Monday, November 10, 2008
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Reflexive Piece
I came to Rhodes because I wanted to pursue my dream career in journalism and media and leaving home was quite a thing to do for me, and many other students too. The theme throughout the year is ‘Surviving First Year’ which is an ideal theme; allows us to see that we are all in the same boat. Blogging opened up my eyes, it gave us the means to experiment in a sense to express oneself.
Throughout the year, there was a lot of writing, whether we had to conduct interviews, write opinion pieces or letters, we got to write. One would assume that with a lot of writing comes improvement and I feel that this years courses have been challenging yet rewarding. Personal growth is so important and one should be able to see or feel that they have grown because of the challenges met and if I were to evaluate myself I would say that a six. I have found some assignments challenging, often misunderstanding or misinterpreting.
This last term we began a genre of blogging. In the beginning I admit I was quite excited I thought that it would be fun and we would learn a lot and it was on surviving first year which was a familiar and relevant topic. Rod Amner’s course tied up well with Sim and Alette’s fourth term course. In the first term we dealt with being a first year and explored the many concerns and worries they had such as making friends, first year spread, alcohol, rape and passing the year. These were commonalities among many of the first years.
But my excitement later fizzled out at some points, I think it was because I had this idea in my head that we would do and learn more and because we had to work in groups. I understand the logic of the group work- 282 blogs would be a nightmare but personally I prefer to rely on myself. However in the end I can say that I did quite enjoy my group of Vickie, TK and Chloe. We had some pretty great ideas regarding our blog plan and each pulled our own weight, and we delegated pretty well, working well together to get what needed to be done, done. We had a lot of fun when it required us to do the photo comic for example, it was a great idea and related to the character of our blog.
One is aware that technology is playing a huge role in our lives but some of us just don’t know how to operate a computer and when it came to the idea of blogging, connotations of nerds or Goths sitting at their computers writing about themselves, when in fact that was not it at all. Blogging opened up my mind and thanks to Google Blog search engines one became aware of the millions of blogs across the world. There is so much more to blogs than sitting and writing about oneself. We are entering a world that I believe will be running on computers and robotics in the years to come and it is time, especially for our generation to get with it and not be so narrow minded. In relation to journalism, one wouldn’t have thought that blogging would have fitted into it. I think that blogging is definitely a form of journalism. It is a form of writing; it has a purpose and an audience. Most of what was written by us first years were issues that concerned all students, not just at Rhodes.
Some of the computer illiterate failed in attempting to make the new blog interesting with pictures or videos and became frustrated that some gave up and just did the assignments whilst some of the more competent groups went the extra mile and added radios, slide shows and all kinds of other fascinating applications. I would have liked to have added cool applications too and made our blog more appealing so we received comments and just personally I think a student blog is a great way in expressing ourselves in writing. I loved reading and having to reply to the other groups posts. Over all, I think there could have been more done, not that we want more work but I think regarding the lectures, there could have been more structure and teachings.
My group and I found it pretty easy to generate ideas, we knew what the audience wanted to hear and it seemed to fit in with what we wanted to base our blog on. We decided we wanted a blog that could be related to, easy to read and not be so rigid and serious. Yes there were restraints but this didn’t hinder our thought and ideas. One could look again at first term and the news values we learnt about; I know that thinking in terms of our blogs character and the genre ‘Surviving First Year’ we used relevance, interest, novelty and importance in generating our story ideas. We are aware of who the audience is and what they want to read about. It is exactly why when having to get sources we used first years who were willing, which in most cases they were. I think that I knew who I would interview, because of being aware of the character of my blog I interviewed a friend in first year, Daniel Charvat who was easy going, friendly and that was exactly the character of my blog ‘RUASURVIVOR’.
The genre and topics given were not very restricting which allowed most of the students to write about whatever topic they wanted and I enjoyed reading what they had to say, I got a feel to what they were thinking and what was bothering them. There were a lot of the same concerns which proves that we are not alone which in most cases we feel we are. I love writing and I loved that we could write from personal perspectives and write opinion pieces. It gave us a sense of control. Blogging opened up my eyes; not only to journalism but as a means of expressing oneself.
