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Lerato
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How do you deal with it?
Banna ke dinja bohle. Ha ba tsebe ho appreciata seo ba nang lesona. O tla u tlwa motho wa teng a lla ka moo a sa ratwang kateng kapa ka mokgwa oo basadi bas a tshepahaleng ka teng, empa motho wa teng o dieha ho ipotsa hore na yena ke dife dintho a dietsang batho. Ke nyontse hampe.
Ho monate ho qoqa le lona, peace!!
posted by Sam at
2:59 AM
 
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Old Clocolan high school students come together on the net Grahamstown: Clocolan high school students from previous years have created a group on facebook were they discuss the latest. Clocolan high is a school in the Free State in the Thabo Mofutsanyana region. The old learners started their own group on where they reminisce about the past and come up with ways to make their old school look good. one of the things that they have come up with is to make website for the school. One of the old learners describes the school as "one of the best schools in the country". they feel that because the school is so good it has to have its own website. by Ramosamo Sam Raboroko.
posted by Sam at
12:23 AM
New Year
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Another year and new challenges. I am now in my second year so that means I'm goin gto be dealing with problems that first years should look forwad to therefore hoping to give you the necessary tools to tackle second year
posted by Sam at
12:17 AM
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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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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