More tips for first year happiness

Well my first year is coming to an end, so I thought I’d leave you with some general tips for your first year at varsity before I retreat into my room to study for exams. These tips don’t have a theme like the rest of my posts; they’re just random things I think are important for your well-being and happiness at varsity.

1. Keep things in perspective: Chances are, you’ll probably fail/almost fail at least one test / essay in your first year. This is not because you are stupid. It takes a while to get used to the marking style and expected format / tone / referencing system of a certain department. Your marks will probably dip a bit, but if you keep at it, they get better as you go along. So don’t get despondent if you fail a silly 10 mark quiz. Look at the bigger picture: it probably counts 0.5% of your year mark. So it’s really not worth crying over.

2. Check your quota: This is for future Rhodents. The university only gives you a certain amount of internet access, and if it runs out, you’ll have to live without Facebook for a while. This is not cool. So check your quota regularly to make sure you’re still free to surf at your leisure.

3. Make time for yourself: Take a break sometimes and watch a movie or go out for coffee with your friends. Working all the time does a number on your head. You get hyper-stressed, moody and walk around with a dark cloud drifting over you. You will get everything done on time, and a week later you won’t even remember what assignment was due or why you were so stressed. True story.

4. Go to res functions: They are a brilliant way to become better friends with people in your res and have a jol. And you won’t get all the inside-jokes and ‘remember when...’s if you don’t go.

5. Don’t tumble-dry your tops: Well, you can if you really want to. But don't blame me when your Legit and Mr Price stuff shrinks and goes out of shape.

Well, there is my practical advice. Hope it helps!

Meat_is_murder.

O-week: Things you should do

O-week is a very scary concept. Or maybe I am just a wuss (I have been told this before on many occasions). Well, I was scared for no reason at all, because your orientation week is absolutely amazing. Don’t worry your little head off. Here are some tips to make it even more fantastic:

1. Buy nice pyjamas: They have this thing at Rhodes called serenades, which involves singing to, talking with and making coffee for (if you are female) members of a residence of the opposite gender. Did I mention that this takes place at 5am in your PJs? Get nice ones.

2. Go on the library tour: Yes, readingrocks made me put this one in, but I must confess that they are very helpful. The library is quite a big, scary place, and when you’re sent there to get a reading for your Sociology essay and you end up in the English Lit section crying into “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, you’ll wish you went on a tour.

3. Introductory lectures: These are also quite important. Philosophy might sound quite cool in theory, but going to the introductory lecture might stop you from sitting in an exam four months later kicking yourself when you’re faced with an essay question like: If a tree falls in a forest and there’s no one there to hear it, does it make a sound?

4. Smile: Smile, be friendly and talk to people. Everyone goes out of their way to introduce themselves to you and conversation is very easy: it usually revolves around ‘where-are-you-from-what-are-you-studying-what-res-are-you-in’?

5. Explore: Walk around campus and go check out where all your lectures are. This will quell your fear of getting lost and ending walking into the Computer Science building instead of your psychology lecture.

Enjoy it!

Meat_is_murder.

Stuff you don’t think you need but you actually do need for varsity

I went to my last lectures today (scary stuff!!) so I am supposedly finished first year, which means I should have some helpful advice. Well, I don’t know how helpful it will be, but I thought that I should give you tips to enhancing something that you have to deal with everyday… your res room. Hence my list of stuff you don’t think you need but you actually do need for your res room. Here we go:

1. Your own duvet cover: I know they say that your res supplies them, but those things are naaasty! It’s much better to bring your own. That way, you don’t have to be scared of the grucky res ones and you can add some colour to your corner of the world.

2. A clotheshorse: I know it might make your room look ‘lived-in’, but towels all over the floor in various stages of decomposition is not cool.

3. Kettle and mugs: You probably don’t down rooibos like it’s going out of fashion at home, but this stuff is important when you’re craving caffeine after an all-nighter, or need something to take the taste of res food out of your mouth.

4. Printer: Not completely essential, but most convenient when you don’t want to walk to the computer labs at 2am in the pouring rain/ run out of printing credit/ wake up late and want to print lecture notes / loose your flashdisk / have a laptop with Vista which won’t connect to the printing program… see where I’m going with this?

