Reflexive piece

Reflexive piece

This term was quite difficult compared to the first term, the group work mad things even more difficult because you would find that when you are free and want to do some work, your group members will be busy. I had to sacrifice most of my nights to make sure that the work is done and walking alone in the dark was quite frightening for me, since I don’t have a laptop I am the one who always had to go to other people’s places in order to do group work. It was not always easy to try and link things to certain genres but at the end I had to do my best because I had no other choice. Nothing really encouraged me to be more productive, everything I did was because I wanted to pass this course but the examples that were given at the beginning of every assignment really helped me produce the best that I could.

I developed my stories within the scopes that were given and I think that really worked well for me but it wasn’t easy and it took a lot of thinking. The meetings that I had with my group went well most of the times, whenever we had contradictions we voted and we used the majority voted idea. Trying to follow my blog character really made things difficult for me at certain times because you would find that I didn’t really want to follow my blog character but I had to. This in some way limited me to what I was writing and I know that if I wasn’t so limited I would have done so much better. On a scale of one to ten I would give this course seven out of ten for my personal growth. I was able to go through a lot of challenges in this course especially the technical side of things, I am so not computer friendly and struggled to the very much to do the technical staff.

Things changed a lot in this course because whatever I was writing, I did not really have control of who reads it or who doesn’t so I had to be really careful and try to be professional at all times. It was not like the other assignments that we did before which were just between the tutor and the writer. Linking genre to every piece of writing was quite a hassle but eventually I did what was expected of me. I think that blogging is journalism especially because you are free to post any issue that you feel need to be raised and most journalists do blogging to improve their skills and get feed back from the audience about how they are doing. Blogging also allows other people to engage in discussing things and raise their concerns and opinions. I think blogging takes you further than just a journalist working for a newspaper, radio or TV by allowing you to just express yourself with no sharp eye looking over what you are doing and trying to make changes or even suggest your story is not good enough.

The strengths for the theme given were, we could come up with good stories about first year because we are currently in first year and are experiencing what the future first years might go through. We were able to advice better and I am sure that the future first years would rather hear from the recent first years about what is going on in first year than being told by people who have been in first year quite some time ago. The weaknesses were, at times it was difficult to stick to the theme because I would have totally different ideas and stories that I would have loved to post in my blog but I couldn’t because I was limited. I also found it very difficult to focus on blogging at all times since we were given so many assignments because journ is not the only subject that I am doing and yet all my time was used up while I was trying to keep up with it. Blogging is a great course and it would make better sense if first years did it at the beginning of the year where there is less work because fourth term is a short term and there is already a lot to do and blogging made things worse.

Knowing that anyone could be reading my blog made me want to check each and every fact of my stories before publishing them to my blog and I had to use the best information that I had at all times. The research has taught me to use accurate information at all times. I was lucky to have reliable sources with the stories I wrote and it wasn’t really a problem to find these people because I used students from this university, I just had to pick the right people not just anyone. I tried my best to express myself in genre terms and I think that it worked well. My main concern about blogging is the time if it is given at a good time it is a good course but please don’t ever make it in fourth term again. Overall I am proud of myself because I was able to come this far and my blogging experience was successful.

REFLEXIVE PIECE

Over the last four weeks there has been a large amount of growth from my side. Having said this however it has not been and easy time and this has been so due to the course requirements, as it probed us to be more practical in our publications. By the time we reached the halfway bench mark of JMS1 I was already very much tired of stories and assignment content that had anything to do with the topic of a “first year at Rhodes University”. I thought I had escaped this once cute theme at first that eventually turned sour when we reached fourth term, even more so when I heard that we were going to work on a blogging course which would prove to be different.

This theme has seriously become a nightmare. I was expecting a more social networking platform where first years were allowed to write about any experiences and where not just focused on being first years or better yet any content that had to do with university. During the course there were many challenges such as having to work in a group, here we had to tolerate each other and try to generate as much patience as possible. This took me out of my comfort zone as I had to consult the rest of my group members with regards to how we were going to set up our group when setting up our blog as well as the writing bit. Our course dealt with a new form of journalism that is still fast growing and expanding to the masses.

