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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

Toilet Confessions

Shortly after my arrival at Rhodes as a green first year, John, a second year, casually informed me that “once you become a Rhodent, you will be able to drink almost anyone under the table.” This is a general assumption derived from the old dogs and inherited by the new. After the epic parties of matric rage, first years came to Rhodes with the idea that they could keep on par with the second years. Guess again. The first week of university serves as the most abrupt, harsh crash course you will ever experience. I thought I was a pretty strong drinker, until I arrived here.

It's the second day of Orientation week and I'm sitting in the Rat with random second years. Four hunters and two tequilas later , I am faced with yet another hunters, but this time the second years have a challenge in mind. I have to perform a 'storpedo' in front of the second years. That is, open my gullet and swallow the hunters in about ten seconds flat. I pull it off. The second years are taken aback. We leave the Rat, searching for a better party on the horizon. As we leave, I try to stop the urge. Too late. I projectile vomit all over the pavement and myself. The second years witness the entire event. Great. How embarrassing.

Sadly, the buck doesn't stop here. One competition escalates into a year of beerfest. My friend, who wishes to stay anonymous, also remembers “those nights when I would have a big one and then I would wake up on the bathroom floor and I would have no idea how I got there.”

The driving force behind the alcohol abuse in Rhodes is peer pressure. Those who thought that peer pressure rescinds with the end of your high school career are very much mistaken. Not only is it considered cool to get overboard drunk but your friends, those who are supposed to promote your well being, manipulate you to go out. To top it off, you can even find facebook groups promoting such behaviour!

Statistics prove that Rhodes students are influenced to drink by the activities of societies and Orientation week. At Rhodes, every night has the potential to be an awesome party. But you have to develop self control. Do not live in the fear that you will miss a good night out or you shall be called a 'fader' by your friends. Although your short term goal is to have fun at university, always consider your long term goals. Everyone shares this primary goal; to leave university with a degree. If you party all the time, not only do you risk your health severely, but you also increase your chances of failing. Unfortunately, some catch this wake up call too late and they can't return to university as a second year. When I look back at the person I was then, well, I can barely recognise her. I'm just happy I got my wake up call before it was too late.

Vickie

Not your average Friday...

She survived, can you?

She walked up to the table with a smile and sat down with what seemed like a sigh of relief. Her blue stretch jeans sat comfortably on her frame and were held in place by a belt that was just visible under her loose T-shirt. Her hair was tied back roughly and a little windblown but considering the weather and the way she described that day and “hectic like a rollercoaster made of loss”, it was just fitting. She seemed like the epitome of causality but something in her manner said there was more to her than what met the eye.
As she began to talk about herself, interesting things about her feelings toward first year came to the fore. She said that “the first three weeks including O-week were the worst. I cried constantly and all I wanted to do was go home. I felt constantly awkward and was on the phone to my mother almost every ten minutes. It got so bad that she had one of my old high-school friends who she knew come to my res to check on me.” According to her, the next few weeks were even worse even though the homesickness subsided when the term began. “I had almost no friends except the ones from high-school and hanging out with them seemed unfair. They were making new friends but I wasn’t and it was horrible being the third wheel all the time.” This however changed for her when societies became active though. “I had always been an involved person with hobbies to practice and people to see. Societies turned out to be my saving grace although my enthusiasm for some of them has died out a little since first term.” She signed up for six societies including PhotoSoc, LMS, Archery and GRASS that she could remember on the spot “there could be more I don’t remember” and these were where she met “some of the most awesome people in the world.”
It was interesting to discover that she was so affected by homesickness considering that now “I almost don’t want to go home to Joburg anymore. I love the new friends I’ve made down here; they are awesome and made of win. The feeling I had about leaving home at the beginning of first term happened again recently but this time in reverse as I climbed on the Kimberly bus. It was weird to feel homesick about G-town.” Friends and societies made all the difference in her opinion because “they give you somewhere to belong and a group to hang out with. You get closer to your friends in G-town because you spend more time together than you would in Joburg and that is what makes all the difference.”
First year can be horrible if you don’t have friends. “You feel left out of things and alone but the moment you find your niche, you find where you belong and the age old saying becomes true; you are defined by the people you surround yourself with.” According to her, many first years leave university because they can’t take being away from home for so long or trying so many new things. “Don’t just go to the club the first time you feel lonely, it just ends badly eventually. Get involved with something and you will feel like you belong in no time.” This woman, because she truly can live up to that title, seems like a post-grad who has seen it all on first meeting also had difficulty fitting into Rhodes at first; so if you ever feel the same, like she says “open up a little and you will find a whole new experience in G-town that you won’t find anywhere else.”

