Rhodes life:

I’ve recently realized that many of my blog posts have been very superficial and not very personal so I decided to write a blog to tell you all a little about life at Rhodes University and my life in Beit House.

For those that don’t know the layout of Rhodes, most of the university is built on a large hill and thus the university is divided into upper campus and lower campus. I am extremely lucky to have been put into Beit House which is located on lower campus right across from the library. This aspect does make my life a lot easier, because those of you who know me well also know that I am not someone who is punctual or anything like that. I have many friends up the hill and the few times I have ventured up there it’s always been a mission.

Living in residence with about 79 other young women is also such a hectic change from what I’m used to. I’m used to sharing a house with only four other people; where I have to only share a bathroom with two people instead of thirteen people. Even as I am writing this I can hear music radiating from the room above me and the sound of the washing machines spinning away one load of washing after another down the hall.

Don’t get me wrong. Even though we sometimes complain about the noise, the bathrooms or even the food in the dining halls I wouldn’t exchange last year for anything. The great thing about living in res is the fact that you always have someone who has your back. Whether it’s simply a borrowed item of clothing, an iron or even some toothpaste or whether is being there for your neighbour when they need you it doesn’t matter. I have made amazing friends here and I used to think it was just because we happen to live in the same res and are thus forced to hang out, but now I get it. It’s Fate. I was meant to end up in Beit House with the people can now call my friends. It’s weird for me to think that I see these girls every day and yet I am still not tired of seeing them… <3

 In the same way I was meant to come to Rhodes. I was meant to come here and be exposed to the multitude of people here. I would have never thought I would ever end up sharing some important and special moments in my life with a group of people from such different backgrounds, each with their own lesson to teach me.

As cliqued as this sounds last year I learnt some hard lessons, not all in the lecture halls, about acceptance; about longing; about self- confidence; about faith; about relationships; about the true meaning of loss and grief and lastly I learnt some new things about friendship and love. I learnt to love my Rhodes friends and the distance from my family and friends back home showed me how much I actually love and value them. And how much I miss them…

God has a plan for my life; He lets it all work out in the end. When my great friend Jessica from back home told me that she was coming to Rhodes too I was so excited, but then I found out that she was placed in a res up the hill. She was going to be studying sciency things and I thought that I would never see her, but we put effort into making sure we saw each other at least once a week.  During first Semester we would meet up 6^th Period every Tuesday and we religiously kept to this date so that we could fill each our in about the week that had passed. Soon we no longer needed that Tuesday meeting to make plans. This year I am so happy to have become closer to the awesomeness that is Jessica Vercuiel…

So far I’ve learnt to take every moment I have here at Rhodes and make it special. Three years of studying to get a degree is actually a really short time and I would regret wasting the opportunities that are given to me here. I would regret not having the guts to go on adventures with all my friends. I’ve seen first-hand last year that life is short not to give it all you got... (even if you end up embarrassing yourself…) Be young when you are young and don’t afraid to say: “Hello, world.  I’m HERE! Where’s the wine?” ;)

(PS Beit House has just been awarded the top academic residence on campus award!!!)