I am too tired to think of a title because I have been blogging for 6 weeks

Of all the words that make me want to go and jump off a cliff, or anything at least 20 metres off the ground really, “blogging” and “group work” are some of them. So when all of these words were combined in one sentence within the first five minutes of the first fourth term journalism lecture, I knew things weren’t going to be pretty.

Of course the main focus of the blogging course was (apparently) the writing, and more specifically, writing within the genre of blogging. Because we covered genre in our third term journalism course, this term I actually had an awareness of what genre is. It wasn’t too hard to write for the blog because I knew how a blog worked, even if I hadn’t seen it as a “genre” before. Of course when it came to the groupwork we had to make sure we were all on the same page. Our writing had to be fitting for a blog and then also inkeeping with our blog character.

Story ideas were fairly wasy to come by. I have survived first year and the theme was “surviving first year”… you do the math. For this reason I needed to do very little research. Mostly I gathered information directly from a source, for example another first year, or from just listening in on friends’ conversations. It was difficult to find other relevant sources. After searching on the internet I found that there is very little available that actually speaks to first years. This was the one plus of the theme. At least our blogs can provide something for other upcoming first years.

Ultimately, a lot of ideas, information and input for stories came from the members of our group. There were few conflicts, because we are all first years who understood the genre of blogs and who ours was aimed at. Most of the time when we met was spent obsessing over how to get the infamous html template to work!

Despite the frustrations, blogging did help me to grow in terms of my writing. In the beginning I had a near-terminal case of writers block, knowing that my work would be up there for anyone to read. It brought home the realisation that one day my writing is going to be out there and open to criticism, but that that is actually how we improve and hone our skill. At times, however, I felt as though what our lecturers had assigned us to do and the blog genre were in conflict. Writing a profile on a first year who has overcome difficulties is kind of hard to incorporate into your blog plan of being a fun, humourous blog. The assignments confined our writing more than the actual blog genre I think. The theme of “surviving first year” was also limiting in many ways. I think first years have a lot more to say about the world than that. There is a lot more to us than simply the fact that we are first years. It would have been interesting to see what people as young as us have to say about other things, such as life experiences and social issues.

One thing I hadn’t considered previously were the ethical issues surrounding blogs. A blog is such a public thing, where anyone can read posts and anyone can comment. How much can one actually say on a blog? What can one legitimately complain about and who can one criticise, and what should just be kept a personal opinion, if anything? There is no control over what can be posted on a blog, but at the same time there is a subconscious awareness that some things would just be inappropriate, or hurtful to others. For example in our comic where we ripped off the lecturers, we had to be careful that we didn’t overstep any boundaries that would publicly humiliate anyone. Bloggers definitely have a responsibility, to tell the truth but at the same time to be conscious of other people’s feelings.

The best part of the whole experience by far has been reading other students’ blogs. Getting insight into the psyche of my fellow first years has been fascinating! We’re not all the brave, carefree, confident people we make ourselves out to be, are we? But, having said that, the course has still not fully convinced me on the whole concept of blogging. I’m not so sold on the idea of pouring your heart out onto a public internet site. Apart from the privacy issue, it almost cheapens writing. You just type whatever comes into your head, often times total garbage, and post it hoping someone will read it. I think if you really have something to say blogging can be good, but otherwise you’re just adding to the clutter that is cyberspace. Is blogging journalism? I think it can be, when used correctly. I think any form of intelligent writing or observation is journalism, but at the same time, I do not believe that having a blog makes you a journalist.

Ultimately, I am glad I didn’t jump off that cliff/very-high-thing at the beginning of term. This course has had its positives and negatives, ups and downs, but that’s life. After all, there is life beyond blogging, and I will take what I have learned during this course and use it elsewhere – er, I mean, continue to blog away.

