Monday, March 10, 2025

Lifestyle

Reflections on the perils of overthinking

here is a lot to be said for blind positivity. On a good day, I’m a manifester, a big believer in my ability to speak things into existence. During my English A-Level, I had complete confidence that the crystals hidden in my bra would provide enough luck to snag me an A*. Today, I put great faith in words, relying on the same ‘I can do it’ that gets Olympic athletes across the finish line, to help me through difficult situations.

The fourth year: Oxford after your year abroad

I’m now in my fourth year, and as such, must grapple with the reality of my Oxford days drawing to a close. Granted, this is something that every student must contend with, and I watched on as most of my friends bade a fond farewell to this city where our friendships began when they graduated last summer. Yet there is something about the fourth year that I’m certain makes the final year even more strange: a sense of something already lost, of living in a moment that has already passed.

An evening at Pierre Victoire: French bistro dining at its best

Pierre Victoire has been here on Little Clarendon Street for decades – one of...

Being Cupid isn’t easy: What I learned from a term of running Cherpse

Now, having exhausted myself with these relentless pursuits, the job has been passed on to a new bright-eyed Cupid, and in my retirement I’ve become fondly reflective, and decided to curate my insights into this list: 

Traditions

Bop A bop is a ‘Big Open Party’, a fancy dress party organised by your JCR for your college. Bops normally happen 2 or 3...

Creative Pursuits

Drama Oxford student drama is probably pretty different from drama at school — there’s a really exciting atmosphere, you can try new things, and there...

Pubs (and Kebabs)

You should not fall into the trap of thinking drinking is an essential part of university life; however, for many of you it will...

Date Spots

Given how many people you’re likely to meet in your first few weeks at Oxford, don’t be surprised if you make a romantic connection...

Coffee Culcher

Oxford has a historic and beloved café culture — in fact, the UK’s first coffeehouse opened in Oxford in the 17th century! Today, drinking...

The 101 of Oxford’s Libraries

There are genuinely more than 100 libraries in Oxford, making it the biggest library system in the UK! So, here’s the 101 on a...

Academics

After two years of getting used to learning over Zoom and Teams, a return to in-person teaching for everyone is hopefully within sight. Advice...

Societies and Activities

It’s always worth joining at least one society during your time at Oxford. Whether that may be sports, music, drama, politics, student journalism, or...

Keep Off The Grass 2021

Hello and welcome to Oxford! Congratulations on getting here and starting the next chapter of your life in a place as special as this...

An Oxford-English Dictionary

0th Week (noughth week) the week before term starts, when most people move back to Oxford. This is when collections typically happen. Battels your bill for the...

A definitely unbiased and completely impartial guide to clubbing in Oxford

Parkend is the only place you will ever see people moshing to White Flag

Loneliness, and why we need to practise talking about difficult things

Feeling lonely is not something to be ashamed of, or something that you only feel when you are in crisis; it is a part of our daily lives.

Dominican delicacies: Food travels in the Dominican Republic

“Como de todo”, or “I eat everything”, was the first phrase I attempted in my not-so eloquent Spanish after landing in the Dominican Republic....

Summer Heat on the Tip of the Tongue

Readers, your quest towards Hot Girl Summer is incomplete without capsaicin. Run-of-the-mill summer recipes are heavy on sugar, acid, and ice, dominated by freezer-ready desserts,...

Deconstructing ‘Hot Girl Summer’

Is Hot Girl Summer only Hot Girl Summer if the world and its wife are there to bear witness?

Can you be a feminist and watch Love Island?

One of the main issues for me, and many others, is the sheer lack of diversity on Love Island.

First Year Review: A year in the life of pandemic Oxford

The biggest effect of Covid is the sense of loss of opportunity

Objectify me: Social media and the perils of the aesthetic

Instagram necessitates such a reduction of character, and this forces us all to ask, when my life is reduced to just a few images, what do I want them to say?

In Conversation with Otegha Uwagba

'We need to talk about who has money, how they got it, why they got it, who doesn’t, how that came to be and how all of those differences affect our individual experiences of the world, so that we can start thinking about what needs to be done about how money is made, and spent, and shared, because fundamentally it’s very unfair.'

Student Profile: Jade Calder

"I don’t view myself as particularly underprivileged at home, I’m just a normal person, but when i get here, these are the people who have aspirations to be MPs, policy advisors, involved in powerful institutions, to run the country… but they’ve never met a person who comes from a family in the North, whose family income is less than the national average. That’s what scares me.”

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