work ethic oppinion piece

608p0506
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.