Kudus Writing - Reflective Peace

http://www.firstyearblood.blogspot.com

I’m sitting in my digs bed, staring at a photo of my late father. A quite man, yet so many words in his literary writings. He was an author, and I suppose that’s where my passion for writing arose from. Next to him is a painting, drawn in second grade, which I believe further contributed to my expanding my writing ability. I am loud and outspoken; however, personal problems and feelings were always expressed in my art. I am creative, though it is a side of me rarely seen by others.

Arriving at the big school doors, high school, I lost the time I always had, time to sit and pour my problems out on a blank piece of scribbling paper. It is then that I began journal writing. Throughout primary and high school, I always enjoyed what is known as ‘creative writing’ under the English Language. Though given the simplest of topics, ("My Holiday" and "A day in the Park") I’d found a way to play around with them and make them unique and my own. Through these pieces of work, I noticed some form of growth as an amateur writer. Much like my kudu painting, where it is feeding off dry, hard grass, there were greener pastures ahead of it. I hoped to develop my writing and make it a profession. I further developed my writing ability through the complex works of the English Language, novels and poetry. Shakespearian writing improved my own. I improved through using similar techniques, improving my spattering of words and phrases and it is then that my work showed structure and planning. There then became a reason for the choice of words, phrases and clauses I used. Much like my works of art, there had a reason for using different shades of paint in other parts and a reason why I had threaded my knittings in different colours.

And now I study Journalism which has reinforced my interest in writing and painting. An interest from a very tender age. It is amazing how the human body, the brain, can sometimes not outgrow some experiences…in my case, experiences of writing and creativeness. This is the last semester of my first year and studying blogs in this last term was an encouragement for me to pursue being a writer. What a technical part of the coarse this has been. I never knew Journalism included such vast methods. Coming to varsity, I only had one side of the coarse, and that was writing and chasing after stories. But the profile writings and letters to oneself made me realize that it is part of the coarse to look for the inevitable. I am amazed at how neutral and broad the coarse is. Then came the producing of comics, which I found pleasurable and amusing. Writing is not the only form of telling and informing, like my art, stories can be illustrated through art, comics. And lastly, commenting one someone else’s blog, this for me built me and the remarks I got fixed areas in which my writing lacked.

I’m grateful the coarse and it’s technical side. Though boring at times, I thoroughly took pleasure in the work. Huge thumbs up to you Sim and Allette for the superb work.

Uno

First Year Binging

The thrill of first year can last the entire year, a few weeks and sometimes a couple of weeks. During the first three or four weeks of semester one, the students focus may be on making friends and having a good time. Their people’s skills are tested for the first time. This is the most imperative time of their life; I say this because during this time, it is possible to make subject changes to suite their degree makeup. This time may also set a pattern for behaviour throughout the year, a time to build friendships, trying to find friends that best adhere to their character and lastly, a time where prioritizing becomes important.

Many first year students come to university with high expectations, to have freedom with no boundaries, lots of alcohol and sex abuse and encouragement to be irresponsible. These activities allow for endless friendships to be established. Students also begin to ignore their studies, thinking pulling all nighters will earn them straight A's.

When walking into a party, the first thing one does is scan, looking for people they may know and when they find them, they relax and go over and start chatting. Some don't understand that nature is trying to teach them how to handle social scenes by inciting anxiety. This is what leads to 'pre-party' events, trying to withdraw whatever anxiousness may be felt. This undermines their social confidence, because it is now being fabricated. This pre-partying became common to me at Rhodes University.

Rhodes University's poor academic performance has been tied to the undue consumption of alcohol. This was proven by a student who compiled findings on alcohol abuse on campus. This survey focused on students as whole and not just first years. The report titled "Patterns of Alcohol Abuse on a South African University Campus," reported alcohol as harmful and hazardous. I mean there was a "Save Tri-Varsity" campaign a couple of months back due to unruly, drunk Rhodents at last years Tri-Var. The Dean of Students had to intervene with her Alcohol-Abuse Awareness Week. Reasons for such interventions are caused by the skyrocketing numbers of students practicing binging, an act which starts during ones first year.