People are still able to comment on their opinions with regards to the topics that are discussed on our blogs. I do also believe that we are however were restricted to writing content that we have allocated in terms of the types of genre as well as bearing in mind the nature of our groups content, but I do acknowledge that there had to be some guidelines to be followed as blogging is comprised of course work.

The nature of writing is also a very essential way of addressing a certain key issue and managing to stick to this constraint throughout shows a broad level of writing skills that one possesses.

Although assignments were very much set out in terms of guidelines to be followed, this was at times very much frustrating because one felt restricted in what they would have wanted to make known at that point in time. At the same time I am very much for blogging because here ordinary citizens are given the platform of being able to publically state their views by commenting on the topics and stories that are present on the blog spot or they might feel is important.

In tutorials we were allowed to express ourselves in terms of how we perceived our tasks and assignments as well as getting help for blogging issues such as setting up templates for our dashboards. When it however come down to tackling questions posed about the course, such as why are we restricted in our writing, there were possible answers but not to its fullest possible form. Fortunately our group members understood that the nature of our blog was essential and we that we had to always stick to in order to prevent us drifting off. There was an immense growth that I gained for being part of this course in terms of gaining more exposure about the world of citizen based Journalism. Seeing as blogging was a new experience for me, I would then rate myself as 6 out of 10. I would give myself this score because I have had some immense growth in terms of my writing ability, being prone to using genre and narrative forms as well as discovering a new way of communication that I wouldn’t have been likely to use currently.

Blogging is a valid form of Journalism because it consists of articles and the same news values that any piece of journalism should possess, the difference and advantage of this form of journalism is that anyone can take part in it by commenting and expressing their opinions and views. With the evolution of the world wide web, blogspots can be very easily accessed by via the internet. The only disadvantage is that not everyone has access to the internet, in fact majority of people are not able to access it, let alone to know how to use it.

Blogging gives rise to a rapidly growing industry of Citizen Journalism, which encompasses the ability of ordinary citizens who have a say on any issues that affect them.

In this course even with the restrictions, we were still able to use our own imaginative ideas when compiling comic strips, writing to our younger selves and our opinion pieces even though we were following guidelines.

This course also taught me the importance of conducting accurate research at all times and this was made clear at the beginning of the year and I have always made it a point to be accurate in my articles, so this course was still a learning process and a continuation of what I have learnt in Journalism and Media Studies course throughout first year.

OPINION PIECE...

When it comes to complaining this is done best at Rhodes University. Towards the end of second term there was a huge uncertainty and disapproval about journalism and media studies courses by most first years. This was said to be brought about by not being able or rather not being given the chance to do practical assignments rather than conducting mediocre interviews and constructing articles with no depth. Second semester, blogging is the practical game here, this is fun, exciting and unprecedented for most of us. Instead of taking this opportunity and making means to try and get to know this a bit more and view it as a learning, we argue against this and this only makes life more difficult for us. After all we are intertwined in the South African culture and so it goes without saying that the struggle continues. Now we are hanging at the last straws of JMS1 and we have all come a long way, this is meant at its literal self. The saddest part is that only a select few will make into the JMS 2 class.
Rhodes University is not what its made out be, I say this in terms of its notorious reputations for alcohol consumption, language barriers, the work that never gets done and about being a tight knit family. Those who force themselves to act a certain way will behave in that way. The big query here is re we really forced to speak English at all times instead of our mother tongue languages? This is supposedly so but I think that this is shameful because we have the right to express ourselves which ever way that suits us best, this to me is just another form of showing struggles that we bring upon ourselves. The truth is that one becomes what they are if they want to be, for instance I have been surrounded by friends that drink and have not been compelled to do so at any point in time, until that time comes it will be a choice that I will chose to take.
You might see people going to the pubs and clubs from Wednesday to Sunday, this is not a true indication of what is being produced work wise. It is called being able to manage your time correctly, it may so happen that those people who go out at night are the ones most likely to finish their work on time. Instead of watching an episode of Isidingo or Generations, some people are busy working so that when it hits 22:30 they get ready to take a break and chill out at a pub instead of downloading the entire world of movies on DC. Before coming to Rhodes I was always told that it was like a family and not like any other university. I am here no and have been wondering about the tight knit family that I always hear about? I shall tell you where it is, there is no tight knit family around here, it doesn’t kill to acknowledge that everyone does things for themselves, we can take something so simple as residence, there all I care and worry about the most is the well being of those i know, better yet those who are close friends. So there is no tight knit family here, Rhodes is as big as you want it to be. At times I want to kick myself for making the choice of coming to Grahamstown. There are just so many faults that I keep finding but to be honest enough it would rather be here than anywhere else. This is called conforming at its simplest form, which I must add is practiced very much here at Rhodes.

