This blog is about a 22-year old millennial, living in South-Africa. I am open minded. I write about university and the travels, which I am going to have. I have a wanderlust that can't be satisfied, unless I travel. Adventure is my middle name.
By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen
My fourth and final year has started! This is the year of adventures, hard work and good times. This year I have a big, single room, which means music all day long and being only considerate to myself!
2015 will also consist of great friends and food, in no particular order! They will be part of the adventure of 2015!
On the RAG farm, soaking wet with great friends!
The food of 2015!
I also have a bucket list to complete this year that will be part of the adventure. Check it out here.
This will be my year! Let the games begin and may the odds be ever in my favor. How will 2015 be for you??
By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen
What do you do when you get bored? You get creative (sometimes).
This year, I will have my own room at my residence and it will be a lot bigger, so I need to decorate it with more things. But decorations are expensive and not exactly what I want, therefore I decided to buy and paint my own decorations with my favorite color: Blue, especially turquoise.
Adventure: my word for 2015
"The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure."- Christopher McCandless
This is my motto for 2015. I simply want to have fun and adventures. Read about it here.
Happ(y)iness: My word of 2014
My motto and word for 2014 was: Happiness and the motto: Happiness is an inside job. I had an extremely happy year and it was because I chose to be happy. Read about it here.
I am impressed with my attempts at painting! I will take orders (ha-ha).
By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen
2015 is going to be my year. It will be the best year I have ever had. How do I know this? Because I am going to make it the best year EVER!
I have compiled my bucket list, late last year, so if it looks familiar: it is! I have completed some of the things on the list already, but most of them will be happening this year.
I want to 'Sokkie' in Impala (It is a dance form, which I want to do in Impala [a bar/pub/dance place])
I want to attend a class, that I am not registered for.
I want to hide in the library so that I can spend the night there with friends and watch movies.
I want to pull an all-nighter with my amazing friends or someone special or both.
I want to go to the roof garden in F1.
I want to go to the 'Purple' garden, which is on one of the roofs on campus. I always see it when we drive over the bridge.
I want to go to Potch Liggies, but with someone special or great friends (view where you see the city lights)
I want to go on many adventures with my friends.
Went to a theme park with friends, just before exams
Dress silly and go and eat in the Draak (Our campus restaurant/bar)
Dressed up like a cow girl and went to the Draak, before our Halloween Party
I want to go and eat at all the dining halls.
I want to see what is behind the random doors on campus.
I want to work harder on my blog and gain more followers. I will also want to find out what my readers are most interested in and will read more.
I am going to San Antonio with my parents and sister.
I want to go and watch a rugby game with my dad.
I want to go to a spa therapy with my mom
I want to dress up silly with my baby sister and go out to a mall or something.
This year, I will say 'YES' to adventures and opportunities, because it is my last year of university. My motto will be Carpe Diem. It is going to be a great year. I will post each and every thing, which I have completed on my bucket list of 2015.
My big bucket list of what I want to do and achieve before I die can be seen here. What is your bucket list for 2015?
By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen
On Thursday I wrote my last test for my communication degree, I wanted to scream with joy after the test, but I had to be considerate of the other people who were still writing. But on the inside I was screaming of joy!
I MADE IT THIS FAR!!!!!
Blood, sweat and tears were all part of my degree. So were all-nighters, calls to mom crying my eyes out, running like an Olympic champion to give projects in on time. and also going to write an exam for the second time, because I failed the first exam.
Yes, it wasn't always easy, but there were more good times than bad. I made amazing friends, who will be my bridesmaids. I have fallen in love and also fallen out of love. I have learned to replace my "what if's" with "Oh well's". I realized that it is fine to not know what the future holds and to simply tackle each day as it comes. I discovered myself.
My amazing group of friends
We had a lot of group projects this year and in previous years, we had people in our group who did nothing and we were stuck with all the work. This year we had the perfect group and they became my best friends (See photo above). We worked very hard, but also played hard. Without that combination I would've drowned.
Unfortunately, some of my friends are not going to study further and my last goodbye's have been said. But most of my friends will be staying on and doing their Honours or a diploma of some kind.
I will also be making new friends next year when I am doing my post-graduate diploma in management.
I look forward to the adventures and the unknown awaiting me next year. I am also gonna complete my bucket list for university. This song is my motto for next year:
But that is next year! Now, I am going to enjoy my 2 months vacation and spend some time with my amazing family and friends from home.