It is in the interest of higher learning institutions to take note of the levels of alcohol consumption amongst students, especially first year students that are overwhelmed by varsity life. They need to devise strategies and neutralize such trends. It is important that first year students overcome peer pressure and the false sense of security of living in a small town. It is up to these first years to be able to balance the exhilaration with good decisions and help eliminate the bad name on Rhodes for producing alcoholics.Should you be a student needing help, especially first year, help is available.Rhodes Counselling CentreAlcoholics Anonymous

First Year Binging

The thrill of first year can last the entire year, a few weeks and sometimes a couple of weeks. During the first three or four weeks of semester one, the students focus may be on making friends and having a good time. Their people’s skills are tested for the first time. This is the most imperative time of their life; I say this because during this time, it is possible to make subject changes to suite their degree makeup. This time may also set a pattern for behavior throughout the year, a time to build friendships, trying to find friends that best adhere to their character and lastly, a time where prioritizing becomes important.

Many first year students come to university with high expectations, to have freedom with no boundaries, lots of alcohol and sex abuse and encouragement to be irresponsible. These activities allow for endless friendships to be established. Students also begin to ignore their studies, thinking pulling all nighters will earn them straight A's.

When walking into a party, the first thing one does is scan, looking for people they may know and when they find them, they relax and go over and start chatting. Some don't understand that nature is trying to teach them how to handle social scenes by inciting anxiety. This is what leads to 'pre-party' events, trying to withdraw whatever anxiousness may be felt. This undermines their social confidence, because it is now being fabricated. This pre-partying became common to me at Rhodes University.

Rhodes University's poor academic performance has been tied to the undue consumption of alcohol. This was proven by a student who compiled findings on alcohol abuse on campus. This survey focused on students as whole and not just first years. The report titled "Patterns of Alcohol Abuse on a South African University Campus," reported alcohol as harmful and hazardous. I mean there was a "Save Tri-Varsity" campaign a couple of months back due to unruly, drunk Rhodents at last years Tri-Var. The Dean of Students had to intervene with her Alcohol-Abuse Awareness Week. Reasons for such interventions are caused by the skyrocketing numbers of students practicing binging, an act which starts during ones first year.

It is in the interest of higher learning institutions to take note of the levels of alcohol consumption amongst students, especially first year students that are overwhelmed by varsity life. They need to devise strategies and neutralize such trends. It is important that first year students overcome peer pressure and the false sense of security of living in a small town. It is up to these first years to be able to balance the exhilaration with good decisions and help eliminate the bad name on Rhodes for producing alcoholics.
Should you be a student needing help, especially first year, help is available.
Rhodes Counseling CentreAlcoholics Anonymous

Dam 1st year students

The one thing that really got me really angry and so frustrated throughout this year was the fact that senior students treated us first years as the most irritating, naive and loud people in the world, forgetting that they too were in the very same position that we now in, a couple of years ago.
As a first year student you will obviously be excited to be coming to varsity for the first time and that you are now away from your parents and all forms of rules and regulations as to how to live your life. Therefore it’s only natural that we would be a little loud at the beginning of the year, well some are still in the pre-June examination stage of total excitement.You obviously going to get to varsity and meet new friends while being very excited to have met them and will most probably be going out every night for the rest of what’s left of Orientation week, hence not assuming that you automatically a dunked, you just letting your hair down if I may put it that way. Hence when you see the expressions of senior students on how first years drink one would swear they haven’t set a foot in a club, ironically you find that they are the very ones that make lecture venues smell like the processing flow of South African breweries on a Monday, Thursday and Friday mornings.
Then you get your ever loving tutors; now they are the people that are suppose to be feeling sympathetic towards us seeing that they get paid through us. Well it’s either you get the tutor that over simplifies everything which implies that we’re total morons and that you don’t know anything forgetting that you made it to “Rhodes University, Where leaders learn”, Or you get those that want to punish you for the fact that they had to sit at home and mark your essay while they had plans to go to the Rat &Parrot to get totally wasted. Now what these types of tutors do is just simply pretend to assume that you know every big, complicated word that comes out of their mouths.
Now lets not forget our lecturers, they are the nice ones during Orientation week when they are sucking up to you to choose to study whatever subject their Department Head sent them to come and sell to the naïve gullible first years that have just arrived. you offcourse buy into whatever they want you to buy into and then choose the subject, write an essay, fail it because you did not reference it using their ‘departmental style’, you go to the very same person that sold you the subject and they send you to your tutor. How are first years suppose to cope with all this?
Any first year student at this university has experienced at least one if not all of the above mentioned experiences. “Hey look at the bright side, we can do this to first years next year” said first year B.A student Athenlosi Matyalana. And so the vicious cycle goes on and on.

