It's eight am, time for orientation to commence. As I walk to the main hall, the roaring sound of hundreds of students delights me. There is a countless amount of students in the main hall. All first years I presume.
A tall guy dressed in a yellow T-shirt approaches the podium and shouts to get everybody's attention.
" welcome to UCT! Today is the first day of orientation. You will be divided into groups according to your faculties. Can all the art students gather in the red east wing. All the commerce students in the blue west wing. All the engineering students in the green north wing and finally all the science students in the yellow south wing. You've got 2 minutes to find your faculty!"
Immediately everyone in the hall scrambles to get to they're perspective faculty groups.
Shoulders bumping against each other. Bits of apologies flying all over the place and a mixture of different odours fill the air. Can these two minutes end already.I hate crowded places. I find my way to my faculty in the red east wing with all the art majoring students.Finally the two minutes of torture have ended and I'm ready for the real fun to begin. We are introduced to our faculty leaders. All of them seem to be postgraduate students in their final year. Amongst them I spot a familiar face. Frank. They divide us into smaller groups and funny enough I end up in Frank's group.
Frank: Good morning everybody I'm Frank your leader for the next two weeks of orientation. This is my partner Jennifer, she will be assisting me. For the next two weeks we will teach you everything you need to know about UCT to get you started for the year. Think of us as your parents, because we will be the closest thing to parents you'll get while you're here. So let us get started. Today's task is to use your creative nature to read this map and find your way around campus. At every checkpoint you will find a ticket that leads you closer to us at the finishing point. Be there before three pm.Split yourselves in groups of six. Good luck!
I end up in a group with three guys and three girls. We briefly introduce ourselves and get started with the task at hand. Our first stop seems to be some place in the heart of campus round about the place where we are located. It seems to look like what appears to be a giant...no it can't be...a giant pair of butt cheeks. this must be a joke. I tilt my head to the side to examine the giant pair of butt cheeks further when Adrestus a guy from my group shouts out the disclosure.
Adrestus: I could recognize those cheeks anywhere that's a replica statue of The Discus Thrower, or the Discobolus.
His accent is foreign . I can not distinguish where he is from. He is obviously very excited to share his information with the group. But, unfortunately the information he just shared with us appears obscure to us all. We all look at him discombobulated and he continues to elaborate.
Adrestus: It is a famous lost Greek bronze replica! The sculpture of it is unknown to this very day. It's ancient and I mean BC ancient guys. It is known through numerous Roman copies, always in Greek athletics, the Discus Thrower is completely nude.
Clearly this guy is passionate about public art or he is greek. which one of the two it is. I don't know.
As we walk around the replica we discover that it really is a statue of a discus thrower just as Adrestus said. There seems to be a number of red ticket pasted on the statue. We grab one to see where it will lead us.
Tyger Tyger, burning bright,
In the forests of the night;
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
In what distant deeps or skies.
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand, dare seize the fire?
And what shoulder, & what art,
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? & what dread feet?
What the hammer? what the chain,
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp,
Dare its deadly terrors clasp!
When the stars threw down their spears
And water'd heaven with their tears:
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?
Tyger Tyger burning bright,
In the forests of the night:
What immortal hand or eye,
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
I can't help my excitement and blurt out what these words are.
Me: Guys! This is a poem by the one and only William Blake, The Tyger! The answer is obvious, we have to head to the Lions head. That's where the
UCT English Language Centre students meet.
The group laughs at my excitement but no one objects and we get moving.
At the front door of the UCT English Language Centre is a treasure chest. We open it to see what's inside. To our surpise, we find six tickets stapled together. We all argue about what it could mean. All but one. Amanda, the only person in the group who has hardly said a word all day speaks up and decides to change her current status from taciturn to perceptible.
Amanda: We have to head to the UCT Hiddingh Hall.
Jana: How do you know?
Jana basically snaps at Amanda.
Amanda: Because that is the only place on campus where the performing art students meet, especially for choir performances.
Amanda slightly squints her eyes at she microscopically shakes her head. Making her thoughts obvious on how stupid she finds Jana.
I can feel as the tention rising through the air between Amanda and Jana. And I am pretty sure I am not the only one. Luckily Danny jumps in to break the awakward tension that is rapidly rising.
Danny: Great! let's get going then, we're running out of time.
It's twelve o'clock and we don't know how many checkpoints we still have left.
YOU ARE READING
Fighting you in me
HumorDalia is a first year student at the university of Cape Town. A time she has given up her teenage years for. She has it all figured out...or so she thinks. Being the perfectionist she is.Until her first semester kicks off and sways her from a future...
