Brief van die redaktrise

Briefvandieredaktrise

DeurIngevanderWesthuizen

Hoe kan ek, in my laaste brief as redaktrise, die jaar perfek vasvang en afskeid neem van die suksesvolle jaar wat verby is? Soos ek dink, verskyn die beeld van ’n klok wat lui in my geestesoog. Sonder dat ons dit besef, dra ’n eenvoudigeklokbaiebetekenisinonslewens.

Eeuegeledeisklokkegebruikomdieverloopvantydaantekondig-elkeuurisdeur’ndawerendeluivan’nreuse klokafgesluit,enelkenuweuurhetmet’newedawerendeluiweerbegin.Deesdae,assosieeronsdieluivan’nklok metdiedoopvanbabatjies,diegevreesdeklankvanskooldae,diebekendstellingvangelukkigepaartjiesbytroues, of die weemoedige musiek van begrafnisse. Klokke het dus vandag dieselfde uiteindelike doel as wat hulle oorspronklik gehad het: om die progressie van tyd in ons lewens aan te kondig. Die begin van nuwe dinge, en die eindevanander.VirLaRochelle,hetdieweergalmendeklankvandieklokhierdiejaarbeidediebeginendieeinde van’nfasegemerk.

Die aanstelling van mevrou Conradie as ons nuwe skoolhoof, die digitalisasie van akademiese werk, die bekendstelling van ’n reuse hoeveelheid nuwe personeellede en, natuurlik, die verwelkoming van ons liefste Daisies. Maar die aangrypende treur van “begrafnisklokke” - die klokke van onontkombare eindes - val ewig vaagweg op die oor. Hierdie jaar bring aan sekere van ons natuurlik ook ’n lang string van eindes: die einde van hoërskool;dieeindevanhuidigevriendskappe;dieeindevan’nsekerefasevandielewe;dieeindevandielewesoos ons dit ken. As nagereg vir ons massiewe maaltyd van afsluitings, neem hierdie jaar self ook uiteindelik sy laaste buiging,laatsygordynesak,enbereionsvoorvirdiekersklokkieswatoponswag.

Elkeverbygaandeminuutvanonslewenswordaangekondig.Asjyhardgenoegluister,saljydalk’nklankopmerk, ofietsiewerssaggiesvan’nafstandafsoos’nalarmhoorlui.Ja,daardietik-tok-geluidtelelkesekondevanjoulewe aftotdaargeenmeeroorisnie.

Die lewe is voortdurend aan die beweeg en niks sal ooit vir lank dieselfde kan bly nie. Ek weet dat talle van ons ’n aaklige gevoel van vrees ervaar wanneer ons aan daardie feit herinner word, aangesien die huidige, bekende oomblik ons in ’n sagte kombers van gemak toedraai. Niemand hou daarvan wanneer tyd soos sand in ’n uurglas vanonsafwegglipnie,maar’nhorlosiewaaroptydstilstaan,is’nstukkendeeen.

Ons lewens moet verander: nuwe dinge moet begin, en ouer dinge moet tot ’n einde kom. Klokke sal ewig aan die singmoetbly,maarashierdiejaarmyenigietsgeleerhet,isditdatdieklokkevanveranderingniealtyd sleghoef te wees nie. Sowaar, as jy weer soos van tevore van nader luister, sal jy dalk hoor dat hul vreemde musiek skrikwekkend mooi is, en as jy effens meer waaghalsig is, kan jy selfs op hul wysie dans. Om die waarheid te sê: daarisnieveelanderswatjykandoenasomtedansnie.

Diemeestevanonsissteedsjonk.Wanneeronsgaanslaap,isonsversekerdatonsweerewejonkindieoggend sal wakker word. Maar die dag sal nog vir ons almal kom wat ons sal wakker word en, met die laaste eggo’s van ’n byerende klok in ons ore, sal skrik vir die ou tannie wat vir ons in die spiëel terugstaar. Hierdie lot wag op ons almal.Wat’nvoorregsaldittognieweesomtesienhoedielewelyneinonsvelgetrekhetnieendiewysheid van die klokke van die verlede in ons gedagtes sal klink nie? Tyd, en dus die klokke van verandering, is ’n wonderlike geskenkwaarvooronsalmaldankbaarbehoorttewees.

