Trial Independence

I think that's what they should be adding to the "Varsity Indepence" label when they are busy recruiting you to jump onto the Academics band wagon. I can still remember a time, way back in the day when I was still a minor at boarding school and people were forever singing about the "Freedom" that they would get once they leave their parents homes. All the talk was about the partying, the drinking, thick books, mean Professors, the skommies and vulture-like seniors who would forever be on th e prowl for young fledglings like ourselves, yet still, all the that the birdies wanted to do was leave the nest!
To say that this newly found indepence is far from what they said it would be is an understatement. Seriously. I mean, for sho! you gonna get all your party animals and smokers and weirdos and crazies and churchies and what ever else there might be, but there is a heck of a lot more than that to it.

School is very sheltered and protected and very safe. Out here.. Well, we all know it's quiet different out here. Most people get a BIG reality check once they leave home because you realise that it's not all flowers and roses and the world's definitly Not your oyester. Its far from it. It is all just Hustling n huslin' n huslmentation every where. A rat race to get a piece or a chunk of the cheese.
I am not even going to bore you with "college stories" or hum you some "varsity blues" tune, Nah, none of that. But I will let you in on something that worked brilliantly for me:
Gap Year.
Now, hear me out before you start thinking I'm going to teach you how to be bum.

You see, for me, Varsity was and is simply a ticket to get to my destiny. My destiny is like, the place where I believe I am meant to be at to fulfill my life's purpose most effectively. So when I talk about my dream, I am talking about some thing that am already living on a daily basis even though a have not "made it" yet. ( They say you need to walk like 'it", talk like "it", think like it to be "it".)

Gap year gave me the chance to have my trial independence with out that many strings attached. I did the occassional part time academic course, worked here and there, volunteered and really just kept myself busy with things that were goin' to build my character. All of this happend under the mentorship of other responsible young adults.(20s)
I had the time to find me, embrace me and figure out who me is in relation to the world. I made a few mistakes, but none of which were beyond correction and I decided that I was going to live for a specific purpose, not just the "rat race". I wanted meaning and I wanted to leave a legacy one day so taking a gap year allowed me the time I needed to mature, refine and align myself and my dreams into something that I feel is a huge part of me and I am really passionate about.

I had it good really, having completed school a year early, I just joined a group of young volunteers, asked people(businesses, friends, fam, parentals) 4 regular sponsorships and went travelling and doing community work etc. A friend of mine stayed at home and worked at super markets etc. Another did part time courses and waitressed.

Now I am in first year and from the get go, I felt Much better equipped to handle all of this. I walked around feelin' like I was steady and rooted somewhere.
Now this all sounds great and dandy for those who can, but for those of us who are really restricted by something else and just can't, like seriously can't take a gap, don't sweat it. You will just have to do this first year thing just like it has always been done before you: With the utmost care and a series of bloopers, scams and smoothies.:)

Me? I was just saying that y'all should remember that this ain't "Freedom day- remixed", it just "Trial Independence": an era of discovery and learning the steps to this life dance, not the performance evening. You still gotta show that you Gots this papie!! You gots to have this to be on broadway!
Dreamer

Letter to the young dreamer

Free spirited dreamer

We have now come to that place where we craft the dream into destiny. There have been Smoothies and Smirnoff’s Storms along the way but the hard headed persistent nut that you are has finally cracked into varsity- Rhodes. Yes! The “Rhodes dream” does see the light of day after the thickness of the night has passed!

Fortunately, we are not going to be the typical first year because we are part of the Gap year generation. After boarding school, it will be two years of travelling, dancing, guitar playing, camping, hiking, Kilimanjaro, paint ball and bungee jumping! All this excitement has served a greater purpose than just giving us an adrenalin rush. It will be an intense process of character refining and identity reinforcement for a time like now.

Sadly, hanging out of with holy people will not automatically make you look anything like Jesus; but you will make crucial discoveries about us in the process.
The key to a great first year is to remain me. Once this blueprint has been drafted, everything else, our academics and social life, will fall into place and the next four years should be much more solid and exhilarating.

There is a depth and passion about you that partly defines us. It is in your soul but as you know, it comes through you smile. If you think back a little, you might remember the day our eight year old self decided she would never lose her youth; we swore to remain young at heart, even if it means having a spider man bed set in first year or not always conforming to social expectations! We have to keep the passion and urgency alive or else we will lose the dream and consequently, the destiny.

Always unapologetically Us
Dreamer

Hopefully some help!

Hello my friend!

Sorry we haven’t spoken much lately, I have had a pretty eventful first year and I’m sure you have also been busy getting ready for the “big move” next year. The best way in which I can help you with this adjustment is to give you a few tips and hints that I really could have used when moving to a university away from home.

The fun begins and ends when you arrive at your new home. I’m sure you remember how nervous I was about leaving my family and friends especially because goodbyes can be so difficult. This is where tip 1 comes in handy: “Goodbyes are followed by hellos!” In other words, saying goodbye to your old friends and family forces you to make new friends who become your family away from home.

This brings me to tip 2: “You can never have too many friends”. Try not to be shy because you are nervous. Like I have told you before, seal-clubbing is a special feature of o-week (the first week of term) so rather use this time to make friends. Having friends are an important part of ones academic and social life. To clarify the academic point made…pulling an all-nighter to study and finish assignments would not be the same if you didn’t have a housemate to keep you awake on caffeine and chocolate.

