Take Heed....

My dear unsuspecting younger self

I am warning you! Do not believe all that people say that glorifies varsity life. Trust me it is not as blissful and fun as people make it out to be. I’m not just complaining about the work load, it was to be expected. The other aspects of life are what you should be afraid of, no. Be afraid of the people, the parties the boys (there are lots of those, but no men!) and worst of all, making new friends you will stick with.

You will probably make friends with lots of people during ‘O’ week but many people have come to find that they don’t even talk to the people that they made friends with back in their first week today. So be prepared for periods of loneliness and there will be days when you feel like you don’t fit into the groups of people in the residence and days when you will sit alone in the dining hall. It will be sad and you will feel like crying but one thing is for sure, you will realise that you really do not need an entourage to walk around with and that one friend you may have may make all the difference in the world. Do not get affected by the way people may seem to not care about your existence, just accept it, because the truth is, it is a dog eat dog world out there and they actually really don’t care! Remember the high school days when you had all your friends around you? Well those days are gone. Varsity life is a challenge and believe me it will build your character in a positive way so just tough it out because there is life after and DO NOT drink!(well not too much anyway...) Hangovers stink!

Yours Sincerely

Your reconditioned older self

Hey all!

Check out our new blog, Kaleidoscope Eyes, here

Change of blog

Due to some admin issues, the bunions & cornflakes team has set up a new blog. Check it out here. Its rudimentary at the moment, but figuring out the xml stuff really soon! Stay tuned for our cartoon, its gonna be off the chains! Think Saleem Badat @ EQ. Legen-dairy.
P.S blogger is being a lil rashy at the mo and thinks we're spammers, but that should be rectified within the next day or so.

Happy blogging,
much love,
meez
xx

Babylon

A letter to my younger self
(370 words)
By: Nyeleti Machovani

Dear Michelle
The grapevine has it that you have been reminiscing about the good days of olden times. Get your head out of the sand! How are you old friend? It has been a while! I guess life doesn’t stop for memories. It makes them along the way with progression. Rhodes is a blast ‘Chelle, but I will attest- first year is a shocker! Fill in your application and join me in this crazy world.. This is not high school and bonding with your books is a relationship you can’t break off from. Exams are around the corner; denial will not get us anywhere. I think the fact that I’ve stopped running from this reality shows an inch of maturity. Its funny how we would day dream under that marula tree, imagining a ‘top billing’ life and how one truly starts living in university. Oh, life certainly happens; amidst the drinking and partying. Bask in your new found impending freedom, but let me remind you ‘Chelle that degree will not say: Honours in clubbing. Trust me. Varsity and studying- I know, I mentioned the dreaded word. Yes...say it with me...“studying”, the two exist in symbiosis. Don’t say I never warned you.
We had good times didn’t we? Life was so carefree! I can’t stop smiling when I think back to the shenanigans we would get up to. But we were dreamers’ u and I. I still remember how my dad’s hair would turn grey every time he saw the phone bill. The hours spent talking about corporate ladders and power suites driven by imported power steering German sedans. It all starts somewhere. That dream. But it should not end there. Mrs Leigh always said girls don’t sweat. They glow. So never stop dreaming, but remember to glow your way to success. It begins with initiating a long term relationship with your pen, textbook and neon highlighter.
That pot of gold at the end of the rainbow has our names on it. The path is carved and the journey awaits you. Prepare while others are day dreaming and study while others are sleeping. I’ll see you at the end of that indigo coloured rainbow stripe and we’ll soar together to an indigo sky.
Love, your good old friend

Dearest Cim, if you only knew then what you know now...

Dearest Cim

I know how excited you must be for the year ahead and yes, I know your little secret about the reason behind choosing Rhodes; I think your dad does as well. There are three main things I would like to call your attention to and if you are able to heed my advice on these three topics, I think you will find first year less of a battle ground and more of an “opportunity to grow”. By the way, nice line for the parentals although, yet again, I hardly believe that dad is that gullible… I think he might suspect that “opportunity to grow” translates perfectly to “I heart Christopher forever”.

Firstly and most importantly, I know you love Chris. Eventually he will know as well, but it is imperative that you maintain a sense of the relationship from a more logical and mature perspective or it will become the main repetitive volcanic eruption throughout the year. It is going to be a bumpy ride but ride the wave, you may find that after various “Oh my soul, life is no longer worth living” moments, you will actually live through it and actually learn something. Stick it out and think before you tantrum, as you may learn in anger management later on this year, you don’t throw the tantrum, it throws you. Chris is just a bit on the slow side, eventually he will realise, as will you. Keep calm and stay focused on the things that matter, like your own happiness, not everyone else’s.

Secondly, just say no. Cimone, you can be such an idiot sometimes. Don’t disappoint yourself by getting involved with stupid things you know you should stay away from. You might think that you are a party veteran, trust me, you will discover a whole new extreme within yourself which will push you to the breaking point physically. It is really not worth it. Neither are the numerous car accidents you will have when you “thought you were okay to drive” but then you weren’t. Be mature for once in your life and realise that after all these years, dad, yet again was right. There truly is no happy medium for you. Well now would be the time to find one or you might just discover that sharing a beer with a homeless man on the side walk is really not as far out of your league as you might have previously thought. So to sum it up, everything in moderation except for drugs of course which really will mess you around – keep that defiant head of yours, it really will come in handy this year.

Finally and ironically this encapsulates the above two issues. A simple question to help explain; what do you get when you take a severely agro Cimone and add an idiot boyfriend and about two six packs? Yeah, I thought so. Both of the above, Christopher and alcohol abuse will lead to your ultimate break down. It really is not as serious as you think it is.

As usual, you will probably spend the year being as high-strung as ever. I would like to suggest yoga? Be happy, it is not half bad. Get up every morning and attempt a lecture or two, if not do the things that make you happy like midnight flower stealing sprees with friends. It really does work out in the end.

Love from a much more high-strung and maybe slightly more mature
Cimone