reflexive piece

Reflexive piece

The JMS1 curriculum has drawn on facts that are not always related to the method of journalistic writing but also to interesting controversial current affairs and phenomenon. The blogging course which is coming to an end has been eye opening as there were very few regulations and taboos on the content. Having never really paid any attention to blogs in the past I now realise how informative or humorous they can be. Once being familiar with blogs I would visit ones that had particularly caught my eye. On days when I felt bored beyond comprehension I would visit a site and laugh for minutes on end and I’m still convinced that I have stronger stomach muscles after a regular chuckle.

Working within a genre was fantastic as I learnt a great deal about a particular topic instead of acquiring surface knowledge with creative freedom. This section gave me an opportunity to be creative, innovative and to create my own identity as a writer. Members within our group didn’t have conflicting ideas very often as we all allowed each other to express ourselves individually but in the end our work came together in unison.

Despite having minor disagreements with my lap-top I now have more of a desire to write than I did before as this section was so different. Positive feedback on my writing from the parents of the girl I wrote a profile piece on motivated me to write to the best of my ability. Team work in this section was easier than I thought it would be, we were able to generate interesting story ideas within seconds and the tasks seemed less tedious. We all chose our blog character and wrote about an aspect of Rhodes which we knew most about. We were well aware of our target audience’s needs and reached a concession about the aim of our blog. The fact that our blogs were self directed and being published for readers around the globe inspired me to engage with the audience and put greater effort into my writing. Our target audience was apart of our same age group; in a sense we were members of our target market as each member of our group enjoyed reading their own and each others writing and therefore, writing came naturally to us.

The theme of the blog enabled us to write from our own experiences and as I had learnt throughout the year, people were not lying when they said that it was always best to write from experience. The constraints created by our theme gave us a taste of what it would be like to work at a news paper or magazine once we have graduated as most publications that we I am likely to work for will take a common stance, character and style in which I would have to work within.

The limitations that were placed on my writing style were not limitations in the slightest because my style of writing is generally quite expressive but contains very little slang. Blogging is time consuming but satisfying, after this term I now consider it as a genre of informal or modern journalism, depending on its agenda and aim. My researching techniques became more careful as I used many perspectives, interviewed more people and avoided making sweeping generalisations because there was a broad audience. This never made me nervous but merely made me take a more mature approach to my writing.

My sources were far from resisting interviewing, as they all had an urge to participate, voice their opinion and strangely enough have their ten seconds of fame. The character of our blog was one of a family of personalities who share advice and experiences about first year, this allowed us to create a multi-faceted character; therefore no issue was too dramatic or inappropriate to be written on. The hero in the night profile contrasts greatly with the other light hearted posts which shows the degree of how multi-faceted our character is this lead to a lot of well deserved experimentation.
I had encountered ethical issues during the process of the making the photo comic strip named G-Town nightmare in reality, as we had to decide how to deal with such a sensitive topic like rape but this was overcome as the comic strip didn’t desensitise the matter because of it’s layout and expressive quality. It never occurred to me before, that writing within a blog genre would be so rewarding and would extend my abilities so that my writing would improve. Reading other peoples’ blogs really did improve my writing and expand my general knowledge.

Reflex action

This last term of my first year was possibly the busiest one out of the whole year. The amount of work exceeded far beyond that of the first term despite having to work with in a genre. That is that not only did I feel the pressure of managing to get all my work in ion time I had to make sure that it fitted with in the expectations of the genre of my blog, however I feel that in some way we were also confined to a type of genre in the first term, that is the genre of the newspaper which is a lot more constrained to grammar and formalities.

