Can You Juggle?

“I just love partying so much that I’ve kind of had to find a way to cope with Varsity, which for me is a combo of partying, sport and studying.” Says Peter Alexander Gillespie, better known as “Alex”, “Gilsey” and even some times “Ben Stiller”, who is a first year student studying BCOM at Rhodes. Since the theme of Sotally Tober is well, “living sotally tober” and so strongly linked with partying and the social aspect of a first year at Rhodes, I thought it would be appropriate as well as interesting to find out about how a student who is really into their sports, but still parties, and survives at Rhodes. Enter Alex, Under 21s rugby player, academic survivor and twice-a-week go-outer.

“Balancing three completely different parts of life isn’t easy, but trust me bru, it’s worth it!” Alex explains to me how his average day works: waking up at 5am every morning to jog 5km, going to lectures, and then returning to Res for lunch and possibly an afternoon nap. On Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, days normally only end at 3 or 4am, Alex tells me, because working and studying can only start when he gets back from rugby (or the gym, in the case of this term because the season is finished) really late. Even though he is currently not playing, Alex still makes a firm point of staying fit by cross-training in jogging and gyming. “But, since my weekdays are crap, it makes my Wednesdays and Fridays so much better!” These are the two days a week Alex allows himself to “get slightly mental”. Generally a Union-Friars person, he says that sometimes it’s also fun to check out other places such as The Rat, EQ, CaféBlanca and such. Usually, his Wednesday nights end at around 1 or 2am; and on Friday they “end when they end”.

“But the thing is Nev, we are so damn lucky to be at a place like Rhodes, and lately I’ve been appreciating it more than ever, so I try to stay on top of my work, because lets face it: we all know that some people won’t be here next year, and I don’t want to be one of them…” Everyone has (I hope!) at some point felt the academic pressures which exist here, and I can quite confidently guess, at any other University too, so I found it interesting to see how Alex survives the workload, even with all the other things which occupy his time. He laughs at me with a cheery, Ben Stiller-grin and says with an air of sarcasm, “Time management, buddy.” He explains that he works every single night and does assignments as soon as he gets them, so as not to leave them until the very last minute. I admire his dedication to his sport, and his enthusiasm which is helping him survive his first year.

Sometimes I find it hard to manage my own time, and don’t quite prioritise like I would like to, even though I has half as much as Alex has taking up my time. So I believe that Alex really is a “survivor of first year”, and that thanks to people like him I’m able to think about my own position. He’s learnt how to juggle (one of the more important talents one learns at Varsity), and through this he is living life Sotally Tober, still keeping up with academics and making time for his sport.

Respect, Alex!
Nev