With my first week of classes under my belt, a certain heaviness has been lifted from my shoulders. All of the uncertainty, all of the calamity, all of the chaos that has been registering with UCT has all come together to create a schedule that I’m on board with full of classes that seem like they’re going to be sick. Without boring you with the details, here’s a brief overview of what I’m lookin at in terms of classes:
-Africa in the 20th Century, a really interesting look at events that lead up to apartheid and then furthermore, how the country developed afterwards. I think this will be an important thing to know about here to understand the post-apartheid culture better and kind of figure out why some things are the way they are in Cape Town
-Growing up in Africa, a class that I just signed up for on Friday so I haven’t been to it yet, but from the class description it seems like it’s going to be about how African languages shape the childhoods here and how they grow up. It specifically said it would investigate the process that people go through to name their kids and how those names have such a huge impact on their lives which is something I’ve found really interesting ever since I watched Freakonomics, so I can’t wait for that.
-Africa: Culture, Identity and Globalization... honestly, I’m not too sure what this class is all about yet. It’s fulfilling my cultures requirement and Jake told me to sign up for it with him, but other than that, all I know is that our professor is a super dope photographer/curator and is teaching us through photos and gallery exhibits. Down.
-Finally, this stupid research class called Information Society: Tools and Skills... so elementary. They are teaching us how to access research information, decipher what information is relevant to us and then how to utilize it properly... yeah, because I got to college not knowing how to do that. I thought it was going to be so different and I feel really stupid in this class, but I need the credits and it should be easy.
So, that’s what’s up. UCT doesn’t let international students take any media production courses (which is what I really need to be taking at this point in my life) and therefore kind of screwed a few of us over by not telling anyone that before we came here. On top of that, the administration was all rude, disrespectful and condescending in helping me figure everything out. There was one really awesome lady named Gale that just hooks everyone up with a smile on her face and a sweet little accent on her lips. She rules, but other than that, dealing with UCT left me craving the administration at USF. We have no idea how lucky we are there. At USF, they trust your judgement, hold your hand when you need it and have been known to pull a few strings or sign off on a prerequisite when they know you’re a good kid.I’ve never felt like more of a number in my life than I did when speaking to staff here. So all you Dons, go give your councilors (and professors and clerks and department heads and whoever the hell else helps you out) some props as soon as you get to campus next month because they really are killer folks.
But with that being said, it’s all taken care of and the rest of the semester should be smooth sailing. I joined some clubs and a volunteer program so I’m stoked to get into the swing of things and meet some similar minded peeps.
Live gladly,
KG
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