Wednesday 10th September 2025
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5 Simple Fixes to Instantly Improve Your Reflective Essay

Reflective essays look easy on the surface. You write about your experience, say what you learned, and hand it in. But in practice? They’re some of the hardest to get right.

A lot of students either turn them into personal diary entries or keep things too shallow. Others over-explain the events but forget to reflect. The result feels flat even if the topic had potential.

If you’ve ever Googled do my essay after getting stuck on a reflective assignment, you’re not alone. This guide will walk you through how to write a reflective essay that’s personal, insightful, and structured enough to stand out.

Fix #1: Stop Telling, Start Reflecting

One of the most common mistakes is turning your essay into a timeline. Listing what happened doesn’t count as reflection. Your professor already knows how time works. What they’re looking for is what you thought or felt during the experience and how it changed you.

Instead of writing, “I joined the debate club,” ask yourself: What did that experience challenge in me? Did it shift how I see public speaking? Did I learn how to listen more than I talk?

Reflection isn’t about the event. It’s about the meaning behind it. Keep that as your focus from the first sentence to the last.

Fix #2: Add a Real Reflective Essay Structure

Reflective writing doesn’t have to be freeform. In fact, it reads better when it’s structured, especially if you’re reflecting on a longer or more emotional experience. Structure helps you stay on track, and it makes it easier for your reader to follow your thought process.

Here’s a simple layout that works:

  • Introduction – Give context and explain what experience you’ll reflect on.
  • Experience – Describe what happened briefly.
  • Reflection – Break down what you learned or how you changed.
  • Conclusion – Summarize your key takeaway or how it connects to your future.

This approach works especially well if you’re unsure how to start a reflective essay. Start with the facts, then build toward meaning.

Fix #3: Be Honest, But Don’t Overshare

Reflective essays are personal, but they’re not therapy sessions. You don’t need to include every detail of a painful moment or vent about someone who wronged you. Vulnerability is good as long as it supports your main point.

Stick to experiences that connect to a theme: personal growth, facing a challenge, learning a skill, shifting your mindset. Focus on how the experience affected your thinking, values, or behaviour.

It’s possible to be real without going too deep. Ask yourself: Would I be comfortable reading this aloud in class? If not, revise.

Fix #4: Use Specific Details

General statements like “It was a hard time” or “I learned a lot” don’t say anything useful. Specifics are what give your reflection weight and make it memorable.

Here’s the difference:

“The project taught me a lot about teamwork.”

“When our group missed the first deadline, I realized I was relying on others too much without checking in. I learned to manage expectations early.”

Details like that bring your essay to life. Think about sounds, moments, reactions, conversations, and all the little things that shaped the experience.

Fix #5: Edit Like You Mean It

Just because reflective essays are about you doesn’t mean grammar doesn’t matter. These assignments still need to follow a logical flow and avoid common writing issues.

Here’s a quick editing checklist:

  • Trim repetition
  • Fix awkward transitions
  • Watch tense consistency
  • Cut clichés (like “eye-opening,” “it hit me like a ton of bricks”)
  • Read it out loud, and you’ll hear what sounds off

Tools like Grammarly help, but don’t rely entirely on them. A reflective essay needs your voice: not just clean grammar but writing that feels natural.

Conclusion

A reflective essay can either be a powerful piece of writing or a rambling mess that says nothing. The difference is in how you handle the details, structure your thoughts, and choose what to focus on.

With these five fixes, you’ll have a clear process for turning your personal experience into something more impactful. It’s not about sounding deep. It’s about showing real thought.

Next time you’re stuck, skip the panic and come back to these steps. And if you still feel stuck on a draft, don’t be afraid to look for guidance.

Performative perfection and the reality behind the Instagram post

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It’s a beautiful Sunday morning, and I’m scrolling through Instagram. One of my resolutions for this summer was to reduce my screen time, but I still allow myself a few moments in the mornings to see what everyone is up to and communicate with friends via the time-honoured tradition of sending hundreds of reels.

It’s nice to see people on their holidays: an endless feed of bodies on beaches enjoying their well-earned rest. Naturally everyone wants to share what they’re doing, but it’s easy to compare when faced with a flood of stunning stories, and with the additional pressure of perfection that Oxford tends to inspire, the feelings of inadequacy can quickly take over. I’m not projecting the aesthetic of the blasé middle-class-white-girl holiday enough, I’m not bettering my future enough, I’m not ‘Living My Twenties’ enough.

It’s common knowledge that social media only shows the good stuff. We’ve been told this since we were kids, warned by our parents as they, willingly or unwillingly, gave us the keys to the digital world, and yet it never stops deceiving us. Its whole draw is to share memories with your friends, to advertise your highlights with the added satisfaction of having others admire your perfectly put-together life. 

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think there’s anything intrinsically wrong with wanting to create your own online space filled with beautiful memories; one look at my own Instagram will show you I am very much a pawn in this aesthetic-chasing game. Whilst I do this for myself as much as for others, I have to admit that the performative element still plays a part. There’s a reason that likes are such dopamine hits.

And so I have my own summer travels to broadcast. Two days after getting back home from Oxford, I hopped over the Channel to France to stay with my grandparents. Theirs being a beautiful home in an idyllic village, Instagram is used to great effect. As I sit eating fresh baguette and apricots for breakfast on the terrace, the photo I take of my laptop and the beautiful garden behind it goes straight onto my story, a picture-bite to encapsulate my day. 