Note: Interviewee wished to remain anonymous.

Chloe

PROFILE: MARY ANNE KHUMALO

NB: The interviewee asked to remain anonymous

“I know it’s a drug, but I use it responsibly and conventionally…anyway, there are no side effects.” First year is easy for some and tough for others. Mary Anne Khumalo, or just “Jay”, finds it tough, but uses a controversial yet effective remedy to solve all her problems – marijuana.

Jay’s room is an academic sanctuary, with eco’s and accounting books draped over her clothes that are loosely placed all over the floor, further layered by piles of magazines with missing pieces of the front page! I can’t help but wonder where these small pieces are. “Oh, don’t worry about the mags; I tear small pieces to use as filters…for when I smoke that is.” While her neighbour’s room smells of perfume and hair products, Jay’s room wreaks of burnt pinecones! Oddly, the smell grows on you and evaporates into the imagination as she wows you with her intelligence. She is studying Economics, Accounting, Management and Commercial Law building towards a BComm degree.

So what’s bothering her you wonder? “Rhodes is cool hey, but I hate feeling under pressure, I hate thinking about my parent’s issues and the girls in this place!” I could not help but notice her face furrow into ripples of distaste when she mentioned the “plastic faced cows” of Rhodes! Jay has no female friend’s despite her neighbour’s brave efforts to make friends.” Ever since I came here, all I ever hear and see are their sick little utterances and judging facials.” According to Jay, girls are too narrow minded and just need to stay out of her business when it comes to marijuana. Jay fidgets uncontrollably as she travels around the room attempting to sift through the layers of dense foliage that she once called her floor, for a magazine. These issues may seem small to any other girl but for Jay, these constant pressures on her are just too much. Instead of fighting, she locks her room, pulls out her stash, and gets rolling. “It’s like everything just disappears and I am in the best place on earth.” She grins.

Jay calls Welkom home, but has no sense of belonging to “the little pit”. Welkom is just too small for her ambition. This is where she first encountered marijuana. A friend brought some over to her house after she had a huge brawl with her parents about her university options, resulting in a rift between her and her parents. Jay recalls with a smile the first time she smoked. “I felt so alive, just like so happy and stuff.” She literary smoked the stress away. “I knew then, that this was how I was gonna deal with bullshit.” Jay pauses as she licks the rizzla (paper used to roll marijuana) to make it stick. She has an intense look on her face as she smoothes out the joint and taps the side of it to make the marijuana move down the joint. It’s all quite intriguing, well for me at least because I have never seen this being done before! It’s very hard to absorb all of this. She continues to talk casually as she lights the joint and twists it round to make sure it’s fully lighted.

The future is bright though as she is confident she will pass her first year and the following years. Mary Anne Khumalo hopes to start a communications and finance business. Laughing at herself, “maybe I will just become a politician or something so I can make blunt (marijuana) globally legal!” She plans to stop when she finds another way to diffuse her stress, but for now…”it’s too good to quit!”

