I would not trade it for the world...

On hearing that we would be blogging during this course my first thought was of disbelief and went along the lines of “I did not come to university to learn how to blog, any idiot can do that”. Well having today at exactly 11:15 officially reached the end of the narrative and genre course I am happy to admit that I was wrong and that although blogging was very different from anything that I have seen or done before it deserves its place in the Journalism & Media Studies course.

Most of the work that we have done in our Journalism & Media Studies course has been done individually, which suited me fine as I tend to be a perfectionist. You know the old saying “if you want something done right you need to do it yourself” well I’m pretty sure they based that on me. I was then as you can imagine not exactly impressed to find out that our blog assignment was to be done in groups. Now no one who has ever done group work can blame me for my initial feelings of “oh no” and the sarcastic “this is going to be fun” as eight out of ten times group work results in a few people carrying the weight of the entire group. The nightmare that is usually group work turned into a dream for me as I was lucky enough to be placed with four fantastic ladies who have made working in a group an absolute pleasure. Meetings were easily organised and attendance was never a problem. We approached our blog as if we were adventurers exploring newly found territory each watching out for our fellow explorers. Together we navigated the technical difficulties and even on one occasion fought and defeated the ‘Comeeko beast’.

The course had the constraint of a genre but that never stopped our creativity as it could work along side the genre. Our blogs had to be based on the experiences of being a first year at university, which was not a difficult genre to work within as all five of us are currently first years at Rhodes University. It was actually a liberating experience because besides the compulsory posts such as the profile, opinion and the letter to our younger selves’ pieces we were given creative licence to blog about whatever we liked as long as it related to first years or university students. In this respect even though we were working in groups each teammate was responsible for their own productivity in the form of posts. I really enjoyed this aspect of the assignment as it allowed me to work as an individual within the team. I discovered that blogging could be a great way to relieve stress and get things off my chest. These made me more productive and actually want to blog. Especially when I realised that by sharing events and feelings that were happening in my life I could help other people realise that they are not alone in the way they felt.

The character of our blog never restricted my story ideas as it was ‘a day in the life of five diverse students’ which allowed us a broad scope for imagination and creativity. I did feel that I was restricted slightly by the imagined audience’s judgement of my opinions. I always thought carefully about how my fellow classmates would react to what I had written before I hit the ‘publish post’ button. I do not consider this a negative aspect because I think that all writers whether professionals or amateurs should think about the impact of their words before they release them upon the world as once they are out there you can not take them back.

It is for this reason that research is also of importance as what you write is going to be read not only by your classmates but by anyone in the world. It is therefore wise to make sure that you have researched your subject and do not write rubbish that will undermine your credibility. I learnt this early on just because I did not want to be embarrassed by my posts especially the profile that I did. The profile was the post that required the most research as well as dealing with people as sources. People love to talk or at else the ladies in my residence do which made getting story ideas that much easier.

I believe that during this assignment my writing has flourished. I have learnt from my mistakes as well as those of my classmates in what has a positive or negative impact. It also allowed me to experiment with my writing techniques and try new things like the letter to my younger self which I never would have written if it were not for this course. Blogging has opened a whole new world for me in terms of personal growth and a different way in which to fulfil my professional goals. I have actually started my own blog which I intended to use to showcase my photographs and interact with other photography bloggers in order to expand on my skills.

At the beginning of this course I thought that blogging was something akin to a diary and had absolutely nothing to do with journalism but I was wrong. This kind of citizen journalism could be the news of the future. It is interactive, informative and fun. What more could you ask for!

Connecting our blog with the outside world

Hi Ashlea,

My name is Tarryn and I am currently a Journalism & Media Studies student at Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa. I just want to say how much I enjoyed reading your blog and thank you for the advice that you give in this post in particular. I am just about to write my first year final exams and have been doubting whether I should be studying at all. Stumbling across your blog inspired me again as it always helps to hear of people who have achieved and found a way to the end of the studying tunnel. It is also reassuring to know that there are those that think it is worth the effort, time and investment. Our journalism class is currently doing a new media course in which we are blogging in groups to learn about narrative and genre. Our group is called 'Tales from a Rhodent' if you would like to take a look. I also have my own blog that I just started called 'Drawing Life with Light'.

