Blogs / James Wright

The year coming to a close.

2009-10-25T02:11:00.000+13:00

I know Pembo (Josh) has already talked about the beginning of exams but around this time of year, there isn't really much to talk about!! Exams started at the beginning of last week and so since then both the science and central libraries have been packed with a shortage of seats. Honestly its crazy. People line up half an hour before the libraries even open just so they can get a seat. Along with that, only the eager BComm's make it into town.

So the Health Scis had there first exam on Friday which they have been studying for over the last semester and came out with a typical 'oh my god stuffed it up' when in fact what they mean is they lost 1% (possibly).The first year Law kids also had their first exam last week and with mixed impressions. Personally i haven't started exams yet but study has been on the agenda everyday since the beginning of October.

Along with exams comes the depressing awakening to realisation- we are leaving Selwyn. For some of us just for a few months, for others forever, and for others still, for a year or 2 before they decide to be Senior Residents. The memories and experiences, let alone the maturing, and skills we have learnt, will be something that we will remember for years to come. Selwyn College has been a place that we have all been able to settle into and feel safe, feel welcome and above all belong to.

So as the days go by, more and more people will leave for a long deserved holiday and a holiday full of work. Others like myself will have a mean time at Rhythm and Vines as well as the Big Day Out in between for a chance to chill out.

I wish all 'frushers' (first years) who are accepted into Selwyn a pat on the back-its not the easiest hall to get into and believe me when I say your in for a mean year.

The Nevill Cup final showdown.

2009-10-08T02:31:00.000+13:00

Last week the Selwyn-Knox dance competition was upon us and what a show it was. Knox College decided to tribute their dance the one and only MJ and of course performed a good show to a few of his greatest hits. Selwyn however, retaliated in full military fashion-guns and all. With a very intimate performance by the couples and a human tank that would blow anyone out of the water, it was corporal punishment for the Knoxies (mind you their idea was dead before they started) and it was victory to the Selwynites once again. If your keen to watch the spectacular performance, you can see it on the following link. http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=150959340167&ref=mf

Last night the Nevill Cup was drawn 4-4 between the two colleges and so choir would be the deciding factor. I know Andrew Wilshere our sub-warden and the the two choirs put alot of time and effort into these performances and with Knox's reputation it was not going to be an easy one to win. Unfortunately selwyn didn't quite make the win and lost both events, giving Knox the retention of the Nevill Cup for yet another year. Big thanks go to Andrew and Leah for organising and coaching these last events and for Leah especially for organising a fantastic year of culturalism for 2009 selwyn. Thank you.

Elected at last.

2009-09-27T09:02:00.000+13:00

Today has been a very long day. It has taken 7 1/2 hours for the Selwyn College Students Association to decide who will lead the year of 2010 the two main men announced in my last blog will do an exceptional job in leading the SCSA next year and i hope that the bloggers of 2010 will keep you (and me) updated on the colleges life.

The Internal affairs officer next year is 'Dog' aka Chris Brewer who has contributed alot throughout the year in terms of sport and most recently, pranks on Knox College which he used to strengthen his campaign.

The treasurer of next year is Chris 'Kegga' McKegg who from his campaign pictures of standing behind a big pellet of bank notes knows what handling money is all about.

The sports representative for next year is Samuel (Timbsy) Timbs who, after participating and trialing for many events this year has earned.

The Cultural Representative for next year is Jordan (J-unit) Watts. A Hawkes Bay man like myself, Jordan has been, for the whole year, actively involved in drama and therefore, as it is a major component of the Nevill Cup will do his role justice.

Finally, yet a key component of the life of Selwyn College, is the Social Representative. Hanafi Zwart has been given this privilege and as he has performed as a DJ for a few of our HOPS and is affiliated with venues like the Cook Tavern and others, he will be an asset to the SCSA crew this year.

So as a man only committee there is no excuse for not 'Man' ing up to their positional roles. Well done guys! You will have no trouble whatsoever with fulfilling your roles next year.

President and his Vice.

