5th: Read Sloane Ranger
At some point in your Oxford career you will be tempted to deride or, let’s face it, emulate members of the real Leisure Class. In either case, Barr and York’s classic satire, The Sloane Ranger Handbook, is an essential guide to all things Sloane and Rah. (For guidance on all things Prep and WASP, see Lisa Birnbach’s The Preppy Handbook.)
4th: Have a love affair
Not some one night drunken affray but a series of frantic, torrid trysts of staggering poignance and ineffable beauty. Life is far too short, bleak and dreary not to heed Emerson at least once: ‘Give all to love;/ Obey thy heart.’ (N.B. Emerson is helpful in orchestrating trysts.)
3rd: Take a road trip
On the spur of a moment, purchase a roadmap or coach ticket and pack only a change of clothes and Jack Kerouac’s On The Road. Do not pack any mobile or Blackberry. Feel liberated as you rediscover both yourself and the fact that the world can carry on just fine in your absence.
2nd: Get epicurious
The best time to learn cooking is the summer, when everything is fresh and relatively inexpensive (stick to farmers’ markets). Leave Mastering The Art of French Cooking in your mother’s kitchen cupboard (although we still love you Julia!) and stick with websites like Epicurious.com for loads of simple summer recipes.
1st: Do absolutely nothing
Especially for those sitting Prelims or Finals, visible displays of effort are sometimes unavoidable at Oxford, but that doesn’t make them any less dispiriting (or gauche). As a tonic for your soul, spend at least a week avoiding all responsibility in order to get properly reacquainted with the bliss of inconsequence.