Ashleigh
Friday, October 24, 2008
Reflexive Piece
I find myself staring at a blank screen at odd times of the day wondering….what do I have to say today? Blogging has allowed me to open the tap of my own destruction – my mind. In it are so many little ideas and thoughts that never seemed to be fully expressed. Blogging allowed me to vent about the issues that had bee tickling me in my sensitive areas. As blogging was purely a new thing for me, I found it surprisingly unchallenging when it came to expressing my own opinion.
My main area of concern was trying to communicate to other people the need to be constantly vigilant in the university experience. Many people I know have seemingly sat back and watched life float on by without even stretching out a pinky to feel the temperature. Blogging for most of us was a love, hate relationship. I personally loved the opportunity to write and say what I felt like in relation to our blog theme but, I hated the fact that we were seemingly bombarded with so many other compulsory tasks from journalism as well as our other subjects that there was little time to rant on about what I wanted to.
I first term, we were basically spoon fed the topics we were to use in the course, and then blogging came along and unshackled our bubbling brains. I think for me and some of the class, blogging was a free easy way of doing as we please without having to stick to one specific genre. Blogging allowed us to mesh together all sorts of ideas and genres without any form of limitation besides the ones we had set for ourselves. I actually don’t think that blogging changed too much of my ideas on reporting, it seemed to me to be just another way to talk abut the same sort of issues but streamlined into an imaginary audience. I would say blogging actually inspired more interesting and diverse work than what we experienced in the preceding terms. The liberal dose of literary freedom I think inspired a whole lot of great writing and did improve our skills. I honestly think my own skills especially with profile writing improved considerably to steady 7 out of 10.
The fact that our lecturers churned out weekly assignments got a bit tedious and made me write just so I could get it out of the way. It was like being continuously prodded to work when most people including myself just wanted to let loose and say whatever but could not really because we had to immerse ourselves into the that specific assignment I order to get decent marks. I had a couple of story ideas that I wanted to put onto the blog but I found that I was less keen to write because I felt a little uninspired to do so. As a group we found that group work did not actually suite our own individual characters so we often did not communicate about a lot and sort of just did what we had to make everything work smoothly. So our meetings usually ended with only two members left!
Blogging is journalism made by the individual for other individuals, reaching far into a whole community of thought. It is actually a form of new media and citizen journalism, whereby individuals create, publish and distribute selected media forms to a selected audience. World media is shifting towards this type of journalism where people are in sole control of the type of media they need to interact with. In this regard the them of surviving first year was not too restricting because it was actually had a lot of opportunities and different topics which could be compressed into a single train of thought that we could use successfully as we were first years. I guess it was a bit restricting in the sense that we had to deal strictly with first year issues although indirectly we touched on the following years of university.
Researching was actually a cautious affair because we could not present created facts or manufactured material, we needed to provide concrete information so that we did not mislead the audience into believing the wrong thing or giving the wrong impression for Rhodes. Even in the selection of sources of information, caution had to be exercised to ensure the information gelled with our blog. I actually found that it was not very hard to find willing sources to talk to as most of them actually sympathized with us “little first years”. This made the task considerably more manageable. I also found that when I wrote up some of the pieces I was able to experiment with one or two ideas I had read up on or from the first term course. It was interesting how I actually had to consider a whole lot of aspects of my writing on our blog. I had to present as much factual information as possible to present to the reader without making it sound too boring or far fetched. I had to make sure I wrote in a way that actually marketed Rhodes and attracted readers from a wide audience. For instance I wrote a profile on someone who used marijuana as a means to deal with the pressures and stresses of first year. I had to try as best as possible to try not to add my own feelings about marijuana as well as the knowledge that marijuana is illegal in the country.
Overall, blogging was a unique experience for me that offered a chance for me to deal with a new media tool. It provided me the opportunity to create my own story ideas and verbalize them in a blog. Sadly I did not take full advantage of this opportunity in terms of creating my own ideas and stories as well as issues that affected me at Rhodes during my first year.
Smooth Operator
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Reflecting on blogging as a form of journalism
The first term of Journalism and Media Studies required me to produce creative pieces in the genre of life as a first year university student. The fourth term appointed several genres that surrounded the topic of survival as a first year. Although we were constrained to certain genres, I felt that this did not make a difference to the limitations I had in the first term. It taught me that almost any story may be moulded and perfected from an angle so that it reflects a genre.
