Graduation Disaster
Let me stress from the outset, once again, that if you want to go to the University of KwaZulu-Natal, please, please, please enroll at the Pietermaritzburg campus. Durban is horribly disorganised- a prime example of a massive organisation powered by stupid ideas and filled with incompetant people continually passing the buck.
Take last night's Humanities graduation at the Westville campus as an example...
Set to start promptly at 6pm, it actually only began past 6:30, with the staff procession entering the sports hall where the ceremony was taking place. Most students were sitting in their seats from around 5:30-5:45.
The post-graduates have their qualifications bestowed on them first (in the order of Doctorates, Masters and then Honours degrees). As the first Honours graduate I was about 50th or so, so I was finished quite early on in the evening. And the only reason I was there in the first place was because my parents wanted to see me receive my qualification... again (I went to my Undergraduate ceremony back in late 2003).
*sigh* Yes, I'm 24 years old and still bowing to my parents' will.
Anyway, the first major problem of the evening was that with all the graduates, there was actually little seating for parents in the hall. The University's solution? Set up a marquee outside, and have the filmed graduation projected on a screen. Because surely all parents are content to see their child receive a major honour 'remotely'?
The obvious result was a number of disgruntled people toy-toying outside the hall, and banging on the closed doors. We were half expecting them to come bursting in and disrupt the ceremony. Later on, I actually wished they did, just to liven up the ceremony...
The graduation went on and on and on. It was just name after name, and nobody seemed to care one way or another. The University attempted to squeeze in too many graduates. By 8:30pm, there were still over 200 graduates to receive their degrees. People often speak about the differing layers of hell and the punishments reserved for each layer. Torture by boredom is one of the worst!
People at the graduation couldn't take it... They started leaving. University staff tried to stop them with announcements, demands delivered with a threatening tone, as well as physically barring the exit routes. Neither parents or students would stand for it, and shouldered past the outstreched arms and barriers.
I'm normally one for obeying the rules. Especially when it comes to politely respecting people, because I would like to be treated in the same vein. Leaving early is rude. But neither I or my parents could take it anymore. We were out of the hall by 8:45. I'm sure if we stayed until the end we'd be sitting there until past 10pm- over 4 hours of name reading!
Oh, and to top it, I was given the wrong hood... I spent the evening in a *blergh* inferior Westville campus colours as opposed to colours from Howard Collage Durban campus, where I studied...
So there's your lesson. You live in Natal and want a university qualification? Go to Pietermaritzburg, an organised, social, smaller campus that cares about its students. My sister's graduation was in Pietermaritzburg last Friday and it took half the time.
Take last night's Humanities graduation at the Westville campus as an example...
Set to start promptly at 6pm, it actually only began past 6:30, with the staff procession entering the sports hall where the ceremony was taking place. Most students were sitting in their seats from around 5:30-5:45.
The post-graduates have their qualifications bestowed on them first (in the order of Doctorates, Masters and then Honours degrees). As the first Honours graduate I was about 50th or so, so I was finished quite early on in the evening. And the only reason I was there in the first place was because my parents wanted to see me receive my qualification... again (I went to my Undergraduate ceremony back in late 2003).
*sigh* Yes, I'm 24 years old and still bowing to my parents' will.
Anyway, the first major problem of the evening was that with all the graduates, there was actually little seating for parents in the hall. The University's solution? Set up a marquee outside, and have the filmed graduation projected on a screen. Because surely all parents are content to see their child receive a major honour 'remotely'?
The obvious result was a number of disgruntled people toy-toying outside the hall, and banging on the closed doors. We were half expecting them to come bursting in and disrupt the ceremony. Later on, I actually wished they did, just to liven up the ceremony...
The graduation went on and on and on. It was just name after name, and nobody seemed to care one way or another. The University attempted to squeeze in too many graduates. By 8:30pm, there were still over 200 graduates to receive their degrees. People often speak about the differing layers of hell and the punishments reserved for each layer. Torture by boredom is one of the worst!
People at the graduation couldn't take it... They started leaving. University staff tried to stop them with announcements, demands delivered with a threatening tone, as well as physically barring the exit routes. Neither parents or students would stand for it, and shouldered past the outstreched arms and barriers.
I'm normally one for obeying the rules. Especially when it comes to politely respecting people, because I would like to be treated in the same vein. Leaving early is rude. But neither I or my parents could take it anymore. We were out of the hall by 8:45. I'm sure if we stayed until the end we'd be sitting there until past 10pm- over 4 hours of name reading!
Oh, and to top it, I was given the wrong hood... I spent the evening in a *blergh* inferior Westville campus colours as opposed to colours from Howard Collage Durban campus, where I studied...
So there's your lesson. You live in Natal and want a university qualification? Go to Pietermaritzburg, an organised, social, smaller campus that cares about its students. My sister's graduation was in Pietermaritzburg last Friday and it took half the time.
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