Block out the noise

Society and media will always paint a picture to us of what we should look like. Check out this story about how Julie Rose decided to block out the noise that once forced her to judge herself and in doing so managed to over come her eating disorder.

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As a Rhodes student currently living in res, I can understand the problematic debate of res vs. digs. Personally, I prefer the creature comforts of living in res like having your meals handed to you (granted they are not always the best), the sense of security and the life-long friendships made. Keeping in mind that university is where you find your bridesmaid, not your groom!

Much Love

Jovy-wovy

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I am a Rhodes University Journalism and media studies student. I am currently in my first year of studying. In our course we have to create a blog which we work on as an assignment. Our blog contains posts of comments, opinions, problems and issues of our first year experiences at University. I was interested to see that your blog is very similar to ours. You are bracing yourself for your year at university and blogging about inspirations, budgeting and other issues concerning university life. I believe that your blog will be of interest to many other university students as I have really enjoyed reading your blog and have found it very interesting and useful.

Not all first years are treated with disrespect...

To a certain extent I do understand your argument about first year Rhodes students being disrespected by those higher than them, but at the same time I believe that you are making a huge generalisation. When I arrived at Rhodes, at the beginning of the year, I immediately felt welcomed by the older students as well as the lecturers and tutors. The older students in my residence soon became my friends along with my new found first year friends and they never made me feel inferior. Owing to the older students, my friends and I were soon able to call Rhodes a second home, as they constantly showed us around and introduced us to new people. Theses friendships are still strong. As for my tutors and lecturers, I still find them extremely approachable and willing to help me whenever I need it. I have never felt intimidated or looked down upon by them. I do however understand that I may just be lucky to have had such pleasant experiences with those higher than me. I do agree that not all students have had the same experiences as I have, but I certainly won’t carry on this vicious cycle of treating first years with disrespect.

The Bubble

Having come from a town smaller than Grahamstown, I thought that I would settle into the small community life of Rhodes without any problems. Orientation week and the whole of the first term proved to be an amazing experience and went beyond all my expectations. I relished on the thrill of exploring my new found surrounding, which included the most exciting and fun filled nights out, while making the renowned ‘Rat and Parrot’ one of my local and frequent destinations. My friendships with my wonderful, unique and amazing new found friends were growing stronger by the day. The students, the atmosphere and Rhodes life soon found a special place in my heart.

However, as soon as the excitement and thrill of the new surroundings from the first term had come and gone, life at Rhodes continued to be special, but I soon noticed that something was missing. I realised that I was living right in the middle of a bubble, and a very small bubble at that. This was a very strange and uncomfortable living condition. The ‘bubble’ was thick, hazy and yet had a delicate view on the outside world. I was living in ‘the big scary world’, yet the only world I now knew was that of Rhodes University.

This ‘bubble’ is not only seen by me but also by many of my fellow students. It is frustrating and leads to unfair assumptions that all Rhodes students do not care about politics and issues concerning South Africa and the outside world. It may be true that some students just do not care about their surroundings; however I believe that this statement cannot be generalised. There are many who do care, but the knowledge is not readily available, they have to go looking for it.

Rhodes students are confined to the small town of Grahamstown, and to make matters worse Grahamstown itself is located in the middle of nowhere. Therefore there is even more reason for students to be more aware of what is happening outside of Grahamstown. One would think, with Rhodes having the best Journalism department in South Africa, that the students would be well informed about the local and national issues concerning the country. However this is not the case, as I soon found out.

As I grew more and more comfortable with my surroundings I started to feel more excluded from the outside world. I and other students who share similar views to me feel there is a lack of knowledge owing to the little immediate media available to us. Yes it is true that there are well run campus newspapers available as well as the local newspaper; however I do not believe that these newspapers expose themselves to the students as much as they ought to. Even though I come from a small town in Kwa Zulu Natal our street lamps are always adorned with ‘The Witness’ headline posters, which inform me about the country’s current affairs. In Grahamstown I battle to spot a headline poster, if there are any at all.

We need to make Rhodes less of a ‘bubble’. I believe we can do this by using forms of communication such as something as simple as headline posters. The fact is that most students don’t want to go on a mission looking for information; they want it to be readily available to them. For example: a few days ago there was a mini hurricane, but I only managed to find this out from a friend who found out from a friend who lives in Port Elizabeth! Each residence is equipped with DSTV, however very few have a 24 hour news channel! The local newspapers should also start to include more national and international news.

The bubble in which I live has been punctured by my own initiative to seek information from different forms of media. I became feed up with finding out the news second to everyone else back home. However for those who don’t do this, their bubble is bursting to pop, and it just needs some help. Most students do care about current affairs; they just do not have it readily available to them. I believe that is is time to pop this ‘bubble’ before it becomes any smaller than it already is.

The "donkey's" opinion!

Just how shallow and petty some of the people in this world are is something that I have come to accept. Just how shallow I am, is something that shocks me time and time again. I like to think of myself as somebody that is not easily influenced and as somebody that can distance herself from the chaos of peer pressure and the mob mentality that is ever present in the daily life of a first year. If this is true, then why did I just join the gym?

