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Reflection Piece
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By Ramosamo Sam Raboroko
As exciting as blogging is, it is very problematic. Blogging requires a person to know the nature of their blog and to work with that topic forever. It is hard to be creative when you are not supposed to deviate from the nature of your blog. You are confined to one topic which you have to stick with for the rest of the blogging duration. I personally found blogging problematic because it is a group effort. A person’s ideas have to be accepted by their group members, and then they have to accommodate the ideas of the other group members. Individuals have different ideas and different topics and this is also problematic. My idea had to be accepted not only by me but by other people also, who had their own ideas. We spent most of the time trying to convince each other that our ideas were better than the other person’s idea. By the time we dealt with problems facing us, we had created new obstacles. Some people felt obliged to present university as a good place, while others wanted to tell the truth about universities. I for one wanted my group to bring about a balance between the negative aspects of university and the positive effects. But of course this was contradictory to my blog’s agenda. We initially agreed that we were going to highlight the positive attributes of university. This problem for one made me change my whole set of thinking. I was confined by my blog’s agenda and my group mates’ ideas.
A blog also as a genre has its own characteristics. These were also confining. I did not get the chance to express my opinion on the topics that I hold dear to my heart because the genre we were working with was very specific. I had to deal with topics that related to first years and as most people know, university is not only about difficulties and challenges facing first year students. There are also underlying issues that senior students have that I thought would have been worthwhile to blog about. I am not mentioning any here because they were not part and parcel of this year’s blogs.
Of course the fact I had to stick to one specific topic had its own advantages. I got the chance to explore different avenues of a topic and to look at it from different angles. This required me to be observant as well as critical. What is most important is that I got to improve on skills that I lacked in. for instance playing around with one topic and presenting it in many ways. I got the chance to understand my fellow first years better and I got to know the problems that they are facing. I got to see that I’m not the only first year who has got problems. I even got to experience first year through the eyes of other people.
One other problem was the fact that we were writing to an unknown audience. We could not make a survey and ask our perspective readers what they expected from us. Our lectures were also the producers. The fact that we were writing to an unknown audience meant that we had to use our imagination as a group most of the times. This meant that we had to write stories that we will find interesting and worth a minute of our time. This was problematic in that not everybody sees things the way we see things and they do not appreciate everything that we find worth appreciating, so this also presented obstacles. The fact that our lectures acted as our producers also brought constraints because they had their own agendas and ideologies. They represented a whole range of people. They have their own idea of how things should be done. They also refrained us from writing freely to our target audience because we had to go by their rules. The fact also remains that they did their first year a long time ago and they are not keeping up with the times. What might have been a very controversial issue in their time does not necessarily stand as an issue now. So this acted as an extra constrain. They also did not know what our target group expected from them and from us.
As I’ve stated not everybody feels particularly keen on working in a group. We tend to look at what the other person is going to say then bring their point down instead of bringing our ideas forward. This term was different in that we had a lot of work and on top of that we had to do a group work. I have no problem in working in groups but working in groups presents more problems than solutions. Working in groups for me meant that my productivity was slowed. It meant trying to impress other people and selling my ideas to people who also want to sell their ideas and people who were not particularly interested in making room for development and thinking out of the box. I had to ensure that I do not offend other people with my own ideas. Bringing story ideas was also difficult because I had to make sure that my stories did not only make me happy but that they made other people happy. I had to ensure that the stories also relate to my blog agenda.
My performance was not very good in meetings because some people just swallowed my voice. I only spoke when I was directly talked to and also when it was my turn to say something. I felt nervous through out these meetings because there were so many people with many ideas. I think personally I have grown due to this blogging experience. It has made me improve on my writing abilities and helped to boost my confidence in that when I was directly talked to, I had to swallow my fear and present my story idea without any reservations.
I believe that blogging is journalism because all the processes involved in journalism are there. It also gives a message to the people and informs them about the relevant news. To do blogging also requires a person to do research and to have sources. For instance when I was doing my blogging assignments I had to research my stories and interview people, not to mention the fact that I had to find reliable sources.
Over all this term was very hectic for me, but I still enjoyed it.
posted by Sam at
11:18 PM
 
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Reflexive piece.
For the whole of this year, my life has been spinning, one moment I was up and the next l was down, but l learned great deal which l am going to share with you in a while, hold on tightly.