By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen
I am final year Communication student at my university and it got me thinking that I have not done everything that I wanted to do here. I still have a year left at my university because I'm going to do a post-graduate course in management, which means I have a year left to complete my bucket list.
My bucket list will only make sense to me and the people studying at this university with me, but I will still share it, because sharing is caring....
I want to 'Sokkie' in Impala (It is a dance form, which I want to do in Impala [a bar/pub/dance place])
I want to get a tattoo.
I want to attend a class, that I am not registered for.
I want to hide in the library so that I can spend the night there with friends and watch movies.
I want to pull an all-nighter with my amazing friends or someone special or both.
I want to go to the roof garden in F1.
I want to go to the 'Purple' garden, which is on one of the roofs on campus. I always see it when we drive over the bridge.
I want to go to Potch Liggies, but with someone special or great friends (view where you see the city lights)
I want to go on an adventure with my friends.
Dress silly and go and eat in the Draak (Our campus restaurant/bar)
I want to go and eat at all the dining halls.
I want to see what is behind the random doors on campus
I want to go and watch a rugby game with my dad.
I want to go to a spa therapy with my mom
I want to dress up silly with my baby sister and go out to a mall or something.
If I think of anything else, I will gladly share them afterwards... What is on your bucket list?
I am a third and final year Communication student and since my first year, I’ve been staying in a
hostel. An all-ladies hostel. Meaning hormones, moodiness, back-stabbing, but also so much love and friendships... I've also met my bridesmaids here.
My hostel is the home to 260 unique ladies and that means unique things happen and you learn your lesson very fast here. Here are the things that my friends and I have learned:
·Sometimes it’s better to not
see/hear anything (Jonanke)
·Never leave your dishes in the
kitchen, no matter how insignicant you think it is, it will disappear
(Mart-Mari)
·There is not really ghosts in the
residence, but yet you sometimes believe it (Toni)
·People who do not live in
residences will never really know what goes on there (Hanri)
Never stay next to the balcony, because you will have people constantly smoking next to you and chatting very loud (Mone)
·You get one toilet roll per week.
TOILET ROLLS ARE GOLDEN! If you accidentally forget them in the bathroom, they
will be gone by the time you go looking for them.
·Silence is not golden.
·It is totally acceptable to walk
in pajamas all day long or slip into your pajamas any time of the day.
The more you participate, the more friends you will make.
The more you participate, the more fun you will have.
·Bathing is too much cleaning work
(because people don't clean after themselves) and it takes too long to take a
bath. SHOWER INSTEAD.
·The walls are thin. Watch what you
say and keep your music down or you will have angry neighbors.
·There will be someone studying the
same as you, so get yourself a study buddy to make things a bit easier.
·Buy some earplugs for noisy
nights.
·You will have a lot of friends in the residence, so doing projects can sometimes be hard when they
pop.
·Having a tidy room, makes you more
positive and feel task-oriented.
·If you go to sleep before 11 pm,
people will ask you if you're sick. NO ONE SLEEPS EARLY.
·Watching scary movies is not great
when returning to the residence. A residence is scary by nature.
·Watching a lot of series' is
acceptable.
·Being up to date with ALL the
movies and series is acceptable.
·Great food is scarce.
·Having an almost empty fridge is
common and not strange. Fridges mostly contain sauces and food that no one
wants to eat.
·I would not have preferred to stay
anywhere else, it is so much fun to participate in activities and all the
friends that one makes, makes life worth the while.
Living in a residence makes you part of something fun, you will have stories to tell your children one day. Living in a residence has taught me many lessons and how to work with other people.
By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen
For this week, I'm shadowing/interning at Flow and I've been enjoying it a lot. I wrote a blog post on Monday about my first day, but never wrote a post about yesterday.
Why? Because this was me almost the whole day:
Typing away and doing research
But today was quite different, I had a jam-packed day. This morning started off with another opinion piece of a wonderful entrepreneur, who has great ideas for the future. Later in the day Street Chef came to the offices and made some nice Thai Red Chicken with Basmati rice, it was so delicious! I love the concept of Street Chef! You can check them out on twitter @5star_chef.
Just when I thought my day couldn't get any better, we had a walk-through at enmasse (No, it shouldn't be with a capital letter), they are a spa, unlike any other you have ever been to
Selfie at enmasse
Being rebel in the quiet massaging-area
enmasse's chocolate tea= amazing!
Feet up while being served the tea
I was also in meetings, which were also interesting, because people are interesting! Anyway that was my day in the life of a shadow/intern at Flow. And man, am I loving it! I can really get used to this!
