The Final Countdown

Blogger: Blog this! This is the tab opened on my computer, above this empty space where I will write my first blog post on what I hope will be many more. As I stare at the blank space and the cursor flicking, impatiently waiting for me to fill it with words, I am reminded that there is something beautiful about a blank page. It is the fearof the unknown yet the excitement about the change. The page does not know what I will write on it and I, as the blogger do not know what I will write, yet there is something fresh and reviving about it. It is the invigorating rush when you return from your holiday, eager to start a new year. It is the eager six year old on his or her first day of school. It reminds me of the spark of adventure I felt when I boarded the plane to Port Elizabeth two years ago, to arrive at my eventual destination, Rhodes University, Grahamstown.

At that time I was a naive, yet fresh blank page, waiting to be written on. This may sound corny but I wanted life and experience to be my writer. And I hoped Rhodes would give me this experience. In Harry met Sally, Sally moves to New York because nothing had happened to her yet. In the same way, I arrived at Rhodes, hungry for my life to start happening; something which five years at a model-c all- girls school had denied me.

Sally, arriving in NewYork in When Harry met Sally


The past two years has seen more drama, more friendship and more experiences then the previous twelve spent locked into an education as tight and as uncomfortable as the blue tunic of my school uniform. Most of all, it has seen me change and has helped me shape the person I want to be. In the beginning I hoped to become close to other people, to have lasting friendships, to figure out whether I am meant to be a journalist or a psychologist. I even wanted to fall in love. Not necessarily with someone but most certainly something. I wanted to be anything else but the wide-eyed introvert that I was.

In some respects I got what I wanted. In some other places, I got so much more. Some experiences have not shaped me to be the person I want to be but have confused me more than ever. Some things are yet to happen.

I am now in my third year at Rhodes. Some things have happened to me yet I am still hungry for more. I have gotten close to people yet learnt that some people are too hurtful to be close to. I still do not know whether I am a journalist or psychologist. Ive learnt that in order to fall in love, I first need to know what love is. I am, however, not the wide-eyed introvert that I once was. I am a modified form of that.

My third year will be the year where I decide. It is the end of my undergraduate degree. I might stick around and study some more or I might look for experience in a new location. This year could be my final year at Rhodes, or it could be the start of a new adventure here. All I know is that I am not a blank page anymore and neither is this blog.

So without further delay I invite you to join me on my journey in counting down my days at Rhodes.The only thing I can promise is that there will always be something to write about.