All the best with your thesis!

Kind regards
Tarryn

Student Budgeting - The Sum Of All Fears

Leaving the school uniform behind and coming to varsity has its advantages. You get to gain some independence from the parents, meet new people, unwind at your local haunts without being asked for ID and finally graduate with a degree (hopefully) but it isn’t all fun and games. Varsity life can be quite a costly business. Whilst living at home you don’t have to worry about the food prices increasing, the cost of petrol or your pocket money ever running out thanks to having a mobile ATM, aka your mum or dad, by your side 24/7. So where are students going wrong? Surely if our parents can manage, so can we, right?

There are certain requirements when it comes to being a Rhodent that didn’t apply to any of us when we attended school. Before a big night out on the town a new outfit has to be bought, pre-drinks need to be chilled and a small sum of money needs to be tucked away for sobering oneself up with Pirates Pizza. All of the above would have all been taken care of when living under our parent’s roof thanks to a little thing called Mastercard. The repetition of this weekly spending spree usually results in many students uttering budgeting plans for the next month which naturally fall away as soon as shear desperation results in a phone call home asking for some extra cash.

Other wallet lighteners for students at Rhodes include having to buy litres of bottled water each week from Pick ‘n Pay or Checkers due to Grahamstown water tasting like it’s from the toilet cistern. Fantastic! I have yet to find another varsity where the faeces content of the water out-numbers the H20 particles. I’m still waiting for my drink to suddenly come to life or grow fangs like a failed experiment from a science fiction movie. Thank you very much Makana Municipality. I’m sure you must have a fantastic deal with the Grahamstown food stores who are rolling in boodle due to selling so many bottles of a natural resource, which flows basically for free from our taps, in non-biodegradable bottles. No wonder students are feeling the pinch at the end of every month. If we get tired of carrying 10 litres of water up the hill every week and finally decide to stop buying it, we then have to pay medical fees due to health issues caused by highly contaminated H20. Nice one!

Res food adds to a student’s struggling cash flow. Not only are many of the res food options usually inedible, they’re usually unrecognisable too, so naturally students avoid eating the donkey meat with gravy option and choose to buy ready-made meals which are stomach friendly. This shouldn’t be the case seeing as staying in res costs our parents around R20 000 a year. Don’t get me wrong, not all res food is bad nor do all students hate it, but not being able to decide if your meal consists of beef or rat meat makes one wonder if spending a few extra bucks on nibbles from Pick ‘n Pay isn’t worth it. It may not be the healthiest option for a student’s wallet but with the current craze of being thin, maybe your wallet losing a few pounds isn’t such a bad thing.

As a student at Rhodes I have learnt that I have a fantastic ability to spend money but am useless at counting it, hence me being a BJourn student and not a BCom student, so saving a few extra Rand every month has been a bit challenging. After being tired of trying to stretch R20 over a two week period, I decided to try and satisfy my spending addiction whilst making use of the many student discounts that are available from various food and clothing stores. It hasn’t been easy due to a girl needing nearly every new product that appears on the pages of Cosmo but by cutting down on the nights out and making use of a few money saving tips from the parents, I have managed to avoid the dreaded pinch before pay day and no longer fear the balance on my ATM slips.

Academic Freedom?

There is the common misconception that academics at Rhodes University promote academic freedom. Of course they do, it sounds good and they punt it in their lectures. We are encouraged to create our own arguments and take a strong stand on our views. Isn’t this great I first thought! But the reality is something quite different and first year students, specifically BA students suffer under a system which suppresses academic freedom. You find yourself having to choose between either making a stand and promoting your own arguments or getting a first. Getting a first involves, as I eventually discovered, providing a strong argument but using the viewpoint of your lecturer or tutor.

Academic freedom is the freedom of students and academics to enquire openly and to express their arguments without being targeted by anyone to whom these views may be inconvenient (i.e. political groups or other authorities.) An article by the Council of Higher Education on academic freedom says that “Institutional autonomy could in the end empower the institutional bureaucrat to such an extent that the freedom of individual academics could be imperilled.”