Hierdie jaar, wat vol verandering vir almal was, simboliseer die einde, sowel as die begin van ’n pragtige nuwe fase.Ditisdiewonderlikedansvandielewe,enonsisalmalewebevoorregom’nuitnodigingtekonkry.Klinkdit niebeteromnadieklokkespelteluistereerderasomdaarvantevlugnie?Dieklokkeistogblootdaarommusiek vanonsewig-veranderendelewenstemaak.

Daaromhetjydalkmetuitstapdag’nmatriekleerderraakgeloopwatmet’ntraaninhaarooggeglimlaghettoedie laasteskoolklokgeluihet.Dielaastevyfjaarhetherinneringeaanonsgegeewatonsvirdieresvanonslewenssal saamdra,endievolgendevyfjaarbehoortnógmeerbyonsgroeiendeversamelingtevoeg.Diekloksalaanhoului. Dus,vaneenfasenadievolgende.

IngevanderWesthuizen,Redaktrisevan2022, “clockingout.

Brief van die redaktrise

AKTUEEL

Vir Jou Selfoon

LARRIE NUUS

Larries se Avontuur op die Oranjerivier

An insight into the minds of La Rochelle newest leaders

RCL

TABLE OF CONTENTS

02

06 OPINIONS

The issue with chasing the love we read about in novels

A threat to humanity : Is True Crime Ethical ?

Is dit werklik realiteit?

9

12

13

16

18

20

Aktueel

VirJouSelfoon

Deur Iris Saunders

Selfoneworddikwelsasdiesondebokkegesteotipeer, maar kan tieners selfone vir meer as TikTok en Instagram gebruik? Die Avanti het gaan ondersoek ingestel na van die gewildste, gebruikersvriendelike toepassings wat hoërskoolleerders kan gebruik. Hier volg n lys van interessante, funksionele toepassings watenigemoedersalgoedkeur.

Libby

Libby is ’n selfoontoepassing wat jou in staat stel om e-boeke te leen. Al wat jy benodig, is ’n biblioteekkaartjie! Jy het dan toegang tot al die titels wat by jou plaaslike biblioteek beskikbaar is. ’n Boek word vir twee weke uitgeneem en word dan outomaties teruggegee. Jy kan ook ’n boek bespreekvirwanneerditreedsuitgeneemis.Hulle het ook ’n paar boeke wat vir die luisteraar voorgeleesword.Verderlaatdietoepassingjoutoe om boeke te merk om ’n digitale leeslys saam te stel.

Die SimpleMind-toepassing stel jou in staat om digitale kopkaarte te maak. Dit het geen advertensies en jy hoef nie in te teken nie. Daar is verskeie opsies vir style van kopkaarte wat jy kan gebruik. Gebruikers kan ’n eenmalige betaling maak om die gevorderde weergawe aan te koop. Ditsteljouinstaatomkopkaartemetandertedeel, om jou kopkaarte op die digitale wolk te stoor en omprentjiesinjoukopkaarttegebruik.

SimpleMind

FLIP-focustimerforstudy

Die FLIP–focus timer for study-toep is die perfekte stophorlosie vir jou leersessies! Hierdie toepassing verstaandatjoufoonjouaandagkanaftrektydens studiesessies, dus hardloop die stophorlosie slegs wanneerjyjoufoonneersitmetsyskermnaonder gedraai. Dié selfoontoepassing meet ook hoe goed jykonsentreerdeurtekykhoeveelbreukejyneem. Jykanook’ndaagliksemikpuntstelensperdatums opdietoepassingstoorsodatjouwerkaltyd betyds ingehandigword.

ViVa-Aftikaans

Ons almal kan baat by ’n goeie kuberwoordeboek soosdieViVa-Afrikaans-toepassing.Dithelpjouom woorde reg te spel, gee sinonieme van woorde en gee nuttige wenke. Byvoorbeeld: “Woorde word afgebreek tussen ‘n' en 'g' , ongeag die uitspraak, byvoorbeeld ’konin-ging‘” . Jy kan ook jou gunstelingwoorde of woorde wat jy gereeld verkeerd spel, merk om later weer te sien. Hierdie toepisookbeskikbaarsonderinternettoegang. Gepraat van kuberwoordeboeke, hier is een vir Engels: die WordWeb-toepassing. Soos jy ’n woord tik, stel WordWeb woorde voor waaraan jy moontlik dink. Vir elke woord het dit die korrekte spelling, woordsoorte, betekenisse, sinonieme, antonieme en voorbeelde van elke woord soos dit in ’n sin gebruik kan word. Dit kan ook woorde hardop uitspreek indien dit die uitspraak van ’n woord is wat jou pootjie. WordWeb is ook sonder internettoegangbeskikbaar.

