First year:Overcoming My difficulties

My father gave me what he couldn’t get, a chance to have a better education" these was the words from Mcebisi Nkume a 20 years old, first year student in Extended Studies in Journalism and media studies looking so calm and relaxed as he reveal his reason of choosing to be at Rhodes. He is a shy young man who does not find it easy to talk to new people and also don’t like to be in an uncomfortable situation without someone he knows. This became his most weakness but also at the same time a challenge when he came to Rhodes.He comes from Kenton, a township very close to Grahamstown and the reason he chose to study at Rhodes was because of the influence of his father because his father once wanted to study media here in Rhodes but he couldn’t get in because of the certain issues which were imposed by the apartheid laws.For Mcebisi life in University was not easy as he expected it to be, "Rhodes is a different place because it’s not easy for me to interact with other people because of my English considering my educational background" he said.
But this was not the only difficulties he came across because when it comes to academics Mcebisi was struggling during the first term, he was failing his courses because he was not used to write the big essays he got here, it was too much for him.He even thought of quitting because he felt alienated and he tried to get help from career counseling and it didn’t make any difference, "sometime I will go to the carrier centre for counseling, and to tell the truth it was not helpful because it made me feel batter for one or two days and come the next day I was feeling lost again" looking confident with a smile as he continues "but the only thing kept me from quitting was my family background knowing that they are looking up to me and also that Rhodes is the most respected institution and most people will die to be here".

But all the difficulties he had came to halt from the second term, he became settled and started doing well in his studies until to the June exams where he did exceptionally well though he was troubled with one of his subject computer literacy and didn’t pass it, Mcebisi said he won’t let it bring him down again and he’s determined that he will improve in the final exams.As a way of trying to improving his academic skills Mcebisi had manage it through planning for his studies saying that it helps him to improve his time management, he explains it by expressing his faith saying that: "I know that I’m not perfect because sometimes I can be organized according to my study plan for a short of time, but I work hard every time to do the best of my work". And as a result of his determination to his hard work, he became one of the journalism 1 top students awarded in the third term.Apart from his academics, socially Mcebisi is still having difficulties to be part of the university life; he thinks that it is too fancy comparing to his standard and he feels like he’s been trying to change in order to fit in, of which he hasn’t able to.

The other thing which prevents him to have a good experience about the varsity life is because he does not live in campus, and the issue of money also affects him since he is finically needy where sometimes he just come to campus walking from township without even money for lunch, but he said: "I don’t really allow my personal issues to affect my studies because I had learned and also prepared to be strong during hard times".

Letter to My younger Self

Dear friend

Firstly I just want to welcome you for your first year in University, the beginning of your new life with different people, a place where you can make your dreams come true if you believe in yourself that, you have what it takes to be studying in a university. I know that you are so excited and nervous because this is your first time to be on your own, away from your family and friends, with no one you know, and I know you going to miss home which is a natural thing to do, but don’t forget that your family is going nowhere and you will get time to see them again so for now it’s time to start your new family. You know, for the first time in varsity life is very interesting and also challenging, so when it comes to your social life, I want you to be careful on what you choose to do and not to do because there is a lot of different things happening and some of them they will do no good to you, so to make your life easier you must make friends with people who will be a positive influence to you, people who will not want you to change who you are in order to meet their standards, people who will accept you as you are.In terms of academics, believe me when it comes to varsity subjects all sound really good and interesting but don’t just take any course without doing some research about it in order to find out what the course is really about because you will end up with regrets of doing something which you don’t even know why you are doing it

Study hard and everything will be okay

Your future friendKenny