Big Brother project

Imagine going to a place you know absolutely nothing about, a place you’ve seen only in the movies.

You’re feeling lost and isolated and as the first batch of marks return you feel like a failure and a looser. All of a sudden varsity feels like mission impossible and you’re no way close to being Tom Cruise.

That’s how most first year university students feel. They feel they can’t handle the pressure and so they end up changing courses or dropping out.

Matriculants have a certain image of what University is like in their minds, which is not always right. They think of it as this glamorous and fun place they see on TV. Think of movies such High School Musical, where the students are always singing and having parties – we don’t get to see the parts where they have to write tests or hand in assignments. When I first went to high school, I thought it would be just like that – full of games and laughter, but it wasn’t.

My idea is to get matric students ready for university so they know what to expect when they get there. Students who know what is expected of them have a lower chance of dropping out or quitting. This can be achieved by allocating prominent matric students with mentors who will show them around university and share with them their university experiences. These mentors can be first or second year students who will help the matriculants understand what university entails.

I would like to start an organization which will bring university students and those that are planning to go to university together, so that they can help each other out. This organization will bring them together and allow the youth to have a platform where they can voice their grievances and the problems they are encountering at university. It will be like a sort of ‘Big Brother’ project where pupils will be able to interact with more experienced students and get advice and assistance from them. A Facebook page and Twitter handle will also be able to get the students together on a platform that is more familiar to them and that’s where they can set up meetings and make announcements.

The organization will help make the youth feel like they are in charge of their own education. This is a good thing as it will help them gain confidence and as for the new students, they will be better prepared for varsity.

This idea was inspired from my own expiriences in first year where everything was new to me.