For the first term it was very bad because l arrived late for registration and a lot of work was already waiting for me. Rod’s lectures were fascinating but the fact that we had to write almost every week and sometimes twice a week made it difficult for me settle down. I was not used to that kind of setting, having written compositions only in high school, it was very difficult to adjust. Although we were not limited in our writing, it proved to be tedious .However the big difference between first term and the fourth term is that this term we were allowed to play around a little with technology and genre whilst first term emphasised writing and just generating story ideas sometimes from our own heads. This term has its ups and downs but was even more exciting than first term. Working in groups is not something that l enjoy because it usually strain me and forces me to perfect everything so that my group members would be pleased. Believe me, pleasing someone is very difficult and one thing about groups is that you are not allowed to go your own way without being criticised. We were always at each other’s throats for deciding which template to use, what is going to be the character of our blog and who to interview. It was like living in a big house with a lot of kids, always fighting and trying to please everyone. All the same it taught me that I don’t win always and that I had to accept other people’s views and be accommodative as possible. It was an unforgettable experience that enhanced my people skills.
Working within the confines of genre taught me to be disciplined in my way of reporting and writing. I found blogging as a genre very interesting and it actually opened a new window to me that l did not know that it existed before. I used to think that blogging is for people who are just writing for fun and that they are always writing nonsense. While I was proved wrong this term, thanks to Allete and Sim. I have discovered an emerging type of journalism which is fast growing in the world as people’s lives are becoming busier; they are increasingly turning to blogs for information of what happening in the world rather than sitting down and reading a newspaper. Blogging as a type of journalism is even more attractive than print media because it allows us to air out our views in a more interesting manner. It provides for expansion as we learn from the comments we receive from other people. In short it has provided a debating platform that was never there before. Personally l have learned to write to a global audience rather than to a small group of people and my reporting skills have sharpened a bit. The reason why l am saying a bit is because the term was so short and there is a lot to learn within that short period of time. Surely I would advise the department to start this course a little bit earlier, maybe in the third term so that students are given enough time to engage with the new genre and the techniques of blogging.
There is one thing that I found to be of concern to a whole lot of people. Our lecturers gave us a limited theme to work with, which is good but l think they should make it a little bit broader next time. The difficulty of working with one theme is that we are forced to look for the right people and it is boring really because I had to work with the same people over and over again and their experiences tend to drive towards one thing. However it taught me to go out there and look for the right sources and people all the time. On the other hand it had its own advantages that is I was forced to think and produce something meaningful, that can help those without such information, rather than gather information which is meaningless to people. It also controlled my reporting and writing style and contributed to unravelling some of the myths about first years at university.
On the whole l have found this term to be more exciting and at the same time challenging. I would rate myself on level 6 because l still have some things to perfect about my writing. I learned a lot this term and this includes gathering information by interviews and just talking generally to different people. Considering that l was a bit shy to talk to people that l did not know, this course was a wake-up call in life, to be more open and to express my own ideas and how I feel about certain things. Therefore l say thumbs up to our lecturers for this year.
posted by Survival of the Fresher at
5:22 PM
Linked to So This is the First Week
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Mraket blog on http://firstyearoflawschool.blogspot.com/
Hey blogger
I am a first year journalism student at Rhodes University in South Africa. One of the tasks we were given was to create a blog in which our target audience is first years students. From my readings of your blog it seems that we have similar topics…Check out our blog: www.sofru.bolgspot.com. Could be a fun experience.
Homo-Sapien
posted by Homo-Sapien at
10:21 AM
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Marketing our blog on http://bruwat.com/articles/541-freshers-week-survival-tips-brunel-university.html
Hello,your blog article provides information about surviving first year. It is similar to what l have been blogging about.To view the blog followthe link below
http://www.sofru.blogspot.com
posted by Survival of the Fresher at
9:48 AM
Seriously in need of exposure to contemporary society...
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http://www.gerbilthefunkyrhodent.blogspot.com/
Firstly, being homo-sexual has nothing to do with God and neither does your gender. In reality an embryo (which is the first stage of production of a foetus) has a 50/50 percent chance of being a male or a female depending on the genes of each parent.
Secondly, the Bible also emphasises that God has unconditional love for everybody and this is irrespective of the nature of your sexuality, gender, race etc. These “boundaries” (intolerance of homosexuality) are created by society in order to feel a sense of belonging.