Despite that the genre of a blog allows one to be more personal and less specific, I was not as productive as I would of thought I would have been. The fact that the genre of the blog is relaxed should have encouraged me to write more, but because of the work load and this includes more than, as well as, deadlines for journalism, I found that I did not always have enough time to do extra work. I am sure that everyone will agree with me that one cannot work 24 hours a day, that is one need to maintain a balance in their life between work and me time or otherwise known as play. Other than that, nothing else seemed to hold me back.

The imagined audience was of very little concern to me because in first term we had to use a similar tactic, except that there was no potential for our stories to be read outside of the class room, that is by a global audience. Yet when it came to writing the stories the imagined and potential audience became important.

That is that I needed to meet the expectations and ideals of the audience as well as that of my blog character. This meant that all the stories I wrote where determined by the audience, so that the tone and what I said and put into my stories would be easily relatable to them. I did not find this restrictive though, as it requires a certain fare of creativity to be able to meet the demands of an audience without boring them with clichéd stories.

Having meetings concerning our blogs with members in the group and the tutor also helped produce creative stories, that was not clichéd. Thankfully my group did not experience any problems with each other and we worked well together. This meant that we were able to make decisions quickly and with little fuss and were able to sort out any last minute problems out in a matter of seconds.

Working in groups perhaps was the best way to learn some important real life people skills. Thus professionally, growth happened within the paradigm of group work. However I feel that no personal growth can happen within this paradigm other than learning or trying to master patience and rationality.

Working in groups also played a part in confining me to the genre of a blog, although as I mentioned before that since the genre is more relaxed I did not feel as restricted. But the question remains, does blogging equal up to the same as journalism.
Fundamentally, both are concerned with writing about events, but what those events differ on a continuous scale. Some might say that blogging is just commentary on what the newspapers have already commented on. Yet I believe that perhaps blogging could be the start of journalism or a hybrid of free range journalism. That is it is not constrained to the professionalism experience within the journalism world.

Somehow I experienced this constraint, but in a different form. That is I had to write within the theme of Surviving First Year. I had to keep in mind that I could not just merely comment on what others had to say, but I also had to give my own opinion within that theme, since future students need a firsthand experience more than a know it all comment.

The genre of the blog allowed me that bit more freedom to experiment with the production of my opinion because I was not restricted by the professional limitations of the newspaper genre. Yet unlike any ethical concerns I might have experienced in the first term, I did not experience any ethical problems with the blog. Perhaps this was because I did not deal with anything extremely controversial, but this does not mean that a blog does not have the potential to be controversial. Quiet on the contrary, since a blog is about opinion that is not constrained by any laws or professionalism, it therefore has more potential to go against the grain than what any news story would.

Opinion piece

Stress and depression towards the end of year
The last term of the year is filled with so much stress and depression. The demands from lecturers are unbearable. How can one squeeze all these demands in such a small space of time? It is at times like these when some students feel that they can’t take it anymore and even commit suicide.
It is so hard to focus since there is so much to do. Essays, assignments, tests, you name it, all crumbling in such a small pair of hands. Sleepless nights don’t help either because you won’t be able to focus in lectures the next day. It is a difficult situation because as much as we are scared and nervous about the final exams, we still need to go through the trauma of submitting essay and assignments and writing all those tests. Why do all these things have to be fit in such a small space of time? If it was not for the counselling centre (http://www.ru.ac.za/counsellingcentre) lots of lives would be lost and futures would be shattered. Yes at the end we do cross the bridge if we are lucky enough to escape from all those sharks and crocodiles.
No-one is expecting things to be an easy ride otherwise it won’t be worth doing but at the same one can only handle a certain amount of pressure. Is feeling overloaded unacceptable for a first year student in University? I think it’s not after all this all new and before people make big decisions like leaving the University or anything else, they should give it some time and see where it leads. We all want to be successful in life but is fair to have to suffer so much for success. It would be so good if one could just fly free like a bird, unfortunately we are humans and we just have to deal with whatever that comes our way.
We salute all those heroes that we see out there who have finally reached their goals but believe me when I say “it was not easy to get there”. Perseverance is a good step to success as hard as it is we have to pull through. I thought matric was hard and I will never be able to pull through but look at me now, I am in University. I am stronger than stress and depression and so is everyone else. Soon we will be looking back and saying things were not so bad after all. To all those who couldn’t take it anymore, may their souls rest in peace and to the rest of us we still have along way to go, we just need to hang in there. The way to success may be steep and tough but because everyone is living in order to fulfil certain dreams we will cope with everything that comes on the way. Some things are just meant to be the way they are and they will never change, eventually we will get used to these pressure.