As a future journalist, any work that I publish should be available to a wide audience at the earliest stage possible. With the aid of the blog course, this possibility is granted. However, the stipulated topics limit the scope of the potential audience. As the topics surround the perspective and events of South African first years, it is only aimed at first years at South African universities. The percentage of South African Tertiary students contributes a minute percentage to the population of South Africa. Hypothetically, I write an article surrounding the current political events in South Africa. It has to be written in a casual tone so that it may provoke the interests of a first year. A corporate lawyer would not read this. Should she stumble upon this, she would probably judge my insight, however knowledgeable or ignorant, in a condescending manner because of the mood and manner in which it is construed.
Nothing is truly an achievement I can reflect on as my own unless I achieves it on my own. As an educated young individual, I am familiar with the rules of decision making. Majority votes will always win and the minority shall be pushed aside. I cannot say that this course has aided me in the achievement of my personal or professional goals. This blog does not reflect a single aspect of my personality and beliefs. But as they say, consensus is the ladder to high design. You can never truly express yourself when there is a conflict amongst interests which results from working with others.
Blogging is definitely a fresh, innovative embodiment of journalism. New Media is the way of the future. Why would you go the grocery store to buy a newspaper if you could divulge topics beyond your wildest imagination by merely surfing the net? Lets face it, the 'Computer Age' is a reality. Books are replaced by online scripts, letters by email, and newspapers by news forums. Why shouldn't creative writing come in the form of a blog? It opens doors to a larger potential audience than I could possibly imagine. With the aid of a blog, the global population is your audience and you are the star actress.
Personally, the main constraint present was not the limitation to a specific genre, but the limitation of topics. Your experience as a first year is past its expiry date. Journalism students have had to compile every creative assignment through the eyes of a first year, for the eyes of other first years. There are only so many topics one can cover that shall serve as a general interest to other first years. I sufficiently covered the general scope of these topics. Now I need to write about the same topics in fourth term. Although I have had many new eye opening experiences that illustrates these topics since first term, I feel that the topics were quite overworked and mundane.
I did not change my methodology that I undertook when researching in first term and researching for pieces that have been published in this blog. After watching the movie Shattered Glass, I have always practised a strictly honest account of real facts. The consequences of the young journalist's acts of perjury, as well as the consequences of plagiarism at Rhodes has ensured my deterrence.
Our blog served as a manual of do's and don'ts in your first year of university. This entailed me having to research the challenges various students have had to overcome. The bigger the challenge, the better the piece. Surprisingly, many people experienced similar problems as a first year. The research illustrated various insights to the same problems.
As stated above, I was required to interview people who had to overcome difficulties as a first year. Surprisingly, all my friends and acquaintances had stories to share that were relevant to the genre. Unfortunately, upon finding out that it their stories shall be published on a globally accessible medium, people tended to be reluctant to divulge their experiences. Majority of my interviewees, specifically those who told of their experiences with alcohol, wished to remain anonymous. Even though they were assured that their names were not going to be mentioned, they remained somewhat conservative for the rest of the interview. I felt at times that, when reflecting on experiences of my friends and I, I was exploiting personal memories to create a competent piece.
I felt the genres, coupled with its underlying concepts, have aided my writing greatly. These genres acted as the backbones to every piece I submitted. The genres were helpful because they mapped out a list of instructions which made it easier to compile a competent argumentative piece that plausibly supports my opinions.
I feel that the medium, Internet technology, hindered the performance of quite a few journalism students. When applying for journalism and media studies 1, none of us were informed that we were required to be 'tech savvy'. I have personally encountered over ten students who struggled to competently establish and utilize their blogs. Although it is the Computer Age, there are those who come from homes absent of computers. Should the journalism department continue practising this course model, they should consider the implementation of computer literacy course as a prerequisite for journalism 1.
Vickie
As a future journalist, any work that I publish should be available to a wide audience at the earliest stage possible. With the aid of the blog course, this possibility is granted. However, the stipulated topics limit the scope of the potential audience. As the topics surround the perspective and events of South African first years, it is only aimed at first years at South African universities. The percentage of South African Tertiary students contributes a minute percentage to the population of South Africa. Hypothetically, I write an article surrounding the current political events in South Africa. It has to be written in a casual tone so that it may provoke the interests of a first year. A corporate lawyer would not read this. Should she stumble upon this, she would probably judge my insight, however knowledgeable or ignorant, in a condescending manner because of the mood and manner in which it is construed.
