Create Time; Create a Masterpiece

Rhodes University may be considered as one of the most liberal and artistic Universities in South Africa. This is true to a certain extent. The truth is that Rhodes offers many creative opportunities, especially to first years, but I believe that these creative opportunities are still restricting. The truth is that the Rhodes lifestyle does not allow for a student’s individual creative time as first year students are continuously swept off their feet by demanding departments, deadlines and, of course, their extra-murals.

Anybody who wishes to study one of the arts or, as they are classified at Rhodes, subjects within the humanities department has probably come under pressure from their friends and family. They want to know where a degree majoring in Drama or English will take you, apart from straight back to the classroom to live out the rest of your days teaching little brats. The students that arrive at Rhodes at the beginning of every year are usually bursting with ideas that they want to experiment with. Unfortunately these ideas are given very little time to mature into physical material.

The fictional imagination is neglected to some degree. Students are given certain creative opportunities but these are all within restrictions which the student has to conform to. Creative freedom comes when conformity is thrown out the window. Much of the focus in many of the first year arts subjects at Rhodes is on the analysis of many famous writers. Indeed this is a very important part of first year study but no time is allowed for creative writing. I believe this is an important part of academic growth. A student has to be allowed to have time to let their imagination grip them and, through the knowledge that they acquire from these major writers, develop their own style of creative writing.

Obviously this principle cannot apply to all the first year subjects but being a Drama and English student I believe that this is an aspect that should be included in both courses. The problem is, as I have mentioned, that there is very little time for a student to develop creatively in their own time. Ideas need to be nurtured and have the time to develop into creative material. Another problem is that the first year course does not challenge students the way that it should. Yes, the workload is challenging but the material is not. Creative ideas rise from problems which are then converted into challenges. It is through these challenges that new ideas are created. The fact of the matter is, as much as many first years may disagree, that first year is an easy ride. We are challenged to develop our own opinion, which is a vital skill, and debate them in tutorials but we are not taught or given a chance, for that matter, to engage with our creative, fictional imaginations.

This is extremely unfortunate because there are individuals in their first year at Rhodes that have amazing imaginations. The fictional writers of tomorrow are right here, at one of the most artistic universities in South Africa. Unfortunately they are all too busy trying to keep their heads above water, swamped with issues of politics and social difficulties, that their creative touch is taking a beat seat. Only when these boundaries are broken down and more time is given to fiction will the creative imaginations of the first year students be set free.