Well, at least my morning. This aestheticised self-documentation hides the fact that every afternoon we drive, not to the beach or the local château, but to the hospital. My grandmother is ill, and what Instagram doesn’t know is that instead of leading us on our Sunday walk or helping us win evening boules, she is dying of cancer. Not very hot girl summer. 

So, as my perfectly formed summer plans crumble in front of me, why am I still compelled to publicise the stunning views that I am not enjoying without her? Or the picturesque French market where I accompany my grandfather, whose early-onset Alzheimer’s means that he struggles to remember anything in the absence of his wife? Maybe it’s a deliberate form of escapism to cling to these aesthetic snapshots, in the hope that in some alternate universe I am enjoying a summer with a perfectly well grandmother, speaking French and discussing literature as usual. But why, then, do I still take others’ displays at face value when I am so obviously not following my own picture-perfect pretence?

Of course, I am enjoying some of this summer, and I am well aware that preparing for grief in a beautiful cottage in Brittany is a very privileged way to spend a shitty vac. Yet as I scroll through my feed waiting to be let into the hospital room, it’s impossible to stop the surge of envy. But how do I know that these people are not also engaging in false advertising? I’m sure not everyone is deliberately obscuring their realities, and most people probably are genuinely enjoying jetting off around the world, but it’s true that anyone not in my closest group chat could well be looking at my profile feeling the same envy with which I regard theirs.

Is there any escape from this constant cycle? Awareness of its superficiality doesn’t prevent me from wanting to participate in it. Of course there are ways: deleting social media for one, or letting everyone know the reality for another, but cutting myself off from the world of aesthetics isn’t something I want to do, and the latter seems even more performative. The challenge of being aware of my own deceptive front is projecting it outwards and understanding that not everything makes its way online.

Or maybe I’m just saying this to make myself feel better. Chances are my end-of-summer post will be all sunny skies and rainbows, with no mention of the darker threads that have been present the entire time. All that remains is the hope that my own carefully curated perfection reminds me of the rose-tinted lens social media places over reality, and that this awareness eases any envy as the summer vac unfolds in snapshots of other people’s lives.

Triptorelin: The Crossroads of Endocrine and Neurobiological Research

Triptorelin, a synthetic decapeptide analog of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), has emerged as a focal point in experimental endocrinology and neurobiology. As a potent GnRH receptor agonist, Triptorelin is believed to modulate the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis, supporting the secretion of luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH). While its experimental implications have been widely explored, its potential in mechanistic research continues to expand, offering insights into hormonal regulation, neuroendocrine signaling, and developmental biology.

The peptide’s structural modifications are theorized to support its receptor affinity and resistance to enzymatic degradation, making it a valuable tool in long-term experimental protocols. Investigations suggest that Triptorelin may serve as a model compound for studying hormonal feedback loops, receptor desensitization, and the broader implications of endocrine modulation across various physiological systems.

Structural Characteristics and Mechanism of Action

Triptorelin is composed of ten amino acids, structurally engineered to mimic endogenous gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) while exhibiting increased stability and prolonged receptor interaction. The peptide’s affinity for GnRH receptors in the anterior pituitary is believed to initiate a biphasic response: an initial surge in gonadotropin secretion followed by receptor downregulation and suppression of LH and FSH release upon sustained exposure.

This dual-phase mechanism has made Triptorelin a subject of interest in research models exploring hormonal pulsatility, receptor sensitivity, and endocrine adaptation. It has been hypothesized that the peptide’s prolonged receptor engagement may provide a unique platform for dissecting the temporal dynamics of hormone signaling and feedback inhibition.

Endocrine Modulation and Reproductive Research

One of the most prominent areas of Triptorelin research is its potential to modulate reproductive endocrinology. By engaging GnRH receptors, the peptide may support the secretion of gonadotropins, which in turn regulate the synthesis of sex steroids such as estrogen and

testosterone. This cascade is central to the development and maintenance of reproductive function in research models.

In developmental biology, Triptorelin is relevant in studies of the timing and regulation of puberty. Research suggests that the peptide may delay or suppress the onset of puberty in research models, providing a framework for investigating the neuroendocrine mechanisms that trigger sexual maturation. Additionally, Triptorelin has been employed in models of reproductive senescence to explore the decline of gonadotropin signaling and its systemic implications.

The peptide’s potential to transiently alter hormonal profiles has also made it relevant in studies of gonadal feedback mechanisms. Investigations purport that Triptorelin may help elucidate the role of kisspeptin neurons, GnRH pulse frequency, and steroid hormone feedback in maintaining reproductive homeostasis.

Neuroendocrine Interactions and Cognitive Research

Beyond its potential role in reproductive biology, Triptorelin has garnered attention for its hypothesized support of neuroendocrine signaling. The GnRH system is not confined to the hypothalamus; GnRH receptors have been identified in various brain regions, including the hippocampus, amygdala, and cerebral cortex. This distribution suggests that GnRH analogs, such as Triptorelin, may support cognitive and emotional processes.

Experimental models have explored the peptide’s potential to modulate neuroplasticity, synaptic transmission, and neurogenesis. It has been theorized that Triptorelin may interact with neurotransmitter systems such as dopamine and serotonin, thereby supporting functional mammalian behavioral patterns, learning, and memory. These findings have led to speculation about the peptide’s relevance in research on neurodevelopmental disorders, stress adaptation, and cellular age-related cognitive decline.

Metabolic and Growth Research

The HPG axis is intricately linked to metabolic regulation, and Triptorelin’s possible role in this context is an emerging area of interest. Investigations suggest that the peptide may support insulin sensitivity, lipid metabolism, and energy expenditure by affecting sex steroid levels. In

research models, alterations in gonadotropin signaling have been associated with changes in adiposity, glucose homeostasis, and hepatic function.

