Campus reflections

Tatenda Hazangwi, National University of Science and Technology

VARIOUS surveys have shown a change of environment or situation involving adaptation to be scariest and yet is the most important steps to taking a leap forward in the right direction.

A fact that best nests this is Oliver Wendell Holmes saying, “The great thing in the world is not so much where we stand but in what direction we are moving”.

Education is a constant process that never ends once one decides to embark on this path arguably said to be the “fuel of survival” of my generation in other circles.

However, I would suggest that this ideology only serves its purpose once a freshman has mastered the skill to manoeuvre, blend in and attach themselves correctly in the primitive stages of university life.

The thrill of freedom, being given away from parents and to some, their gate-away ticket to finally being allowed to date without fear, might prove to be the highlight in the heat of the moment when really a simple mistake in enhancing the finer objectives might cost a life.

National University of Science and Technology ( NUST’s) Vice- Chancellor, Professor Engineer Mqhele Dlodlo said: “As students, your primary goal at is the pursuit of

NUST your studies; all other pursuits are secondary. You must not lose sight of that goal. We have qualified staff to help you in that direction.”

This served as a heads-up on the importance of not wavering and focusing on nothing more than education primarily.

Orientation helps immensely in feeling at home and being welcomed, but students require a certain skill to face campus life head- on and not divert from their core business.

This is a skill that’s rare and highly treasured because acquirements entails being able to adapt to anything anywhere. To be able to overcome that feeling of inertia or that gut feeling that they will progress ineptly.

Juggling social life and school work proves hard for those “not so good” students. With the famous “vuzu parties and clubbing” among the biggest social threats, one is subjected to constant alterations.

With these resulting in substance addiction, unwanted pregnancies, possible infections and other disturbances, freshmen face a possible jeopardy as a silly mistake in the elementary stages of campus life might ruin everything.

Some degree programmes at are so

NUST upright and particular that you have no repeat a whole year if you fail a semester, proving that guidance is vital.

Girls prove the biggest victims as the pregnancies among other problems falls on them and women have by far already been deemed to be the most vulnerable since way back.

The world is slowly progressing towards a hundred percent equality but for the meantime, women have to stumble their way through as first year girls are usually targeted as the new “hotties” and fall prey to older students at the famous freshmen bashes proving that campus life is not all rosy, but a true representation of survival test.

Tinotendaishe Loveness Machemedze & Tafadzwa Mutsawashe Mwanza, Africa University

CONTINUING with education to university is a privilege, because some children our age are not able to attend due to financial or other reasons.

Firstly, learning online has its own advantages. There will be lack of funds to afford data to conduct proper e-learning and some students stay in remote areas where they do not have access to online resources which is a disadvantage for them.

Fortunately for Africa University ( AU) has a 95 percent success rate in conducting e-learning in this post-Covid-19 era. Staff and students are working closely together to ensure the success of the e-learning programmes.

There is also effective communication between the Africa University administration and its students and this is one of the major reasons why e-learning is a success at AU.

Moving from high school to college is such a big difference.

There are challenges that we experience which include academic and non-academic challenges.

The academic challenges include increased workload. Courses at university level are harder and need a lot of time to read up on them.

Although they said “university is easy, not hard”, this was meant to comfort us as we didn’t know. Timetables have changed from a one hour lecture to a three-hour lecture per course a week.

Less number of lectures and more number of assignments and presentations, which is quite different from high school. Some students even supplement examinations when they fail to meet the pass mark and this can be a major challenge.

Peer pressure levels increase as you meet different people from different countries and drawn from different cultures. This can lead to lack of a balance between school work and social life as one needs to develop both intellectually and socially.

Time management is a major challenge at university compared to high school.

There are also some non-academic challenges. African University is a diverse community that includes a lot of students from different parts of Africa, so for some students it is their first time away from home to a country which they have never been to.

They face different challenges as they speak different languages. However, the commu

AU nity accommodates everyone. Sometimes it is hard to get along with roommates. We all have different behaviours and ethnic cultural considerations.

Parents expect us to be able to mature and be able to manage our finances. One needs to make a distinction on what to spend money on and being able to remain within one’s resources and not what others will be doing and therefore seeking to emulate them.

For female students, peer pressure affects more as they end up looking for “blessers” – older men to provide financial requirements so that the girls meet their everyday needs.

Female students face challenges of appearances in order to fit in the squad in terms of dressing, forgetting that they come from different backgrounds.

There is a lot of partying at university, which can turn out to be a challenge as some people are not able to control themselves.

These are a few of the examples of the challenges that students face in the transition from high school to university.

Precious Masakwa, Midlands State University

THE future of the mode of delivering lessons suggests that institutions will be prioritising online classes for the sake of academic continuity.

Attending lectures on campus might be reorganised to accommodate less students because online lessons cannot replace physical classes in their totality.

Lecturers will find themselves preparing more hand- outs for their students to make up for missed lessons and also for students to read ahead of lectures.

On the transition from high school to university, I think the change needs someone who is very adaptive, especially when one is away from home.

The reality of campus life is that you literally become an adult as opposed to being at high school where one is used to being pampered.

At university you suddenly discover that you have more responsibilities and you are forced to jettison your childish conduct.

University life is a totally new world, where you meet different people, some of them more mature than you.

And despite trying to be who you are, you might find yourself being forced to change. In the majority of cases you might find yourself being a totally different person you never wanted to be.

Kudakwashe Trevor Muranda, Harare Institute of Technology

FINDING a room to rent in most urban areas around Zimbabwe costs roughly US$ 10, excluding electricity.

For most students in Zimbabwe, however, that is a different story altogether, because these days on- campus residence at most institutions is reserved for first year students. The remainder of students are left to scramble in the search for accommodation off campus.

This has piled on pressure and brought havoc as demand for decent shelter rises and on the other hand giving an unfair advantage to house owners, who are offering accommodation to students at very high prices but poor services.

For example, a family near a local institution in Harare converted its main house into a student accommodation, opting to live in a cottage on the same premises.

Students live there out of desperation because they fear missing lectures. Rentals for off- campus accommodation have risen from USD$ 30 to USD$ 60 a month depending on the services offered and the number of people sharing a room.

Generally these rooms accommodate up to six people who will be paying the same amount a month. This results in overcrowding and concerns over theft of student property such as laptops, smartphones and even clothes.

Campus accommodation is advantageous in that it is paid in local currency.