Smooth operator

Surviving the first year of University

Anyone who held a conversation with Christine Spence was considered a friend during her first week at Rhodes University. She believes that she had to appear acceptable to everyone. Christine, getting ready for her first night out, would ask the girls “Hey, what are you wearing tonight?”. “I did this so that I could dress similar to the other girls,” her eyes vivid with memory. During Orientation Week, Christine perceives that all of the first years behave like sheep; “If someone suggests an idea, even if it's trivial, we would all agree profusely”. The few weeks following Orientation week, Christine got to know her group of friends. This was brought about by “having a drunken night where you sit down and have deep meaningful conversations with these friends”. This, Christine believes, creates the strong friendship bonds that will determine who you'll hold dear.
With regard to choosing subjects, Christine feels that “when picking my subjects, I should have chosen the ones that created the maximum amount of options for me, but I didn't know it at the time.” When Christine chose her subjects, she chose them soley for the purpose of being in the same lectures as her other three friends.
When Christine attended the first day of lectures, she felt out of place and stupid. “I realised that there was no more spoon feeding like there was in high school”. Christine goes further to say that there is no one in the lecture who cares if she passes or failes and she realises that “It is up to me to make sure that I do the work.”
Christine feels that the only thing that was worse than lectures was her first chemistry practical. “Even though I had all these great gadgets, I had no idea what I was doing”. She tried to ask the administrator for help, and he would reply in scientific gibberish and “I would nod my head in understanding, all the while not knowing what the hell was going on”.The trick, christine believes, is to befriend a clever person to get all the tips. “That's how I managed to get through the first practical causing only minimal damage,” she says amusingly.
After the practical, Christine would traipse towards the dining hall to eat the “disgusting res food”. Now the starvation sets in. Sadly, she has no money to buy anything that slightly resembles nourishment because of her indulgence of Pirates Pizza. After the first couple of weeks, Christine came to the realisation that she could change her meals to “something edible”.
The parties in university are bigger and better than the ones in high school. Also, they aren't limited to the weekend. Christine can “party like a beast”, but she knows that she has to bear lectures the next morning. She finds that she can easily go out and drink the entire week and sleep the whole weekend. But Christine also believes that “Even though I have the freedom to do it, I have to set limitations”. She believes, as a first year, that she has to maintain physical activity to ensure that she doesn't become “ a victim of first year spread”. She realised that she has to “drag myself out of bed, go to lectures, do all my work as soon as possible so that I can get a good night's sleep”. Even though Christine enjoys partying instead of working, “you have to find a balance otherwise you'll burn out and fail”.

A profile on Crazy Dan

“Crazy Dan” is the name given to Daniel Charvat. I must say when I first saw him, I just thought he was this alternate punk with a hectic Mohawk, but there is more to this guy than meets the eye.

So why Crazy Dan you ask, well “There are three of us in Matthews House!” A young guy from Johannesburg who travelled on a bus for fifteen hours alone to Rhodes University. Interestingly enough his parents have still not seen his Residence or Rhodes. He has come to study Journalism hoping to get into Journalism two next year. He is not too sure what he wants to do exactly but he ultimately wants to pursue something in the journalism field. “I’m keeping my options open, journalism I think has an important place in society and I want see where it will take me. He can be said to be on his own mission, he sees himself as independent and reckons that University has not changed him as a person. “Obviously I’ve had to grow up with waking up by myself and doing my own washing and changing my sheets weekly, did you know we had to do that, cos I didn’t.” He laughs to himself whilst sprawled out on his unmade bed. He genuinely has fitted in well here, it is obvious that he would, he loves people and making friends so he has adapted to that aspect of University.

He is going to pass Rhodes and get his degree but what the future has in store for this guy, he does not know and is quite content with that. He is here doing English, Politics, Journalism and Sociology. Us students here are well aware of the different kinds of people here at Rhodes yet Dan almost seems to embrace and be open to it all. He wouldn’t say that he goes out of his way to be different. “I don’t think that I conform to the absolute norm but I wont go out of my way to make everyone know it. I am who I am.”

He is an active member of ROAR- every Saturday morning he gets up to go and feed and nurture the donkeys that are there at the shelter. “In the beginning I just thought that I would join the society and donate the money to the poor animals…” but then he actually started going with the members and it became clear to him that there is more to reaching out to the community than donating money.

He also joined the Surfing Society, now I would think that it is a bit random interest for a big city kinda guy, but he had a bit of a fascination with a young surfer girl from East London and decided that he would want to try something new, which he did. He signed up with that very East London fascination…

Up on Dan’s wall are drawings and pieces of artwork, the normal timetable, along with a sheet of paper that shows the number of hours he has done regarding community service. Unwilling. Forced. One night in Matthews House Dan and a mate “accidentally” let slip of a fire extinguisher… “I have forty hours still to do, quite stupid but an experience.” Dan is just like any other guy out there, playing pranks, doing crazy things before or after a good night. He likes to keep within the boundaries, under cover, careful not to get caught, it almost becomes a game. The thrill and adrenalin is pumping, as if he is one of his characters in his favourite computer game- ‘Splinter Cell’. Everyone has a bit of rebellion in them and what is to be expected at Varsity?

He is just like most of us who don’t know exactly where we want to be in a few years but he’s here. Dan is just a guy studying at Rhodes, learning and making mistakes, just like the rest of us. He is out there joining society’s, making new friends and having a good time. After all that is what Varsity is, without a few slips of a fire extinguisher…

Take a look at his blog...
http://www.firstyeardummies.blogspot.com/