Triptorelin has also been investigated for its possible support of growth hormone (GH) secretion. While GH is primarily regulated by growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) and somatostatin, there is data to suggest that GnRH analogs might indirectly modulate GH dynamics through their support of sex steroids and hypothalamic signaling. These interactions have prompted further exploration into the peptide’s potential role in growth and developmental research.

Oncological and Cellular Proliferation Studies

The peptide’s potential to suppress gonadotropin and sex steroid secretion has made it a valuable tool in experimental oncology. In hormone-sensitive tumor models, Triptorelin has been revealed to be relevant to investigations into the role of endocrine signaling in tumor growth, angiogenesis, and cellular proliferation. It has been hypothesized that the peptide might reduce mitogenic signaling in tissues responsive to estrogen or testosterone, thereby altering tumor progression.

Additionally, Triptorelin has been employed in studies examining the support of hormonal deprivation on cellular apoptosis, autophagy, and DNA repair mechanisms. These investigations aim to uncover the molecular pathways through which hormonal modulation supports cell cycle regulation and genomic stability.

Developmental and Epigenetic Research

Triptorelin’s support for hormonal cascades during critical developmental windows has positioned it as a candidate for research in epigenetics and developmental programming. It has been theorized that transient hormonal alterations during early life stages might induce long-term changes in mammalian gene expression, chromatin structure, and cellular differentiation.

In research models, Triptorelin has been relevant to explanations of the support of early-life endocrine disruption on reproductive capacity, metabolic function, and neurobehavioral outcomes. These studies suggest that the peptide may serve as a tool for investigating the

developmental origins of science and disease, particularly in the context of endocrine-disrupting exposures.

Molecular Signaling and Receptor Dynamics

At the molecular level, Triptorelin’s interaction with GnRH receptors has provided insights into receptor desensitization, internalization, and downstream signaling. The peptide’s prolonged receptor engagement is believed to induce conformational changes that alter G-protein coupling and second messenger activation.

Research indicates that Triptorelin may differentially activate signaling pathways, such as MAPK, PKC, and calcium-calmodulin cascades, depending on receptor density and cellular context. These findings have implications for understanding biased agonism, receptor trafficking, and the fine-tuning of hormonal responses.

Moreover, the peptide has been studied in research models examining receptor cross-talk, where GnRH receptor activation supports the signaling of other hormone receptors, such as those for prolactin, thyroid-stimulating hormone, or corticotropin-releasing hormone. These interactions underscore the complexity of endocrine integration and the potential for Triptorelin to serve as a probe in systems biology.

Future Directions and Theoretical Implications

As peptide-based research continues to evolve, Triptorelin remains a molecule of considerable interest. Future investigations may focus on mapping its receptor distribution beyond the pituitary, characterizing its support on non-reproductive tissues, and developing analogs with selective receptor affinity or altered pharmacokinetics.

There is also growing interest in exposing research models to Triptorelin in combination with other peptides or small molecules to explore synergistic implications for hormonal networks. For instance, pairing Triptorelin with kisspeptin analogs or neuropeptide Y modulators might reveal new dimensions of hypothalamic regulation and reproductive control.

Conclusion

Triptorelin represents a versatile and multifaceted peptide in the landscape of experimental endocrinology and neurobiology. Its hypothesized properties in hormonal modulation, neuroendocrine signaling, and developmental regulation have positioned it as a valuable tool for probing the intricacies of physiological adaptation. While much remains to be uncovered about its mechanisms and broader implications, the peptide’s structural resilience and receptor specificity make it a compelling candidate for continued exploration.

As researchers delve deeper into the molecular and systemic dimensions of Triptorelin, new insights may emerge that reshape our understanding of hormonal communication, cellular plasticity, and the dynamic interplay between endocrine and neural systems. The journey of this synthetic decapeptide is far from over, and its potential to illuminate the hidden architecture of biological regulation is only beginning to unfold.

Visit Core Peptides for the best research materials.

References

[i] Wang, Y., Chen, Y., & Zhang, F. (2023). Physiological and pharmacological overview of the gonadotropin-releasing hormone. Biochemical Pharmacology, 212, 115553.

[ii] Morgan, K., Leighton, S. P., & Millar, R. P. (2012). Probing the GnRH receptor agonist binding site identifies methylated triptorelin as a new anti-proliferative agent. Journal of Molecular Biochemistry, 1(2), 86–98.

[iii] Barton, E. R., et al. (2018). The effect of luteinizing hormone–reducing agent on anxiety and novel object recognition memory in gonadectomized rats. Behavioral Brain Research, 345, 54–62.

[iv] Conley, R. S., & Jones, C. (2018). Triptorelin: A review of its use as an adjuvant anticancer therapy in early breast cancer. Drug Safety, 41(6), 675–688.

[v] de Paula, A. C., et al. (2012). Spotlight on triptorelin in the treatment of premenopausal women with early-stage breast cancer. Breast Cancer: Targets and Therapy, 4, 19–28.

Cherwell Mini Cryptic #1 – Just Desserts

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Constructed by Zoë McGuire with the free <a href="https://amuselabs.com/games/crossword/" target="_blank" style="color: #666666;text-decoration: underline">crossword builder</a> from Amuse Labs

Fancying something a little more savoury? Why not try this week’s mini crossword.

Follow the Cherwell Instagram for updates on our online puzzles.