By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen
My dear life long friend has decided to go work and travel in Versailles, France, for 7 months. 7 months! It feels like a lifetime to me! She will be an English assistant at a school there. She will always be able to travel in her off-time. I am very happy that she has this opportunity to broaden her horizons. But she is leaving us behind!
Marinda and me have been friends literally since birth, but actually Marinda is more than that to me:
I looked up the definition of friend in the Concise Oxford English Dictionary (2011: 568):
"a person with whom one has a bond of mutual affection, typically one exclusive of sexual or family relations". But Marinda is way more than that to me: She is my lunch-buddy, my go-to when I need advice, my best friend, the person who understands me best, my soul sister.
We organized a farewell party for her, where we had a lot of fun and the other night, I had the opportunity to be her date to the formal, where it was our final farewell.
We are the complete opposite. We are night and day. The moon and the sun. Whatever you want to call it. But I believe that is why our friendship works so good, we can never get bored of each other, because of the fact that we differ so much. She is my friend that is my missing puzzle piece.
Marinda, I hope you have a wonderful journey of a lifetime in France. I hope you find yourself in ways that will amaze you. I hope you make friends all over the world. I hope you eat and drink as many weird and wacky things there, because you only live once and life is too short to be on the safe side! I hope you love walking down those beautiful streets every single day and that you will walk in the rain instead of avoiding it. Embrace the cold and the winters and maybe even the snow! I hope you do crazy things and make up your own bucket list! Well, this is kinda a demand ha-ha!
My friend, I wish you well. I really do hope that you have one great adventure and I cannot wait to hear all the amazing stories.
Listen to this song, it reminds me of the journey you'll be having.
I love you, Marinda, and I will miss you. But mostly I'm excited for you!
By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen
Today, we made history! We, as students, fought for our rights to be educated in our home language, Afrikaans and to have English and Tswana, as interpretation services.
Merieke and I at the march Second poster translation "Media stoking anger, what about my degree?"
Our university has been receiving bad advertising from newspapers and television since the beginning of the year, making false accusations of the university endorsing a Nazi-culture, which is rubbish!
The university was forced to appoint a new Vice-Chancellor after all the bad media, but this Vice-Chancellor made promises that he will not change our language of instruction. So everyone was happy, until he made statements on TV that he had other motives. Yes, he was considering to change our language of instruction.
Now, here is the defense of the students and the university:
Since our country became a democracy in 1994, we had 11 official languages. Talk about a rich culture and traditions of a country! I absolutely love it! There are so many types of people here and each and everyone is individual. We all have different backgrounds and we are a Rainbow Nation. One of our rights in this Rainbow Nation, is that we have the right to be educated in our home language.
Why not go to another university to receive education in your home language?
Because we are the last Afrikaans university in South-Africa. All English and Tswana students have translators in EACH and EVERY class.
There are so many English universities, who provide interpretation services for all languages of South-Africa, except for Afrikaans.
Lizanne, me and Merieke
Thousands of students marching!
It will still take some time for the Vice-Chancellor to realize what he is doing to our student culture. He will cause the separation between students and friends, because of this. And Nelson Mandela, his hero fought so hard to prevent exactly the things that are happening now at the university.
How do you feel about this? Please share your views.
By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen
This is my third and final year as a Communication student. Next year is still a mystery! But it has not been easy....
Maia and me
Today, I wrote my last paper for the semester. I wrote two tests today and the first one was horrible! It will be a miracle if I do pass it, but I have seen miracles happen here and I'm really hoping for one today when they start marking our tests!
I'm on holiday and yet it still feels like I have to do work or some kind of project, because I never really had one chill day this semester. I always had something to do! I am currently busy packing my bags and tonight I'm going to a 21st celebration of a friend. I CAN RELAX!!!!!
I had a very tough semester and it never felt like I touched ground. I also think that I have ADD. Previous years, I just thought that I was lazy and didn't really bother me, but this year when it was crunch-time (which is always) I could never sit still and concentrate. Everything distracts me and I can never focus. It really became a problem in April/ May when we had about a project per day to give in. I found myself typing in the whee hours of the morning, typing like a frantic monkey to meet the deadlines, but still my attention was never where it was supposed to be, I always jump up and go do something else, even when it's crunch-time. This is very different from procrastination, because I know how procrastination feels and this is not it... I will give attention to this over the holiday!
Yes, studying is not easy and giving up sounds wonderful, but I did not come this far to just throw in the towel! I will make it and I will also make a success out of this! I always tell myself that I am extremely privileged to study and I should not waste the chances that has been given to me.