work ethic oppinion piece

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Opinion piece: assignment 3

From the opinion of a Union and Rat resident, many first year students’ work ethic seems to run away down the blue route or through Cotch Creak and with that I am no exception. It’s a sad truth which is one which people fail acknowledge. It’s a phenomenon that sprawled across many universities all over the world but has formed its reputation at Rhodes.

For many first year students it the excitement of leaving the nest of discipline that becomes exhilarating. This provokes students to rebel and push life to its absolute boundaries. The influential psychologist (Piaget) named this tendency the invincibility myth which explains young individuals desire to discover the boundaries in which they live. These boundaries are often met by tempting fate and it can be characterised by irresponsible behaviour. Therefore abuse of freedom, and priorities become different from the original ones. There also often seems to be little balance between work and play. This is a problem which I have managed to control; you will find me out until the early hours of the morning no less than three times per week, but each morning you will find me sitting in the lecture hall promising myself to only sleep once I have finished attending all my lectures.

While studying at Rhodes I have noticed that rebelling against many parents’ expectations is a trend and ideology which students conform to. An educational institution has the aim to educate and produce a group of hard working people ready for the career fields. Shaw (1930) created the subculture theory, suggested that people who defy others in order to conform to delinquency, do this to conform and gain acceptance. The blaze` attitude that first years often have is actively encouraged by those around them. Minimal lecture attendance and losing a DP has become the new achievement which is followed by the pesky task of pleading the departments for mercy instead of going to pigs’ night.
Through all the fog of warped perceptions, students who excell should inspire all students ; however, this isnt the case. While researching and interviewing students it became clear that many first year students lack ambition to exploit all the academic opportunities that are given to them. While waiting to write a test, I over heard a few students bragging about how little they studied, which supports the oppinion that many first year students belong to a “right off” subculture. In contrast to what people believe this isnt “hard core,” its merely exercising the right to waste their parents money.
Sheehy (1990) discovered while researching in America that varsity students are either unaware of how hard it is to find a job (even with a degree or qualification) or have unrealistic ideas of the work place. Which can also be applied to a university phenomenon at rhodes. Students tend to forget that its not simply a degree which makes you good at what you do but the skills and added knowledge you learn while being here. www.collegevalues.com. Statistically 40% of the South African population is unemployed and many of those people have degrees. This woke me up to the fact that I may have earned my PHD in drinking but where will that leave me in the future.

Why? Why? Why?

Why do people come to University? Obviously to study! Yet most students do not know exactly why they are studying, or what they are going to do after they have finished studying. Then there are students who are only studying because their parents want them to and not because they wanted to. I myself do not have an answer to this question, but hopefully by the end of this piece I will have one and not just a general answer, but one that is a little more specific, but that could be a little bit difficult considering the individual and erratic nature of the human race.

Thus putting students into boxes of “why I came to university” would not be appropriate, because reasons can overlap or maybe even change. Yet how can such a set answer to such a question change, especially if “that is the reason why you came to university”, after all that was the defining moment. Quiet honestly one does change over the years, months, even days (to be dramatic) and reasons that might have seemed simple or clear at the start, with hind sight, suddenly become a jumble of complicated reasons of cause and effect that have been playing out all through high school and perhaps even primary school.

Since the beginning of one’s school career there has been this constant essence of higher education, even though in preprimary it might not have been that clear what exactly it was, but deep down inside there was always this sense of the continuity of further education. Perhaps the main instigators are the parents? They were the ones that planted the seed of the possibility of going further, to some tertiary educational facility. Well that’s where it started for me, mom wanted me to have the university experience, according to her it was mind broadening and nothing in life could offer me a better opportunity to do that than in university.