For even more crosswords and other puzzles, pick up a Cherwell print issue from your JCR or porters’ lodge!

Cherwell Mini #18 – A Slice of Life

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Built by Zoë McGuire with the online <a href="https://amuselabs.com/games/crossword/" target="_blank" style="color: #666666;text-decoration: underline">crossword puzzle maker</a> from Amuse Labs

Mini-crosswords from last term:

Follow the Cherwell Instagram for updates on our online puzzles.

For even more crosswords and other puzzles, pick up a Cherwell print issue from your JCR or porters’ lodge!

Jonathan Coe: ‘We’ve thrown the baby out with the bathwater big time by embracing neoliberalism’

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Jonathan Coe is a novelist and writer. He graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge, and completed an MA and PhD at the University of Warwick. His novels, most of them comic or political, include What a Carve Up! (1994), a sprawling satire of Thatcherism; The Rotters’ Club (2001), an award-winning account of growing up in 1970s Birmingham; Middle England (2018), described as “the first great Brexit novel”; and, most recently, The Proof of My Innocence (2024), a mashup of mystery and autofiction and dark academia set during the premiership of Liz Truss. Cherwell spoke to him about novel-writing, neoliberalism, and Henry Fielding.

Cherwell: You’ve written sixteen novels, I want to say? 

Coe: Yes if you count The Broken Mirror, the children’s book. The handy thing to remember is that Number 11 is the eleventh.  

Cherwell: Do you have a favourite book you’ve written? 

Coe: I like things about all of them and dislike things about all of them. I have a soft spot for The Accidental Woman, because it’s my first one and it’s so different from all the others. When I listened to it once as an Audiobook, it felt like it was written by someone else. It’s part of my twenty-four-year-old self, and that seems a long time ago. 

Cherwell: Who would you say is your biggest literary influence? 

Coe: [long pause] There are so many in a way and they influence you in different ways, but to go to the fountainhead I’d say Henry Fielding. I discovered him by accident when I was doing my A-levels. We had a slightly incompetent English teacher and he gave us Joseph Andrews to read over the holidays even though we were actually meant to be studying Jane Austen. Everyone else came back furious that they’d wasted their time reading this book that they all hated, but I absolutely fell in love with it, and I bless my teacher’s incompetence every day. It took me straight to Tom Jones. I was obsessed with Fielding in my twenties and did my PhD on him at Warwick. There’s a kind of mixture of the innovative and the accessible in Fielding that I’ve always aspired to. He was making the novel up as he went along, to do that and to carry the reader along on a really involving narrative journey is quite an achievement. 

The more I read about Fielding, the more I think that the narrative persona he adopts in Tom Jones is just as fictional as everything else. He was really just grumpy. If you want to know the real Fielding, you should read his last book, Journal of a Voyage to Lisbon. The prose is convoluted, and he’s very ill and angry, but it gets closer to him as a person. I actually dramatised it and it’s one of the big disappointments of my career that it only got one production.  

Cherwell: I can definitely see the Fielding influence in your novels, the high spirits, and the willingness to make fun of things, especially hypocrisy. But your work is similar to that of other comic novelists too, like PG Wodehouse. 

Coe: I have mixed feelings on Wodehouse. I call him the Mozart of comic writers but you have to be in the mood. I was meant to do a podcast on PG Wodehouse and I agreed to do it. It was just after Trump had been elected and the world seemed very grim, I picked up Wodehouse and started reading and it just got on my nerves a bit. 

Cherwell: Which contemporary writer do you find yourself most in sympathy with? 

Coe: I love Ishiguro, especially The Remains of the Day which is actually a great comic novel. I like Ian McEwan, too, a less funny writer but he has his moments. I’m endlessly waiting to be blown away by a contemporary writer but it never happens. 

Cherwell: Your novels are more explicitly political than most, more explicitly tied in to current affairs and politics. For example, The Proof of My Innocence is a satire on Trussonomics. Where do you see the role of the novelist in political discourse? 

Coe: My family interestingly would be amazed that I’ve turned out as a novelist with this kind of reputation. As a kid I had my head in the clouds, watched movies and never watched the news, and probably didn’t even know who the prime minister was. I was like that until 1979 when Mrs Thatcher got into power.  

Cherwell: You say “Mrs” Thatcher, I notice, that’s usually what her admirers say! But I know you’re not an admirer. 

Coe: My opinions about her are starting to change. Compared to the generation that followed her, the Conservative politicians we have now, she seems a towering figure. One reason I wrote The Proof of My Innocence was to talk about what’s happened to the Conservative movement in the last forty years. It’s taken a very dark and shameful turn. In hindsight, you can see that everything Mrs Thatcher did had consequences, that everything would turn out as badly as it has, but I think she would be horrified to see what the long-term effects of some of her policies have been. She would have vigorously opposed Brexit, I suspect.  

But I don’t think novelists have a duty or responsibility to write about these things. We write about whatever interests us and happens to fire our imaginations. I’m not active politically, I’m not a party member but there are other writers who are much more politically involved than I am who don’t write about it at all. I think I’m just interested in the choices people make and how the choices we make are inseparable from the context we make them in, and how part of that context is political. I think there’s been a big cultural shift in Britain in my lifetime, between the post-war consensus which lasted until 1979, and everything that has come since – I grew up in the first of those eras, and that was what nurtured me. I think we’ve thrown the baby out with the bathwater big time by embracing neoliberalism. 

Cherwell: That definitely comes through in your books, this vision of the post-war years. In most novelists you get a sense of an ideal, which you can infer from their body of work, and the ideal I get from your books is sort of – the 1950s but without the prejudices. 

