soldiers(warriors)

This comment is not literally but figuratively in a way that these are very similar issues being a first year at varsity being referred to as a soldier or being on a ground field as a soldier on war, a very hectic one. Your mission as a soldier is to fight for your independence or life survivorship on a particular environment, being a soldier means that you are a conqueror and you are not scared of whatever obstacles you face as a living human being. As a first year at varsity you show that you are strong and looking forward to fight every challenge that comes on your way as well on a battlefield of soldiers fighting for a country’s independence or freedom. A combatant’s mission is to achieve whatever legitimacy or great wishes of his or her goals or a country. A living combatant is a soldier, a soldier is the person that is full of courage in life and they show hope that they will succeed
http://www.goarmy.com/life/being_a_soldier.jsp

It's me Bitches!!!

This is a shout out to all the ladies who have made this year a wonderful experience for me. To Paula, my first roommate, we were united in alcohol from the word “go”, and I don’t think any guy has the power to tear us apart, and I hope you know that you have become like a sister to me. Then comes Zama, the one I took my first flight with, the one I hated and now…not-so-hate. LOL. When times are “roff” I know to turn to you. Zizipo, my “fag friend” (get it? It means cigarette as well as lesbian), the one I could pour my heart to knowing that I would receive first-class advice without the common stare or side-glance. Then there is the ‘mlungu’ (white person), Zara you have taught me all that a first year needs to in their survival. Be it good or bad (don’t take offence), but know that you have contributed in enriching my life and assisted in the understanding of the world at large. Bronnie, tough I have not spent a lot of time with you; I feel that your presence eludes reality (in a good way), your positive vibes have helped me escape the harsh reality the life tends to throw at us. And finally, my girlfriend, who isn’t really my girlfriend any longer, NandiPHA through you I have learnt that aggression is not always the solution and not to fear that which I feel. What I felt for you was not a façade or stage, I just don’t think you realised how far it ran. And to all the ladies I have not mentioned…Ashleigh, Jojo, Kelina, Dianne and KG, I love you guys, all in all you have made my stay here a memorable one. No one can do it like the ANNEXE girls!

Similarities United

Often I find that people tend to over exaggerate about leaving home and coming to a new place with new people. Imagine first-year as a gas chamber, and the newcomers as the Jews that were gassed in the holocaust. The main objective is to survive and, although I found no blog that related to our blog character I felt that metaphors could be used to explain the connection between this blog and that created by holocaust survivors the and first-year students. In fact, I would like people to notice the deliberate over exaggeration as I depict the horrors one experiences in varsity, especially as a first-year student who is trying to adapt in a new environment. Of course, one cannot compare the hardships Hitler put the Jews through but I think I speak for most students when I say that dictators come in various shapes and sizes.

Just when we believe that we have grasped the freedom that we are entitled in varsity, there waddles a warden sitting you down and telling you that you consume too much alcohol. Just when will we escape? It makes question whether the freedom that people talk about is a reality or is waiting for someone to make it all come true. Who will become our Schindler? The fact remains that no matter how hard we try,we ought to appease a higher power in life. Although Hitler was a short brunette, he managed to brainwash a whole nation in the proposition of an Aryan(blonde and blue-eyed) race. This not only shows the stupidity portrayed by Germans but also that "struggle is the father of all things. It is not by the principles of humanity that man lives or is able to preserve himself above the animal world, but solely by means of the most brutal struggle. If you do not fight, life will never be won."(Adolf Hitler) Ironic,isn't it?that a man with fewer brain cells than my nephew could speak such powerful words, words that affected an army of Aryans...words that echo survival.

A.R.B

So I wake up this morning and notice an arb on my thigh. Although this made me laugh, I later realised that my laughing constitutes to my “don’t-care-attitude”. This is when it comes to my body and Alcohol-Related Bruises. In an attempt to make myself feel better, I thought about all the other times I have noticed arbs on my body. Or, more interestingly, how many times have you walked around campus and seen someone with arbs all over their body after a hectic weekend? The sad truth is that every Monday morning, I bare witness to the sad state Rhodes learner’s bodies are in. Gone are the days when I would post a blog that relates to surviving Rhodes life. I have come to understand that these people don’t want to survive. In fact, they engage in dangerous activities such as a night at The Rat & Parrot. And they occasionally find themselves in unsafe places such as EQ. So why provide a manual for future students who will probably fall into the same trap? There are “the crackling boys” (you know those boys in those school shorts, who wear vests no matter what the weather looks like) who join in Fraternities such as The Drinking Club. These boys get beaten up if they don’t finish a few bottles of alcohol to prove themselves as members. If that doesn’t ring any bells, these are the boys who walk around campus with an exam pad and one pen, walking OUT of each lecture hall and receiving LOA’s for being…themselves. How can I not mention “The union girls”, these are the girls who go to Rugby games not knowing who’s playing for what, and all they know about a try is when they’re TRYing to get into Friars for free. What never ceases to amaze me is that these girls have about R100 in their bags, yet they always go home with more than they came with. Of course, we have “the people from up the hill”, these people are the EQ-regulars, the ones who can turn anything into a club, and I mean anything…even the Kaif! Last but not least, we have the “Cantebury girls”, the land of milk and honey, the home of arbs, the makers of punch. If a Cantebury girl does not have a discount card for Prestons, chances are…she’s lying. So there we have it, ladies and gents! Who to blame when you have arbs? Why does it matter if you don’t remember?