Then came all those freebees from the universities along with their glossy pamphlets with happy students photographed, either studying on the green lawns or in the libraries, but always smiling and looking like they knew what they were doing at that particular university. If the pictures were not enough to convince one, then there was always the creative language to gouge ones interest.

So there one is, with all this pressure from all around, teachers, parents, friends and those in the class which present some type of competition to match ones superior intelligence to and not mention the glossy pamphlets. All of which are screaming choices in one’s ear and reasons why one should study there and not here. Then, just as suddenly, one is choosing the courses that seem best suited for the chosen profession and one thinks he or she knows exactly where he or she is going, just like those students in the photograph.

The sad reality is that, most students believe that a degree is a golden ticket that will give them the riches they desire, however that is a lie. A degree is about studying ones passions so that one can get into the area of profession that makes them happy and does not put the required amount of cash in ones back pocket.

But that does not really answer why those who, when asked that vital question why did you come to university, shrug their shoulders and have that lost puppy or vacant look in their eyes, whichever one suites them. There is possibly no answer for them, that is that there answer is a case of “I will find out when I get there, or along the way”, perhaps they were tricked into coming to university by their parents planting that small seed and then by the attraction of those glossy descriptive pamphlets.Yet however one looks at it, in the end it is not the success of the degree that one will be talking about at the end of the day, but the adventure one had along the way in achieving it. Thus no matter how solid or nonchalant the reason for coming to university is, it is in the end the experience that one should or is after.

Consequences

G-Town Nightmare in Reality- Part 1

G-Town Nightmare in Reality- Part 2

comment on a profile

Assignment 3b.
Amy Pattison-Emms
http://www.bungeemylife.blogspot.com/ herself v our self- Rhodes Critical Court.
The profile of Nyasha is one, which allows readers to have insight into an individual who faces similar problems to others except she still remains an individual who, as the Russian scholar Propp states would be an unexpected hero. Usually eccentric and extroverted people are written about, but in this profile a hero deals with dilemma in a private internal way. Another scholar named Todorov believed that narratives begin with equilibrium but a disruption of this equilibrium is essential in moving the story or profile along. Her individuality is shown when it occurs to the readers that this girl shares different interests to the “average Rhodes student.” Her dilemma would be facing homesickness and adjustment to her new surroundings. The writer wrote this profile in an insightful way, the text hopes to classify any misconceptions about a girl who remains a mystery to many.

The perfect bundle of joy...

Tall, slender, pretty the perfect concoction of perfect, her name is Annie Polak. A huge sports fanatic, a real socialite who never fails to challenge her selfcapability. The perfect bundle of joy, when she walks into a room she brings the revitalizing and happy mode with her. “She isn’t always around but when she is there is certainly a ball of laughter” says a friend. As I try to have a conversation with her on our way to conduct our interview, I notice that there are a number of pauses or shall I say pit stops that we have to make due to her popularity. I have never seen her even in the slightest bit in an angry mood, and this is found to be true by her very close group of friends. As first year has progressed it seems as if life couldn’t have been any better for Annie, “With an awesome family that supports me, my friends and just life in general makes it very much worth living”
One of her biggest goals was fulfilled this year when she travelled to Europe for 3 weeks, this was very different from many other travels she had embarked on because this was from her own personal funds she had been saving money throughout her years in school. This showed her growth, independence and responsibility. “I don’t believe that people should be spoon fed, instead I think everyone should be encouraged to work hard and help themselves”. Part of life is to open your mind in order to learn new things and being in university has opened many doors for her to show her capabilities off to a much larger crowed than that of school. This was shown with Annie running for her Residence’s house committee head student simply showed how much zest for life she embodied and not being afraid to take initiative. “I am a confident person with who I am, and not the kind to wear something just because others are wearing it.”
In life with a lot of enjoyable moments comes instances where there are many hard times but that just only makes a person stronger. With someone who is so dedicated and driven there is certainly has to be a point where this inspiration is drawn from and this for Annie was and still is her late grandmother, her greatest friend. Memories are very cherishable things and this very visible as emotionally reminisces about how life was like when she her grandmother was still around. This made me view another side to Annie that I had not com across throughout seeing her around.
Her grandmother never let her any difficulties interfere with her focus. Always wanting to get things done herself and never afraid of adventure and hard work, this is where Annie draws her very warm personality and good speaking skills from. “She possessed so much courage and strength even when she was at a very difficult time in her life,” says Annie. She had had a stroke and was severely paralysed a few years ago. “She was a good athlete who now couldn’t walk, a brilliant speaker who now couldn’t speak”. “She had tremendous courage that she has kept throughout all her life.” This was a very hard time for the entire family, but instead of being distraught she was happy that she was given a chance to nurse and support her granny and give back to her some appreciation through her traumatic time, Annie had to go through this at the age of 14. Just like her grand mother Annie is certainly someone who always wants to meet the unexpected and always looks at the good side of life. Her grandmother used to have a saying that said, “They say what they say let them say.” You might as well wear a smile on your face because you don’t know life is going to bring you, so you may as well face it."