Last week I wrote and essay about a play called Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett, for English 1. As much as I would have loved to write 600 words on exactly what I felt the play was about I knew that my tutor would not agree with my views and I would get marked down. So I hauled out my lecture notes and regurgitated everything that my lecturer had said on the topic. Needless to say I got my first, but was not at all proud of the fact that it had entailed me using someone else’s opinion rather than my own.

When I confronted my English tutor about my feelings he brushed them off saying that as long as we think critically we will do well. Thinking critically is all fine and well, but it is our lecturer’s or tutor’s thinking that seems to count and as long as we write that down religiously we are seen as critical thinkers.

First year BJourn student Caeri Dunnell agrees: “I certainly think we are encouraged to believe in specific ways and I do think that if we went against these ideologies that we are being taught you wouldn’t get the marks for it. For example, our tutor never lets us disagree with her in tuts and therefore we don’t contradict her view in essays because we realize we will loose out.”

Drama is another subject that restricts our creative academic freedom. When people hear that I take drama as a subject they think it’s wonderful “because I am able to express myself.” But even drama at Rhodes brainwashes its students into performing in a certain way and using styles that are liked by “those who mark.” Rhodes Drama department has a very specific and distinct taste and as soon as one breaks that mould, or uses styles that are looked down upon by the department, you are immediately at a disadvantage. You would not have thought this to be the case with a subject like drama.

In the light of this is university really just one big scam to brainwash us? Bring your children to get an education, hoorah! Meanwhile we are being taught how to use someone else’s ideas as our own. We are being brainwashed into abiding by certain conventions and being educated to believe in ideologies unquestioningly.

The above might not hold true for the other faculties and other years at Rhodes, but it certainly seems to hold true for the first year Humanities students. Whether or not this will change in second year I don’t know. But I continue to ask myself should I be aiming for that first or should I be aiming for complete academic freedom even if that means I don’t achieve as well.

The Grahamstown divide

Since my first few weeks in Grahamstown I was struck by the enormous and blatantly obvious divide between rich and poor in our town. It feels to me like Somerset Street is some kind of a railway track. On the hill-side of the railway track is the University with its affluent students and as soon as you cross this railway track you are bombarded by street children and beggars. Only yesterday I was “harassed” for the goodness-knows how many-eth time by a beggar in town. His calls of “mamma, mamma, please, some bread, please mamma, some bread” not only had me feeling uncomfortable, but also extremely guilty. Most of us don’t think twice how lucky we are when we sit down for meals, or climb into a warm bed at night. I’m again filled with guilt as I realize how often I say “I’m starving!” in a week, when in fact I can’t even begin to describe what starvation feels like. I don’t sleep in a box in a cold doorway at night, I don’t have to scratch food out of bins and if I really want to I can ignore that these things happen at all. I don’t know what I can do to ever change this situation. I know that whatever I am doing now and still plan to do to try and help will only be a tiny drop in a massive ocean. I know I can make a start by appreciating all the privileges in my own life and continuing to do what I can, even if it is only on a small scale. Every bit helps and as students we should aim to make the gap between our University and our town smaller so that we can be a true Grahamstown community and not one divided by wealth and a lack of wealth.
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RUTV Documentary Film Festival

Last night I attended the fourth year TV Journ student’s final documentaries and WOW!!! I can’t believe that in three years time I’m going to be producing work that it that amazing, be it in TV or any one of the other forms of media! I am totally in awe at the high standard of their documentaries and the emotions that they elicited in me. There were times when my legs and arms were covered in goose bumps and I could feel the hair standing up on my neck. I also frequently found myself with a lump in my throat and by the second last piece I couldn’t control my emotions any more and was in tears! A five minute long documentary about Rhino poaching in Zimbabwe was what did it. The footage of a one month old Rhino named Nyasha covered in gashes, lying next to a fire with her new care taker, having just lost her mother to the brutality of poachers was too much for me to handle. The text on the big screen then informed us that the baby Rhino died the next morning. These documentaries not only reminded me of the suffering caused by the cruelty of humans, but it also brought human suffering very close to home. I was surprised at the amount of insight the journ students were able to get into the lives of various Grahamstown people. It hits hard when you realize that down the road from where you live are prostitutes who can’t bear to face life anymore, married couples coping with HIV, atrocious backstreet abortion scams and people breaking the conventional and traditionally accepted boundaries of who lives in which area. I found most of the documentaries extremely evocative and I only hope that one day I am not only able to produce such amazing material, but to be able to use that material to make a difference in the lives of others. I hope that as a journalist, I can turn journalistic conventions on its head by not only being a witness and reporter, but to use my talents and skills in a compassionate manner to better our world.