2009-09-27T03:16:00.000+13:00

So the morning is over and the first results of the elections have just been decided.

After a very lengthy three hours of votes, which by the way were painstakingly close, the first results of the 2010 SCSA committee elections can now be announced.

All the presidential and vice presidential speeches were amazing and the candidates showed great potential as future presidents. As always there can be only one and so president of the 2010 SCSA committee is awarded to Jimmy Tait-Jamieson.

Next was the vice-president election which seemed to take even longer than the presidents vote. This just showed the intensity of the SCSA vote. After much wait, and a few laughs from videos of failblog, the SCSA Vice-President of 2010 is Thomas Elliott.

There are many more speeches to be heard and so a final instalment will be made after the remainder of the elections.

Turning Over The Selwyn Leaf

2009-09-24T08:55:00.000+12:00

As the year approaches an end, exams and work-filled 'holidays' draw near, The 'Selwyn College Students Association Campaign Week' opens.

This week and only this week, Selwynites compete for wall-space in the foyer to display posters of quasi-witty slogans and 'photoshopped' pictures for the vote of the Selwyn People- SCSA Committee 2010.

The roles are as follows:

President

Vice President

Internal Affairs Officer

Treasurer

Sports Representative

Cultural Representative

Social Representative

Around 30 or so people have been nominated for the committee with the majority of those cmpaigning for President and Internal Affairs. Alot of thought has gone into the campaign this year for example, Jack Montgomerie, also known as Beans, has made a constructionout of bamboo to convey his versatlilty and innovation while spelling the letters 'VP' underneath it in edible green beans.

He has also made a slogan for his treasurer campaign: 'you can count on Beans to count your Beans' Another example is that of Emma Gattey who has searched for the word 'cultural' on wikipedia and added her own link "Emma Gattey for Cultural Rep 2010" with pictures of herself also.

It is a great week as the campaign week elevates in intensity throughout the week. The campaign is allowed to be published anywhere within the college except the dining and the common room and the only other rule essentially is that no one is allowed to pull other campaigners posters down and so for the rest of the week, the hall foyer will be a very dark ,sun deficient environments.

On saturday (September 26th), speeches will be made by all those who've campaigned and expressed what the will provide for the college. Voting will take place to decide who ascends to the commmittee throne and provide another fun-filled year of Selwyn College.

Updates will be made throughout the day with respect to the election results.

James.

Quattro Sonata

2009-09-19T03:38:00.000+12:00

After a healthy and well deserved mid semester break selwynites came back happy and refreshed. Personally i spent the week in Nelson and enjoyed the 21 degree days-amazing! The beginning of the last term brought the start of the remainder of our battle with knox for Cameron Shield and Neville Cup. The first of these this term was instrumental. I was part of the quartet and instrumentally it consisted of a saxophone, one clarinet and two flutes. We played two pieces-one composed by Handel and the other by Vivaldi. So it was kept very classical. Knox played quite a similar style style of music. It was very close (6 marks apart out of 100) however unfortunately for us Knox came out on top. Special thanks go to Cassy a returning resident for sourcing and coaching the group-trooper!! Currently we are preparing for Dance and Choir for the Neville Cup. Wish us luck! I will post the results when they are done.

Chessmasters!

2009-09-18T10:43:00.000+12:00

Hey guys, well as part of the Neville Cup, against Knox college the skilled art form that is chess was played. Myself and four other Kings of the black and white checkered board fought it out and what a show it was. After 15 minutes, the first game was won. Five minutes following the second game was won, and ten minutes after that the third game was won to conceal the win. Its a good feeling to contribute to something after a lot of work has been put in and have the rewards put on a silver platter. This match drew Knox and Selwyn for Neville Cup. I happened to be the one who did not win a match, it'll teach me for being so slow at moving pieces, but this was strategically decided amongst the team as i faced the toughest opponent. Sometimes there comes a time where you need to take a hit for team for the good of the whole group and i'm glad i did it, cause we won!!! The battle was won! But who will win the Neville Cup war?

Home.