O-week is somewhat a right-off in terms of academics but allows one to explore the social amenities that surround the campus. This is a very big hint: go out as much as possible!!! There are many commonsense tips which you WILL be told about like “don’t go out alone”, “don’t get drunk” and the very cliched line “don’t do drugs”. These have all been heard before and no one listens to them anyway so here is tip 3: “Don’t be stupid”. You know what is right and what is wrong so do what is right!

With these tips in mind, the first couple of days will be the best start for any first year. I am not going to lie or omit the truth in any way…. There will definitely be obstacles throughout your adventure but that is why I’m here to help you take the trip without tripping.

Much love,
Jane

Dear Little Friend...

Dearest Toni

You love to party. Who doesn’t? You have an awesome group of friends who you can be yourself around without having to worry about what anyone thinks. What more could a girl ask for? However, you’re nearing the stage in your life where you’ll have to say goodbye to all of them and start building the foundations of your future. I know you’re worried about whether or not you’ll find that group of people who will make your Rhodes experience worthwhile. Who will be there for you when you have a bad day? Who’s going to hand you the Panados after a big night out? And will you find that person who will stand at the front of the stage with you while his band is playing?

The answer to all of these questions is quite simple. You will find people who make you laugh, who will hold your hand when times are tough (or because you can’t walk properly anymore after one too many at The Gaol). Don’t get me wrong, they can never replace your friends at home, but you will form bonds with them, and these bonds may be even stronger than the ones you already have with your existing friends. The people that you meet at Rhodes will become like your family, and every moment you have there, may it be a good one or a bad one, will remain special to you because your friends will be there for you.

But how do you make these friends? Well, remember how you were feeling on your first day of high school? It’s a pretty similar feeling to the one you’re feeling now, isn’t it? You were scared and uncertain of what was going to happen. But you stayed true to yourself. You never changed for anyone, and admittedly, it was difficult. But in the end, everything worked out, and you made some of the best friends you could ask for. It’s very similar at Rhodes. You need to remember that you aren’t the only scared one. Almost everyone around you in your first year is feeling exactly as you do, and the only thing that you can really do to begin with is just to be there for each other.

Just one more thing. Life at Rhodes will get very difficult at times. You won’t get along with everyone. You’ll get the odd dirty look every now and again, and you might find that there are certain people who you’ll just never be friends with. But that’s okay. You don’t have to be Miss Popular, and you don’t have to remember everyone’s name. But you do need to have respect for everyone, and you need to understand that everyone is different. Just know that the friends you make, the ones you love and who love you back, are the people that you’ll remember for the rest of your life. And yes, although you’ll have a new group of friends, they too, will mock you the next morning for the silly things you may have done at The Union or Friar’s the night before.

Much love,
Toni
xxx

Staying who you are

Dear Nandi

I know your enthusiasm about coming to varsity but I also know how you value your principles, having been here for almost a year now I thought I should give you a few tips on my experiences.

I remember my very first day in Rhodes. We were all so happy to be in University at last. I felt a little bit out of place though because everyone seemed to be so wild and I was not.Later on that night our house-comm called us down to take us on an exploring trip around Grahamstown. What I had in mind was that they were going to take us around to show us shops, the cinema and other interesting stuff in Grahamstown. To my surprise they were taking us to Equilibrium, Rat and Parrot and all the other pubs around. Assumable that was what we needed to see in Grahamstown before seeing anything else and it seemed like such a normal thing everyone looked so comfortable I could almost swear I was the only one feeling uncomfortable. Before that day I had never been in a pub before so you can imagine what kind of an experience it was to me. Everyone was persuading me to have something to drink so that I can loosen up, but fortunately enough I am not easily influenced so instead I just asked one of the comm. Members to take me back to res.

When you come to university it is very important to know who you are and what you here for, because there will be many forces that comes to you and you must be ready to reject some and most of them and stick to your principles. People that you trust may lead you astray so you must be careful of the advices that you accept. I saw many people that got into stuff that they were not into and they ended up being hurt and confused because they cant live up to the new personality that they have adopted and it is also hard for them to go back into their original personality because then everyone will know that they were faking. You might think that peer pressure is a high school thing but take it from me, it is at its best in varsity. I won’t mislead you and say it is easy, it is very challenging to be your own person and do your own thing more especially if it is the exact opposite of what everyone else is doing. My advice to you would be to set yourself a set of principles and stick to them. Keep on reminding yourself who you are and what you want in life so that you may not lose your self identity. Put God first in everything you do, when temptations come only prayer can help you overcome them.

With Love

Ntombenkosi

Hello!!! :)

Nobody likes to be in the dark about their future... whether it is about not knowing what to wear when going out on the weekend or what career path you plan on choosing at the end of the day. Hopefully Cruiser's Lac will be humorous but also a supply of helpful hints for all of those out there who are at least half as confused as I was at the start of first year.

I didn't know the first thing about living... For starters its way more expensive than I ever thought it could be!!! I knew things were going to be difficult but they also ended up being exciting and fun. For this reason I hope to be able to share my experiences with anyone who wants to hear them... everything from doing my own laundry to handing in assignments on time!

This blogging thing is new to me so I will hopefully get the hang of things and be in touch more often! I also hope to get some pics and videos up and make this blog a little more exciting so if you have any tips please will you leave some cool comments and I will try my best to become a computer nerd!!!

XOXO