"Hello, and welcome to Clique Central!"

Cliques. A word I detest. They can turn your high school career into a dream or a nightmare. Unfortunately, it does not stop there. Welcome to Rhodes, Clique Central. You might think such a liberal, forward-thinking university in the arts capital of South Africa would have been spared, but cliques are inescapable. You see them everywhere. In the dining hall, different culture groups pretty much keep to themselves. In lectures, you will normally find the jocks sitting somewhere in the middle towards the back. Then there are the “school friends” cliques, consisting of people who have come from school together and who look at you like you have a mango for a head if you attempt any form of friendly interaction.

Since arriving at Rhodes, I have been called many things. “Hippie”, “flower child”, “fairy”. You get the picture. It makes me giggle a bit, because although I don’t mind, I really don’t consider myself any of those things. But it is natural for people to want to try and place others in a box, and of course with young people that is even more so. So put 6000 young people in a very small space like Rhodes and voila, time to get cliquey. What I can’t understand is, we have the most amazing opportunity at university to meet such diverse, interesting people, and yet we insist on sticking with the people who look like us, dress like us, talk like us. Of course a friendship group is naturally based on common interests, but that shouldn’t be to the exclusion of all other people.

Maybe the term “clique” is too strong a word. It is not as though there are rival groups of people going around campus trying to bring each other down - the Hippies versus the Hip hop-heads-type scenario. It’s more just a case of pure ignorance and small-mindedness. Most students don’t actually seem to care that there are people out there who are different to them, but who they could learn so much from. After we have placed someone in a box that is different from our own, it’s almost as if they get checked off the “potential friend material” list. There is a gnawing passivity, as if to say, “I’m happy the way I am with my friends, why should I go out of my way?”

I am certainly not implying that we should all become best friends with everyone. Friendship groups are born out of a sense of community and commonality, and that’s ok. What is wrong, is when we never stop for five seconds to peep out of our safe cocoon at the rest of humanity. And I speak from experience; at times it will be hard. You have to learn to adjust to people of different cultures and backgrounds, the way they do things and even the way they speak. Sometimes you will feel like a colossal idiot, as you can almost hear the people around you wondering, “what is she doing here??”. But seriously, can we try and just get over ourselves? If a black person is best friends with a white person, or Barbie enjoys hanging with Dreadlocks Dude, so what? We are a multicultural, diverse country and that is how it should be. It doesn’t mean we are forgetting where we have come from or selling out. It means we have finally come to our senses and realised something of great significance: clique culture sucks (or at the very least, should be left behind in high school)!

So long...

As we experience the sun setting on another year, it is but another year. Not gone to waste though. As we reflect back on how 2008 has been, smiles emerge and tears flow. New year's resolutions were forgotten... well so it turns out when mother earth is being herself. Of all the meaningful experiences and meaningless witnesses, there is one thing for certain that most first years have in common : an appreciation for such tremendous growth...