A Small Town Socialite

It is easy to overlook this tiny little Italian girl, but it is impossible to miss her laugh. Lara Contu’s habit of frequently throwing her head back and letting out a loud, infectious laugh and her bubbly personality makes her irresistibly approachable and very popular.
Lara leans back on the bed, immediately at home, and twirls a thick strand of shiny brown hair around her finger as she talks. Her voice is animated and she chuckles every so often as she talks about her experiences at Rhodes.
The smallness of Grahamstown and Rhodes University is what led her here to study a BSc degree. Lara laughs as she explains that she is studying a BSc because she enjoys biology and says, “My brain is more direct, I’m not very creative. Not creative enough for a BA.”
But if she wasn’t studying a BSc, Lara would definitely be studying a BSocSci degree because she is fascinated by people.
For this Johannesburg socialite, the intimacy of Grahamstown is what appeals to her and her eyes widen as she says in a big voice: “I love it here, are you mad, it’s so cool! Even though there are only three places to go!” It is no surprise then that with this enthusiasm, Lara has made a large number of friends in the short time that she has been here. She says that although she knows just as many people in Jo’burg as she does in Grahamstown, she is more likely to have a conversation with people she meets while out in Grahamstown than in Jo’burg. This has meant that Lara has had memorable and happy first year experience.
Lara says that as a Rhodes student she feels that she is part of something, and it is this something that makes her friends back at home jealous. They do not understand the bond between fellow Rhodents.
Although Lara hasn’t suffered too much from homesickness, she does miss her family a lot and wishes that home could be closer to Rhodes.
Living in res means that Lara is never lonely, and she thinks it is “cool” to live with her friends in Hobson House residence.
One of Lara’s Hobson friends, Caeri Dunnell, adores Lara and says fondly: “Lara often comes into my room and plonks herself on my bed and talks to me for ages, until I have to kick her out!” This companionship isn’t the only reason why Caeri values Lara’s friendship so much as she says that if it wasn’t for Lara she would never do her laundry! “She always makes sure we do our laundry and we have fun doing it together!”Caeri also mentions Lara’s honest nature and how she can be direct with people in a nice way and her ability to mingle with as many people as possible where ever she goes.
Lara leans further back into the pillow as she talks about the night she fell asleep in front of a group of friends and started snoring! This story leads her to let out another loud laugh and she covers her mouth in embarrassment as she explains that awkward situations like this is one of the things that makes her laugh. “Geesh,” she says, “actually just about anything makes me laugh!”

A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss

At the age of 19, Amy Moss, a Hobson House resident, has managed to find a balance between work and play in a varsity famous for its partying. After matriculating in 2007, Amy has been on a whirlwind adventure through her first year at Rhodes University and shows no sign of stopping the late nights despite the upcoming end of year exams.

Living at Mosslands Farm, which is situated 20km outside of Grahamstown, Amy feels quite at home at Rhodes. As an ex-Kingswood College student, she has become accustomed to the student behaviour around the town and now that she is a first year, she is enjoying every minute of life without the uniform.

On Wednesdays, Fridays and some Saturdays you will definitely find Amy at her local haunts which include the Rat and Parrot, Friar Tuck’s and the Rhodes Union as these are places where “you can dance, buy cheap drinks and have a fantastic night out with friends”, she says. Since “O-Week”, her first and fondest memory from Rhodes, Amy has always been a social butterfly with endless amounts of energy and a carefree attitude but as a BJourn (Bachelor of Journalism) student, Amy knows that life at varsity is not all about the parties; it is also about the degree. She remembers her parent’s advice about working hard at university and finding a balance between varsity’s social and academic aspects, and admits that she could be working harder. “I’ve always been a bit of a procrastinator when it comes to academic work so I could be doing a lot better in my studies but I’m coping”, she says as she gently flicks a strand of blonde hair away from her face.

