As I write this review of my first term at Brasenose, I’m confused as to whether it has passed quickly or slowly. Superficially it seems to have flown by, but then I feel like I have known the people I have met here for much longer than the last ten weeks. I think it is because, although terms at Oxford are shorter than most other universities – just eight weeks – they can be more intense, socially and academically, meaning you pack more memories in to that short expanse of time.
That’s not to say that my first term has been chaotic and overly stressful, without time to idly vegetate in front of the telly once in a while. It hasn’t. Work at Oxford is challenging, and the content I have covered in my first term studying Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) here at Brasenose has been difficult, but the workload is very manageable and the tutors have been careful to ease us in, presuming no prior knowledge of the subject. Indeed, I had studied neither Philosophy nor Economics previously, and I’m pretty sure none of our nine-strong cohort of first-year PPEists had ever delved into Logic, which has comprised half of our first term’s learning alongside Microeconomics. If you’re thinking of applying to Oxford, don’t be intimidated by the breadth of your chosen course or your lack of experience with the content at hand. The clichéd-but-true advice is that tutors want to see how you think, rather than what you know.
But we don’t spend all our time thinking, and even less of it knowing. There’s ample room for getting involved with clubs and societies, playing sport, acting or merely socialising. One of the best things I have done since arriving in Oxford was to start playing for the College football team. Despite lack of use meaning my football boots were encrusted with four-year-old mud in an unexplored crevice of our garage, I have, perhaps unbelievably, been able to slip my (two left) feet into them and run around sort of looking like I know what I’m doing for both the 1st and 2nd teams a couple of times each week. Playing intercollegiate sport is great because it is quite relaxed and also a good opportunity to escape the Brasenose bubble, meeting people who go to other colleges.
90 minutes of 11-a-side football after four years of inaction apparently requires a good deal of fitness and to this end I have tried (and often failed) to go running as much as I can. Oxford is a beautiful place to go for a jog and the University Parks are especially stunning.
I’ve also participated in a couple of debates this term. Brasenose has its own debating society, the Addington (named after alumnus and former Prime Minister Henry), and I argued during a period of post-Trump grieving that democracy is not overrated. The debate was hotly contested but a lot of fun and prompted me to sign up with a friend for a ‘Fresher of the Year’ competition at the Oxford Union the following week. I was not the Fresher of the Year (or remotely close to it) but my partner and I came 18th out of 40 pairings and had a brilliant day meeting some really interesting people from other colleges.
We are incredibly lucky in Oxford that we can attend debates among and speeches by some very famous and very intelligent people. It appears it will be incredibly usual to have the experience of reading a book at home in Grimsby over the summer by an author who, unbeknownst to me, I would see deliver a talk weeks later in Oxford. Notable speakers I’ve seen this term include John Bercow, Lord David Blunkett and Sir Malcolm Rifkind, all of whom were very entertaining.
I know these kinds of opportunities are something I’m ridiculously fortunate to have open to me, and I feel very passionately about giving more people from non-stereotypical backgrounds the chance to feel confident about applying to Oxford. Brasenose has a great ethos of widening access and I have given tours and taken part in Q&As and interview workshops with state school students to give them the confidence to apply to Oxford. There’s also a great university-wide scheme run by Target Schools, a Student Union-run campaign, where I have volunteered to have a year 12 state school student shadowing me as I attend my morning lectures and tutorials. I am still in Oxford as I write this because 41 of us at Brasenose have stayed behind to help out over the interview period, trying to make it a fun experience for candidates and assuage any worries they might have.
I think the thing I was most worried about in advance of coming to university was how quickly I would make friends. I sometimes found Freshers’ Week to be a frustrating experience. You can end up having the same conversation with everybody you meet (What’s your name? Where are you from? What subject are you doing?), which can feel distant and be quite tiring. What Brasenose’s dozens of freshers’ helpers, students themselves, did well though was to organize lots of events, alcoholic and otherwise, that brought us together and gave us a chance to bond over something over than what A-levels we had done. This meant I soon found a group of people I became close friends with, although living in college is great in the sense that you get to know almost everyone and there is always a friendly face walking round who you can have a chat with.
This is why I can honestly write that I have loved my first term at Brasenose. It’s been awesome and, while I’m excited to spend Christmas at home with family, I’m looking forward to being back in January and doing it all over again.
By Tom Steers (PPE)