To go, or not to go

The list of pro’s and con’s of attending a university is endless therefore only three pro’s and three con’s will be discussed. The question of whether college is useful or a waste purely depends on the mind of the individual. Though after weighing the ups and downs of college there will be a decision.

It is a common ideology that obtaining a piece of paper that took you four years to read for will ultimately get you a top notch job that will keep you from going bankrupt and even earn you enough money to buy furniture from the Mr Price Home catalogue. This is conventionally seen as a pro. They say knowledge is power and university is most definitely full of knowledge so if one wants to know the reasons behind necrophilia, university is the place for you. Last but not least there are many foreigners that attend well known universities therefore if you can’t afford to travel just come to university and meet the people from your favourite holiday destinations.

The downsides of university that it’s not cheap and it could cost you an arm and a leg just to get through first year. Therefore knowledge can be power but it doesn’t come for free. Another bothering truth is the fact that after spending twelve years of your life in school you have to spend another four or five years studying even harder. Finally you will be asked to write a 250 word "paragraph" with an introduction, body text and a conclusion only to find out that you will
receive an ‘S-’ (tht's a fail in English 1 language) no matter how hard you try to fulfil these requirements.

Although the idea of university seems great and that the joys of finding a well-paying job will be achieved there’s still a burning question as to ‘Is it really worth it?’. Judging from previous experience university can be a bother at times but all in all tertiary education advantages you in the long run. Therefore University may seem as a waste at the start but only later will you realise how important it actually is.

A useful tip:

Now as I was laboriously dragging myself down to the printing labs, I shared a thought with myself. This thought was a thought about one of the absolute banes of my life at university. I thought to myself, that I should give you prospective students some clear warning in advance about this specific thought. I thought that it would save you a lot of time and effort and probably prevent you from being late on the odd occasion. I thought that it would save you from; waiting in lines for an open computer, waiting for printing credit to come through and from waiting for your stuff to print. Now this thought of mine was to advise you, all you prospective students, that having a PC/ laptop and a printer is essential! It will help you so much in the long run, take it from me, not having a printer SUCKS!

That’s me for now,
Dean

Wear Sunscreen

OK, so my title has the same name as that profound song, "Wear Sunscreen", if can even call it a song, it's just a weird man talking about wedding anniversaries and doing the funky chicken. But that's beside the point, the point I am trying to make is... wear sunscreen. Summer is upon us and you may all think you need the sun, so you and some mates go and have an awesome time in the sun around the pool. The thought is in the back of your mind... "I should have worn sunscreen," but do you listen? No, of course you don't since when has any student listened to their better judgement? What you do is you have a wonderful day in the sun and continue on with your day. Until... now this is where is gets good... until, several hours later you can barely move and you have your friends plastering your body with lotion and after sun. So guys and girls, it is really not worth it, rather wear a low factor sunscreen and enjoy your time in the sun whilst catching a hot tan and not being scorched!

That's my bit of advice for the day!

Cheers Folks :)

Create an Identity

You know that age old saying that it's best to just be yourself and then the friends will start flowing. Well it's not true. Well not true to an extent. Here at University in order to be known and stick out from the rest you've gotta be a ninja.

It's very easy to just fade away into the background at University because there are just so many people. Well here at Rhodes University there's 6000 students but places like UCT and WITS cater for over 20 000 students. Now that's a hell of a lot if you compare it to dear old High School.

Therefore my advice to you is that you create an identity for yourself that you love and if you love that identity then people will be drawn, like a magnet to metal. But don't get me wrong I'm not saying that you have to be fake and walk around being all sad because you feel that you're not being honest to yourself. I'm saying that you have to compromise here and there in order to make new friends and then after wards when you know that person better you become more you. No don't tell me that's being fake because it really is completely normal. I'm sure everyone does it. Or maybe it's just me.

Though if you're one of those people that don't want any attention and just want to fade away from the spotlight. Then be my guest and lurk in the background. Being involved in the livelihood of University may just get you some great credentials to put on that CV of yours. So take my advice and get involved in all that University has to offer because first year only happens once (Well normally).

Be yourself but not so much. No one likes it when you come up to them and say "Hi, my chainsaw is oiled up and your limbs look quite tasty".

So take it easy and don't come on too strong on people when you're making friends in that time we call O-week.

Peace, Love and Tequila
Lesh

Boredom is just another way of saying you're relaxed.

