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A young man with a backpack looks towards a friendly young woman at a "Monash Cooking Club" stall on a busy university campus.

A young man with a backpack looks towards a friendly young woman at a "Monash Cooking Club" stall on a busy university campus.

The Monash University campus was a chaotic symphony of freshers, orientation leaders, and a bewildering array of club stalls. Liam, a first-semester student whose culinary experience extended mostly to instant noodles and microwaved meals, felt a familiar knot of apprehension tightening in his stomach. He was looking for something, anything, to make this vast, new world feel a little less intimidating. Then, a vibrant banner caught his eye: "Monash Cooking Club: Where Flavour Meets Friendship!" Hesitantly, Liam stepped into the bustling space designated for the club’s orientation activities. The air was thick with tantalising aromas – spices, something sweet, something savoury – a stark contrast to the sterile scent of the lecture hall he'd just left. A friendly face, a senior student named Chloe, beamed at him. See more