The Run Up to Graduation

As run ups to elections in many African countries are usually filled with violence, propaganda, higher frequency of politicians on the screen promising a better life, then the run up to graduation at ALA was just as hectic, but consisted of an excessive amount of fun. I guess to make up for two years of limited fun.

The technical preparations themselves were quite calm (at least from the student perspective), because all we had to do was clean our rooms and for second years in particular, to graduate. I felt sorry for the ALA staff that was caught between organising guests’ arrivals, preparing the foyer for its unveiling, chairs, tables, food, and everything involved with the event itself. Meanwhile, our lives were saturated with F-U-N!

It started off on the night of June 10^th, after the completion of Cambridge International Exams, where the auditorium was turned into a massive dance floor filled with happy energetic students who just danced off all exam stress and anything to do with the pressure of that period. Also pouring in at that precise hour were alumni, who had just popped in to say ‘hi’ after some of them had completed their first year at university.

This was after a party was planned for Southern African students where our admissions officer, Ms Anneline Fisher, was to spend two hours celebrating the end of the academic year with us. Indeed, being an ALA student is filled with many challenging experiences that can break you, but usually build you and therefore it is always worthwhile to celebrate overcoming them. Preceding this was a treat from the residential life office, which was presented to us by the deputy director of residential life, Ms Wolter, during dinner. Here, a huge cake was baked in order to be munched by the entire student body to wash away the agony with something sweet. So by the end of that evening, I was exhausted. Although I had finished my exams two days before that, I found myself very tired from the ‘pens down’ vibe… little did I know that more was coming in the few days that followed.

Although they live over 350km away from ALA, the vibe seemed to have rubbed off onto my family too. It came as a pleasant surprise when my aunt took my friend and I out to a restaurant at Clearwater Mall during the weekend-also for us to de-stress! Surely, if I was to be asked why I looked worn out on Monday morning, for the first time in my life it was nothing to do with academics or work, but was because of having fun.

In addition to doing seminal readings with the whole academy during that week, I was hosting a friend from a nearby school who wanted to learn more about ALA. Meanwhile, South African students were rehearsing in the early mornings and late evenings in preparation for the hour-long show we put together for Youth day which was on June 16^th. The show added yet another dose of entertainment to the ALA community and was fortunately well appreciated. In the show, we explored different provocative topics in South Africa such as education, nationalisation, racism and the use of arts as a tool to fight oppression.

We then immersed ourselves into Italian food as we spent the Thursday night at Panarottis, Eating-As-Much-Pizza-As-We-Liked. An eating competition ensued, earning Geraldine the title of “Last man/woman eating,” and leaving the rest of us defeated on the restaurant couches.

The week concluded on Saturday June 18^th, when our advisor took us out to a destination which was a mystery at first, and later became an experience that took the fun to its epic point. We went zipline sliding on a canopy tour in the Magaliesburg Mountains, two hours from campus. I had been on outdoor adventures before, but never was I on one that made me slide on my own, suspended 25m above the ground and sliding from one hill to the next one (140m away at most) on a steel cable. As we slid through, below was breath-taking scenery; with protea flowers germinating brightly, monkeys criss-crossing with excitement and tour guides delivering world-class entertainment as they informed us about the unique fauna and flora endemic to the mountains.

One moment I will never forget was when Orphelia (My co-advisee from Ivory Coast) got stuck right in the middle of the cable while sliding. Although the tour guides had taken their time to explain the safety measures as well as the procedure to be followed during the slide and upon arrival to the other end, Orphelia somehow mixed up the instructions and ended up making a ‘break’ halfway through. She was terrified! This was after three people had gone over, and the thought of falling from that height, into the unknown got her screaming her lungs out until her knight in shining armour (safety guide) came sliding on the same cable to rescue her.

Meanwhile, a mad person called Lillian was screaming severely out of tune, producing a melody that would score a 1/10 when compared to the worst Idols contestant. Reflecting on Ophelia’s experience, I realise how my life at ALA was also like her journey through the wire. There are times where we get stuck as students. Sometimes the pressures of exams, culminating projects and university applications force us to pull a ‘break’ before the journey ends. Yet there is always someone behind our shoulders to push us right across to the next platform.

Overall, the tour was fun-filled (as was the entire week), enabling our advisory group to solidify our family bonds as we counted down to the final hours before departure.

What awaited us after out little adventure was nothing less than legendary. An Indian Style Ball, complete with the Taj mahal, a retreat to Emerald city, Good-Bye Parties from our Houses and boys and girls parting ways in the classic ALA “until graduation do us part”. As the old Malawian saying goes, “Mbuzi ikakonda, amalonda ali pafupi” (the goat is the happiest in his last hour) so too was our time at ALA in these last few days before Graduation.

The bonds we created shall indeed last for our lifetime.