5. Superglue: I know it seems quite arb, but stuff breaks, ok? Shoes especially. You walk a lot. Bring lots of shoes.

6. An empty hard drive: If you come to Rhodes, you will find out why this is important. No, you don’t fill it up with work, don’t worry. It is for a whole other reason entirely…

7. Photos of your friends / family / cat: This type of thing really helps your room feel more like home and less like a blue-grey homeless shelter.

8. Some sort of dress-up outfit: I don’t know why, but there are constantly dress-up parties at varsities. Buy yourself some cute bunny ears or deely boppers / wings and you can be a rabbit (duh. What else would you be with bunny ears?) or butterfly. Or a moth if you’re emo.

9. Woolworth’s foods: No, not the whole store. Just your favourite stuff from those fancy shops they have in non-dorp towns. Mmmm, Woolworth’s apples…

10. Sewing kit: As I mentioned before, stuff breaks. This is a very handy thing to have, so you don’t walk around looking like a hobo in your ripped clothes. Unless that’s the look you’re going for, in which case, I apologize.

Meat_is_murder.

A day in the life of a Rhodent

I thought I’d enlighten you prospective first years to the life you’ll be living come February 2009. This is a semi-typical day for me, so I'm going to show it to you so that you can see what you’ll be doing next year.

1. Lectures. Yes, I generally wake up and head along to those things called ‘lectures’. Even though they are not technically compulsory, they help a lot with exams and tests and essays. Although if you have a dawnie (earliest lecture of the day, starts at 7:45am) it is perfectly acceptable to sleep in the back somewhere. Or you can sleep in boring lectures too. Or if you’re tired (from staying up late doing all those assignments- cough cough). This isn’t a university rule, by the way. It’s just generally accepted practice (still, don’t make it too obvious. Lecturers can be mean sometimes).

2. More lectures. After your first lecture, you head along to your next lecture. Yes, this is a thrilling way to spend your mornings, and sometimes you can have up to four lectures in a row… *shudder*. Okay, I’m overreacting. They really aren’t that bad.

3. Food. After your morning lectures, you can head along to the dining hall for your nutritious and delicious meal. Yes, if you are lucky enough to live in res, this is your thrice-daily treat. *Meat_is_murder falls off her chair laughing*. Ag, I’m sorry, I couldn’t keep it up anymore! Dining hall food is generally as appetising and aesthetically pleasing as a lump of clay. Although they do have their finer moments (book fast food lunches, future Rhodents. They are edible, and even, dare I say it, nice!). But you’re usually so hungry after all those intense, physically draining lectures that you’d eat your stationery if it asked nice enough.

4. Tuts. When you are finished in the dining hall, you head along to the bane of many a Rhodent’s existence… tutorials! Tuts are eeeevil things designed by ‘The Man’ to keep us down! Ok, ok, I will stop hopping on the hyperbole express. Tuts are little meetings of 12-18 or so students, where you can discuss your course with tutors (these creatures vary from the mundane to the magical) and hand in assignments, get help, ask questions, etc. They give you the opportunity to ask a wiser being to explain the concepts you wouldn’t ask about in lectures. They are good. Mostly. And are usually compulsory, so it’s not like you have a choice, is it?

5. Evening! Yes, this is the time where you write an essay or seven (I feel like a printer sometimes. All I do is churn out assignments) or relax. If you like, you can toddle along to many of Grahamstown’s fine dining establishments and survey the menu with a bunch of friends. Most of the restaurants are open till late (they know us students well): my friends and I always end up at either Spur (open till 11pm, student discount!), Pirates (open till 3am) or Steers (does that place ever close?).

On the occasion documented alongside, we pooled our money and bought R11 milkshakes (250ml cup… it’s quite sad. I should really learn to budget properly). After spending a grand total of R33 (wow! We really kept Steers in business!) we then remained in the booth for a few hours because a) it was cold outside and b) it was fun. I also made the fantastic sculpture pictured here to express my creativity.

So. That is a typical day in the life of a Rhodent (me). It’s really quite cool, if you look at it. Yes, there are a lot of academic activities, but unfortunately, cupcake, that’s why you’re at varsity. Not to party, contrary to popular belief. But you get to do all of this with your friends, which makes it soooo much better! RU keen?

Later!

Meat_is_murder.