Sadly, growing up in a small town that is not exposed to contemporary society is a great disadvantage but this is not your fault. However I do feel that you do not have the authority to comment so strongly on an issue such as homosexuality especially considering the fact that homosexuality is on the verge of being a fully accepted practise. Clearly you are unaware of this as a result of your one tract mind.
You mention that you feel “like an alien in the island of these homosexuals”. Similarly these homosexual’s feel like aliens when they are around people like therefore wanting them to change just because you feel uncomfortable is unfair, don’t you think? As they could ask the same of you, yet all they are asking for is acceptance not sexual change.
posted by Homo-Sapien at
8:51 AM
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Opinion debate: comment on a blog from http://www.combatguide2uni.blogspot.com
Hello there, you seem to have this wrong my friend. Making lectures compulsory is not the way of encouraging people to attend. The fact that some get upper grades and others get thirds is only a matter of how you understand the stuff you are given in class. Personally this is not a matter of who attends lectures or not, but it has something to do with your own understanding and your study habits. You cannot blame me for getting a first all because l don't attend lectures. Remember this is university my friend and we don't need to be pushed to do things we don't enjoy. One thing you should understand is that we are all different in our understanding of certain things. All of us can't get firsts; there should be others to get the seconds and thirds. We are all different. Making lectures compulsory is not going to change anything; rather you will be even more disappointed because the ones who are getting firsts will continue doing so. The compulsory lectures you talk about do not make any difference because even people, who are doing law, can tell you that it doesn't change anything, if you are a person who is intelligent you will get your firsts and there are also those who get thirds. It is not because of their intelligence or compulsory lectures but the way one understands the work we are given. One important thing to remember is that we cannot be forced to do what we don't want to. If we are coerced to learn then what’s the use of “academic freedom” that people are always talking about? Bear that in mind my friend.
From www.sofru.blogspot.com
posted by Survival of the Fresher at
6:46 PM
The debate on an Opinion piece
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The opinion piece on First years are not interested in politics is at http://www.5inblindsight.blogspot.com.
You claim that all first year students are interested in Politics as you’ve so well argued, but you forget that the fact that just because you are a first year and you like politics does not mean that all first years like them. You seem to base your authority on yourself, you keep on referring to yourself and as you’ve shown in your opinion piece you are 32 years old. Not all first years are thirty two or married with kids. The majority of the first years are 18 to 25 and you are clearly above the line. Not that I’m discriminating you or making you feel bad, but as you can clearly see not all first years are interested in politics.
What also astonishes me is the fact that you have not even talked to a single first year or if you have you do not make any reference of them, so you might as well have said that you are interested in politics and that you have a liking for South Africa and not generalise. Seeing that you that you are doing Journalism and Media Studies, it should come as second nature for you to investigate as well as interview people instead of generalising my dear sir.
You say you want to live in a world where nobody is discriminated against, but you do not mention what you as an individual have done to discourage discrimination. You do not mention your part against discrimination. You also fail to mention a country that does have discrimination because you know that there in no such country.
I’m sorry to burst your bubble but unless you kill all the existing people including yourself and bring a new society into being there is no way you‘ll find a world without discrimination.
Another thing is that you are basing your entire argument focussing yourself so there is no way that you can conclude that all first years like politics. By the by your heading is so contradictory to your piece.
posted by Sam at
5:13 PM
First years are easily misdirected
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Young people come to universities to experiment as well as to discover themselves. First years usually come to universities confused and unsure of themselves. They do everything with the intention to please other people so as to be accepted and be deemed normal. In the process of discovering themselves they get lost in a haze. “First years are very confused and seriously need their heads to be read”, says Tavonga. Young people come to universities at a very crucial stage in their lives. They want to prove that they are capable of handling their independence and that they can make proper decisions without their parents’ interference and guidance. The stage being referred to here is the stage between being a teenager and becoming an adult. This stage is very confusing. People believe that they are doing what they want where as unknowingly they are doing what they are doing to please other people, the pressure is high and there is little resistance. They want to prove that they are cool and they want to be accepted by those around them. Most first years like me have been living under their parents’ protection for the last 18 or 19 years of their lives. They do not know how to handle pressure and how to distinguish between when they are doing things for themselves and when they are doing them to impress other people. They fall under this trap without them realising it, because they think that they are doing what they want to do or things that are cool, but they forget to ask themselves who gets to say what is cool and who is cool. When you get to university, you find that certain things have been classified and put into different categories e.g. coolness and uncool. These categories are implemented and put into place by older students but first years usually fall into this trap with the delusion that they have voluntarily fallen under this category but you find that it is not the case. This is because we hear the things being said about certain people and we see how they are treated. This is peer pressure in disguise because the minute you hear bad things being said about a certain group you immediately have to reconsider your stance. You have to do what is being done by the majority. First years are faced with the challenge of choosing what is right by them and other people around them. The onus lies on them to make the right decision even though the decision is not completely theirs. They do everything with the intention of impressing others and making their lives simple. If an older student tells them that it is good to start partying on a Wednesday they not question they just agree to it because they do not want to be seen as uncool, boring or dull. This statement does not apply to all first years but it happens and applies to most of them without them realising it.
