Busting the Myths: My Week in Oxford

Life's getting pretty real now. I've spent the last month or so focused on applying for university and now I'm starting my first job. The feelings I had a year ago in Feel old yet? are still there. So don't blame me when I tell you that I don't feel like I'm on the verge of being a student at university. And until a week and a bit ago, I definitely didn't feel like I could be a student at Oxford. After all it's pretty tough to get into, it's one of the best universities in the world and it has a history for only being a place for the white elite.

The stereotypical view of Oxford students. Recognise anyone?

But UNIQ definitely changed my perspective of Oxford. UNIQ is a summer school run by Oxford for state-school Year 12 students with one huge benefit for us. It's completely free. They pay for absolutely everything. You have the experience of an undergraduate at Oxford by studying whatever course you applied for (e.g. I did Law with 29 other people). It's VERY competitive with over 5800 applicants for 875 places this year and they aim for those from low socio-economic backgrounds and areas to prove to us that we are good enough to apply there.

I'm not gonna lie, I was actually quite calm in the days leading up to leaving for Oxford. I didn't know what to expect and I didn't know how I was going to make friends but I hadn't had time to fret over that sort of stuff. I had finished school just two days before after all! And it wasn't exactly a chilled end to the school year either.

So let me take you through the different aspects of UNIQ and Oxford in general:

THE COURSE

Now I can only obviously talk from a Law student point of view. 

The lecturers were very nice and really good teachers.  Though some of the law group might like some of the Faculty staff a little too much... They know who they are.

They managed to pack a lot into a 50 minute talk and still keep it interesting. We only had 4 proper lectures anyway but 3 of them basically left everyone in awe.  The other had half of us half-asleep! 

Most other subjects had to submit an essay to discuss in a tutorial (a meeting between a academic tutor and a handful of students), but we were lucky enough to do a moot instead (a mock court appeal) where we just made arguments in a 5 minute speech about a fake case with the odd question from a 'judge'. As daunting as it seemed at first, it was actually quite good! 

And our tutorial was basically groups of 6 having a legal discussion with a PhD student at Oxford. Although we were challenged to an undergraduate level with all the tasks we were set, our last two afternoons in Oxford was basically the whole group sitting in the park on a warm day chilling and 'preparing' for the moot and tutorial. It gave me something to boast about to the other subjects!

OXFORD: THE CITY

Oxford looks like a city which was built around the university. And I wouldn't fault it for that at all. The historic setting just fits perfectly with the modern life bustling around it. Bikes are everywhere though... I had more close encounters with bikes than cars during my week there! I was always sceptical about city universities (hence my desire to get away from London) but something about Oxford just gave a different feel.  I can't really explain why.

I hated the amount of walking I had to do ( I walked 20km in total on one particular day...) but only because it was basically the hottest week of the year. The fact that the college I was staying in was the furthest one from the centre of the city didn't help either...

THE PEOPLE

Now I hardly talked to any Oxford locals but all the UNIQ mentors (they're all students) and the staff were amazing. Just helpful, supportive and just generally nice people.

And what about my fellow 'Uniqers'? Well it's always weird being surrounded by complete strangers  at first but the people I got to know at the college I stayed at, and while doing the Law course, (without being soppy) are the nicest people I could have asked for.  It's actually amazing how quickly you can get to know people. It didn't feel like I'd only known them for 6 and a bit days either.

The Law Gang before our BOP.

The LMH crew also before the BOP.

Shoutout to Nell!

THE SOCIAL SIDE

One of the mentors at the very beginning said that we were gonna 'work hard, play hard'. And in the evening activities, we got to experience the different type of stuff an Oxford student would do in their free time. From seeing an improv comedy troupe live to playing sports in the park to having a BOP (big open party) in a nightclub on the last night...

And of course, we had loads of time to spend with people just exploring Oxford during our free time. Some even mingled with some international students who were at another summer school going on in Oxford.

Being on UNIQ definitely changed my view of Oxford. It's not as posh and white-privileged as I had thought. The work wasn't exactly too far beyond me and the social opportunities available definitely busts the myth that Oxford students are all work and no fun.

Academics aside, the experience was unique (pardon the pun). Making friends from all across the country and just having a good time has created memories which I won't forget in a hurry. I'm still even suffering from UNIQ withdrawal to be honest...

If you're in the UK, in a state-school and you've just finished your GCSEs, check out their website. It'd be worth it, trust me! www.uniq.ox.ac.uk