How to survive long-distance friendships

New friends. Old friends. Which do you pick, when your new friends are with you at varsity, and all your friends from back home are scattered at various universities all over the country – or maybe even taking a gap year even further away? You start to think that maybe you should concentrate on the new friends you’ve made, who have so much in common with you and that you see everyday. Or maybe you don’t like the people at your varsity, and miss your friends from high school. Either way, this post is for you.

It’s easy to get swept up in the varsity vibe. You meet all these really amazing first years, and you start thinking that they are the coolest people you have ever met – way better than your old friends. While that may be true, there must have been a reason you’ve been friends with your mate from back home since you were both 5.

Chances are, the people you knew in high school knew you really well, and are trustworthy and fun to be with. Once you start spending time with your new varsity friends, you might start to notice their bad habits – like the way they don’t really listen to what you’re saying, only talk about themselves or how all your secrets mysteriously seem to become common knowledge.

It’s always good a good idea to keep in contact with your friends from school, because if there’s a crisis or you start having a mini-breakdown because you failed your third statistics test in a row, they are there for you. They know you very well and know what to say to make you feel better. And chances are, if you’re having major problems and you want to talk to someone, you’d rather talk to your friend of 4 years than the girl/guy you’ve known for 3 months.

Your ‘old’ friends know you well enough to tell you if you’re going off the tracks or over-reacting. They can help cure your Monday blues, just by talking to you. They’re a very important part of your life, and shouldn’t be replaced or discarded just because they’re a few hours away from you.

On the other hand, if you can’t seem to find the type of friends at varsity as you had back home, or you really miss your friends from school, that’s ok. It’s a big adjustment. One of my best friends is studying in Potchefstroom, and I only see her every few months or so. It sucks, but you can’t do anything about it.

You can simply try to email, SMS, phone and IM your long-distance friends as often as possible, and keep them up to date on developments in your life so that you don’t become strangers. Stay up an extra 15mins each night to check in with your ex bio-partner on Mxit. Email your friends funny jokes or pictures, or send them a post card from your university town. Message them on Facebook, or MMS them photos of the cute ‘I miss you’ teddy bear you spot when you’re out shopping. When you go home – even for short holidays – make a point of organising a mini-reunion.

It requires some effort, but when you see them in your December holiday and you have maintained your ability to make each other laugh until your stomachs hurt, you’ll realise that it was worth it.

Meat_is_murder

Who moved my cheese?

Before I came to Rhodes, I was warned about this scary thing called ‘change’. Apparently, people go off to the land of lectures and degrees, and return completely different. They come home, and their beliefs have changed, their attitude towards life has changed and they’re covered in piercings and smoking weed while discussing their decision to become an atheist. This can be quite a daunting idea to behold when you’re an insignificant matric whose life was regulated by school bells and uniforms. You start worrying about the big bad university that is going to turn you into some creature your friends and family don’t recognise.

When I was in my last year of high school, I was asked one question about 10 times a day: “What are you doing next year?” As soon as I mentioned Rhodes University, teachers, family friends and even relative strangers raised an eyebrow and gave me a knowing look. They knew Rhodes’ reputation. Yes, the university was one of the best in the country, but the students were notorious drinkers: strange artistic creatures with green hair who went to lectures barefoot. They’re the crazy kids described in Relient K’s 'College Kids'. Changing from a ‘normal’ teenager into one of these students was a bad thing, and this change should be resisted at all costs.

Having survived my first year at Rhodes, I can say that this scary ‘change’ which everyone speaks about is not nearly as frightening or dark and twisted as it seems. Yes, you do change. But it is good! Your ideas about the world change dramatically. You stop seeing it in the black-and-white terms that you categorised people and events into during high school. You’re exposed to different ways of thinking, different religions, no religions at all, and people generally enjoy fighting with you about why you believe what you believe. But living through it makes you a much stronger person.

Being faced with different perspectives on a situation broadens your mind. You start thinking critically about different issues, and don’t just passively accept the opinions of others. You become open to other beliefs and understandings of the world, and become more tolerant of them, instead of being judgemental or condescending. University does change you. But it changes you for the better. You become more independent, and learn more about your character and opinions than you would have in one year at varsity than you would have if you spent 10 years at high school. The change isn’t some grotesque transformation that you are simply subjected to. You can stay yourself. If you still want to believe in the religion and morals you grew up with, then you can. You have a say in what you choose to believe and no one can force you to go along with their radical world views.