First years prefer being at campus than at home

Basically what I’ve noticed being a first year is that first year student like to be at campus than being at home. I think the reason of this is that they feel independent here than at home because at home parents always give them rules and restrict them on doing things. What I’ve noticed merely is that first years like to be on their own rather being around their parents. My opinion will be mostly about my own point of view about first year’s preference to be at campus and I will look at the fact that why they prefer campus lifestyle than being at their homes.
At homes parents gives us policies to live our lives. Students are very grateful about their parent’s teachings and disciplines. It’s just the fact that they fill to be on their own at this age and parents always treat them like small children which that is what they do as wise. The independence they get at varsity is extremely precise what they want. First years at varsity usually go out each and every weekend; they don’t ask whose permission to do so they just do it. Compared when at home to do so they have to put pillows on their beds for the parents when checking them at their rooms and they go out by using a window and leave it open. Parents will always be parents even after matric they will always check on their children’s safety. When first years arrive at varsity, the day of arrival to them is like ‘wow’, I am finally on my own, my parents will only send me money and I will only see them during vacations. They become very happy in experiencing their freedom being out of their homes, they feel that they now have a second home, home away from home but they get to much comfortable in that, for example some first years even say when vacation is around the corner they don’t wish to go home.
Moving on, another fact is that first years can sometimes don’t know how to control their independency, they can party on and off two or three times a week and that can result on having bad academic results. They can get too over excited about their self-rules, some still live by their parents rules and teachings but some don’t. First years also like to experiment some ludicrous things, e.g. some can smoke marijuana or being a party animal just to experiment being a different character from what he or she used to be. The first year’s adaptation of the campus lifestyle appears even when there at home, the partying and not cooking. When their at home they usually get bored as they did not grow up there, they are now used in getting food from the dining halls those who stay at University residence, and those in digs cook whatever they want to eat. At home parents restrict things to use and what not to use. Most first years say that campus lifestyle rocks and studies can be maintained and sometimes not. To other first years the experience of being far away from home makes them sad but the majority is the opposite. Home sickness is not a particular thing to first years who have always wished to be far away from home. The choice to be at campus than being at home is very fond by the majority of first year Rhodes students.
To conclude, as I am also a first year but being the one who misses home, my friends and other first years I know prefer to be here at campus. They have strange moods when it comes to go home, they even lie to their parents that there extra activities occurring during the vacations so that parents can send them money to rent lodgings. I find it so strange when people don’t miss their homes or prefer to stay a weekend at their homes. Most of Rhodes first year students are happy to spend their time at campus, even during holidays but I guess they will change their minds at their second years.

The most common thing that all the first years have is writing their assignment the night before it is due. And this is sometimes not good because you don’t have enough time to go through all your readings and at the end of the day you end up submitting something that is not finished and that will results in having low marks, I am writing this because I myself do it and have noticed that I am not alone, majority of us first years do it. We have the tendency of relaxing and during the last minutes that is when we rush to the labs to go find information and we end up with the wrong information and were just write for the sake of submitting in time, we most of the times again rely on the information that we get on the net.

The other common thing that first years have is the consumption alcohol, first years love alcohol, they drink it as in like there is no tomorrow, some of the first years came to Rhodes not drinking alcohol and when they got here they started adapting to the lifestyle of the Rhodiants. But not all the students did that, some are still they way they where before they came to Rhodes, and the other thing is clubbing, that is the most common thing they all have , Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays are the days to go out, and normally when they went out on Wednesday they do not attend lectures they following day, Friday is worse because not many people go to lectures because they are in the mood for Friday, partying is all in their heads and they wont concentrate during lectures, so they find it unnecessary to go to lectures and chill at the kaif instead.

The kaif is also the most tempting place to be at, most first years like sitting there, especially on Fridays and not attend lectures. Adapting to Rhodes lifestyle was quite easy for most students, going to lectures with your clothes wrinkled, walking out of lectures during the middle of a lecture and all that.

Rhodes is renowned for its wild partying scene and drunken behavior, many people told me that I am going to become an alcoholic when I come to Rhodes, even though this is something that most first years turn to, I do not think that all the students are alcoholic. The percentage of alcohol is too high not meaning that all the students drink. Rhodes have small percentage of students, there are not many students in this campus, so those who drink alcohol drink sit at a very high percentage and that makes Rhodes to have the reputation of alcoholism.
But I still stand with the fact that majority of first years have turned into alcoholics ever since they came to this school, there are some of the students that I know that are now drinking and they never used to drink before they came to Rhodes.

The first kicks of living combatants

While interviewing students at the Jack labs and library asking them related questions based on being a first year at Rhodes University, and their experiences so far during the year. I have interviewed many students approximately 10 students doing different and same degrees. These students told me different stories about their first year experiences based on their academics and social networking. I find that most first years face intricate situations because of the new environment and being far away from home. There adaptation of campus standard of living was not easy, some tended to give up by dropping out and it’s because of difficulties they tend to face. My mainstream interest was to get more about their balance in academics, their social and experiences.
Out of ten of these people I interviewed six of them got g7 which that means they failed their June exams. It’s not because they don’t know how to study or they don’t have time for their books, it’s the university academic language and struggling to know how to tackle university studies. One of the students I interviewed at the jack labs was Mazithi Ntiyane who does Bcom said,” I am now coping with the university daily life compared during my early months”. Its obvious to anyone who is a first year that varsity can be very confusing and pressured.
Academically as I’ve mentioned, studies here at varsity can be extreme restless especially at first year level of experience. A Bsc first year student Siphosethu Sithela said, “I usually got confused when I first attended lecturers, now I am coping not fully but trying”. The academic path in university particularly first year only needs a soldier’s heart and patriots mind. The first year route can be tremendous or fidgety. It is not a subject to view all of my interviewees, the fact of the matter is that their stories are relevant, different, similar, but first year experiences.
The reason of naming them living combatants is because; I believe first years are very true fighters of triumph. They penetrate their own ways in varsity and become conquerors and icons even to other people surrounding them. I will end this by saying viva first years and let’s go surmount for more.