Don't talk to strangers

We have all experienced it, that moment when you are just about to walk out of the door, and then from out of nowhere your mother ambushes you. You know exactly what she will say next and there is nothing that you can do about it."Be careful and don't talk to strangers".

 Of course that was many years ago, and it was very practical advice back then when you were a little child about to walk out from under the safety of your mothers wings. But as the years wore on, you found it necesary to talk to more and more strangers, it is required even expected of you.

 And then you are thrust into a strange place (university), with the strangest strangers that you will ever meet (mostly your lecturers).

Just a random picture...nothing strange about it.

 

Recently I have adopted a new practice. During my daily trek home on the wits inter-campus bus I have taken to sitting next to strangers and just starting random conversations.

so far I have met a students studying geology, B com, biology, various engineering branches , and an actuarial science student (even after talking to her I still have no idea what an actuary actually does (nor do I think that actuaries themselves know what actuaries do.(people probably pay them obscene amounts of money just for having a cool sounding job title)))

Yes, you are wise indeed philosorapter.

 

 

lastly I have noticed that university is the place that much of  your mother's good advice (that has been drilled into you since birth) goes to die.

Have I been Eating all my vegetables? chips are technically a vegetable (and a staple amongst students).

 Do I eat at least 5 colours on my plate? Yes all 5 are on 

my pizza right now (it has most of the major food groups too).

  Do I drink enough water? well coke has water in it you know.

 Have I Been getting enough sleep? ......um.......well........  

why yes...yes I have.

(All images are copyrighted by their respective copyright owners)

Hey you, Yes you! noob.

Welcome

I just had my first week of class at the university of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg,and what a week it has been. From the sheer excitement of actually attending your first lecture, to the utter confusion ten seconds later, when you realize that you have absolutely no idea where the lecture is actually being held.

something like this....

It was an interesting week to say the least, and so i decided to share the some of the things that I learned

during the first week.(in no particular order)

 1. Beards....

Beards and seen some epic ones during the week, some were pretty awesome and some made me wonder how long you would have to be stranded on a desert island to grow something that furry. It seems to me that the first pre-requisite for obtaining a PhD is growing some facial fur (perhaps they need extra space to store all that knowledge)

Most of my professors are sporting full beards and it seems some the the first years are already adopting the tradition, I've seen 2 semi beards and 1 mustache already.

2. Wits is built on a hill.

 (and it won't let you forget that...ever!)

I found out this piece of information while running from the Fnb building (bottom of the hill) to the Physics building (Up the hill, across the highway). It's no wonder people are always falling asleep during lectures when they are forced to run the comrades marathon every 45 minutes.

3.Do NOT take a gap year!

 If you want to know the answer, it's 2.

Sure it may sound awesome, taking a year off to travel or just to sit on the couch all day, but it won't seem so cool after your first maths lecture when you realize that you have forgotten how to use your trig ratios sometime between sleeping until 12 pm, and  staying up until 1a.m watching obscure Japanese anime.

4. T-shirts, more than just clothing

I've discovered a new pastime, First find a high traffic area with a good seat, next  you just sit there, reading people's t-shirts as they pass by.You will be surprised by how much they can make you laugh (or maybe that's just me). The Most popular character0 that I've seen by far is Homer Simpson. I have also noticed that people seem to be wearing the same t-Shirt more than once, either that or they thought that it was so awesome that they bought two of them.

5. Hunt in packs.

During you first few weeks in university, no one really knows where they are supposed to go (except those that are repeating of course). So it is better to stay in a group, after all it feels far better stumbling into a lecture hall 10 minutes late when you know the lecturers wrath is divided equally amongst a group of you.