2009-08-25T08:46:00.000+12:00

So what do you call home? Home for me is the Hawkes Bay. The east region of the north island. Beautiful place and nice weather most of the time. If you dont know, its main town Napier is the Art deco capital of New Zealand and we have the only Art Deco Mcdonalds in the world!! Napier is a beachside town which is a prime spot when it comes to celebrations like fireworks, christmas and the new year. Its obviuosly not as up market as auckland or the capital but its a cruisy stress-free town with a cosiness to it. Many of you would have heard of the 1931 napier earthquake. It pretty much flattened napier and survived as a 'tin town' as most of the shops were structured with corrogated iron. One of the buildings that survived was the Municipal theatre, which is considered to be Napiers town hall. Many concerts, productions and school performances are held there so i guess if was to parallel with selwyn, it would be the 'Neville cup' centre of hawkes bay. Mclean Park in that case is definitely the Cameron sheild equivalent with regular provincial and international rugby matches as well as cricket matches. I guess what im trying to say is that Selwyn and home are very much the same, theres no place like it. The pride that is built and the friends that become family are the things that will stay with you for a very long time.

Our Own Round Table.

2009-08-21T21:09:00.000+12:00

Like the knights of King Arthur, the students of Selwyn college have their own round table that is the student council(SCSA). These awesome people are the ultimate philanthropists when it comes to giving away their time for the welfare of the college. Doing it for mates and stuff. So there are a few roles to play as a councillor which include, the President. The big man who does a lot of behind the scenes work and is a general good sort. Then we have his right-hand man the vice president who organises the Selwyn merchandise, the court sessions where our competitors reminisce after a battle against knox.

We have the I.A. (internal affairs fellow). This guy makes sure the traditions of selwyn are upheld including organising the annual Selwyn ballet, the haka and waiata, and organising the selwyn record, a magazine with a collation of the years memories to make sure we dont forget. Next we have the social rep, this social butterfly organises all the HOPS (selwyn partys) and also the Balls (orientation and 21sters). Along with this workload the social rep also helps organise the College House exchange. The last two people on the council organise the battles with knox. The cultural rep and sport rep organise these competitions with knox for two very special prizes-the Cameron Shield(sports) and the Neville Cup(cultural). It just so happens that were winning both of them this year (wahoo!) Now last but certainly not least (cliche i know) is the treasurer who provides the financial front to make sure all these events happen!

Well thats our council so any prospective student applying for Selwyn College, your not alone and its because of these people that life at selwyn is so unique and amazing. Shot guys!!

2009-08-09T07:42:00.000+12:00

Sorry about the wait guys, i guess another one of those things that comes with a buoyant uni life is learning the art of procrastination resistance of which i am still a rookie. Anyways, last sunday we had the delight of having the new co-leader of the Green Party, Metiria Turei, with us for formal dinner. It is becoming more and more often that famous or well-known guests are welcomed to the college. Mrs. Turei spoke of her background and how she came to be elected at parliament which, unfortunately for her, wasnt an easy task to achieve as a young mother so it just goes to show that even when the times are tough its possible to achieve what you want in life. She also spoke of the current world and economic crises that are upon us and how the Green Party is trying to find ways to 'hit two birds with one stone'. It was really good to have people like Mrs Turei in the college to get a good honest first hand opinion on what they do and i guess there are many more to come.

Re-O Week

2009-07-21T07:53:00.000+12:00

Well with the beginning of semester two came Selwyn Re orientation week! It started with mondays "Back To School" party with an awesome slide show of embarrasing high school pictures. Tuesday was Flat-golf which unfortunately, due to the big night before-hand, i was not up for so hopefully 'Pembo' or Teriana will provide more details. Wednesday was a 'sober' night which involved a night of laser force, tenpin bowling and for those who could get tickets like myself, Harry Potter 6. I have to say that the movie could have been abit better but i guess compressing a book into a short movie isnt the easiest job in the world. Thursday involved the Re-Rave and Friday was meant to be a surprise, but eventuated into another recovery period to get the liver back into check!