Nothing is truly an achievement I can reflect on as my own unless I achieves it on my own. As an educated young individual, I am familiar with the rules of decision making. Majority votes will always win and the minority shall be pushed aside. I cannot say that this course has aided me in the achievement of my personal or professional goals. This blog does not reflect a single aspect of my personality and beliefs. But as they say, consensus is the ladder to high design. You can never truly express yourself when there is a conflict amongst interests which results from working with others.
Blogging is definitely a fresh, innovative embodiment of journalism. New Media is the way of the future. Why would you go the grocery store to buy a newspaper if you could divulge topics beyond your wildest imagination by merely surfing the net? Lets face it, the 'Computer Age' is a reality. Books are replaced by online scripts, letters by email, and newspapers by news forums. Why shouldn't creative writing come in the form of a blog? It opens doors to a larger potential audience than I could possibly imagine. With the aid of a blog, the global population is your audience and you are the star actress.
Personally, the main constraint present was not the limitation to a specific genre, but the limitation of topics. Your experience as a first year is past its expiry date. Journalism students have had to compile every creative assignment through the eyes of a first year, for the eyes of other first years. There are only so many topics one can cover that shall serve as a general interest to other first years. I sufficiently covered the general scope of these topics. Now I need to write about the same topics in fourth term. Although I have had many new eye opening experiences that illustrates these topics since first term, I feel that the topics were quite overworked and mundane.
I did not change my methodology that I undertook when researching in first term and researching for pieces that have been published in this blog. After watching the movie Shattered Glass, I have always practised a strictly honest account of real facts. The consequences of the young journalist's acts of perjury, as well as the consequences of plagiarism at Rhodes has ensured my deterrence.
Our blog served as a manual of do's and don'ts in your first year of university. This entailed me having to research the challenges various students have had to overcome. The bigger the challenge, the better the piece. Surprisingly, many people experienced similar problems as a first year. The research illustrated various insights to the same problems.
As stated above, I was required to interview people who had to overcome difficulties as a first year. Surprisingly, all my friends and acquaintances had stories to share that were relevant to the genre. Unfortunately, upon finding out that it their stories shall be published on a globally accessible medium, people tended to be reluctant to divulge their experiences. Majority of my interviewees, specifically those who told of their experiences with alcohol, wished to remain anonymous. Even though they were assured that their names were not going to be mentioned, they remained somewhat conservative for the rest of the interview. I felt at times that, when reflecting on experiences of my friends and I, I was exploiting personal memories to create a competent piece.
I felt the genres, coupled with its underlying concepts, have aided my writing greatly. These genres acted as the backbones to every piece I submitted. The genres were helpful because they mapped out a list of instructions which made it easier to compile a competent argumentative piece that plausibly supports my opinions.
I feel that the medium, Internet technology, hindered the performance of quite a few journalism students. When applying for journalism and media studies 1, none of us were informed that we were required to be 'tech savvy'. I have personally encountered over ten students who struggled to competently establish and utilize their blogs. Although it is the Computer Age, there are those who come from homes absent of computers. Should the journalism department continue practising this course model, they should consider the implementation of computer literacy course as a prerequisite for journalism 1.
Vickie
Extra tips on university survival
This blog illustrates an American approach to the same concepts we attempt to establish. Our blog is also composed of underlying principles that serve as a guide to one's experience as a first year at university.
Vickie
Vickie
Monday, October 20, 2008
Comment on "Homosexuality at Rhodes"
This is my reply to an opinion piece that i found on http://outtaurspace.blogspot.com/
I must be honest that I did not fully understand where you were going with your take on homosexuality here at Rhodes but I found your argument incredibly weak, especially in this cases’ seriousness. This is a very controversial issue. You said that at other universities, students still die because they are scared of what others may say about their status- is that not rather far fetched, yes there may be abuse and discrimination but death? You also say you admire the University for the way in which they deal with the issue and how they encourage students to be proud of their sexual status’s, however you as a straight person feel left out and are worried about the girl-guy, straight-gay ratio here in Grahamstown. You then pose the question to whether it is members of our SRC and its administration that are homosexual and thus they are the ones encouraging homosexuality? How do you know that there are homosexuals within the SRC, there are no names mentions so one cannot see the truth in your assumptions and thus questions your credibility. Rhodes as a university aims to teach everyone tolerance and understanding of the diverse people around us and that is why there are societies such as OUTrhodes. I would not say that there is anyone imposing any beliefs onto us but people just offering their guidance and understanding as it not the straight but homosexuals that are mostly forgotten.