The thing to remember is that university isn’t real life. The majority of people in the world wear shoes and don’t walk around campaigning for some strange new cause. You can incorporate the new ideas and views which you are confronted with at varsity into your life, or you can choose to ignore them. You don’t have to be one of those crazy students whose best friend doesn’t recognise them after 8 months apart. As Relient K say at the end of ‘College Kids’: “do what will make you happy, do what you feel is right. Only one thing matters: learn how to live your life”. Embrace the change, but only so far as you are comfortable. You’ll be a better person because of it.


Meat_is_murder

Ten non-alcoholic activities for non-alcoholics

*Crash!*
“Oops!” your friend giggles, staring down at the shards of glass on the ground and the cane seeping into the grass. “I dropped the bottle!”
You sigh and take her arm, trying to move her along the street. “It’s ok,” you say. “Come, let’s go home. This way.”
“Ok.” She nods slowly, starting to shuffle along the pavement. “Wait. I don’t feel good” she says suddenly, then covers her mouth with her hand. You know what’s coming. You lead her to a gutter, where she proceeds to regurgitate that evening’s spaghetti bolognaise, along with half of SA Breweries’ alcohol supply. You lean against a wall, and wonder how your awesome night out ended up like this.

Well. While some people think that nights spent slowly poisoning your liver are the best thing since Steers veggie burgers, there are also some that don’t. Contrary to popular belief, not all university students are like this. Yes, unfortunately the large majority could match a rock star glass for glass *fake cough* Captain Morgan *fake cough*. But if you look hard enough, you’ll find people who don’t hop on the beer bus every weekend. This post is for them.

While all the students who have a deep love of fermented sorghum/ grapes/ barley/ wheat go out and crawl back home, the non-alcoholics are left with nothing to do. So I thought I’d come up with some fun non-alcoholic activities to make sure that your social life doesn’t dwindle and die. Here’s my list (feel free to add to it!):

1: Movies: Yes, I know it sounds simple, and it’s sometimes expensive for those with the traditional ‘broke student’ bank balance, but a decent movie with a bunch of awesome people is a fantastic event to attend. Chick flicks, sci-fi, comedy: whatever. Sometimes it’s nice to actually go out and see a movie… I know you’re all going “What? Pay for a movie?” but at least you won’t be distracted by some strange Iranian subtitles.

2: Paintball: Yes, it is painful. You get dirty. And you might have a big blue bruise the next day. But it is wicked fun. Shooting people with little balls of paint? Genius. And guess what? There’s a paintball place in Grahamstown! *All prospective Rhodents fall off their computer chairs in shock*

3. Coffee: Coffee shops are amazing. Especially the kooky ones in G’town, with their crazy décor and arb drinks… on that note, let me tell you the steps to happiness. Step 1: Go to the Red Café. Step 2: Be seated. Step 3: Order a peanut butter / Bar One milkshake. Step 4: Come back here and thank me for changing your life. Dulcé’s ice cream scoops are also fantastic, and not too expensive. Chat and chill with friends on a rainy day/ hot day (take advantage of the aircon).

4: Rrrrroadtrip: Get everyone to chip in for petrol, hijack a car (I mean borrow) and jump in for an amazing adventure. You’ll get lost, you’ll get un-lost, you’ll arrive. Rhodents: PE is just over an hour away. Jbay (Billabong factory shop, people!) is 80kms from that. And if you’re really bored with your lives, you can head over to lil ol’ East London (2hrs drive). Oh, and the beach in summer (Port Alfred: 30mins away).

5: Ice skating/ ten pin bowling / go carting: For you lucky, lucky people who are going to study in cities, not lost and forgotten dorps.

6: Shopping: Also kinda for those blessed with a shopping mall and of the XX chromosome variety. But otherwise, you can spend many a happy Saturday morning strolling down High street. Kisma Kreative (see picture) has some fantastic new ‘upcycled’ stuff. This activity can also be combined with activity number three (see ‘coffee’).

7: Movie night: Ok, I know I was just saying you should all head out to your nearest Ster Kinekor/ Nu Metro / random independent thing (Roxbury), but sometimes TNT plus a bed full of pillows plus friends equals happiness.