posted by Sam at
4:23 PM
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comment on a blog on www//outtaurspace.blogspot.com
hey guys that was brilliant. I really enjoyed your comic especially when the doctor is dragging the patient to her labs. You also raised a very important issue, about the Grahamstown water,surely it is driving some of us crazy. The way you did it left me thinking guys and l was a bit frightened while at the same time amused.Thumps to Dr Chitty.From http://sofru.blogspot.com
posted by Survival of the Fresher at
7:53 PM
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posted by kay at
8:45 PM
Here is something to laugh at while learning something
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posted by Survival of the Fresher at
10:53 AM
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Blabbermouth
First year is all about work and meeting deadlines, but do anyone really cares about the struggle we face in achieving these goals? Have you ever wondered why most first years do their assignments on the day before? Tell me someone, if you know the answer. Some people say that first years are generally slack but l do not believe that. There should be something deeper than that, but is anyone really concerned, I don’t know!
I have experienced some of the horrors of doing assignments only the day before and believe me it is not good at all. The pressure is just too much and when we are given back the assignments, the marks are lower than l expected. But my question is why the last minute? I have noticed that it is not all our fault, but don’t get me wrong, l am not blaming anyone here. The reason why is not because we are lazy as most people think but it is due to a lot of confusion and lack of self confidence. Most first years when they are given an assignment, they are usually confused about what to do and they do not have the confidence to approach the lecturer to ask. At the end they are forced to do the work because the deadline will be loaming just a few hours away. The assignment is not done because they enjoy doing it but because there is nothing they can do about it because the lecturers want the work done.
Another factor that contributes to working close to the deadline is perfectionism. Let me describe what perfectionists do, they struggle to do everything right or to make everything perfect or even more than the word perfect itself, and most of the time the work is not done on time. This is the case with most first years who want to please their lecturers, which is a good thing to do, and prove to their peers that they are academically smart. However, this is turned into a nightmare because the work is not done on time and the marks are always poor. The thing is we do not do work for the sake of enjoying but for the sake of just doing it because of the deadline.
In addition we should also consider the fact that for most of us it is our first time to be away from home and parents. We are so used to being pushed around to do work by our parents and right now it is difficult to just work without someone telling us to do so. The freedom we have is too much that we tend to forget why we are here. I am not saying that everyone is like that, but l know a lot of people who want to be pushed to work. Many people mistake this issue for laziness which is not true because most first years are hard workers especially with the duly performed certificate thing, no one want to lose their DP,for sure.
Most first years believe that working under pressure will produce good marks for them. We are so used to that habit but listen somebody, it does not work, and l have tried it several times. It works sometimes for those who are really smart, who can endure the pressure and these people l consider them to be gifted or genius because for most of us it does not work, unless of course you have a photographic mind like the late US President John F Kennedy. Pressure of work actually strains us that we are left exhausted and unable to concentrate on other subjects. But is it really our fault, I wonder.