Coe: Well this is the thing, it was a great time to be a white heterosexual guy but not a great time if you belonged to any other minority, including just being a woman. I have a strong nostalgia for it in some ways and an equally strong sense that we can’t and shouldn’t go back to it. Part of the situation at the moment, that so many people are turning to the far-right and voting for populists, is that they’re so angry about things, and yet materially nearly everyone is better off than they would have been in the ‘50s and ‘60s. 

Cherwell: I suppose the difference is that, then, things were getting better, whereas, now, things are getting worse. Real living standards have barely risen since 1975, whereas if you look at the changes in living standards between say 1910 and 1975, they were enormous. 

Coe: If that’s true, it means the resentment has been festering for a long time. I think we’re at a number of other watersheds as well. So many people lost faith in the Labour Party when we went into Iraq in 2003 and the economy hasn’t recovered from the crash in 2008. We haven’t really had an honest conversation about it. It’s going to happen again sooner or later. Most people I listen to say it’s just a matter of time before another crash. 

Cherwell: What do you see as the alternative? 

Coe: It would be great if we could take the baby back and leave the bathwater out, but I don’t know if that’s possible. I don’t think the problem is with the government, it’s successive governments. Everything is viewed in terms of the profit motive and how much money something can make, and that’s been the case since the 1980s. It’s not only not enough, it’s not even most people’s values. Endless growth is not the answer to everything, especially not with the radically unequal distribution of wealth. It’s an absurdity, really, when you think of just how much money someone like Elon Musk has. I think when people say every billionaire is a symptom of social failure, that’s how we should look at it. 

I know some people say my politics aren’t as radical as when I wrote What a Carve Up! in 1994, when that book is really just a bog-standard centre-left polemic, it’s just a simple soft socialist argument for people not being too greedy. 

Cherwell: That’s berating it a bit. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book that’s more unformulaic than What a Carve Up!, it’s so well-plotted and well-constructed. How did you even begin to construct it? 

Coe: It was very fun, I remember that. It and The Proof of My Innocence are the two examples that leap out as books I enjoyed writing. Some people are fantastic at pure maths, some people are fantastic at crosswords, and it turned out – I didn’t suspect it – that the thing I was good at was devising large-scale structurally complex plots. Writing sentences I find hard, getting an idea down on the page is hard, but planning a novel – which I mainly do in my head, by the way – is something that comes naturally and instinctively. A lot of my sense of narrative structure comes from Fielding, who was one of the great literary architects. I remember reading a lot of Agatha Christie while writing it. One of my quirks is that I know before I write them how many pages my novels will have, and this one I knew would be 500 pages. I enjoy doing it. I call it structured daydreaming. It would be a nightmare for me to write a plotless novel, I wouldn’t know how to do it. 

Cherwell: You said you equally enjoyed writing Proof of My Innocence. The section of it that I enjoyed most was the one set in Cambridge. Was that based on your own memories? 

Coe: Brian Collier, who narrates that section, is a mix of myself and my best friend at Cambridge. It was a quick and fluid section to write because I’d been waiting to write something like this for years, I’d never really written about my time at Cambridge. I wrote one and a half novels while I was at Trinity and a book of short stories – it’s all unpublished, but it gave me material to work from for this section. The short stories were truly appalling, self-pitying, and sentimental, which was where the Tommy Cope character came from – I wanted to take the piss out of my old self a bit. Part of me is Brian and part is Tommy. 

Cherwell: When is your next novel coming out? 

Coe: I would like to say… November 2026. For the last eight years, it’s been one every two years but I’m not sure I can keep up with that. 

Beyond the binary: Leigh Bowery’s radical individuality

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Tate Modern’s “Leigh Bowery!” refuses easy categorisation—much like its subject

A fashion student from Sunshine, Melbourne, rocks up to London in 1980, writes ‘wear makeup everyday’ on his New Year’s resolutions, and proceeds to revolutionise performance art. Leigh Bowery (1961-1994) packed more artistic innovation into his 33 years than most manage in twice the time. Tate Modern’s retrospective proves why his influence still reverberates through contemporary culture. Considering Bowery’s own relationship with institutional capture, the irony isn’t lost.

Bowery famously declared, “if you label me, you negate me,” and this exhibition treats that complexity with appropriate seriousness. This isn’t another show about an “LGBTQ+ artist” or “club kid” but about pure artistic meritocracy in its most visceral form. It makes you question your own assumptions about art, identity, and why certain bodies make us uncomfortable.

Countering London’s fashionable “Hard Times” look (deliberately shabby, post-apocalyptic chic), Bowery went full maximalist. Sequined vinyl hats, platform boots, faces painted in abstract geometries that made Bowie look restrained. His early fashion collections weren’t just clothes but wearable sculptures that transformed the human body into something delightfully alien.

Bowery understood performance art’s fundamental principle: the individual is the artwork, not merely its vehicle. His legendary 1988 gallery performance Mirror at Anthony d’Offay crystallises this concept. A room divided by a two-way mirror: Bowery poses under spotlights for two hours daily, seeing only his reflection while audiences watch from the other side. Here, contemporary drag performances are turned into conceptually rigorous yet deeply unsettling pieces.

Fergus Greer’s photographs document this merger of body and art with methodical precision. Session VII, Look 38 shows Bowery as pure form—geometric patterns painted across skin, fabric distorting human anatomy into alien topography. These aren’t merely documentary shots but genuine collaborations, transforming photography into another performance medium.

