Lifestyle

In defence of the dreamer

I recently asked someone what their dream job would be, casting aside money, practicality, etc., and their answer was to be a writer.

A midsummer nightmare: Our warming world

It feels like only days ago that I was walking through the University Parks, ringed by waves of the greenest grass, the shiniest puddles, and the healthiest plants.

How my year abroad in France healed my relationship with food

We’re sitting at a makeshift dining table at the foothills of the Pyrenees, the mystic beauty of the mountains enveloping our little group.

A beginner’s guide to being an amateur

When I was seven, my grandma decided I was going to be a pianist. For the next twelve years, I sat through weekly piano lessons, despite a complete absence of enthusiasm for the instrument.

Lockdown dating: a guide

Your ex is messaging you, that one-night stand from Bridge is in your Insta DMs and you are struggling not to write an Oxlove...

A Perspective on Validation

The inability to feel validated is something many of us struggle with. We routinely identify certain parts of our lives that we are not...

Why food festivals matter

Every year on Shrove Tuesday, I put aside the time to make my family pancakes - despite the fact that my parents would much prefer...

Love, actually: dating in 2020

I can’t lie, when I heard the news that we’d probably all be holed up in our rooms for the next few months, without...

Cherpse! Trudy and Will

Will, St. Hilda’s, Physics 1st year First impressions?  Her fashionably late entrance left me worrying I had been stood up on a Zoom date - that would...

Letting loose: our relationship to “natural hair”

It’s been about three months since the start of what we now know to be a worldwide shutdown. Like many other students, I’ve been...

Tradition and transformations: reconnecting through food

What is your Christmas smell? Mine is cinnamon. At that time of year, it seems to spill off the table and into every bowl and dried...

Oxford, Reviewed

The Radcliffe Camera The pièce de résistance, the joire de vivre, the petit filous, the jewel in Oxford’s mighty, mighty crown. You’ve posted the shit...

You are not alone – What getting run over by a bus taught me about myself and Oxford

It’s been an odd year for everyone. Few could have predicted that Hilary would end in such a dramatic fashion, and certainly not myself,...

Now do I belong?: The effects of early-onset impostor syndrome

As Hilary Term drew to a close and we sat in my friend’s room, anticipating a final night out, we reflected on how we’d...

Human nature: why we should all be getting outdoors

At the moment, I feel more grateful than ever to live where I do. My house backs on to fields meaning whichever direction I...

Isolation Hustles – How lockdown has affected student mini-businesses

The coronavirus crisis has stopped the global economy in its tracks. Each week, yet more gloomy headlines appear: this week, a BBC headline proclaimed...

Cherpse! Cai and Charlie

Cai, 2nd year, Chemistry, St. Hugh’s  First impressions? He seemed kind, friendly and relaxed, and had a nice voice. Did it meet up to your expectations? Yeah, we...

Oxford’s community: life beyond the spires

Students from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds are twice as likely to be low performers. Think about that for a moment. Sometimes at Oxford it’s easy...

Face to Face // Screen to Screen

If there’s one thing a national lockdown has given me, it’s time. Weekly screen-time reports never fail to astound me – minding my business,...

‘L’appetito viene mangiando’: why Southern Italian food is the best in the world

To make Italian food is a labour of love, and requires a love of labour

Nostalgia: it isn’t what it used to be

I remember a time when I took for granted that I could eat at restaurants, lay around in the park, and visit my family. Weeks...

Productivity fanatics: A society that’s forgotten to press pause

There’s a wonderful irony to the fact that the mediums we turn to so frequently for procrastination are the mediums that shame us the...

Food waste apps: small difference or meaningful change?

64% of all food waste actually occurs during harvest

Diversity, waste, and travel: what globalisation means for food

For many people, being at home during lockdown means that there is an abundance of time to spend preparing, eating, and thinking about food. Combined with...

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