Taking the First Steps

In my extensive conversations with various first-years, I have come to the conclusion that a majority, if not all of them, thought that being in first-year would be a breeze.They had the idea that the Humanities Department, in particular, was the Department with the easiest degrees (that is, the BA degree). What I also did was a couple of third-years how that has changed over the years. My results were that the common “you read for a BA” expression is a fact. In other words, although there may not be as many tutorials and assignments in Humanities, the readings make up for it. In the course of the year, and especially after the June results, many have realized that although Rhodes University may be the epitome of High School with its vibrant people and the close-knit community, one is required to work extremely hard to make up for the lost time when they thought that this year would be filled with nights at the ‘Rat and Parrot’-and that’s all first year was about. What I found particularly interesting, though, is the fact that most first-years come to varsity and change who they are. When someone was called “Jenny” or “Jen”, they now opt for “J”, and thus change the way they dress and who they befriend. When one can offer reason and say that they are merely growing up, it becomes apparent that the issue is a deeper one, many of the girls especially think that image is a huge aspect of varsity life.

With regards to the image point that I picked up, I would like to refer to the “letter to my younger self” which was read out in the JMS class about a week ago. In this letter, the young lady makes comments such as “dropping the Xhosa accent” in order to fit into the group she wanted to be in, she particularly expresses the social stratification that it supposedly experienced by Rhodes students. I have never felt more humiliated in my life! Although that was a very creative piece from the young lady, I do believe she is slightly over exaggerating when she claims that we are coerced to be other than that we are. In fact, I beg to differ with her stance as I have personally had lecturers telling the class to express themselves in a manner that suggests that they have read a particular passage, but are not directly quoting. This earns one marks as they are sharing their knowledge. On the other hand, with regards to “buying five different coloured skinny jeans for every day of the week”, I feel that on that point, it is evident that the lady is a confused young soul. No one, especially at Rhodes University, is coerced to do something or judged for doing another. If that is the case, then those people are in the minority, thus the lady’s fault was in the generalisation brought on in her letter.

It scares me to realise that the year is almost over and some of us, the very same people who were running around during O-week and making friends with one another, will not see the following year at Rhodes University. We all came here with our different perspectives and aspirations that may or may not have altered along the way. We have had to quickly realise that sleeping in lectures is a “no-no” as there won’t be notes handed out to you at the end of the class or in case you weren’t there the day before. Many of us have had to deal with the fact that you cannot run to your Prefect mother when times are tough and you need to get away from it all. And although you have a warden, you can’t keep bothering her as she has five hundred other girls who need her attention. So as we draw the year to an end, we realise that we have had to grow up in a short space of time, and it just wasn’t sufficient. It’s survival of the WITtest.