Leigh Bowery's individuality appeared in the elaborate and aliien-like fashion he produced - utilising colour, sequins and headgear in unique ways.
Image Credit: “Leigh Bowery Exhibition” by jacquemart via Flickr. (CC0)

The exhibition’s curatorial intelligence lies in refusing to confine Bowery within identity. Yes, he operated within queer club culture—his club Taboo was legendarily “London’s sleaziest, campest and bitchiest”—but his artistic project transcended demographic boundaries. 

Jeffrey Hinton’s multimedia installation recreating Taboo’s aesthetic chaos demonstrates this perfectly. Layered video “scratches” (experimental films mixing pornography, surgical footage, and TV commercials), pounding club music, shifting lights—it’s genuinely overwhelming. You understand why bouncer Marc Vaultier would hold up that mirror, asking: “Would you let yourself in?” Most honest viewers would probably answer no, which was rather the point.

But what was Bowery stripped of makeup and clothes, outside of his performance den? Consider his collaborations with Lucian Freud, that bastion of the heterosexual artistic establishment. Freud painted Bowery “unmasked” (without makeup or elaborate costumes) on a larger scale than his usual portraits. But was this the “real” Leigh? Or simply another performance of authenticity? The paintings suggest Freud recognised that, even naked, Bowery remained fundamentally performative.

This artistic promiscuity proves Bowery’s point: talent trumps taxonomy. From fashion shows funded by unemployment benefits to Freud’s studio, from underground clubs to mainstream galleries, he succeeded purely on artistic merit. Contemporary influences from Alexander McQueen to Jeffrey Gibson prove his reach extends far beyond any single scene—he achieved that rare status of an artist whose work speaks louder than biography.

The exhibition preserves the raw, uncomfortable power of Bowery’s work without museum sanitisation. Dick Jewell’s film What’s Your Reaction to the Show? (1988) captures gallery-goers’ bewildered responses—faces cycling through disgust, fascination, and nervous laughter. This wasn’t art seeking approval but demanding visceral reaction, the kind that lingers uncomfortably long after viewing.

Bowery’s final performances pushed this methodology to logical extremes. His 1994 Birth piece with wife Nicola Rainbird (where she burst through his costume covered in fake blood and sausage umbilical cords) reads less as queer body politics than durational sculpture with theatrical flair. Think Marina Abramović (who sat motionless while audiences did whatever they wanted to her body) with sequins and considerably more bodily fluids.

Capturing Leigh Bowery in style and in spirit proved a complex task for many, and each attempt brought forth a new aspect of Bowery.
Image Credit: Leigh Bowery Oil on Canvas by Arshak A Sarkissian via Wikimedia Commons. (CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

Presented during the AIDS crisis peak, Bowery’s messy, confrontational work insisted on celebrating all aspects of human physicality. His death from AIDS-related illness on New Year’s Eve 1994 feels tragically premature, but his influence suggests that being utterly yourself—however weird that might be—can actually change the world.

The final rooms, tracing his increasingly extreme performances, feel genuinely elegiac. Not because we’ve lost a “queer icon,” but because we’ve lost an artist who proved that refusing categorisation could be its own artistic statement. In an era of increasing social media pigeonholing within arts discourse, obsessed with algorithmic consumption, Bowery’s insistence on pure artistic evaluation feels almost revolutionary. Today’s artists are routinely asked to define their sexuality or ethnicity before their aesthetics. Bowery understood this trap decades early, consistently deflecting biographical interrogation back to his work itself. And perhaps, as Oxford students, taught to question the world around us, we would do well to consider how Bowery’s viewpoint may affect our own lives.

Tate Modern has pulled off something tricky here: an exhibition that doesn’t try to tame its subject or explain away the bits that make you squirm. Bowery would dislike the stillness of a gallery floor – covered in photos and paintings, but he would absolutely love the fact that people are still walking out looking vaguely disturbed. Because let’s be honest, if art isn’t making you at least slightly uncomfortable, what’s the point?

★★★★☆

Leigh Bowery! runs at Tate Modern until 31 August 2025.

St Anne’s goes All-Steinway: A purposeful and bold commitment to music

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In a move that lives up to its motto of ‘Consulto et Audacter’ (purposefully and boldly), St Anne’s College has become the first in Oxford to achieve ‘All-Steinway School’ status. This prestigious designation means that now every piano used for teaching and performance is a Steinway & Sons instrument, whose unparalleled craftsmanship and rich tonal quality have made them concert pianists’ instrument of choice for generations. 

The announcement marks a defining moment, not only for music students, but for the entire College community. Professor Martyn Harry, Tutorial Fellow in Music at St Anne’s, told Cherwell: “We are so proud and thrilled… a year ago, this really wouldn’t have seemed possible.” 

Unlike many Oxford colleges, St Anne’s doesn’t have a chapel or choral foundation: the former all-women’s College had to decide during its early development between financing either a chapel or a dining hall. Yet, over the past decade, its music culture has quietly become one of the most dynamic in the University. Student success has played no small part. Music undergraduates at St Anne’s have won the University’s prestigious Gibbs Prize, awarded for the highest final-year mark, five times in the last ten years. With its Camerata (a 15-player string orchestra) serving as an alternative to the traditional college choir, St Anne’s has truly leaned into instrumental music and composition.

The momentum has been quietly building, but two shifts provided the final push. Firstly, the opening of the Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities in 2025 will move the Faculty of Music physically closer to St Anne’s. Harry has already noted a consequential increased interest this year from prospective students.