Hierdie lys is maar net ’n paar voorbeelde van toepassings wat daar is om leerders by te staan en skoolwerk te vergemaklik. Die selfoon hoef nie die sondebok in jou studies te wees nie. Dit kan jou staatmakerstudiehulpenstilondersteunerwees.

Opinions

Theissuewith chasingthelovewe readaboutinnovels

Written by Jessica Eckhardt

Chapter 1: Roses at your front doorstep, accompanied by a box of your favourite chocolates. The ones sheathed in ostentatious tinfoil. He is waiting patiently for you in his car, which is almost always either his dad’s ‘beat-up’ truck or something identical to a Ferrari. You slidegracefullyintothecar,hewhispershoneyed words about how beautiful you look, you dine at some underrated restaurant (which shortly becomes your favourite); and before you even fathom it, you are in a committed relationship. Because OBVIOUSLY the first date was a total success,right? With no awkward silences and an automatic connection – spark, if you will – there was scientifically no way this date could have gonesouth…

Chapter 2: Alas, the relationship proceeds to transformyouintoagreaterpersoneverydayfor thefollowingfiveyears.Youbegincohabitingand start planning your lives together. You discuss everything from children to travelling plans and dream professions. You go on endless phenomenal dates. So many that you are still unaware of how the occurrence has not lost its distinctiveness yet. On a quiet night in, he emotionally reveals that from the day he encounteredyou,hewasenticedbyyourethereal beauty and intrigued by your quiet, soft and mysteriousaura.Youwereasheputit‘unlikeany othergirlhehaseverknown’ . Chapter3:Momentsbeforehisproposal,hisdeathly illauntcallsandpleadsforhisassistance.Hemoves away to work several jobs in the city, and aid her with funds. You think you can make it work at first, that you and him will be different. You are not like theothers,justlikehehadtoldyouathousandtimes before, but five months in, the long-distance theorem checks out. You then come to the realisation that you cannot in fact save your relationshipfromthejawsofdistance.

Chapter 4: A year rapidly goes by; you see his Facebook status - which you just happen to stumble across-updatedto‘inarelationship’ .

Chapter 5: You find yourself visiting the city he resides in a few years later to see some family for the holidays, and coincidentally bump into him at a guest house. Whether it was his eyes that could not part with yours or yours that could not bear to part withhis,youfeltcompleteagainforthefirsttimein a long time. You momentarily forget about the family you came down to visit and stay up until the crack of dawn conversing with him at the fireplace. Yousipsomewineandcatchuponallthatyouhave missed throughout the years. You found out that he did in fact propose to ‘Sharon’ , but could not go through with the words “I do” … All because he was stillheadoverheelsforyou.

Epilogue: A year goes by full of many love confessions and you are happily married. You have two kids, live in a suburban house in a safe neighbourhood and have an adorable golden retriever.Youworkasateacher,whileheworksina restaurant that the two of you opened, named after yourfavouriterestaurant.

THEEND.

Thatiswhatweallwantright?Apure,secureand genericlove.

But we should not. We should not want that type oflove.

Because 9 out of the 10 times, that love only ever existsinthepagesofnovels.

We are forgetting about one small, yet crucial fact. That is that we are all human beings. Living inREALLIFE.Notcharactersinanovel.

We are not always going to be as smooth as Toby Maguire in the third Spider-Man or Joey in Friendswithhis“Howyoudoing?”line.

We are not always going to say the right things. We are going to be clumsy and forget something thatwesworewewouldremember.Wearegoing to be selfish, and sometimes prioritise our own needs. Or we are going to refuse to let the other persongo,evenifthatiswhatisright.

We are going to lose people’s trust sometimes. One day we will gain that trust back again or maybewewon’t.

We will fall in and out of love a thousand times over,andwewillchangeaspeople.Consequently, so will the love we have to offer; and the way we exhibitit.