On the whole, all l am saying is we should always look for better reasons why most first years do assignments closer to the deadline. People must not just scratch the surface and rush to conclusions that first years are generally slack. There are many factors that contribute to our behaviour and sometimes it is beyond our control. For first years, I say that please let us not take these reasons for grunted, let us try to work in time for a change so that we prove to all the people that we are not slack as they think.
posted by Survival of the Fresher at
7:24 PM
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posted by kay at
4:33 PM
videos
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posted by kay at
10:47 PM
Profile on Nyakallo Cindy Mashigo
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There is a mutual understanding between young people that to survive first year is a mission and a half. Nyakallo Cindy Mashigo does not think so; she believes that first year is not as bad as people make it to sound. “People exaggerate that first year is tough” claims Mashigo. She is taking university like high school, she is taking things easy. “University is not that much work”, stipulates Mashigo. She states that when she was at high school she had more work because she had to write homework everyday for seven subjects and she now has four subjects here. She is not saying there is no work at university just that it is not as overwhelming as people make it to seem. Nyakallo Cindy Mashigo is a first year BA student majoring in Politics. She has a mentor but she claims that she does not need one because, “mentors are just a waist of time”. She justifies her statement by mentioning that mentors do not usually remember the things that they did in first year and that if they do remember, you find that they were not really good academically in first year. Mentors also like to be treated like royalty says Mashigo. She makes this statement because her mentor never makes it to their appointments and she just changes her schedule whenever she feels like it without consulting her. Mashigo is made strong by the fact that her parents’ support her and she is driven to succeed by the fact that her parents pay a lot of money to get her to university and because she wants to set a good example for her younger brother. Mashigo has been in a relationship for the last five months. Mashigo and her boyfriend were initially friends before they started dating and she claims that they know each others strengths and weaknesses. She makes her relationship work by having fun and remaining friends with her boyfriend. Though like in any relationship obstacles do come up but they have managed to make it work up to so far. They spend as much time as possible together and they do not only have fun together but they also study together. One of the activities that they did together which is still memorable to Mashigo is the MTN campus challenge, where they worked together “against the world”. Mashigo claims that, “love really does motivate”. She believes that everybody can do it and she recommends going out at first year. She warns that people should get into relationships with the intention to be committed. She also mentions that everybody knows their strengths and if they cannot control or handle love they should not try it. Mashigo believes that she is a survivor because even though she has been through a lot she still managed to stay on top of her game and overcome everything. “People should have confidence in who and what they are”, says Mashigo. Some of the obstacles that Mashigo had to overcome is the issue of home sickness, having to cope with girls who run after her boyfriend and make her life miserable by always flirting with her boyfriend. She also had to cope with boys who try to bad mouth her and tell her boyfriend that she is going out with them behind his back. She also has to deal with boys who flirt with her, but all of these have not made Mashigo doubt herself instead they have made her a stronger person. She manages to overcome this strains by believing in her boyfriend, talking about everything that makes her uneasy and telling him about people who flirt with her. “We are in a very open relationship, we communicate about everything” states Mashigo. On the issue of homesickness Mashigo has managed to have a group of very faithful friends that help her overcome anything. The interview was conducted in Mashigo’s boyfriend’s room and during the whole interview she looked homey and at ease. She smiled at the right times and became serious when it was necessary. The room is decorated with pictures of themselves. The boyfriend found us inside and when he entered they immediately greeted each other affectionately. They do everything together and when I was packing my things to leave, they were already working on their assignments and they were helping and encouraging each other to work harder.
posted by Sam at
6:03 PM
Surviving through....
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She approaches me with a smile on her face. “Are you ready” she says jumping on the spot as if jogging. She was questioning if I was ready to go jogging as arranged in order for us to build a “some what” relationship. We walk out of the door together and she says “we are going to enjoy this, its going to be so much of fun” sounding joyful and enthusiastic. On first impressions of her one would say that she is favourable and blissful, however if they were given the chance to mentally experience what I experienced while interviewing her one would realise that her portrayal of herself is the only way to deal with such issues.
Mary Daniels is her biological name. Born into a family who have a history of abuse, Mary has been exposed to a lot of violence. “when I was 17, my rights as a women were violated”. “My dad said I deserved it” she says fiddling with her cell phone. As a result of her dad’s statement Mary began to believe that this was true considering that this statement came from someone who is a support structure in her life. She was thus unable to find the courage to take action because she was afraid that she would have no support. She began to feel worthless and insecure. Which are the two issues that still torment her today. “I am insecure about my intellectual abilities as my dad continually called me stupid” she said. However at matric level she received two distinctions for maths and biology and at mid year exam at university she received two “2nds” which she is very proud off. She is still an affect individual though. Fortunately one who is able to remain grounded even though she has been through difficult times.
