Drunk...wonder what that's like...

Rhodent. The things that come to mind when we hear this word are drunk, party, loud; just to name a few. One would never associate it with academic, doesn’t drink but still manages to come home later than most after a night out. How can anyone have fun and last a whole night without alcohol is what might be running through your mind right now. Shannon is that person, a new meaning to the word Rhodent.

Shannon grew up in Margate, a town on the South Coast where the nightlife isn’t that spectacular, especially when you’ve got parents that won’t allow you out. “My matric dance was the first time I went out during my matric year,” she said, blushing. Shannon’s dad would never let her go out before then and it showed in her marks, which consisted of nothing but ‘A’s. But is this really the life any teenager should be living?

Shannon became very shy and sunk into her academics to hide from the outsiders who had her classed as a “boffin”, the term everyone wants to avoid when in school. She came to Rhodes hoping to change herself and her outlook on life, and that she did. During O-week she went out every night, coming home in the early hours of the morning along with the rest of her new friends, friends that didn’t have a stigma attached to her. This is about the point where we all assume she goes completely off the rails. Guess again because Shannon still doesn’t drink, or at least not like most Rhodents anyway. “I just don’t like the feeling of being out of control. There’s a point where you’re happy and then after that you just become crazy and I don’t like that.” It’s true, Shannon got drunk for the first time at Rhodes on…wait for it…cane train. “I don’t think I’ll be doing that again any time soon,” she said.

So how does one avoid the peer pressure, the constant nagging from her drunken friends and the temptation? Shannon has respect for herself and knows drinking is not the way forward. “It’s not good for your health or your studies,” as she correctly stated. But university is all about having fun and she says that you can have fun with one or two drinks and if you can’t remember, what’s the point?

Going out twice, sometimes three times, a week is plenty according to Shannon and this is how she plans to go through the rest of her university career. She’s a perfect example of how, at Rhodes, one doesn’t have to fall under the category of a typical Rhodent to fit in and have a great time. Shannon, along with her recently changed image from blonde to brunette, now has more friends than she’s ever had before. She’s been out more times in the last year than she had in her whole life before Rhodes and she’s trying new things along the way, without disregarding what she believes in and what her parents instilled in her. A true Rhodent in disguise…