I’m there, and If someone recognises It, I want to be able to turn around and say ‘yeah this is me, I only posted because it originated as a WSU rants joke. We’d all be coming out of this shared experience, and I think it’d be hilarious,” says Elford.
Vlad Focas a Psychology student also at WSU met Hayley during his first semester of University in a lecture theatre – and he is in full support of her whimsical shirt.
“The transition to Zoom is prudent in the present situation, and I believe extra support is needed for specific individuals who have a deficit in attention/learning style relating directly to digital learning in lieu of face to face. The University is responding slowly and has reacted slowly,” Focas says.
For some students the recent transition to online classes is not all that easy and can pose an extra challenge for individuals like Hayley who says her internet connection is outright horrid. “I’m kind of happy that the University is trying to consider students health and working inline with the government and all University procedures – but I do question how students are coping,” Elford says.
The university has stated it understands that the current situation is unsettling. Visit the wellbeing website for information, and if you have any questions regarding the Coronavirus situation, please visit the University’s Coronavirus website.
The Authortoria 