By Nadia Swart
If this question has escaped your lips over the past couple of weeks, there is no need to worry; a guide to surviving Stellenbosch University (SU) is exactly what you need. Here is the rundown on books, SunLearn, student cards and the madness in between.
Creating your timetable is basically the academic version of playing Tetris – exciting, daunting and may leave you questioning how you ended up here. Sure, MySun might feel like it was created by a sleep-deprived alien, but it is a necessity when trying to figure out what days will be a chaotic sprint between the Jan Mouton and the Krotoa building and which ones are reserved for strategic naps and cheeky McDonalds takeaways.
It is immensely important to get to know your SunLearn app. In a nutshell, it is like learning to swim – do it early or drown in a sea of missing lecture slides and due dates. Don’t wait until you are in a time crunch to figure out where your module frameworks or lecturers’ emails are. Future you will thank you, probably whilst stress-eating a full slab of chocolate at one o’clock in the morning.
Your student card is like your emotional support water bottle; you need it wherever you go. This golden ticket to campus life can be acquired on the third floor of the Neelsie until 21 February and in the IT Hub thereafter. As for the photo? Don’t stress. That camera has been professionally trained to humble every SU student.
The buying of textbooks is a topic on its own. There is absolutely no need to buy all your textbooks before classes even start; rather wait until your lecturer explicitly states that a hard copy is essential (because spoiler alert: most of the time it’s not). Once you know you must buy said textbook, do your research on finding a second-hand copy. Your wallet and the environment will thank you – one questionably highlighted edition at a time.
At the end of the day, navigating SU is confusing, chaotic and might leave you with a caffeine dependency, but that’s all part of the ride. Embrace the madness and remember that every seasoned student once stood exactly where you are now and lived to tell the tale.