I seriously don't understand those folks who say they are bored. Repeat after me. There is no such thing as boredom, There is no such thing as boredom ,There is no such thing as boredom, There is no such thing as boredom, There is no such thing as boredom. Well now that you're bored of repeating. Let me explain my theory.

Being a first year entails a lot of work. You have to work on your looking-ahead-in-the-distance-pose for those random pics that are taken of you in the only nightclub in Grahamstown, Friar Tuck's (EQ doesn't count count as I am always broke to pay the admission fee and the music is really too 'G' for the emo in me, so no offense to you EQ-goers). You have to perfect that cool I-don't-care attitude that will hopefully win you some more friends on Facebook. You have to constantly run to the Library because you forgot your student card in the photo-copying machine again. You have to do all those tuts otherwise you will threatened with a DP warning that will ultimately ruin your chances of being a second-year. You have to always check on RUconnected to see what the Journalism and Media Studies Department is up to otherwise that saying "DP removed" will be become a recurring nightmare and overtake those dreams (in terms of scary-factor) of your great uncle Raj doing the full Monty at Christmas time. You have to always walk somewhere be it to lectures, meals, tuts, Stevies (The new name for Union), Friars, Pick 'n' Pay or Walker House (Ironic name, don't you think).

All in all the point I am trying to get at is that being a first year means a lot of WORK. So when one day you are miraculously blessed with some free time. Do not say you are bored because that's just insulting. Instead enjoy every moment of it and don't let any of that free time go to waste.

Here are some things that you can get up to:

• Sleep


• Eat


• Sleep


• Eat


• Sleep


• Sleep


• O ya, and Sleep

This list is no joke. I bet you a million billion zim dollars that you will do exactly what's on that list because I am a ninja forecaster of events.

Enjoy the Free-Time

LESH

The letter to a younger version of me! :)

Hello Naïve one,

I am writing to warn you and inform you of some the stresses, dangers and good experiences you can expect when coming to your first year at Rhodes. Remember the day when you applied for Rhodes? You were so hell bent on coming that no one could persuade you otherwise. Well your perceptions are going to change. Please make sure you have sufficiently considered your decision and have researched enough information about other Universities and courses so that you will be making a wise and informed decision to come and study Journalism at Rhodes. You potentially could be wasting a lot of precious time and your parent’s money. However a wasted first year is not a complete waste because the valuable life lessons you have learned and the good friends you have made will stay with you forever.

You will be interested to know that you definitely will break out of your shell in your first year at Rhodes. No more Mr. Shy-Guy who can’t pull the moves, oh no, you become Mr. Man-Whore-Player who most certainly can pull the moves. Just be careful about the amount of alcohol you consume, sometimes it changes you to such an extent that you forget who you truly are and become a burden to yourself (when you’ve sobered up the next day) and to your friends.

You will become more open to the use of weed. You will have some good times and some terrible times under the influence of “the green stuff”. However, DO NOT OVER-DO IT! Over-doing the weed and alcohol lowers your immune system and you will become a sickly child if you do not care for yourself properly and eat correctly.

Ultimately my friend you will have a great year, even though bouts of depression are going to hit you and you will hit a few nasty bumps along the way. Nevertheless, you will overcome them and come out from those experiences a stronger person who has gained valuable life lessons which you can take with you the rest of your life.

Looking out for your best interests,

Dean Shuttleworth

Get to know your spiritual advisers.

The day Lesh and I decided to steal a spar trolley but were ambushed by the old hag, Mrs Spargs, who reprimanded us and took away our dream. Atleast we got we got a pic of it though.


Friar Tuck time. Chris's thumb is double-jointed. Well I hope so, other wise thats just an arb thumb.



SURPRISE !!!!!
Lesh and I.


Lesh always seems to look drunk. I think its her only talent.





Dean's fabulous pantene ad pose. Lesh (on the left) just looks confused and I (on thhe right) am a ninja.



You have no idea how intoxicated that man-whore, Dean, was the time this pic was taken.

After Thoughts

THIRUSHA!

Look here! You have forgotten to take your medication again haven’t you? I can just tell when you’re A.D.H.D. is acting up again, your eyes wonder, you constantly fidget with that button that is about to fall of you shirt and not to forget your concentration span that is shorter than a goldfish’s memory. Nonetheless we shall leave this discussion for when we are with Dr Pillay.

