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| Punting on the River Cam |
In any case, after several weeks of work, researching and writing the essay, I finally sent it off and began the long-overdue panic for the end of year exams. A bit of background to the competition: Peterhouse College, based in Cambridge, run annual science, english and history essay competitions, with set titles and a 4,000 word limit. The winner of each competition receives a cash prize, and, along with the second place and highly commended candidates, are invited to attend an awards luncheon at the college.
One day in June, I received a letter with the Peterhouse College letterhead. Tearing the envelope apart, they informed me that my essay had been highly commended, and that I was invited to the awards luncheon and to stay the night in the college’s accommodation! As you can imagine, it was all very exciting! So on the 26th of June, I made my way to Cambridge from Kings Cross Station in London, found my way to the college and was directed to my room for the night. Unfortunately, I had arrived late, so I missed the dinner, but Cambridge offered a host of places to eat well for a decent price. I managed to find some other prizewinners in the accommodation later that evening, and we stood in the hallway discussing universities, our essays and how one individual believed it to be disrespectful to a book if it is read in the late evening, when one cannot fully focus on it. Fascinating stuff, I have to say. We stood and chatted until about 12:30am.
After a restful nights sleep and a rather large breakfast, we loitered around a bit and waited for our guests to arrive. I had invited the head of the Chemistry department at my school. Peterhouse admissions staff then invited us into their offices, where we were able to ask them a whole host of questions relating to courses, admission policy, suggested reading and such fun. Current Peterhouse students then took us around on a tour of the college, which was also very informative. The fact that they had a full croquet set laid out on one of the lawns was a real plus for me!
The lunch was delicious, the company, entertaining, and the mood of the event, joyous. After the prize giving, myself and two other prizewinners went punting on the River Cam. For the unaware, punting is where an individual stands on the back of a narrow barge and uses a long pole to push the barge along the river by pushing it against the river bed. It was very funny to watch one of the prizewinners to try and punt, seeing as she had never done anything of the likes before! Then again, I probably could not have done any better, so my hat off to her! After that, it was time for me to catch the 19:15 express train back to London Kings Cross station, thus ending my first trip to Cambridge!
What surprised me the most while I was up there was the sheer variety of essay styles that made it into the top selection in all the competitions. One had written their essay as an extended conversation with God; the first place history essay was written by someone not doing a single humanity for A-Level, and others wrote theirs as an extended standard school-type essay. I wrote mine in the form of a truncated literature review. So for those reading this about to start on future Peterhouse essay titles, remember that there is no one specific style they are looking for! They are looking for absorbing, informative, well-researched essays.
Another thing that I enjoyed was the company of the other prizewinners. They all came from such different backgrounds and locations around the UK and Ireland that I, as a Londoner, would never have heard of otherwise - you see, the UK is very London-centric. The conversations we had were gripping and fascinating, and if these are the sort of students Cambridge seeks to admit, I think I would be very happy there. Coming straight from the Imperial College London open day on the 26th, the difference between the two colleges was very noticeable. I cannot comment on the differences in the courses yet, as I have yet to go to the Cambridge open day, but in terms of living in Cambridge, I could see myself there. I still have an issue with the ageing accommodation, seeing as I am used to well-insulated and modern constructions, but I am sure I could oversee something like that to be studying at an institution like Cambridge! Besides, modern accommodation is in fact offered.
Of course, and as ever, this whole event has served to make my decision about which university to go to even harder! The UK is seeming ever more attractive, and I am now less sure of my prospects of entrance into a US university, seeing the essays they want me to write on a whole variety of topics, made even harder seeing as I have not written a humanities-stye essay in over a year now, are very challenging! I am a British writer - meaning that I intuitively try to present information in a subtle way - which is not what these questions implore one to do: be boastful, but in a modest way. It’s a hard thing to do, but as ever, its a challenge. And I do like a good challenge!
Cambridge was a lot of fun. I am heading up there next week to see it all again, so we will see how I like the engineering course. Undoubtedly, it will only complicate my eventual decision, but better to make a decision based on all the information than not to. In any case, to all those thinking about entering future essay competitions, please do! It is a great experience, writing such an essay, and even if you do not end up being a prizewinner, the skills learned from such an experience are invaluable in everyday life!