The type of wisdom and advice that many young girls are given as they enter the new and exciting chapter of University is simply,

“Do not get fat! Avoid first year spread at all costs!”

This advice has turned out to be somewhat paradoxical, as at first glance it seems absurd, but when implemented into the life of a first year, is actually very “fitting”.This type of advice is actually very useful if you don’t want to be one of the Jan Smuts boys’ “donkeys”, in the “donkey races” that take place in the Smuts Dining Hall. Where each boy (and not all boys participate, obviously) chooses a girl/ “donkey” and bets that she will be the one that falls victim to the “first-year spread bulge”. It is key if you do not want to be gossiped about behind your back and ridiculed for putting on a few kg’s. Because you just might be the girl that contributes to a Smuts boys drinking fund when he wins big at a day at the donkey races.This piece of advice is essential if you intend to adopt the party lifestyle where the issue of weight is taken even more seriously and in order to “lunge” and be “lunged”, you had better fit into that size 8 mini.

Some people have found a way to justify their sordid opinion on the phenomenon of “first-year spread” by saying, and I quote a conversation I had with a Rhodes boy and friend of mine earlier this year, “First-year spread is disgusting, it is not about the weight, it is about the fact that it shows that the girl isn’t taking care of herself, stomach rolls are disgusting, I could never be with a girl that had stomach rolls”. And yes, I did rethink my friendship with this particular boy and yes; he is going to have a hard time finding a girl with the perfect stomach he requires, especially with that attitude!
Despite the illusion that Rhodes is a place filled with diverse, weird and wonderful people that are non-judgemental, the fact of the matter is that “first-year spread” is taken very seriously on the Rhodes campus and it is unacceptable to most. If you want to avoid being ostracized,

I suggest that you avoid toast, become a gym freak, start counting calories and
invest in an eating disorder!

It is possible that if less emphasis was placed on weight, and people focused their attention less on vanity and more on reality, this world, and university, just might be a better place. But on that note, I had better be off to the gym…

First year Woman often fall victim to eating disorders

Anxiety usually fills the air when the discussion of a young woman’s first year at varsity is raised. Stepping in to the unknown territory can be a very daunting experience and as creatures of emotion, we sometimes struggle to find a balance as we try to settle in to our new lifestyle. Academics, friends, social experience and love interests fill our timetables leaving us with almost no time or energy to concentrate and maintain, what is most important, the mind and body. Varsity sees the transition from girl to woman, and this for most is a fragile time. Many girls struggle to juggle emotion and pressure and somehow they drop the ball, falling victim to eating disorders.

‘First year spreads’ are one of the biggest fears for most girls as they embark on their first year at varsity. With all of the stress that first year and the adjustment of a new space brings it is easy to see why most girls find it so hard to maintain a healthy weight. Adjustment to me is thus the main factor; outside of the usual pressure that society places on woman to look a certain way. These social pressures seem all the more, harder to deal with, in circumstances of emotional uncertainty.Like any social structure, university demands for us to look and act in a particular way. This is not to say that these pressures are more extreme at varsity level or that they can’t be overcome. The pressures at varsity are just unique in the sense that individuals for the first time get to really make decisions about themselves based on what their own imitative. Having left the nest of one’s parents, students have a sense of freedom and it is up to them to create or adjust to the person they want to be or be perceived as. These mixed emotions thus, can create a very unstable mental environment and it is then easy to fall subject to disorder.

Eating disorders like any common illness are evident in the day to day lives of everyone in the world. Wether it be you, a friend or relative most of us struggle to maintain confidence about our body. None of us, especially when faced by, the pressure of first year can avoid experiencing some form of eating disorder, wether this be first or second hand. All of a sudden minor imperfections, which we all have by the way, leave us tumbling down a slippery slope to obsession.

Wether it be bulimia, anorexia or binge eating young woman seem to try and use their disorder to create a sense of control. Somehow society and the media has led woman to believe that in order to be in control and to have success we, must alter ourselves to the point of perfection. While perfection itself exists is debatable, I recon it is a myth, we all still fall subject to at least tying. “To be a success as a girl and then as a woman, I learned early that I was supposed to be obsessively self-centered, scrutinizing every pore, every gesture, every stray eyebrow hair, eradicating every flaw, enhancing every asset,” Susan J. Douglas writes in Where the Girls Are.

Usually, the time spent at varsity for most us, is a transition from girl to woman. Experience, age, mental and physical growth are all factors that come in to play as we make this conversion. A conversion which must be undergone, as we all need to learn to be confident with the person we are, physically and mentally. As young woman we must therefore, learn to support and encourage each other, while not forgetting to promote our individuality. We are not all, and most of us will never be, Heidi Klum’s. We are however all unique and it is vital that woman support each others individuality if we are to avoid insecurity and disorder.

La Schandre Coetzee