Secondly, the College’s existing collection of pianos had long been due for an upgrade. “If you’ve ever walked through Hartland House to the dulcet strains of somebody playing the piano in the Danson Room [the St Anne’s JCR], you may have noticed that the quality of the piano has long failed to match the musical talent of our pianists,” Principal Helen King wrote in a College-wide message. With appraisals classifying the College’s pianos “no longer fit for their purpose”, it became clear that these instruments had served their time, and the College began exploring a partnership with Steinway & Sons to replace all seven.

The idea of becoming an All-Steinway School came from Professor John Traill, Director of Music at St Anne’s, and a proposal was made to the governing body jointly with Professor Harry. Their vision was not just about instruments, but cultural identity and, as Professor Harry explained, “not just classical music, but any kind of music-making”. That wider vision proved crucial. Speaking to Cherwell, Harry recalled their proposal receiving “a warm reception”, adding that many STEM professors were particularly supportive, being themselves passionate musicians in private. 

When it came to selecting the pianos, a group of ten (including Harry, Traill, and Senior Tutor Dr Shannon McKellar) travelled to Steinway’s historic Hamburg factory to hand-pick the instruments. “The factory hasn’t changed how it makes pianos since 1880,” Harry relayed. Indeed, this is what gives Steinway & Sons pianos their illustrious reputation; a reputation in which St Anne’s may now share.

In the showroom, three St Anne’s pianists (one undergraduate, one master’s student, and Emeritus Fellow, Prof. Jonathan Katz) auditioned five grand pianos. After two hours of playing, one resonated above the rest: so much so that even Steinway’s staff called it “unusually good”. That piano now sits proudly in the Mary Ogilvie Lecture Theatre, alongside its six Steinway sisters placed across the College.

All-Steinway School status brings far more than the instruments themselves. It provides access to Steinway’s global performance halls, opportunities for masterclasses with Steinway Artists, and links to international music communities. At St Anne’s, however, the greatest benefit may be its accessibility. With seven brand-new Steinway pianos now installed across performance venues, practice rooms, and even social spaces, the College is deepening its commitment to music as a shared, creative and inclusive force. As Harry put it: “Piano playing will become a feature of the College”, with performance opportunities available to all students by arrangement.

The new era was marked in June with ‘A Concert for Seven Pianos’, a sold-out event held in the College dining hall. The programme brought together students, alumnae, and Fellows – including Professors Harry and Traill – to perform across all seven pianos.

Highlights included Traill’s arrangement of the College’s The Gardam Grace for seven pianos and Harry’s Digging Deeper, originally composed in the 1990s for six pianos and now featuring a new part, written for the occasion and performed by Dr McKellar. The programme also saw premieres of two original works by St Anne’s undergraduates: Heptalogue by Nick Samuel and Carillon Dream by Daniel Reynolds, the latter written for an ensemble of fourteen pianists.

So popular was the event that the dining hall’s many glass doors were thrown open, the music spilling into the quad, filled with audience members. It was Reynolds’ piece that closed the evening on a particularly striking note. “It was so ambient and resonant,” according to Harry, “you could hear the birds joining in through the open doors.”

The All-Steinway designation comes at a time of national uncertainty for music education. In February 2025, the Musicians’ Union called on the government to reverse cuts and reinvest in the arts. Against this backdrop, St Anne’s decision feels especially significant. In Harry’s view, it is not just about instruments, but principles: “Steinway themselves really believe in advocating for music, not in an elitist way, but in a way that creates new opportunities for people.” That philosophy mirrors the identity of St Anne’s – long known as one of Oxford’s most inclusive Colleges, with a proud commitment to access and community.

As the Schwarzman Centre opens and St Anne’s steps further into its role as a musical hub within Oxford, the All-Steinway status feels like both a milestone and a statement of intent. “It’s an incredible honour,” Harry concluded. “There are a lot of amazing musical colleges around Oxford, but we are the first All-Steinway school.”

By aligning itself with a name like Steinway & Sons – synonymous with excellence, but grounded in accessibility – St Anne’s has done more than upgrade its pianos. It has affirmed what kind of  college it wants to be: one that acts purposefully, and boldly.

How to Study Effectively? 10 Best Study Techniques

Studying can feel like a never-ending challenge for students. Hours spent flipping through notes or highlighting textbooks often lead to frustration when test results don’t match the effort. Learning how to study effectively can change everything. By combining smart strategies with self-discipline, students can retain more information, finish assignments faster, and reduce stress.

Academic coach Sophia Bennett often reminds students that success isn’t just about long study sessions. It’s about studying smart, creating routines, and using proven strategies that actually stick. Below are 10 study techniques that will help you finally master how to study effectively and make learning more enjoyable.

If you’re stuck on a research paper or struggling to balance multiple projects, academic support services like write my paper can lighten the load. This doesn’t replace learning; it ensures you meet deadlines without sacrificing comprehension. Sophia encourages students to use paper writing help as a strategic tool, not a shortcut.

1. Create a Dedicated Study Space

The environment where you study has a huge impact on productivity. A cluttered bedroom or noisy café might make it impossible to concentrate. Instead, set up a quiet, organized space with your textbooks, laptop, and supplies ready.

Establishing a consistent study spot is one of the simplest how to study effectively tips because it signals to your brain that it’s time to focus. Over time, this routine becomes automatic, reducing procrastination.

2. Break Study Sessions Into Short Intervals

Marathon study sessions often lead to mental exhaustion. Instead, break work into short, focused intervals. The Pomodoro Technique – 25 minutes of studying followed by a 5-minute break – is a great method for students learning how to study effectively.