Our conversation soon shifted to the topic of abuse after a few minutes of silence and her slight smile eventually dissolved. “there’s one incident I remember…” she says holding her mouth fearfully. While returning home from a family function one night her mother who was under the influence of alcohol lost control of the family car she was driving. Fortunately this only caused a minor scare however Mary, her dad and her two other siblings decided to get out of the car and walk home. When they arrived home Mary’s dad became aggravated (she cannot remember what the cause of this was). He began to break the windows of the house and when he eventually entered the house slammed the door and raced to Mary’s mother and beat her. He punched her in the face several times causing her a fracture. He beat until she was on the floor and the stamped on her face. “My brothers and I watched all of this happen”, “my youngest brother cried and ran into my arms”, “all I could think about was my dad killing my mum and I had to stop it” she said. “that night my mum together with my brothers and myself slept in one room because we were afraid of my dad. He walked pass our room door several time to ensure that we did not call the police or whatever” “ I was 13 when this happened”. When her mum visited the doctor the next day. Her dad told the doctor that the injury was caused as a result of a ladder falling on her.
At times she feels pressured to take care of her family and make her mum happy, especially in terms of academics. Her fees are paid through a student loan because of her family’s financial status. He feels stressed at time because in order to qualify for a student loan next year she needs to pass 3 subjects. “This gets stressful at times but I’m trying my best”. “My mum has always emphasised that education is the most important in order to lead a life”.
Mary feels that her biggest battle at the moment is finding herself after everything that has happened in her life. “I want to gain back my women power” she says confidently.
She is currently attending counselling sessions and has confronted her many underlying issues. University has given her the ability to do this as she is away from home thus away from the issue that cause an effect on her personal and academic life. “I am standing up for myself” she says proudly with a smile.
posted by Homo-Sapien at
9:04 PM
Profile on Brett Ian Sutherland
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Overcoming many difficulties in the first year
When I first met Brett I saw a typical young “white” boy and the first thing that came to my mind was that maybe he had accompanied his older brother to University just for the fun of it. It came as a very big surprise to me when I realised that he had just finished registering to study here at Rhodes University .“This young,” I thought to myself.
Having grown up in a farm, his family moving from place to pace around the country, his father finally starting a business in Cape Town, Brett’s life takes a radical twist for the better. “We were living in a corrupt place and moved to a more conservative and safe place,” he recalls what he used to call home. Brett Ian Sutherland is no different from any other boys his age, rebellious and at times respectful towards the elders. Having attended a Christian primary school to a less spiritual and more academic high school, Brett is going to be just fine at University, so he thought.
Coming from one of the biggest cities in the country, Cape Town, he found himself in one of the smallest cities in the country, called Grahamstown. He tells himself that he is going to survive. “ I didn’t even know that Grahamstown existed until a friend of mine told me about Rhodes University,” says Brett as he cracks up laughing.
He laughs generously; sometimes it’s a giggle, sometimes a windy squall. As we sat down at his house dinner table, he keeps swaying his tiny wrist sideways. His blue eyes keep moving up and down gazing at the white wall, behind me, as if he is contemplating what to say next.
“My parents told me to choose whatever subjects I wanted to choose, they told me they had the money to finance my studies, the choice was up to me,” he says fondly. I was always amongst the top performing students in high school so I knew it was going to be very hard to maintain that standard here at University. Also my grade 12 teacher warned me about that.”
“I expected University to be the same as high school in terms of the relationship between lecturers and students. Because in high school you could go to a teacher if you had a problem and the teacher would willingly help you. But here the lecturer never even asks if we have any problems, they are far removed from the students, it is very disappointing,” his voice saddens a bit. “I thought they were going to help me when I needed help choosing my major subjects also.”
“My first bad moment at University was failing 3 economics tests in a row. What really killed me is the fact that I had worked hard for those tests, the problem is that I did not know what was expected of me,” he furiously looks side ways as if he is concealing his shame. “In the first few academic terms I was really struggling with all my subjects and my assignments were all terrible. There was a point in my life where I doubted whether I was smart enough to make it here. As I got familiar with the environment and the people around me, I started improving drastically and I am doing very well now with all my subjects” he smiles with his white teeth illuminating his ever cheerful face.
