On Thursday 27th March, a group of Year 12 students visited Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, to experience a taste of what being a student there would be like. We started the day walking through the city of Cambridge, admiring the beautiful architecture, before arriving at Gonville and Caius (with thanks to Tristan, our map reader). Here, we attended a talk from Bethan, the Outreach officer, informing us about the application process to competitive universities and what we can be doing to improve our chances. We were given the opportunity to ask questions to current students studying there, as well as the Admission Tutor. From here, we were given a tour around the college, visiting the chapel, library and the courtyards, really getting a feel of what life here is like. We got to spend our lunch in the impressive dining hall, surrounded by portraits of previous Caius graduates. After this, we were able to choose whether to attend an Arts and Humanities lecture or a STEM lecture, of which I chose the former. We heard from a current PHD student who is studying History, and learnt about how to ensure the course we choose is the right one for us, as well as getting some hands-on experience engaging with and analysing a source. According to the students who attended the STEM lecture, they learnt about fluid mechanics and decarbonising aviation, which they said was fascinating. This concluded our day in Cambridge, and during the journey home I asked the students attending for quotes. This is what they said:

Tiffany: “A really beautiful and insightful day.”

Oliver: “The visit today has given me a drive to succeed.”

Leigha: “It was really nice to see a beautiful campus and we had some interesting talks.”

Shakhram: “It was really insightful and it gave me a better idea of my future plans.”

Ben: “A really great and interesting day. The college was very nice and the lunch was delicious.”

Personally, I am very grateful for the opportunity to have visited Gonville and Caius and experience what studying at Cambridge may be like. The outreach team there were all wonderful and really made us feel welcomed. Finally, thank you to Mrs Hall for organising and Mr Laing for driving the minibus.