Ashleigh
I must be honest that I did not fully understand where you were going with your take on homosexuality here at Rhodes but I found your argument incredibly weak, especially in this cases’ seriousness. This is a very controversial issue. You said that at other universities, students still die because they are scared of what others may say about their status- is that not rather far fetched, yes there may be abuse and discrimination but death? You also say you admire the University for the way in which they deal with the issue and how they encourage students to be proud of their sexual status’s, however you as a straight person feel left out and are worried about the girl-guy, straight-gay ratio here in Grahamstown. You then pose the question to whether it is members of our SRC and its administration that are homosexual and thus they are the ones encouraging homosexuality? How do you know that there are homosexuals within the SRC, there are no names mentions so one cannot see the truth in your assumptions and thus questions your credibility. Rhodes as a university aims to teach everyone tolerance and understanding of the diverse people around us and that is why there are societies such as OUTrhodes. I would not say that there is anyone imposing any beliefs onto us but people just offering their guidance and understanding as it not the straight but homosexuals that are mostly forgotten.
Ashleigh
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Hey, Hey, You, You, I Don't Like Your Boyfriend!
“Just cos there’s a goalkeeper doesn’t mean you can’t still score a goal”, this profound statement was made by a guy who likes girls who are involved already. Apparently the rules of staying away from a girl with a boyfriend do not exist. You would think that a guy would get over trying his luck with a girl that is seeing someone else already but in fact it is the other way around. Guys seem to like this “challenge” and will continue their pursuit of the girl. I would say that this is directed at girls who are involved in a long distance relationship, most guys see this as stupid and try and prove a point that it “won’t work” or that a girl shouldn’t be tied down in a long distance relationship in their first year at varsity. They want to be satisfied with the idea that they are better than the girl’s current boyfriend, again proving that long distance will not work. It is these kinds of guys who are providing the distractions that long distance couples are trying so hard to avoid.
I have a friend Nicola, who has been dating her boyfriend, Murray for almost nine months. He is currently studying at the University of Cape Town and naturally Nicola is here, studying at Rhodes. They are both very much in love and are doing whatever it takes to make it work as ones first year of long distance is ultimately the big test to whether the relationship will survive for the next few years away from each other. Long distance is hard to deal with but if both people involved are willing to take the chance and prove their commitment to one another then that is their decision and it should be encouraged not discriminated against.
Guys seem to think that in their first year at varsity they should be single and remain that way until the end of the year so their first year is not spoilt by “us girls who suck the fun, constricting their boyfriends to limited fun, giving them the freedom that is allowed by the short leash we impose on them”. I say this in inverted comma’s because that is what we are generalised as. Relationships are looked at as a constricted way of enjoying the opportunities and advantages offered by the first year at University.
Not everyone is fortunate enough to find someone who agrees to this kind of commitment especially if the one person or both are going to separate universities where temptations, new people, and alcohol come into play. Yes, University is an exciting place but why do you have to be single to enjoy it all fully? Nicola has been approached by many guys who “undermine her relationship with her boyfriend” and she went on to say that there were times where she questioned her relationship which usually isn’t thought of as a good thing. There are so many negative connotations and attitudes towards the term ‘long distance’ and one forgets that distance in fact strengthens and makes the couple appreciate each other and their relationship more.
It is obvious that girls and guys have different aims in their first year. We are here to make new friends and meet new and exciting people from all over the country and have lots of fun, experiencing the ideal student life away from home and doing our own thing. Although most guys have a similar outlook on their varsity experience, especially in their first year, there is that difference where they are also just wanting to score and hook up with as many girls as possible. They do not want to be involved and attached because they want the “full” varsity experience… This reminds us of notorious notch on the belt idea.
Therefore I strongly believe that guys should stay away from girls who have boyfriends. There is no need to cause unnecessary problems just for a bit of fun and the excitement that comes with the pursuit of such a “challenge”. Because at the end of the day who really wins?