Having done what all young boys do in their teenage years, he finds himself having to repeat that era of his life again just to conform to the norm of being a fresh man. He thinks Rhodes University is not suitable for people like him. “ Im very quiet and very reserved, I enjoy studying and working hard. Sometimes that is seen as not conforming to the ideal image of the Rhodes student . “It is very hard to make good friends because most students here like to go out partying and getting trashed,” he states. These powerful words make so much sense and take me back to my own life as a first year student at Rhodes University.
“Stay true to yourself and you will never go wrong,” he says.
ENDS
posted by kay at
8:03 PM
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PROFILE
She is twenty and a vibrant young lady who is destined for great things in life. She is a hero for those who know her because she has been through so much and she came out strong and even determined to carry on with her academic life. In social circles she is well known for her easy going character and her dressing which is a little weird not the Rhodes trend but she dresses like a true African lady. Her name is Vimbai but most affectionately known as Vibe.
Vibe is in first year and she loves her school work. She has been doing well in her classes and she passed her June exams. She is not satisfied with her performance because she believes that she can do better. She says, “University work is not a bed of roses, so l really needs to work”. This is really encouraging but when she showed me her marks l actually wonders why she is stressing herself because she has been doing very well. Anyway she is very optimistic about her future and determined to achieve even more this semester. With the November exams just around the corner, Vibe explains that she has joined up with a group of friends to form a study group where they will be studying together and helping each other, which is really good because it encourages those who are finding it difficult to concentrate.
Away from academic work, Vibe is just a fascinating person to hang out with. She describes herself as talkative and outgoinging, which she said that “many people say it and l believe that’s who l am” .She also said that she, got the nickname Vibe from her friends because she is a “party animal”, which means that she loves to party a lot. Vibe remembers the day she was so drunk that she did not know what she was doing. She comments that “I nearly died because l had been drinking very strong wine without anything in my stomach”.She is not pleased with her behaviour that night and she said that since then she has changed. Vibe said, “I don’t drink a lot anymore because it nearly landed me in big trouble” but she refuses to shade more light on what was about to happen to her after that. She says that she loves to be with people and smiling said “first year is a time to enjoy life, celebrate your first independence but you better know what you’re doing because it is easy to get lost in the muddle and hubbub of the pubs and clubs.” She explains that we are free to do whatever we want as first years but we should also remember the purpose of being here. Club and drinking life can be very exciting that most first years forget about their studies yet here is someone who knows how to do both.
Vibe warns first years that they should take hid of where they are coming from and respect that because many lose their dignity and personality once they are here. She has managed to preserve her personality by minding her own business that is not listening to what people say and not just following crowds. She is very dignified and proud of who she is and where she comes from. She is a Zimbabwean and she says that she loves her country so much, despite the situation in that country.
posted by Survival of the Fresher at
3:13 PM
Letter to my younger self
________________________________________________________________
Ola bro
I know that you are excited about going to university next year. Before you get too excited. I thought I should write you this letter to inform you about the things that happen in the first year of varsity. University can be a very overwhelming and isolating place. The reason I am telling you this is because the other day I heard you say one of the reasons you want to go to university is because you want to enjoy the freedom that comes with being away from home.
There are inevitable social changes you are bound to go through.Some of them you just have to ignore and let pass by. Varsity life is not all good and well as it seems. People come to varsity and change their whole identity completely because they want to fit in to certain a group. People reconstruct their being in order to look “cool”.Dont get fooled by all the fake smiles and blatant pretences you will encounter, just make sure you never forget who you are. At times you will feel pressured to do things that seem obscure, things you do not necessarily agree with but you will do them anyway just to please your friends.
My advice to you is that you should try very hard to stay grounded and always humble yourself with everyone but do not tolerate or even take “crap” from anyone. Remember to stay true to yourself. Also bare in mind that it is not easy to make true friends in university so be very careful with whom you befriend as it is very easy to get involved with the wrong crowd.
I have witnessed students throwing their lives and everything they were thought by their parents, away;because they had all these preconceived ideas about varsity, like you my mate. I hope this letter will help you make informed decisions when arriving in university next year.
Your partner in crime
Older Khwezi
posted by kay at
7:49 PM
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First Years - the KINGS and QUEENS of our blog and some Villains! They, are what our blog is made of: SURVIVAL OF THE FRESHER! We explore their "sunny side up" days and and their "underdone" days as well as everything inbetween...Some juicy stuff!
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