8: Picnic: Totally memory-making. We had one last week… we grabbed a bunch of grucky res blankets and food and parked off under the stars on the grass in front of Rhodes’ clock tower. I promised Pink Monkey that she could blog about this, so all I can say is that it involved 20+ naked men, a fire dancer and me almost stealing a car.

9: Games: Now don’t all start thinking “Damn, this girl is really scraping the barrel to get to ten”. 30 seconds rocks my socks. And of course the oh-so-fantastic-reason-the-play station-was-invented Sing star (karaoke+game. Genius). Screa- I mean, sing along to some insipid pop hit. Hilarity ensues. Promise. (Our res has a console, so you can bring your disks from home. Don’t think I’m crazy).

10: Go out: This is Rhodes lingo for going out to a pub/ club. Going to print your sociology assignment at 11pm does not constitute as ‘going out’ just because you left your res/digs. You can go out, just to dance, not to imbibe alcoholic beverages. And when it’s 2am at Friars and the DJ starts playing rock instead of that usual R&B rubbish, and you don’t have to babysit your drunken friend, the world seems wonderful. True story.

P.S. This post is in no way a slight to all the friends I’ve babysat when there was blood in their alcohol stream. I still luv you guys!

Mwa mwa

Meat_is_murder

We're Superheroes!

We thought it was about time you saw what we all looked like... and we wanted to have some fun... so we made you this photo comic which we are all so proud of! Check it out and let us know what you think!

Click on them to see them full-screen. Hope you like it!

Meat_is_murder

When you miss your mommy

Homesickness.

It’s a big problem, which is totally underestimated. When you’re in matric, you can’t wait to get away from home and your parents. Their rules seem stupid and restricting (believe me, the Simple Plan song ‘One Day’ was my anthem) and you spend a great deal of your time dreaming about varsity where you can go wherever, and do whatever your little heart pleases.

Then varsity comes. The fantastic independent you will be sitting in the dining hall at the end of an awful day, faced with some unidentifiable grey food product. All you’ll want is your mom’s lasagne and a day at home with your cat and DSTV.

It’s true. Don’t scoff. Homesickness hits you hard.

Your first year is full of ups and downs. You’ll love the freedom, but you’ll get stressed and miss home. This is natural. And here’s a secret: if you miss home, don’t go home. I know it sounds strange, but the more you go home, the more you’ll want to be home. The first week or so back at varsity will be tough, but you adapt and get used to it.

If you hang around with friends who single-handedly keep Greyhound in business because they go home every weekend, you’ll start wanting to go home too.

Then again, if its term 3 and your homesickness is still so bad that you spend most of your nights crying in your room and/or on the phone to your mom, then cupcake, maybe you should think about studying closer to home. I know people who are leaving Rhodes next year to study in their home town, and I know that it’s the best thing for them. They’ll be much happier.

So. Be prepared, and don’t let it get the best of you.

Ciao for now

Meat_is_murder

A diamond cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials

Hey y'all. I thought I'd write you a profile story about a first year here at Rhodes, just to show you the type of stuff you might end up facing during your first few months at varsity. And just like the girl in my story, you can survive!

Shannon Kelly Fagan came to Rhodes on a high. It was going to be the most amazing year of her life: she’d been accepted into the university she’d dreamed of attending since grade 11, along with many of her closest friends from high school. She arrived in Grahamstown in a flourish of pink suitcases and great expectations. But just three months later, all the excitement she had felt while anticipating her stay at university and been replaced by the frightening, ever-popular question first years ask themselves: What am I doing here?

From her very first week at Rhodes, Shannon was sure that all the hopes she had for university would become reality. “O-week was amazing,” she recalls, curling up cross-legged in the middle of her bed, pulling a pastel pink pillow onto her lap shyly. “It was scary at first, but it turned out to be really fun. I learned that meeting new people and making friends wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be.”

Shannon was focused and determined: she wanted to be a chartered accountant, and so was set on graduating from Rhodes with a Bcom accounting degree. She was happy, knew exactly what she wanted to do, and had a small circle of long-term friends who she grew even closer to. She became especially attached to another first year, Tessa Baleri, who had been a good friend during high school. But now, because they spent more time together and were taking many of the same subjects, the two became almost inseparable.