Now listen and try to retain these pearls of wisdom I am about to bestow upon you. The main reason you are coming to Rhodes is to gain independence and break free from the shackles of your parents so you will want to go out partying and get extremely intoxicated night after night. This is all good and well during O-week but sooner or later all those tequila shots are going to take a toll on your body. Don’t get me wrong no one loves eating half a loaf of dry bread while lying face down on the room floor trying to prevent themselves from regurgitating that cheesy macaroni you ate for supper, more than I do. However you need to keep in mind that you came to university to get a degree and there is more to student life than hoping aboard the ‘cane train’.

Prioritise, prioritise, prioritise. Write lists of what you need to do in order to manage your time and then write a list of your lists so you are extra organised. Okay maybe I’m being melodramatic but managing your time is what is going to determine your success. After you have written a ‘to do’ list you should make a list of things not to do comprising of these things:

1. It might seem like a good idea to impress your friends with your ninja drinking skills but do not mix white spirits with dark spirits because you will be spending the rest of your evening demonstrating your ninja vomiting skills to them.

2. Avoid Crackling a.k.a. Autumn Harvest like you would avoid the plague.

3. Never ever leave your drink unattended or accept a drink from that beautiful boy from Kimberly seven as you can always cure a hangover no matter how bad it seems but date rape is not something you want to experience.

4. Put down those Salticrax and cream cheese! When searching Pick’n’ Pay for food to fill your shelves try to buy food that is cheap and will fill you up.

5. Go to those introductory lectures during O-week so you do not end up doing a course in Ichthyology before you realise that you hate fish.

6. . . . Well, I cannot tell you everything now, can I? This is where my list stops, the rest is left for you to discover.
May the force be with you young grasshopper

O’ great one

P.S.: If you ever meet a boy named Kyle that tries to play Casanova with you, tell him to crawl back into that hole he emerged from.

My Schizophrenic Trip

Dear Lesh

You side tracked wanderer. Its time to leave the nest and travel abroad and experience the harsh sentimentalities that life so humbly offers us. By abroad of course I mean another province and not another country as I know you are too much of a wuss to take that leap. But a leap you are taking nonetheless. Gone are those days where we used to drink a bottle of tequila then wash it down with half a bottle of Southerns later resulting in us hugging the toilet for the rest of the night while our dear friend is shoving her finger down our throat because she once heard that if you make a drunkard puke then they’ll be as good as new. Yeah I still don’t know why she did it, maybe it was love or just out of annoyance with our drunken antics.

But that’s really not the point; I know you are as gullible as the Eskimo who buys snow from a sales person so take this advice with a cup of Milo. When you attend the sports and societies sign-up evenings do not be talked into anything just because that chap is hot or your friend is also considering some lame society that will only greet you with open arms then toss you out like the smelly banana skin that you are. The societies are evil as they take your money and really don’t offer you more than a crappy T-shirt that is bound to fade and tatter after the first three washes. Also do not join the photography society just because it looked cool and that maybe it would inspire you to purchase a camera. Since of course 1) You will never get over your cheapness and buy a camera and 2) You don’t like the dark so those dark room courses will be quite, what would you say, interesting. Also do not give in to the emails that you will receive from H.S.S (Hindu Student Association) they are the most boring people you will ever come across. Trust me on this one.

Instead of just randomly joining every society that offers alcohol, try to join only two that you think that would complete that hole in your life. So I guess it’ll be the infamous RAFSOC, which is known for its drinking antics, and ELECTROSOC, which has the most awesome parties ever......

Choose wisely and don’t mix Cane with Crackling

Heart your wise-spiritual-self

In coming

Hello my pretties

I hope you appreciate the fact that I am sacrificing my drama lecture on Greek theatre for you lot and because I really don’t fancy being beaten up by the rest of the team who keep harassing me to do an introductory post. So here it is

Behold the blog that you have all been waiting for…..drum roll please……FRESH MEAT

No wait come back…

This is not a blog about meat preservation or how to get rid of your dead pet lama that’s been laying under your bed for the past three days. This blog is so much more. It’s the reason you are going to make it through the first year of university without any crutches or carpet burn. This blog shall be your friend, you will be able to confide in us, tell us your stories and we shall share our magical tales with you as well. Like that one time I drank a liter of milk before doing 10 liquid cocaine shots and wound up in bed next to some chap named Jose’ who was wearing a pink leotard. The moral of the story kids is after the 6th shot of blue vodka everyone is good looking so do not listen to your friends when they say that the mole on that guy’s chin is not that noticeable even though it is clearly evident that it’s big enough to have its own capital city.

Already you have learnt something new from my first post and there is plenty more in store so stay tuned because I do know where you live and I will hunt you down and force feed you canned spaghetti if you abandon us.

