Every afternoon at 4pm, at the St Lucia and Taringa roundabout, a man sits on his balcony and waves at everyone who passes by.

His name is Franky, and the restaurant beneath him, Franky’s, has been closed for as long as I’ve lived here. I’m not quite sure it ever opened. Still, every afternoon, there he is.

Franky is one of St Lucia’s colourful local celebrities, and the sight of him up on his porch with his afternoon drink is one I got to know well while living at Union College at the University of Queensland. Like most at college, I was not from Brisbane, and I picked St Lucia as my base camp for four years without knowing how grateful I’d be that I did.

The roundabout where Franky waves to passers-by. He’s there every day, but camera shy. Morgan Roberts

There’s a saying at the University of Queensland: if you haven’t started studying by the time the jacarandas bloom, you will fail your exams. Rhea Anand

Living and studying at UQ meant my whole world existed inside a one-kilometre radius.…