Amy rarely stresses or gets nervous about anything and seems to have adopted the “If you worry die, if you don’t worry you die, so why worry?” attitude when it comes to varsity. On the rare occasion that the workload becomes a bit overwhelming or she has a low moment, Amy is able to calm things down and pick herself up by watching various movies, reading a good book by Marian Keyes or going out with friends. “When things get a bit hectic I also have the habit of biting my nails, I just can’t help it but I’m trying to stop”, she says whilst blushing.

Amy takes her degree very seriously especially since only 120 out of 280 first years will make it into second year journalism but always make time for social functions and nights out with friends. Despite her love of partying till dawn, Amy is able to keep on top of her assignments and tests, participate in various res events and pass her exams whilst maintaining her extremely high energy levels making her the envy of many students.

Amy has managed to crack the varsity system and find a successful lifestyle that has enabled her to keep afloat of her work whilst enjoying everything that varsity has to offer. Her love for life and having fun has enabled her to remain happy in an extremely stressful environment. Her ability to balance the social aspects with the academic aspects of varsity has provided Amy with the opportunity to meet new people and have a fantastic first year whilst exploring everything that Grahamstown and Rhodes has to offer. Amy Moss is a survivor of the pressures of first year and is looking forward to partying many more nights away in Grahamstown whilst taking all the obstacles that come her way in her stride.

Surviving

Raisa Meiswinkel is anything but your typical Rhodes student although you might be fooled by her Cartman t-shirt and friendly attitude. At the age of twenty she is a perceptive young mind that says of herself “I see life in binaries, everything is black or white while I am one huge grey area”. She is a character that has been through many changes and taken many paths all of which have shaped her into who she is today… a survivor.
Lying on her red and orange bed while I sit in a chair opposite things begin with an air of meeting with your physiatrist. The only difference would be that Raisa does not have to be forced to talk as she answers questions enthusiastically and openly. We pick up her story at the tender age of sixteen when she left Port Elizabeth to live in Pretoria on her own so that she could attend the Pro-Arte Alphen School of Arts. “It was the best and worst experience for me the art was great but I was still young, vulnerable and easily manipulated” It was not long before she had a lip ring, dyed her hair black and started experimenting with drugs. She thought she could handle being on her own in Pretoria but looking back she realises that that was not the case but at least she has learnt enough from her experiences to realise that now. With the help of her mother she moved back to Port Elizabeth and started at another school.
It was after finishing her matric at The Hill College and with her extreme rebellious stage behind her that she started at Rhodes University. To say that the decision to attend Rhodes was easy and that it has been easy being here would be an understatement. Torn between two professions Raisa had to make a choice Rhodes or AAA. “I wanted to go to AAA; I had already filled in all the forms and started working on my portfolio”. It was the best place for her to go to fulfil her art and design dreams but she decided that she would give Rhodes a chance as it was closer to home and her aptitude tests had suggested that it would be better for her stress levels (which according to her can get quite high). She explains “I am hoping that by taking the academic route I will still end up at my design destination”.
Looking directly at me she admits that “arriving at Rhodes was a real low for me I don’t think I had mentally prepared myself for what was to come”. Although things were rather rocky in the beginning and it has been difficult to adjust it has not been all bad. “I am amazed at how I am absorbing information” she responds with a smile that crackles with electricity. The academic stimulate is what keeps her going as one of her happiest moments at Rhodes has been when she received her exam results. This reminds her of the time at The Hill College when she received 100% for a business project. Sitting up quickly to tell the story she says “The principal told me that I was one of the five people that he had ever given 100% in his teaching career. That made me feel like it was all worth it”.
Whether Raisa will be continue with her Journalism degree here at Rhodes is a question that she asks herself daily. Taking a deep breath she says “I need to do a lot of soul searching over the holidays and decide what I really want to do. Life is too short to stick to something that doesn’t make you happy.” But on the other hand she accepts that if the next few years will get her where she wants to be then they are a necessary evil. The only thing she does not want is to be here for the wrong reasons. She explains this further as “most people are out to prove themselves to others whereas the only people they have to prove anything to is themselves”. This is the lesson that she has leant the hard way but through perseverance and a support network she has survived. And found a way to live her life for herself.