By: Stephen Canton
There are a large array of people that share similarities with the chronological order of Adams history. If you had to ask a large audience “Okay, raise your hands if you are a white male that lives in Zimbabwe, was educated at a socially conservative boarding school in Natal, love rugby and attend Rhodes University”, you are likely to find a bunch of guys who just perpetuate the stereotype of the “jock guy”. However, Adam has a unique sense of individualism which is quite interesting.
Adam was born in Harare, Zimbabwe. Naturally, growing up in a country that was falling to pieces created enough problems, but Adam had more than that to deal with more than this. With his parents separating and many land claims placed on his house, many would think that Adam would turn out bitter and resentful, but, on the contrary he is nothing of the sort. He is outgoing and friendly, and although he has had a tough time growing up he still turned out well. The reason for this is -to put in Adams words- “Look, if you let everything wrong in your life affect you, you going to end up as one screwed up kid. Just keep your head down and have a ‘never back down’ attitude.” This “never back down attitude” has pulled Adam through so many obstacles in his life, especially when he attended Hilton College in Natal. At Hilton he faced his toughest challenges yet. Being far away from home, and having to deal with the militant like proceedings of a conservative Natal high school. Adams temperament was obviously continuously tested here, with bullying and fighting being a major problem at Hilton, Adam is very proud and will never back down from a fight, he says that “I might be an easy going guy, but if you test me I’m not going to back down…I’m no ones bitch.”
Adam is now at University at Rhodes. The Rhodes ethos is very suitable to Adams character, the people are outgoing and slightly rebellious, with the consistent tendency to go out, have a good time and to drink a lot. But aside from the most common obstacle that Rhodes imposes, the workload, Adam is also having to adapt to something else. Coming from a very socially conservative background, Adam is having slight difficulty in adapting to the many eccentricities that are at Rhodes. He is not used to homosexuality being so open and public, as well as the eccentric dress code or fashion statements that many Rhodes students show off. Although he battles to adapt to this, he is not bigoted in the slightest. “People want to do what they want, I can respect that and I have no problem with them, it’s just something that is hard to get used to.”
Adam is something of a non-conformist and has definitely defied the stereotype. He has often rebelled against higher authority like schools or parents, not adhering to many rules and restrictions placed on him. But with Adams appearance, his social life and his love for sport, many people think that Adam is just your typical jock. However Adam has a deeper nature, being very eloquent and never afraid to put across his unique point of view which challenge the normal way of thinking, Adam has definitely defied the stereotyped and shown many people that he is his own person and he is not someone that will be classified into a common clique.
And although people may think of Adam as a jock, or think of him as a stereotype, he doesn’t let it phase him, he will carry on living his life as he sees fit, and nothing that anyone says will change that. This is emphasised by his favourite quote, “only God can judge me.”
Link to Adams Facebook profile: http:///
There are a large array of people that share similarities with the chronological order of Adams history. If you had to ask a large audience “Okay, raise your hands if you are a white male that lives in Zimbabwe, was educated at a socially conservative boarding school in Natal, love rugby and attend Rhodes University”, you are likely to find a bunch of guys who just perpetuate the stereotype of the “jock guy”. However, Adam has a unique sense of individualism which is quite interesting.
Adam was born in Harare, Zimbabwe. Naturally, growing up in a country that was falling to pieces created enough problems, but Adam had more than that to deal with more than this. With his parents separating and many land claims placed on his house, many would think that Adam would turn out bitter and resentful, but, on the contrary he is nothing of the sort. He is outgoing and friendly, and although he has had a tough time growing up he still turned out well. The reason for this is -to put in Adams words- “Look, if you let everything wrong in your life affect you, you going to end up as one screwed up kid. Just keep your head down and have a ‘never back down’ attitude.” This “never back down attitude” has pulled Adam through so many obstacles in his life, especially when he attended Hilton College in Natal. At Hilton he faced his toughest challenges yet. Being far away from home, and having to deal with the militant like proceedings of a conservative Natal high school. Adams temperament was obviously continuously tested here, with bullying and fighting being a major problem at Hilton, Adam is very proud and will never back down from a fight, he says that “I might be an easy going guy, but if you test me I’m not going to back down…I’m no ones bitch.”
Adam is now at University at Rhodes. The Rhodes ethos is very suitable to Adams character, the people are outgoing and slightly rebellious, with the consistent tendency to go out, have a good time and to drink a lot. But aside from the most common obstacle that Rhodes imposes, the workload, Adam is also having to adapt to something else. Coming from a very socially conservative background, Adam is having slight difficulty in adapting to the many eccentricities that are at Rhodes. He is not used to homosexuality being so open and public, as well as the eccentric dress code or fashion statements that many Rhodes students show off. Although he battles to adapt to this, he is not bigoted in the slightest. “People want to do what they want, I can respect that and I have no problem with them, it’s just something that is hard to get used to.”
Adam is something of a non-conformist and has definitely defied the stereotype. He has often rebelled against higher authority like schools or parents, not adhering to many rules and restrictions placed on him. But with Adams appearance, his social life and his love for sport, many people think that Adam is just your typical jock. However Adam has a deeper nature, being very eloquent and never afraid to put across his unique point of view which challenge the normal way of thinking, Adam has definitely defied the stereotyped and shown many people that he is his own person and he is not someone that will be classified into a common clique.
And although people may think of Adam as a jock, or think of him as a stereotype, he doesn’t let it phase him, he will carry on living his life as he sees fit, and nothing that anyone says will change that. This is emphasised by his favourite quote, “only God can judge me.”
Link to Adams Facebook profile: http:///
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1 comments:
Cool profile dude. As a "barefoot tramping" weirdo I guess I know how easy it is to fall victim, and to victimise people because of stereotypes. It seems to me that the disruption Adams faced here at Rhodes, and seems to be overcoming lies in his efforts to open his mind. From what you've written, following Todorov's narrative trends from equilibrium to equilibrium, Adam seems to be using his strength of character, his "never back down" attitude, to become his own hero and accomodate Rhodes' eccentricities in his already powerful personality. Im working on the other end of the scale, accepting that not all “jocks” are the same and that they do have flexible minds, your profile really helped me realise that. Shot!
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