But before the end of the second term, Shannon’s ‘perfect’ university had lost its golden glow. Instead, this institution became a place she dreaded, which had turned her into a self-proclaimed “mess”. “I was so stressed about exams, tests and assignments,” she explains. “I missed home constantly and I didn’t feel like I was coping at all.” Accounting, her favourite subject in high school and the core subject of her chosen degree, turned out to be the class she dreaded the most. But another factor was about to add to Shannon’s feelings of hopelessness and uncertainty.

Shortly before her midyear exams commenced, Tessa dropped out of Rhodes.

Shannon reached breaking point. She shocked her friends with the news that she wouldn’t be returning for the university’s third term. “I just wanted to leave,” she says, her voice elevating slightly as she clutches her pillow. “I had lost my best friend. I was actually preparing to tell my parents that I was giving up. I wanted to go home.”

But speaking to her parents gave her a new perspective on the situation. She realised that she couldn’t give up so easily, and that she was strong enough to survive without Tessa. “I would have regretted it if I’d left,” Shannon explains, twisting her blonde hair around her finger as she remembers the worst part of her year. “You can’t expect yourself to be fully settled in just three months. You have to give yourself time to adjust.” She decided that because accounting was such a problematic subject for her, she should rather change her plans and study towards a standard Bcom degree. She went on to pass all of her exams, and even achieved a first class pass in management.

Four months later, Shannon has evolved into a more competent, mellow first year, who has learnt important lessons from the mistakes she made. “I learnt that I am more capable of being independent than I thought I was. I don’t get as stressed about work now. It’s not worth it.” Looking back, she finds it almost unbelievable that she was so close to dropping out. “I’ve changed so much since then,” she says, shaking her head in disbelief. “I grew up a lot. This is not high school anymore. Rhodes has really opened my mind and taught me to embrace new ideas.”

Shannon Fagan is proof that adversity can often refine a person and produce a stronger character. She smiles and explains: “University won’t kill you. But, if you let it, it will make you stronger.”

* Meat_is_murder*

Save 100 Lives

Greetings to all my fellow vegetarians! I know you might be a bit stressed about how your whole I-don’t-eat-dead-animals philosophy will go down among the predominantly carnivorous students at your chosen university, but guess what? I’m here to help!

First and foremost, if there’s an animal rights group at your university, join it. It’s an amazing way to mix with like-minded people, get involved in something you’re passionate about and make new friends. I joined Rhodes’s ROAR society (Rhodes Organisation for Animal Rights) at the beginning of the year, and it’s really opened my eyes. They gave us a lot of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) activism materials and information, which really encouraged me and strengthened my passion for this cause. I especially loved the animal rights stickers they gave us – they’re a fantastic way to spread the word and interest people in your ideas. A cute sticker on your notebook or a poster on your res room door is a great talking point and may even sway one of those meat-eating friends of yours!

If you’re staying in a residence, you can usually pick what you want to eat. There are different menus you can choose from, so it’s easy to simply book ‘vegetarian’ or even ‘fast food vegetarian’, if you’re lucky enough to attend a university which allows you that option. Dining hall meals are notorious: my friends are always complaining about how terrible the meat looks/tastes (or discussing what exactly it is that they just found in their chicken), so you’re much better off.

If you’re living off-campus in a flat/house (‘digs’ in university lingo), you’re going to have to do your own cooking (unless you want to live off Margherita pizzas from Debonairs. Which is cool too. But probably not good for your cholesterol level). But this isn’t a problem, thanks to those fantastic people at Fry’s. Their vegetarian boerewors / hotdogs / mince / sausage rolls / schnitzels / hamburgers are probably the reason I haven’t died of malnutrition over the last 6 years of my herbivorous life. They are the easiest things to make – you can stick most of them in the microwave for a minute and ta-dah! Edible soya protein! And you can stick them in almost every dish to replace the meat. Best thing since Mugg ‘n Bean’s frozen mocha coffee.

So there you go. You’ll survive just fine. And you can carry on on your merry vegetarian way and save the lives of more than a hundred animals a year.

***For all you omnivorous readers out there, you should see where your meat comes from. And then we’ll see if you still enjoy your Big Mac. Go veg! ***

Mwa mwa!
Meat_is_murder