Ashleigh
First Year is a year of discovery
First year is a year of discovery for all first years. The first thing you discover is that it is not as scary as you thought or that they made it out to be when you were in school. University is a cool place that is a space for you to become your own person in your own time without you having to necessarily be on your own. The next thing you discover is a world of knowledge and information that you never knew existed. From the first moment you walk through the door, the amount of knowledge crammed into a University and the number of people who have an extraordinary amount of knowledge between their ears is mind-boggling, no pun intended. That brings me to the last thing you discover, the most awesome friends you will ever have. University is the place that you will possibly discover the friends you will make for life and maybe even the only love you will ever need.
The first thing you discover when you walk through the door is that it is not as scary as you thought or that they made it out to be. When you were in school, Uni was built up to be this big and scary place and the be all and end all of you educational career. It gets so bad; you don’t want to come here. Don’t let that happen to you, it isn’t that scary. I found it was just like school but with less class time and more free study and that’s where the crux difference between school and Uni shows itself.
I found that Uni is a world of knowledge and information that you never knew existed. There is so much knowledge crammed into a relatively small space that you could never read it all but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t try. Don’t think that less class time means less work, the opposite is true as that means more free STUDY not free PARTY. Realise that you are here to work and that although there is plenty opportunity for fun, work always comes first and if you friends don’t realise this, they shouldn’t be you friends.
That brings me to the last thing you discover, the most awesome friends you will ever have. Uni is the place where you will meet the most awesome people in existence. Uni is that place that you will find those people like you that you never thought existed. They are the people that share you interests and hobbies and they are possibly going to be the friends that you will swap denchers with in you shared old age cottage.
I will admit that some people disagree with what I say but I think that their argument is unfounded. They say that Uni is a place for study and that all things come a running third to you degree. Although work is important, don’t let it take over you life. I think you should learn the balance so that you able be able to cope for the rest of you life. These people who say Uni is only for study are also the people who have nervous breakdowns at thirty so sod them. Uni is that but it is also so much more.
University is a place made for you to learn, discover and grow with freedom while still being protected, even if it’s not by your parents. The people at Uni have no reason to baby you so they won’t, they will just help you grow. You will have all the freedom a ferret needs to become the Rhodent they always envisioned themselves as. The only thing to keep in mind is that you are here for a degree and the rest is periphery although it may seem important at the time. Never fall off the ball or it may crush you under the workload. As long as you stay on top, you will find that you still have time for friends, fun and all those things you have always wanted to try.
The first thing you discover when you walk through the door is that it is not as scary as you thought or that they made it out to be. When you were in school, Uni was built up to be this big and scary place and the be all and end all of you educational career. It gets so bad; you don’t want to come here. Don’t let that happen to you, it isn’t that scary. I found it was just like school but with less class time and more free study and that’s where the crux difference between school and Uni shows itself.
I found that Uni is a world of knowledge and information that you never knew existed. There is so much knowledge crammed into a relatively small space that you could never read it all but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t try. Don’t think that less class time means less work, the opposite is true as that means more free STUDY not free PARTY. Realise that you are here to work and that although there is plenty opportunity for fun, work always comes first and if you friends don’t realise this, they shouldn’t be you friends.
That brings me to the last thing you discover, the most awesome friends you will ever have. Uni is the place where you will meet the most awesome people in existence. Uni is that place that you will find those people like you that you never thought existed. They are the people that share you interests and hobbies and they are possibly going to be the friends that you will swap denchers with in you shared old age cottage.
I will admit that some people disagree with what I say but I think that their argument is unfounded. They say that Uni is a place for study and that all things come a running third to you degree. Although work is important, don’t let it take over you life. I think you should learn the balance so that you able be able to cope for the rest of you life. These people who say Uni is only for study are also the people who have nervous breakdowns at thirty so sod them. Uni is that but it is also so much more.
University is a place made for you to learn, discover and grow with freedom while still being protected, even if it’s not by your parents. The people at Uni have no reason to baby you so they won’t, they will just help you grow. You will have all the freedom a ferret needs to become the Rhodent they always envisioned themselves as. The only thing to keep in mind is that you are here for a degree and the rest is periphery although it may seem important at the time. Never fall off the ball or it may crush you under the workload. As long as you stay on top, you will find that you still have time for friends, fun and all those things you have always wanted to try.