We will fight, and get deeply scarred, and sometimes we won’t end up with the person we thought we wanted more than anything in the world. People will see your ugly side and your flaws,andchoosetoeitheracceptorrejectthem. The truth is, if we wait for that box of chocolate or bouquet of roses… If we wait to be taken out for that dinnerormoviedate…Ifallwedreamofoursuburban householdsandgoldenretrievers–thenwewillbeleft waitingforaneternity.

Truelovedoesnotdevelopbecausesomeonefoundyou mysterious. Or because someone was necessarily drawn to your beauty. Maybe for you, that is the case, butonthefatchancethatisnot,knowthatthatisokay too.

Wehavebeenconditionedtobelievethattrueromance is all of the above, but love comes in so many different forms, phases and methods. Only you will know when you are utterly and completely besotted with another. Noromancebookcandothatforyou.

Romance novelists write books that will engage a certain audience and guarantee them large sums of money in return. Others, genuinely have a passion for it and write to allow people to imagine life differently, whileembodyingsomeoneelseforachange.Whilethat is beautiful, that imagination becomes awfully detrimental when we start comparing it to what our livesshouldmeasureupto.

Because suddenly, our current lives no longer suffice and the dream of experiencing a novel-like romance seemsmoreandmoreunattainable.

Westartblamingourselvesforthelackoflovewethink weexperience.

Real, innocent and pure love becomes inadequate, insufficient and unsatisfactory, because we compare it to the flawless idea of love we have concocted in our headsfromthesenovels.

At this point, not only are we subconsciously pushing awayallotherformsofloveinourlives,butalongwith it,allotherformsofjoyandpurpose.

So, read all the romance novels your heart desires. Enjoy them, and grant yourself the freedom to imagineandfallinlovewithromance.

But do not forget to write your own story too. Your chaptersdonothavetoworkinchronologicalorder and the end goal does not have to be romantic love. Fill your book with all the forms of love you encounter. Be the maker of your own destiny. Your story is your story. Do not let these books define whatyour‘happilyeverafter’hastobe.

Remember to accept any and every other form of love that comes your way in life too, because that lovemightjustbethe‘happilyeverafter’younever evenknewyourstoryneeded.

Books are powerful. They are meant to educate, enlightenandentertain.Nottellyouhowtolove.

Donotletthemstealthatfromyou.

Written by Kelsey Dillon van Sitters

For ages on end, we have been exposed to crime and all its horrendous details have been exposed to the world. With the rise of true crime culture, true and tragic events have become a pawn for ourentertainment.

True crime became successful with the first notable crime documentary, “Thin Blue Line” in the 1980s. Following that, was an increase in popularity and now in 2022 we have a variety of true crime dramas that questions our physche. “Whydowesubscribetotruecrimeculture?”

According to a forensic psychologist, the evil that appear in crime intrigues the audience. The extremes of evil within these crimes appears in different shapes and sizes and fascinates the audience. In crime, the trope of “Good vs Evil” stirs tension and encourages the viewers to continue watching. As a result of our innate human nature, we are tantalized by the spectacle created by the perpetrators, and we fixate upon thegruesomesights.

Thismakeswayforthebigquestion, “Iswatching

truecrimeethical?”

True crime series, movies and documentaries are solelybasedonreal-lifeevents.Thekeyword here is “real” . Real victims, real families mourning, realtragedyandrealevil.Astheaudiencewegain entertainment and enjoyment from these tragedies and deeply saddening events. Those families have been exploited and the victims are left to be capitalized on when they are still grievingandhealingfromtraumaticevents. It is easier for us as viewers to watch true crime as we are in a sense relieved to be neither the victim northeperpetrator.Itisthenanopportunitytogain empathy for those affected, because it has not becomepersonal.

True crime poses a chance for the victims to share their stories. To encourage other possible victims to seek help and lift their voices. They warn us about the explicit cruelty in this world and equip us with theknowledgetotrytoavoidit.Asvictims,theyhad been pacified by their assailant, but through death orsurviving,theycanspeak,shareandeducate.

Without the media, we are still exposed to the gruesome acts of the world in our countries, towns and neighbourhoods. As an individual, it is a personal challenge to our human nature, by asking ourselvesiftruecrimedramaistrulyethical.