Profile on a first year survivor

Her smiling eyes reveal just w excited she is as she assumes me “Yes Mo, I survived first year”. She is undoubtedly proud of herself. Tlatsetso Palime is a 18 year old Lesotho girl looking to complete her bachelor of arts degree in law. “Both my parents are lawyers, and I want to do something similar too. That’s why I am here”, she enlightened. She then zoned into another mode as she added “and everything else that comes with it”. This comment sounded like a disappointment more than anything. Tlatsetso says that university as a whole has been a building and maturing experience. She changed her pose and looks the other way, with her eyes facing down. She thinks back to the beginning of the year and shares that the work was rather intimidating to her. She has now gotten the hang of things though. Doing things by herself with little guidance and supervision was a difficulty which she now describes as one which has taught her self-discipline. Tlatsetso may still have the same height of only 1.4m but has indeed become such a big girl. Because she was not in boarding school, she feels that she was never prepared to share so much with fellow res mates. She appreciates it however, as it is this res environment that helped her make friends. “My friends have been there for me every step of the way, they are truly amazing”, she appreciated with a sincere smile. Her and most girls’ first year story would not be complete without the ever-famous ‘love-life’ section. As I posed this suggestion with curious excitement, she just smiled and shook her head. For a while, there was complete silence. She didn’t seem to want to talk about it. Tlatsetso just briefly summarized that she was disappointed once too many times, that it is still a sensitive issue to her and asked if we could take a break. Out of respect humbly inflicted by her broken voice, the break was permanent.

totally funny

You probably don’t have a truworths account yet but you probably will within the first three months of being @ varsity….enjoy
LETTER TO TRUWORTHS IN JOHANNESBURG THE ENDING IS JUST MAGIC.
Dear Sir/Madam
I acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 7 July 2008 in which for the 3rd time, you request that I pay the monies owed to you. I first want you to know that by no means do I dispute my debt and I intend to pay as soon as possible.
However I would like to bring to your attention that you are not my only creditor. I have many more creditors,quite as honourable and important as you, and whom I wish to pay too. That is why, each month, I throw all the names of my creditors into a hat and draw one randomly. The one drawn is paid immediately.
I hope that yours will come out shortly.
Sincerely Yours,Sipho
PS: I regret to inform you that given the harsh and threatening tone of your last letter, you will not be taking part in the next three draws.

Mathematics

Just saying the word ‘mathematics’ to people brings forth a multitude of reactions. In many cases, it’s memories of the emotional trauma caused by high school algebra and trigonometry which produces jolt instantly. Those born with the natural talent of using their right side of the brain, a talent for the subject, remember it as the easy part of university entrance exams. Among these, are the rare few who find themselves seduced by the beauty of the subject. To them, mathematics is a language which helps unfold complex predicaments. One of these people is Amandla Ndlovu who beams when greeted. A huge smile spreads across his face and his eyes twinkle. It quickly becomes clear that he has another talent, connecting with people.
The first year BComm student describes in detail that these problems they solve might be exceptionally difficult, but nothing beats the feeling you get when finding an answer says Amandla. It becomes clear that maths is not just a subject to him; it seems to correspond to real life situations and other disciplines of education like physics. And as much as he enjoys unearthing math course work, mathematics has helped find solutions in his life.

Amndla lost his father mid-April this year, putting his family is serious financial turmoil. The 19 year old was faced with two consequential options. Continue to study and bare wrecking thoughts of his family waking up to isonka sombakho (steam bread) and reused teabag tea for breakfast. Thoughts of his family sleeping on empty stomachs for most nights, because his house-wife mother had to settle his tuition fees and provide him with pocket money. ‘I had to drop out; it wasn’t an option to let my family suffer for me, I had planned to find a piece job, so that I could endow my widow mother and siblings.’
A dreading shame to have such talent wasted due to matters beyond his control, the unknown cause of death of his father.

It was whilst shopping for the cheaper branded toiletries, ‘no name’ that he overheard St Andrews matriculates complain about the difficulty of math and physics. It was then that Amandla got an idea, to find work and earn something. He ran to the Jacaranda Computer Labs, to print out his CV and type a brief motivation for why he thought he would make a great tutor. Missing his last lecture on that day, he went to the high school to drop off the requesting CV. ‘I didn’t mention my father’s death, or my family’s capital problems.’ Amandla felt he’d get the job solely on merit. It was a week later that he got a call from the high school, asking him to come for an interview. He signed a two year contract to tutor grade 11 and 12 math learners.