Saturday was a good night being my 20th. I dont recommend this, but a few a codral if your sick does wonders for emergencies like getting on it, on your B'day. Anyway after drinking since 3pm, i made it out to Metro, a Club in the Octagon which the committee hired out for the raging saturday night. It was a great day and i recommend getting a Tea-Pot if you ever go-amazing! But now back to it, going to class and dealing with or waiting for swine-flu.

Semester Two

2009-07-11T12:16:00.000+12:00

Well the end of the inter-semester holidays end and semester two is about to start.About time! Staying at selwyn over the break is not the best of my ideas, with the majority of people gone from selwyn it became uncomfortably quiet, however thanks to the meds returning early human contact was at least possible. It's great to see Selwynites returning back all nice and fresh from the long-deserved break. Re-Orientation Week is going to be another exciting week of events in Selwyn with people strengthening relationships rather than merely creating them. I hope everyones ready for yet another exciting chapter of Selwyns future and good luck for the semester,

Jimmy

Exams...........OVER!!!

2009-06-28T01:50:00.000+12:00

Yep thats right, the first semester exams are finally at an end thank goodness! So everyones either gone home to see the family or gone on a holiday oversees, or stayed at selwyn, like myself. Cooking for myself is going to be interesting....but at least i get to wake up whenever i want now. Weve had quite an eventful first semester, with the various Nevill cup and Cameron shield matches taking place (were winning both of them currently by the way), O week was epic thanks to SCSA (shot guys!!), and dont forget the snow!! So i cant wait to see what Re-O Week is going to be like but if it's anything like last year were in for a treat!

Exams..........and SNOW!!!!!!

2009-06-16T22:50:00.000+12:00

Dont you hate it when you know the answers to remaining question but you just dont have enough time? Thats what happened to me unfortunately in my genetics exam. But im glad its over. We are just starting the second week of exam period and the excitement is building for a great holiday ahead. The law students are home having a good time no doubt and the health scis finish there exams on friday.

On another note.......ITS SNOWING!!!!!!!! This doesnt occur very often at sea level so the morning was spent having numerous snow fights including one with knox (we won of course). Haha Beans made the most massive snow ball its huge!! If only exams were cancelled for the day...

EXAMS!!!

2009-06-11T07:22:00.000+12:00

The stress of exams = awful. Second year for some reason has decided to put twice the workload on and expect the same kind of grade. How in the world is that possible when you spend all of your time doing internal assessment and going to lectures? I am about to find out in the weeks to come and the results may not be pretty. The lucky Law students have it easy having no mid-year exams so they’ve got 5 weeks to their expense (wait till the end of the year freshers then you’ll feel the burn.) So essentially everyone is either hogging the seats at the library or locked in their rooms with heaters blazing and pen on paper……except for maybe the BComm’s, they seem pretty relaxed.

Exams!!

2009-05-26T23:03:00.000+12:00

So the health sci’s have just finished their last terms test with the usual response of ‘Oh no! I got one question wrong‼ I’m going to fail med‼’ Personally my standards aren’t so high but none the less work exams loom and that means plenty of late nights at the science library and the stud(y center) for many except for Ryan Chaffey and Ben Patterson-they’re just natural genii. Ha-ha we had a power overload last week a few minutes after lunch had been cooked (thank goodness!) what a disaster that could have been‼ Lucky there was enough for seconds.

Another Year..

2009-05-19T11:13:00.000+12:00

Well the second half of the semester has started and everyones back from holiday for the final stretch-exams. The first year health sci’s are busy as usual with their various tests, the BCom’s are living it large the Law students are overwhelmed with reading and the BA’s are enjoying themselves also.

An impressive array of beards were paraded in Selwyn College as we ended the hairy month that is Amish April (the boys grew their beards). We now move into another month of festivities-Mullet May. It needs no explanation. The fresher boys are practicing for the annual Selwyn Ballet which is going to be one of a kind when the time comes to performing it. A lot of late night study is among us in the next two months as we approach exams. Keep up the good work fellas!

Jimmy