WARNING: First Year at Rhodes=CHANGE

I came to varsity thinking that I would a) never smoke, b) never question my religion and c) skip a lecture..
well well well, reality soon hit me with the crystal clearness of a cane train. After the rowdy revelry of O-week, and the apple bottom-adventure of first term, the novelty of attending every lecture, abstaining from the smoky cigarettes that floated around in the Rat and attending Mass every Sunday soon wore off. I'm not one to compromise my morals or have double standards- in fact I've usually been one of those people who refused to ever be anyone but myself, but student life and having to depend on myself to do the things that I believe in have really changed my attitude on these issues.
Without even knowing it, skipping Journ on a thursday soon turned to skipping Journ 3 times a week. By the end of second term, it was a joke that I never attended lectures. As for the smoking, it may sound like a small deal to the average Joanna, but I am a serious asthmatic, the kind who sounds like that guy from Malcolm in the Middle with an inhaler, so smoking was always a strictly no go area. However, one siff Rhodent night at the Union and a bottle of St Claire's later, I was walking around with a vodka and coke in one hand and a cigarette balanced precariously between two glossy lips. Inhaling like a demon, I woke up the next morning with a cough that sounded like I was suffering form a serious bout of temporary lung cancer or something else totally disgusting.
As for the religious thing, after various philosophy classes and random attendances at the Athiest society, I began to doubt my traditional middle class Christian upbringing. I didn't pray for a whole term, I took down my rosary, and soon enough, swore off ever stepping foot in a religious institution again.
My point is that not varsity changes you, although it does and it will.
My point is that varsity, especially an excellent academic institution such as Rhodes, which teaches you to constantly question things around you, will bring out aspects of your personality that you were unaware ever existed. And this is all OK and part of our development as normal human beings, except sometimes you may not be ready for the change.
I am writing this to simply warn you that you WILL change, your beliefs MAY differ by the end of first year and you will have almost DEFINITELY have done something that you swore never to do. Too much tequila can do that to you. Jokes aside, before you get to Rhodes, take stock of who you are, remember the things that you have always believed in and get ready to ride the Rhodent roller coaster of change!!