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The beginning of the year is a topsy-turvy time, full of excitement and a little bit of fear, full of people and events and busyness. First years are independent for the first time, free to make your own choices. It may be the first time that you have some money in an account that you control. You’re on your own when it comes to food. Exciting, but also a bit frightening.
Here’s what some first-year students said about this experience (they were part of a research project for the Sasol Inzalo Foundation.)
Student 1: When people say you have freedom, you really do have freedom. But, because this freedom comes with far too much responsibility, at times I wish I never had so much. We are thrust into a world, some not willingly, into the real world that school has not readily prepared us for. You have to continuously, sometimes even unknowingly, make decisions that will in some way impact on your future.
Student 2: I learnt that lecturers do not really care if you attend lectures or not, listen to them or not. They are more than happy with just failing you. In university, you are just a number. You can pull the wool over the eyes of all by getting people to sign in for you, but in the long run you fool yourself. So, no one is going to threaten you to go to class, do your work or remind you when assignments are due. In situations like this you wish you were back at school … Learning to adjust to the real world was the hardest and most life changing experience. Ultimately, in life, each man is for himself.
Student 3: University life is a “blast”. You have to choose whether you want to go to lectures or not, study or go to a movie, sit in the front of the class or the back, eat healthy food or not, and the most striking one for me is, do I just pass like everyone else or strive to get the best grades?
Choices. Decisions. Responsibility. That’s the common thread.
What lies ahead of you on this road to the degree and the future you dream of, depends on the choices you will make every day and every week. Today’s kfc meal, or that extra beer, may mean you don’t have enough money for food at the end of the month. Time spent on social media may cost you the credit you need to pass. Every day there will be a series of choices. Every time, it is up to you. You have the freedom, but you also have the responsibility. I came across this video in a series called The Real Talk with Zuby, which sums up the double-edged sword of freedom perfectly.
He says life consists of conscious choices, habits, and random events. Random things will happen, good and bad. On the one hand, someone may offer to share their room with you while you sort out accommodation. On the other hand, you may get ill. You cannot control that. But you can control your response.
“Only when you recognize that your destiny is in your own hands, can you make positive changes to your life: your health, career, relationships, self-esteem, happiness, and most important of all, your character. No one else can – or will – do it for you.”
Do watch this video. It will be 5 minutes very well spent. Zuby sums up his message like this: “Personal responsibility is the ultimate freedom.” Now there’s a thought to start the year with!
Student life is a bit like dancing: exhilarating and delightful, but if you don’t keep your balance you may fall flat on your bum.
Happy dancing!
The GRAD team
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GRAD – your guide to university success is a partnership project of Ruda Landman, StudyTrust, Van Schaik Publishers and Capitec Bank.