These intervals keep your mind fresh and prevent burnout. After four rounds, take a longer break to recharge before starting again.

3. Use Active Recall

Rereading notes might feel productive, but it’s one of the least effective methods for retention. Active recall involves closing your notes and testing yourself on the material.

For example, after reading a history chapter, try writing down everything you remember about the causes of World War I without looking. This simple exercise teaches your brain how to study effectively by practicing the same skill you’ll need during exams: retrieval.

4. Apply the Spaced Repetition Technique

Cramming the night before an exam leads to short-term memory. Spaced repetition spreads your review sessions over several days or weeks. Review a topic today, again in two days, and once more in a week.

Apps like Anki and Quizlet automate this process, helping students understand how to study effectively through structured memory reinforcement. This approach is especially helpful for subjects that require memorization, like foreign languages or biology.

5. Take Handwritten Notes

Typing is convenient, but writing by hand engages your brain differently. We recommend handwritten notes because they force you to slow down and process information. Summarizing concepts in your own words leads to deeper understanding and better long-term retention.

Students who switch to handwriting often report improved focus, which is one of the most underrated how to study effectively tips.

6. Teach the Material to Someone Else

One of the fastest ways to reinforce learning is by teaching it. Explaining a concept to a classmate, sibling, or even to yourself out loud ensures you truly understand it.

This technique transforms passive reading into active learning. As Sophia Bennett explains, “If you can teach it clearly, you know it deeply.” That’s the core of how to study effectively for any subject.

7. Avoid Multitasking While Studying

Multitasking is the enemy of focus. Scrolling social media or watching videos while reviewing your notes leads to mistakes and slower progress.

To master how to study effectively, put your phone in another room and close distracting tabs. Create uninterrupted windows of study time, then reward yourself with short breaks.

8. Use Visual Learning Tools

Some students learn best through visuals. Converting text-heavy material into mind maps, charts, and diagrams makes complex concepts easier to digest.

For example, if you’re studying anatomy, color-coded diagrams of body systems are far more memorable than a wall of text. Visual learning is a practical application of how to study effectively tips because it caters to the brain’s preference for images.

9. Prioritize Sleep, Exercise, and Nutrition

Academic success doesn’t just happen at your desk – it starts with taking care of your body. Sleep consolidates memories, while proper nutrition and hydration fuel focus. Even short bursts of exercise improve mental clarity.

Many students ignore this part of how to study effectively, but physical health is a foundation for mental performance. Late-night cramming rarely beats a well-rested mind.

10. Know When to Ask for Help

Even the most organized study plan can hit a wall when assignments pile up. Knowing when to seek help is part of how to study effectively. Reaching out to a tutor, classmate, or online academic resource can prevent falling behind. It also allows students to focus on learning rather than feeling overwhelmed by endless deadlines.  

Final Thoughts: How to Study Effectively? 

Mastering these how to study effectively tips isn’t about trying all 10 techniques at once. Start small. Maybe create a distraction-free space and switch to active recall this week. Next week, add spaced repetition or visual study aids.

Over time, these habits become automatic. You’ll notice you finish assignments faster, recall more information during exams, and experience less stress. That’s the real secret behind how to effectively study – it’s about creating a system that works for you.

The most successful students are the ones who combine smart study techniques, healthy routines, and timely support. When your approach balances effort and efficiency, studying stops feeling like punishment and starts feeling like progress.

SU Sabbatical Officers urge Government to “remove the barriers” to Gazan students reaching the UK

Sabbatical Officers at the Oxford University Student Union (SU) have signed an open letter urging the UK Government “to ensure that students from Gaza who have been offered places or scholarships at UK institutions are able to take up their offers”. 

The University of Oxford is one of several UK universities publicly known to have offer holders in Gaza. Visa offices have been shut in Gaza since the start of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, meaning that offer holders are unable to provide biometrics necessary for obtaining a UK visa. Border closures mean that offer holders are also unable to travel to neighbouring countries to provide biometrics.

The open letter was initiated by sabbatical officers at the Cambridge Students’ Union. It is addressed to Prime Minister Keir Starmer and senior cabinet ministers, including Home Secretary Yvette Cooper. 

The letter urges the Government to “take immediate action to remove the barriers currently preventing Gazan students from travelling to the UK and accessing the education opportunities they have rightfully earned”.

Speaking on behalf of the Sabbatical Officers, a spokesperson for the Oxford SU told Cherwell: “Students from Gaza have overcome unimaginable horrors to secure their places at UK universities, and it is our responsibility, as their (hopefully) eventual representatives, to ensure that they are able to realise those opportunities.”

Oxford launched a number of programmes to support students and academics from the West Bank and Gaza Strip last year, including the Palestine Crisis Scholarship Scheme, which supports graduate students affected by the ongoing humanitarian crisis – covering course fees and providing a grant for living costs. The University also renewed its long-standing commitment to the Council for at Risk Academics (CARA) fellowship programme.

A University spokesperson told Cherwell: “The University is part of sector-wide efforts to support the arrival of students from Gaza and are in contact with our offer-holders who are facing the greatest difficulty. We hope to welcome several students from Gaza on full scholarships this autumn.”

Gazan students holding offers at several prestigious UK universities wrote an open letter to the Foreign Secretary David Lammy in May, urging the Government to help those struggling to provide biometrics. The Government did not respond.

Other countries – including France, Ireland and Italy – have already provided safe passage for incoming Gazan students.
Cherwell has approached the Home Office for comment.