Source list:
Facebook profile: http://www.facebook.com/people/Zikhona_Masala/717350593#/profile.php?id=731612635&ref=ts

A first year hero in the dark

Profile of Bryony Whitfield

As a first year student living in Canterbury Annex who despite resembling a lob sided chip monk and had contracted mumps, was in good spirits. Bryony has encountered what many have not. She has always had a desire to come to Rhodes as many people in her family came to this university and have had many happy stories to share. As a first year student her only regret is that she chose to study a B-Com but despite this she will continue her degree depending on her end of year results.

While hearing her “war stories” of “drinking guys under the table followed by hazardous stair diving at the rat and parrot,” I realise that her angelic dimples creasing into her cheeks as she giggles, can’t hide her experience in bonding with the dance floor until closing time at friars. In her opinion the best aspect of Rhodes is that Rhodes accepts and encourages diversity which allows her to behave in a way that befits her and not others.

As she describes a night which had the most profound effect on her, my admiration grows. In the early morning on New Street; on her way to friars, Bryony came across a group of four Rhodes students beating up a small street child of about thirteen. She had an impulse to take action while others walked on; her confrontation and the profanities which left her mouth were nothing short of fearsome. This was a dicey decision as the drunken boys were filled with adrenalin and raging aggression which could have provoked them to retaliate physically. But surprisingly their shock led them to apologise; but it wasn’t Bryony who they should have apologised to, as the street child was bleeding from the mouth and from both eyes and was lying motionless on the pavement.

According to the abusive boys the child had stolen their cell phone, when truthfully it had been the actions of the child’s friends who had retreated from the angry Rhodes boys. When facing this situation bryony insisted that she drive him to the Settlers government hospital, even though she didn’t have a driving licence. She waited in line with the child-who had a fractured jaw-for hours. The child and his friends admitted to their fear of walking home in the dark. She later braved driving into the township in the dark to ensure the child and his friends returned home safely.

She had assisted the child but was then left with blood on her hands, a month later she found herself at the hospital waiting for the results of her AIDS test. Bryony admitted that it was the single most terrifying experience of her life, as she prayed that her actions would not be rewarded with dire consequences. To her relief her test results were negative. The child still remains nameless and occasionally bryony sees those Rhodes students from afar. Her selfless act defined her as a person and made people realise that it’s possible to make a difference even after drinking a full bottle of concentrated cane.
One could describe her as a first year hero and survivor.

Profile

Ntombifuthi, the 22 year old girl who is doing her first year in Bachelor of Economics sits on her bed with her legs crossed and carefully listens to what I have to say to her. Joy is written all over her face you can clearly see that she is happy. Her first year at Rhodes University is a dream come true, ever since she matriculated in 2004 she always dreamed of having a Bachelor of Economics degree from Rhodes. Things have not always been great for Ntombifuthi at Rhodes because Rhodes is far away from home and very different from Johannesburg where she comes from. Quite Grahamstown was okay for her but she really missed her family and friends when she first arrived at Rhodes.

At first it was not easy to make friends because she felt that everyone around her was too young to be her friend and she was also worried about what kind of friends to choose since she is a born again Christian. “Things were tough seeing everybody walking in two’s while I walk alone, I just wanted to make myself invisible” she said. Being quite and shy at the time for her made things even more difficult because she never had anything to say to total strangers. As the year went by she found a church similar to the one she attends back home ( River of Life church), at this church she was able to make friends who she could really connect with and since then she has had this bright smile on her face whenever she walks around campus.

