The letter to a younger version of me! :)

Friday, September 26, 2008

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

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Aweh Dean,

I found your blog and letter to yourself an interesting read. I definately think that your advice about what course to take is something everyone wishes they had known back in the day, as a lot of people are stuck hating their degree(as i suspect you kinda do??). It is however still good to know you broke out of your shell as you say, and judging by your pictures you have been gyming since high school, lol!!! good on you man, Rhodes is awesome for the partying life and all that jazz, as I should know since i party a bit too much i think. Moderation, moderation, moderation... bleh! Good luck for rest of year and stay away from the green stuff!!

Tom!

Andy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Andy said...

Hi Dean,

I don't know about other people but I have gone through every thing you wrote about. First it was law in Botswana which of course I hated but not a total waste if you take a closer look because I found what I really liked during that time and got a bit of experience about being at varsity. Yes I did get in to the alcohol thing but not nearly as much as I did at Rhodes. I also did all the other things you talked about which I will not mention for the sake of decency. But it only lasted for a month or so before I realized I had turned in to a completely different person. I guess it's all an issue of knowing your limits and self control. But I want to stress the point that drugs are not mistake you want to make; its better one does not experience them at all, this is for the sake of your studies, your health and your sanity.

Andy