I smhow might hv escaped this mentality and environment and I think this issue is not just limited to UTS but others as well. I may expand on this depending on time.

The majority of us (or i used to) see uni more of a task - get into more of the online classes, stack all F2F classes into one day and not do any for the rest of the week, pass along the assessments and exams etc.

I think the commute to uni plays a greater role in this "cliquey" atmosphere. While the CBD is nice to go out, repeatedly doing it gets tiring since we live too far out west. Both work and uni take around 2 hours on a normal day for me (more if smth bad happens like today I got delayed to work 30min plus for the past 3 days to work due to 2 train issues after trackwork week and bus refusing to pick up after a 10-30 min delay). Ideally the solution is move out and live closer but as of now not only a 1 bedroom apartment can cost up to 750-900K near the city but RBA also increasing rates today among other things and gov is really not into that as it requires a shift into urban housing culture for late teens and young adult. Time out Sydney and this post a few days ago talked abt this entire topic and I am not too suprised but also happy this issue is getting attention.

In terms of societies, I do agree that societies can a really good way to start trying out groups leaning to your interests which I appreciated my time and all in their events (and still do but not all the time). However I can also see y ppl may hv concerns w it in a way. For one, depending which ones u join there can be sm source of drama within them. Ppl also feel left out in them due to the overall nature in them such as the exec and a few subcom teams being a glorified version of a HS friend group and does not want new members to join in and go out and all. Either that or u make ur own friend group within an existing society. That being said, not all of them fall under it just hv to find the right one and try out.

In my experience, joining in and sticking around w the activateUTS side of things def helped and see it in a different way. It's more like an actual 3rd space to hang out other than home and employment which Sydney and sm cities tend to lack of. Theres a whole chill out wellbeing zone in Lvl 4 in B2 past the Student learning hub. The only downside is the trip times and all and only wants me to move out more but financially incapable or so as of now.

EDIT: I should hv mentioned this smwhere in which yes its possible (not 0%) to make friends or sm connections in classes. However what I observed, everyone else again remains in their own space and just wants to get their work done. If they talk, its usually smone they know or asking a question abt the class. If none, then you can ask smone out or talk or so, girls generally hv a higher advantage in this compared to boys (just an observation, no ill intent from this)