Ntombifuthi was also challenged when she failed her first economics test and almost failed her first economics essay. She was disappointed in herself she never thought that she would fail and she really believed that she had given her best. As bad as it was she did not give up, she decided to work harder. She prayed for God to guide her while she studied because she believed that there was something that she was not doing right and yes, God answered her prayers and she was able to pull through. Ntombifuthi was able to get very good results in the June exams, she got two B plus and two A’s and she says she would have not been able to do this without God on her side. Ntombifuthi believes everything is possible if you put your mind to it and not forget to pray.

Twisting her short black hair Ntombifuthi explains how lucky she feels about being at Rhodes University. She also tells me that God helps those who are willing to be helped, if you just sit around and not do anything nothing will be brought to you on a silver platter. Ntombifuthi also says that talking to second year students who are doing the same subjects as she is doing did not help her because they kept on telling her how difficult it is to pass and how many people did not make it to second year and this brought more pressure into her life.

Ntombifuthi also says that there is no secrete to studying except to focus on your school work and not forgetting the reason why you are at Rhodes University. Ntombifuthi’s advice to first year students is “Be yourself and do not let anyone change you, do not let your peers influence you and stand up for yourself and what you believe in”.

Source list
Ntombifuthi Phakathi g08p2182@campus.ru.ac.za

An Eccentric Hero

“I have kneeled, I have followed and now I wish to lead.” said Garth Elzerman in front of dozens of ravenous students at lunch time in the dining hall during the Student Representative Council (SRC) elections. Garth Elzerman has made sure that he is not your average student. Yet like the average first year student, he too was nervous and paradoxically, excited at the prospect of coming to Rhodes in 2008. To move from that comfort zone everyone has worked so hard to create throughout high school into the unknown.
Garth was very independent and introverted in school and his main concern about starting afresh at university was whether or not he would be accepted. Of course, this fear turned out to be superficial as the majority of students accepted him although a few were somewhat rude. “A few rotten apples which should be thrown in the bin” says Garth with his articulated accent. His overriding experience of Rhodes is in fact, one of acceptance. “Because of the universities unique- diverse spectrum of students, the atmosphere is very accepting...and this has helped me to open up and be myself.”, he says sitting across from the bench in the cool evening air.
To Garth Elzerman, being himself, means being eccentric. To some this endearing characteristic is what makes him their hero and to others their villain. “I do not like merely being another number, I like to stand out and I like to think I am a progressive thinker” Garth says smartly, smiling with his light green eyes. Being eccentric also makes him comfortable along with setting him apart from the masses.
His eccentric nature is part of what separates him from the usual ragger muffin student you would come across on the street or bunking lectures. Garth sports a well groomed side path and a trimmed moustache. His attire is smart and clean cut. However, as reserved as he may look, Garth is very opened minded, not only because of who he is, but because if his interactions with the large variety of young people at university. “The University provides the opportunity to develop the mind, but it is up to the students to take up those opportunities” States Garth matter-of-factly, adding that he thinks that he has definitely progressed at university.
From the nervous young first year that arrived at university, Garth’s progress is obvious, he has run for the SRC and has won; now he is the Societies Representative. Sitting on a committee is enjoyable for Garth and is where part of his comfort zone lies. In school he sat on and chaired many committees, so this was nothing new for him. Garth believes that societies are the backbone of any institute’s cultural sector.The enormous support Garth received during the SRC elections is his best experience at Rhodes so far. “The support I received is a testament to the camaraderie and family bond between the students in the university” he comments.
Yet despite this wonderful success, Garth has felt like giving up and going home. “University is a new and daunting environment for first years and I could tell them it is going to be easy and fun,” advises Garth, “but in the beginning it is scary and frightful and first years are not sure in which direction they are going to go. I, myself, felt at a stage that I did not know what I wanted to do and felt like giving up, but what one should remember, is that in the past many people have gone through the same thing and they have made it”. This little bit of advice is what has helped Garth through his first year and is what makes him the hero, because it is a hero’s sterling character and wise integrity that sets him above and helps him succeed in life.