Earning R3 500 a month, Amandla is able to send money home and purchase tuck and toiletries for himself. ‘It is important to give attention to your interests, for you to desire, so that you can take action, to become bigger than you think you are,’ he says, with that broad smile that made me approach him. This life changing year is almost over for Amandla Ndlovu, but the lessons his learnt about life he says have made him a stronger, more capable individual. I’m a survivor’ he says, and instead of me thanking him for his time, he shakes my hand and thanks me for listening. ‘I’m hoping that other first year students will learn from my story.’

Just Get On With It

Sometimes being away from home in first year is like going for your drivers licence. You know you have to be there to get your licence, and you really do want that licence, and you know there are fun times ahead… but at the same time you really wish you could be somewhere else. Now imagine your home is a two day bus trip away, in a country whose political, social and economical instability has been making headlines around the world. And, of course, whose president is slightly cooked in the head.

Meet Sarah Aldridge, one of many Zimbabwean students at Rhodes University. Hailing from the small town of Chinhoyi in Mashonaland West province, one would expect the move to Rhodes to have been a rather stressful one. But Sarah, with her calm and collected nature, took it all in her stride. “It wasn’t much of a culture shock coming here. We (Zimbabwe) were like this once upon a time.” She admits that she is quite fortunate to have family in South Africa. “It’s quite rough if you don’t know anyone in South Africa.” She pauses before adding with a mischievous grin, ‘Make sure you make friends with people who live outside of Grahamstown.”

Even though she found the South African girls generally “more liberal” and open in the things that they talked about, the people in res really helped with settling in. “My res was very welcoming and friendly. Being away from home wasn’t too bad because of the people here.” She says that although it depends on the person, she isn’t lonely at all. Even as we sit talking, she greets person after person who walks by. “There’s always someone around.” After about the tenth person she giggles. “See what I mean?”

Behind the strong façade of course there is always a side that misses home. “I really, really miss not going home and stroking my cat and seeing my mutt. You can’t just go and lie on the couch or sit at the kitchen table and talk to your parents.” Luckily Sarah's family has not been too badly affected by the turmoil that is taking place in Zimbabwe, but she still worries at times. With people leaving the country all the time and with hardly any warning, she sometimes wonders if she will ever see her friends and people she knows again. “(When I left for university), I wasn’t sure I was ever going to go back.”

There are things she still hasn’t adjusted to, including the cold weather and of course, the bane of every student’s life – assignments. “This work everyday is a pain in the butt.” And although she admits she is generalizing, she feels South Africans can be a bit on the unfriendly side. “Back home the tellers at the shops know my name. We have good chats,” she remarks.

So how does Sarah cope when she's missing life in Chinhoyi? “Chocolate donuts at the Blockhouse!” she bursts out into giggles. And besides lots of e-mails home and burying herself in her work, “you just kind of get on with it, really.” It is this outlook on life that has enabled Sarah to make the most of this year. For someone who could have so much to complain about, she seems almost bemused that people would make such a big deal about her coming from Zimbabwe. To her, she’s just a student, who happens to be from Zimbabwe, getting by like everyone else.

The story of a young man that finds himself through writing

Isn’t it funny how you see someone and automatically make an assumption that they are a particular kind of person and when starting to converse with the person you realize that they actually quite interesting? And isn’t it funnier how you make that mistake over and over again? Well if you have made such a mistake (which you most probably have), about a thousand times in your life, then don’t worry because it happens to all of us.

While sitting at the library basement waiting for Monde Mdodana, I had a lot of things going through my mind; such as; I wonder what this dagga smoking, fake version of Bob Marley is going to say about his first year at Rhodes. You might be thinking that’s a bit naive of me to think of someone in that way but when you see a young man with long dread locks, wearing a Bantu Stephen Biko T-shirt with torn pants and carryng a bag with Rastafarian that’s got a picture of Bob Marley painted on it. You usually make that assumption about that person.