I am excited to finish my degree this year and about the mysteries of next year that lie in front of me!
By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen
Yesterday, I had sent my first handwritten letter! Francois Maritz has come up with this idea and I think it is wonderful.
My first letter
This is about feeling the pen and paper, licking the envelope to close it, about using postage stamps. We are experiencing the true feeling of writing again. If you are in South-Africa and would like to join this pen pal group, you can email me at kiara.oosthuizen@gmail.com and I will fill you in on all the details!
By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen
Sometimes, I wonder if I chose to go to the right university and then weekends like this happen and I know I ABSOLUTELY made the right choice. Nowhere in the world would I have found the student life that I have here.
Me and bestie, Marinda
RAG translated is "Your selfless sacrifice for charity". The students build floats in order to raise money for charity. But there are also bands performing on the RAG-farm, as well as beer tents. People come from all over to see the bands and the floats.
Last night, there was also amazing fireworks, no photo can do them any justice, because they were simply amazing!
I really had a great time with my friends and dancing in the crowds who came to see the bands.
Here are some of the photos of the floats (the theme was Zeussim: as in Dr. Zeuss)
All in all, it was a very fun weekend and it feels great to know that I also contributed to charity and had so much fun.
By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen
The year 2014, will be the year that I say 'Hell, YES'!! to any and all opportunities.
Tomorrow, I am going back to university to do my third year. I will also be catching my degree at the end of this year. I am very excited to see all my friends again and to catch up with all their holiday stories.
The only regret I have, is not saying yes to enough opportunities or taking more chances at things.Many times I said no for a evening out or doing something else and afterwards I hear how fun it actually was. Well, this year I want to tell everyone how it was.
If you've seen the movie 'Yes man' then you will know what my plan is. I am going on adventures and I am going to enjoy it a lot! And I also want to complete more things on my bucket list (check it out).
Watch this space in 2014, because you will read all about my adventures this year :)
By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen Yesterday, we went to visit Maropeng: Cradle of Humankind.
Sister got scared on the boat ride
Looking into the endless mirrors
Going on a nature walk
We had a lovely time there and I would recommend it to everyone. I just wish the Sterkfontein caves were included in the hefty price., so we could also go and see them. We will do the caves another time.
I am a third and final year Communication student and in my 3 years at university, I have learned some things. There is no guide on what to expect when going to university, you sometimes have to learn by falling face first in the ground and then learn how to stand on your own two feet again.
I asked some friends and family to contribute with the things that they have learned at university, as well. Here is the list:
Nobody cares about the marks you got in high school, you are at university which means you are clever. (Jana)
You learn that school was fun and games (Ruan)
Hard work really pays off (Ruan)
You learn to social (Ronel)
You also meet your best friends and who the people are that is always there for you (Ronel & Ruan)
You realize what subjects you really love, but still have to have the bad ones with it. (Karen)
Nobody cares, but if you find someone that does care: HOLD ON! (Ena)
It's the experiences that teaches you something at the end of the day (Mart-Mari)
There is no degree like a spine. Just keep on going and finish! (Ronel)
You'll learn dressing up is cool.(See photos above)
It is every man for themselves. No one will buy you free drinks, unfortunately.
Having a bucket list is necessary!
Know the titles of your lecturers, for example Dr. Blah Blah. They believe that their titles has contributed to society and they are utterly important.
Alcohol is a solution. Scientifically speaking.
Fitting in is so 'high school' ago.
Yeah, it sucks doing the laundry, the dishes, making your own food and cleaning the house. Your parents are actually cool.
Alcohol resolves everything, except your problems.
Time is precious and you should use it wisely.
Falling in love is not easy. But it's even harder to fall on the pavement.
You'll learn to eat 2 minute noodles in a thousand ways.
You measure the cost of everything, by the amount of drinks you could have bought.
50% is the new 80%. Plot twist: You're not as smart as you thought.
Procrastination teaches you that you can do amazing things within a few hours.
Cheating in tests and projects is not so cool or smart, it just shows that you're an idiot and will earn you no respect from your 'friends'.
Wearing pajamas is totally acceptable clothes to wear on campus, except if you have a onesie; wear that instead.
First years are recognizable by the fact that they try to look good at 8 in the mornings. You give up after a year.
Do stupid things! You won't get the chance again, because responsibility starts after university.
You are only young once. Carpe Diem. YOLO! Enjoy university life and stop worrying!
These are the things that my family, friends and I have learned in our university journeys. If you have learned some other things; please share them!