Usta la vista baby
Skippy

The Letter that Leapt Through Time: A Fateful Choice

Hello my friend

Just here to give you a little insight into what courses to choose when you start university. Choosing what courses to do is always hard and difficult for two reasons. The first is that choosing ones courses can greatly affect ones future and secondly there are so many exciting courses to choose from. I went for the courses which concerned subjects that I am interested in and ones that I was curious to see what they were like.

However my advice is to go to all the lectures during O-Week. They introduce you to some of the lecturers and give you a great understanding of the subject. I picked most of my course after attending the lectures during O-Week. Also once you have picked a subject don’t be afraid of using the two week trail window period for changing courses. Rather change a course early on than be enslaved into something you hate for half or even a full year. I have seen it happen first hand and there is nothing worse than having to do something that is challenging and boring at the same time.

Also remember that in the second semester or even second year you might have to pick more or different courses. So to avoid going through the long process again I will give you a little more advice. During your time at university try going to some of your friends lectures. You will be able to get a first hand experience at what the other courses are like. Then you can accurately choose what subjects you want to take. It is also a great way to meet new people and make new friends, which is always hard when first starting at university.

Wishing you good luck your friend

Chris

Well here we are the infamous Gang of Four. From left to right we have Lesh, Chris, Skippy and Dean.

Forced Labour?

I must admit I have tried to avoid this as much possible. In the past, a few people I know have started blogs on various topics from their daily lives to politics and have tried vainly to convince me to do the same. But I have always been the type of guy that listens instead of talks so blogs to me were either very irritating or boring.

However here I am and doing the thing that I have avoided and its all thanks to the Journalism and Media Studies Department. As part of my course I must (willingly or unwillingly) create a blog which will be marked. Well as you can imagine I feel like a 12 year old working in a sweatshop in Indonesia (at least they get paid a little) or a political dissident working in a Soviet Gulag.

But things are not all gloom and doom. I have three friends on my side working this little project of ours and we have all promised to make it a ball for ourselves, our lecturers and the future readers of our blog. So I am Chris and this our blog, hope you enjoy it.

Love and Peace

Chris

Well this is the first time I am doing this!

Make a blog they say
So we do so while being gay
You'll be marked on how it turns out
But believe us it better be good or we'll shout
So off we venture Lesh, Skippy, Chris and I
To try make the best blog that ever did live
We most definitely were aiming for the sky
So here is RU Fresh meat which to you we give =D

Sorry was feeling very poetic after my English lecture on poetry this morning! So apparently if you mention Britney Spears' name in anything you are guaranteed many many hits! :) So I'm trying this tactic LOL; Britney Spears, Britney Spears, Britney Spears, Britney Spears, Britney Spears, Britney Spears, Britney Spears, Britney Spears, Britney Spears, Britney Spears, Britney Spears, Britney Spears, Britney Spears, Britney Spears, Britney Spears.... OKAY... Maybe I over did it a bit! LOL!!! Even tho I do LOVE her and thinks shes fucking HOT!!!! :~

Anyway I am know as the sexually frustrated man whore nowadays who can't control himself when he is drunk. I have diagnosed myself with Alcohol Induced Split-Personality! Its where I get really drunk and blank out and become someone I'm not! I.e. A MAN WHORE! who gets with everyone and then gets the flu because he has all their germs!!!! ARG! LOL!

So that was just my little introductory post, to introduce you to our cool awesome little blog which is gonna be the best ever!!!!! LOL! And by the way I am by far the coolest blogger in the group! Just thought I'd Let you know! ;)

Peace out my fans

xx

Yay, Yay, YAY, The suckiest post ever

Welcome ladies and gents to the one and only fresh meat, well actually speaking we are one of many "fresh meat-titled-blogs-on-blogger" as we had to name our "url" rufreshmeat since some other bitches were smarter than us and stole the name before us... But enough of that later.

We are the blog that will be your guideline to the coolest and hippest shit on all the campus's around SA. we will be your go-to-guy when your zipper is stuck in awkward places and most of all we will lie our asses of and share our embarrassing moments with you just to put a smile on that dile.

Our aspirations are very, what would you say, aspiring and we would like to aspire to them at the utmost disipline that we posses.

But from me this is all I have as I have to run to my English tut.
(Forthcoming attraction: Tuts- How to look smart in them when you actually don't have a clue what the fudge is going on.)

Peace, Love and Tequila
Lesh