Monde, the eldest of three kids was born in the small town of Uitenhage in the Eastern Cape. “My mother was a Christian but I hated going to church, not to say that I’m a Satanist, it’s just that I belief in finding my God through writing”, he says. In growing up, Monde says that he’s always been someone who was very anti-social, “To be honest, I’ve never liked being surrounded by people; I’ve always enjoyed my own company”. During his Matric year, he would always just focus on his writing, because that’s where he found himself. “Through writing a poem or short story, I believe that I am communicating with my God” he says.

He explains his first year at Rhodes dull, seeing that the work is so much and he doesn’t have that much time to focus on his writing. “For me the year had no real defining moment as a first year student, though being here has given me room for growth”. The one thing that he describes as totally fantastic was when he sold out all his copies to his short story booklet during the June vacation. “That was really awesome, I didn’t expect such a good responds from people and to my surprise people really loved my writing”. He says that that inspired him to write more, in fact his never been in such a good place in his life.He finds his inspiration from any and every one. He believes that everyone has a story that is worth being written about and we all have the gift to write that story.

Amongst the stories his written, is one called the English note, he describes the story as a little autobiographical, as he was writing about how he sees himself in the character portrayed in the story.“See, we all change from character to character to suit what society wants us be”, he continues by saying, when coming to varsity, you switch from the character of a typical naive high school learner to a totally different character that you believe will make you cooler when being at varsity.

To Monde, the year has enabled him to grow as a writer and as an individual, because to him writing his writing is what defines him.

Mondes’ book of short stories is called Marxism, Marijuana and literature.










Source list: Monde Mdodana 1st year Bachelor of Social Science student Contact Details: Tell: 0782018754 Email address: phicon Mdodana" <mphicon@gmail.com>

my perfect man

John Legend...This is my perferct man and yes I know that I'll probably never meet him but that's what things such as your perfect man are made for. The fact of the matter is that in life you will almost never meet your perfect man espacially not at varsity, the type of guy you are most likely to meet while studyng, is the type that's dating you either because they've never had a girlfriend while they were at high school and now the are taking advantage of all the naive first year students that just arrived. Perhaps you'll meet the one that's dating you just beccause they want a hot young girl next to him so he can how off to his friends about you....but lets not forget that there are those that come close to John Legend andmaybe you'll be lucky enough to find someoen that managed to stay true to them selves and refused to have all the pressures of being at varsity change who they really are....good luck finding such a guy.

who says man can't multitask?

Letter to you prospective first year...

Dear friend
Of course you know that the definition of university has a definite connotation of a solid social life. I mean, what is varsity without the famous or maybe notorious side of private life? In fact, one key aspect when you think first year is probably ‘having your own place’. I know I’m speaking your language! Residence life is full of exciting things that will make your first year at varsity worth while and a survival. Don’t need you to make your grades suffer now, just because you are not at home. So for now, make yourself at home, while I take you on a journey of what you can look forward to living in ‘res’:
Remember you are new, and might not know a single soul. Well, it would be wise to find someone, in fact the more the merrier, so make a bunch of friends to hold your hand and trust me, things will seem ten times better plus, you will be making memories. And where else to find these people but in res. So see, res is convenient for making friends. Plus, with the fun-filled functions, which better way to mingle? You also easily find people doing the same course as you, and that means you guys can work together while you are still trying to get the hang of things. Only exclusive to res, is guidance from the house warden and sub-wardens. They don’t play the role of watchdogs, so don’t worry, freedom is still at the centre of things. There is no curfew! And it gets better, you choose from a menu with a wide variety what you want to eat, which means, no such a responsibility as cooking! Yey!
Before the excitement explodes, let me bring you back. All good, res-life is great. For the right reasons, right… When balancing the pros and cons, take it from me, you want to be in res. Its an experience you owe to youself. You need to find your feet first, then only second year I guess you can spread your wings!
Sincerely
Mathilda

Dear Younger Self

Since I get to know all this information about you, it's only fair you get to know a bit about me. I moved towns after I finished school. I lost the few friends I had and when I arrived where I am now studying, Rhodes University, I found difficulty in making new friends. At first I thought I was just shy, I wasn't sure what to say to people but I knew that wasn’t it. I’d been told that I’m a people’s person, yet I found complexity in adjusting, to suit people’s personalities.

