Humanities lectures were always so full, brimming with students eager to learn with various anxiety levels fearing getting left behind socially, financially or emotionally. University was a fascinating melting pot of opportunity submerged in distraction. On your way to class, you might find yourself distracted by seeing an old friend or a two-for-one drinks special which sounded more appealing than the drove of an economics lecture. Every day was dynamic, bursting with choices- will I make it to my lecture on time or sleep in? Will I study all night for this test at the library or go out to student night during the week? Does my Philosophy crush notice me?
The myriad of choices and heightened autonomy was equal parts invigorating and terrifying. After years of having your parents decide what to do and how to do it, first years were thrust into the world of responsibility. Some carried a heavier load than others like Ona's friend Sinovuyo, Si for short. Sivuyo was the youngest of four born to her humble parents in a small town just outside Gqeberqa. She was hard for Ona to understand. Sometimes it seemed like she was more concerned with getting her MRS degree over her BA degree and Ona wondered what the point of coming to one of the top universities on the continent was if you weren't going to at least try. Ona was from an upper middle class family but even she understood that she did not have the luxury of taking her spot at the university for granted. She was a young Black woman in a patriarchal society and could not rely on the provision of her parents forever, and besides- she wanted to make something pf herself. So seeing Si more concerned with getting stoned with her boys from home and which player of the rugby team was captured by her beauty perturbed Ona.
Ona mixed it up from time to time while exploring her new-found freedom with an acute sensitivity to her goals. She was going to go to Rhodes University to study Journalism and Media Studies in Grahamstown (now referred to as Makhanda). After her first semester results, she would send her application to Rhodes and transfer the second year after she matriculated from high school. At the end of her first semester she scored a few distinctions, sixties and 58% for her subjects which included Economics and Politics & International Relations which she was accepted for begrudgingly. Ona did not know if her aversion for Pol was because she viewed her acceptance into the programme as a consolation prize or if she just thought it boring.
It did not matter because she was sure that the end justified the means. She was a winner and committed to win her race.