Friday, October 17, 2008
First Year Blues
Are first years still stuck in their last year of high school?
I can’t help but notice that a whole lot of first years, primarily girls have not yet fully embraced the fact that they are in university! I always seem to pass by a little group of girls talking about how things were in high school or the various characters that were found at their respective high schools!
Sadly these same sentiments echo into the academic sphere. People seem to complain so much about how much they are getting. Well what did you expect? No one here is going to force you to do work, we are expected to mature enough to handle the work load and do what is expected of them academically. University generally means that one has progressed from the stringent regulated existence of high school into the adult sphere of university education. Possibly, students are not yet mature enough to understand the responsibility of being in entire control of their behaviour and academic life. This may be an issue that the ministry of education must look into or reassess. Maybe, adding one extra year before Metric before they are allowed to get into university.
Ok. Fair enough some people are well into the university system and are indeed thriving in the system. They are managing with all the work and balancing it with all the partying and still meeting deadlines. The efforts by others are almost futile. Case in point a certain individual who once lived in C.B. (Cullen Bowels), left at the end of second term simply because he just could not manage the workload. This is a classic case of someone who just could not handle the pressures of university. He lost all of his D.P.’s for all of his subjects. I personally think that he could not have been adequately prepared for all of the requirements that Rhodes demanded of him. It’s quite a complicated issue in the sense that how does the university assess the level of maturity or readiness of their students? What criteria can they establish from just an application form? How can Rhodes expect to assess the readiness of students purely on the basis of a piece of paper? Possibly Rhodes could try find some means of assessing students before they arrive at Rhodes. Possibly by channeling students and assessing them by age. This may seem a little radical however; it seems that this may improve the number of dropouts that they experience over the first year. It is rather strange that we are all expected to have a level of maturity when we enter university; however, this is not the case.
I expect that as the university is expanding, Rhodes must find ways to cater the varying ages and levels of maturity expected from first years. Although this may not seem as a major issue for most, for me it has struck a chord because I really do not expect people to be incapacitated by the workload as well as the social obligations expected from friendships. It is a stringent process of understanding and appreciating the individual needs of Rhodes students.
I can’t help but notice that a whole lot of first years, primarily girls have not yet fully embraced the fact that they are in university! I always seem to pass by a little group of girls talking about how things were in high school or the various characters that were found at their respective high schools!
Sadly these same sentiments echo into the academic sphere. People seem to complain so much about how much they are getting. Well what did you expect? No one here is going to force you to do work, we are expected to mature enough to handle the work load and do what is expected of them academically. University generally means that one has progressed from the stringent regulated existence of high school into the adult sphere of university education. Possibly, students are not yet mature enough to understand the responsibility of being in entire control of their behaviour and academic life. This may be an issue that the ministry of education must look into or reassess. Maybe, adding one extra year before Metric before they are allowed to get into university.
Ok. Fair enough some people are well into the university system and are indeed thriving in the system. They are managing with all the work and balancing it with all the partying and still meeting deadlines. The efforts by others are almost futile. Case in point a certain individual who once lived in C.B. (Cullen Bowels), left at the end of second term simply because he just could not manage the workload. This is a classic case of someone who just could not handle the pressures of university. He lost all of his D.P.’s for all of his subjects. I personally think that he could not have been adequately prepared for all of the requirements that Rhodes demanded of him. It’s quite a complicated issue in the sense that how does the university assess the level of maturity or readiness of their students? What criteria can they establish from just an application form? How can Rhodes expect to assess the readiness of students purely on the basis of a piece of paper? Possibly Rhodes could try find some means of assessing students before they arrive at Rhodes. Possibly by channeling students and assessing them by age. This may seem a little radical however; it seems that this may improve the number of dropouts that they experience over the first year. It is rather strange that we are all expected to have a level of maturity when we enter university; however, this is not the case.
I expect that as the university is expanding, Rhodes must find ways to cater the varying ages and levels of maturity expected from first years. Although this may not seem as a major issue for most, for me it has struck a chord because I really do not expect people to be incapacitated by the workload as well as the social obligations expected from friendships. It is a stringent process of understanding and appreciating the individual needs of Rhodes students.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)