I tried all sorts of tricks to hold conversations with the students, including watching rugby on a cold wet evening, just to have something to chip in in the next days talk. I remember during Orientation Week, pushing into a crowd of people whom I thought were waiting to be shown the varsity grounds, after a session of tea and biscuits and listening to conversations about the practicality of the Extended Studies Programme – which I knew nothing of, I realised I was with the wrong crowd. These people were government officials who’d…well I don’t know why they were here, and I don’t know why I hadn’t noticed the old faces. I know you laughing, and so am I. It was a ‘Kodak’ moment.

I thought I’d get here and find lots of friends who endeared in the same interests as me. This had never been a problem before. But this because I was confined to a certain group of friends I’d grown up with. We were one of the tightest circles of friends; never would you see any one of us as individuals. But it was time for us to part and go our separate ways.

Two weeks into the last semester, I realise, all I needed was time and settling in, I’ve made friends now, lots of them. This was a matter that wasn’t to be rushed. I now feel, I am the individual I should have been in high school.

I should sign off now, I feel as though I’ve said too much. Do maintain your current friendships and study hard to get into university. It’s an experience worth having.

Your Once Lonely Self

Uno

A Letter to My Younger Self

Dear School Hater

It’s the final stretch before university begins! I’m sure you are super-excited. I know how much you think going to class in high school sucks. Waking up at 6.30, ironing your school uniform and shoveling down the breakfast Mom cooked for you. You can’t wait for the day when you can go to class just when you feel like it, if at all. Life would just be so much more bearable, hey?

REALITY CHECK! You’re at university, no one has washed your clothes, and you overslept and missed breakfast. You are exhausted from only four hours of sleep because you were up late finishing an essay. You have the earliest lecture so you think you’ll just skip it… but the lecturer is going to be discussing the term assignment - you have to go! If I’ve learned one thing, it is to forget whatever you’ve seen in the movies. You know, when the girl flounces into class with perfect hair and a fresh face. Ask any student: bloodshot eyes and bedhead is the look most commonly sported at lectures!

I don’t mean to make it sound all bad. There have been too many funny and random incidents in lectures for me even to recall, from crazy lecturers to guys coming to class in dresses and having a dogfight go on right behind our chairs! If you can see the funny side of things, you’ll get through. But ultimately, and I hate to say it, lectures are there for you to learn from, not for you to try out your new look or to have your ears tickled.

Don’t be one of the deluded ones who fall behind just because they view lectures as “optional”. Be on time and make the effort. You will be at a serious disadvantage if you don’t. There’s no other way to say it: go to class!

Peace and love
Pinks

letter to younger self

Hello there,
I remember this time last year when the year was ending and I couldn’t wait to finish my final matric examinations and just get out of high school. All you can think about at this point in time is all the fun you’re going to have once you get to varsity. You think of the drinking and the endless partying you’re going to do once you get here, because you’re on your own and there are no parents to tell you what to do right?Well I wish there was someone who had told me that it’s not like that, in fact if someone had said to me that by the beginning of the second semester I wouldn’t want anything to do with alcohol or partying, I probably would have laughed in their face. I mean who ever gets tired of partying? You’re probably asking yourself how on earth it is possible for one to replace a good mix of Southern Comfort and lime at OLDE 65 with some other boring non-alcoholic drink in your room while reading a book. Well after failing your June exams because you were at OLDE 65 having SoCo and lime the night before you wrote an exam, or when you hear of a girl that got raped on her way back from a night out by male students she met at a club, you definitely find a way to do so.These are realities that students and especially first years face when they are at varsity, simply because you came having the mentality that you are going to get here and have fun, not thinking about the dangers or consequences about having a hectic social life. University is after all a place for learning amongst other things.Your girl,
Nonlie