Clusters of excited first year students and their doting parents are scurrying through the town as the new academic year is drawing closer. It is clear to everyone that O-week has begun.
Clusters of excited first year students and their doting parents are scurrying through the town as the new academic year is drawing closer. It is clear to everyone that O-week has begun.
A week filled with fellowship, activities and introductory lectures lies ahead, as the students familiarise themselves with their new environment and get settled into the Rhodes family. Tonight an Oppidan braai will be held on the Rhodes Union lawns at 6.30pm.
Here first year students who are not in residence can socialise with one another, eat at much as possible, and meet the Oppidan committee, headed by their chairperson Sinal Govender, who will guide them through their first year.
On Wednesday evening a movie screening will be held at Barrett Lecture Theatre at 7pm to which all first year students are invited.
An alternative evening is promised on Thursday, with a night of stargazing, poetry and African drumming in the Botanical Gardens at 9pm.
Hundreds of students will gather to attend the societies and sports extravaganza on Friday evening at 6.30pm to play 5-a-side hockey, pool and to see what all the 57 different Rhodes societies have to offer them in the year ahead.
On Saturday, the last day of O-week, two activities have been set aside for the students.
At 8am teams of students will frantically run around the Rhodes campus and parts of Grahamstown to collect prizes in an amazing race. The Botanical Gardens will then be revisited for a large picnic at around 1pm.
The year 2010 is a year of promises, and for the first year students it is also a year of new beginnings. The Grocott’s Mail team wishes all the first year students the greatest of luck in building their futures.
