|
Sarah Lyle
Grammar school, Cheltenham
Sarah has just graduated with a
BA + MSci in Geology
I entered Clare, a nervous
fresher recently returned from a year in New Zealand, in 2001. I
was one of many Natural Scientists, opting for a course that offered
flexibility and the chance to try new subjects. I was very
uncertain of which options to persue but thinking that I might like
to finish up doing Zoology I opted for Cells, Evolution and Behaviour
and Geology. Having not taken A-level Maths I was restricted to
EMB. The first year courses were, in general, excellent. It
took a while to gauge how much I was expected to work but I hope
I achieved some sort of balance. You are certainly not expected
to spend every minute tied to a desk. I found the first term here
very very difficult and it wasn't until the second term that I really
found my feet. However, things really did just get better
and better.
After a wet but brilliant field trip to Arran I decided that Geology
was the course for me, so I took both of the Geology modules in
the second yea,r with Experimental Psychology as my third option.
Once again the courses were interesting and it was refreshing to
be able to study two such different subjects. I really enjoyed the
Psychology course, particularly
the modules about child development and mental illness, but it was
not enough to drag me away from Geology, and more specifically from
the geological field trips. I am now in the final stage of my fourth
year in Geology and in that time have been on field trips to Arran,
Skye, Devon and Cornwall, Sedburg, Spain twice, Greece, Texas/New
Mexico and spent 6 weeks working with the British Geological Survey.
That for me has been the real bonus of the subject - you are constantly
learning about the world around you and being positively encouraged
to get out there and look at it. That
is not to say that there aren't lectures that I've fallen asleep
in or parts of the course that I've binned before exams but in general,
I think it's been awesome.
I came to Cambridge with a very open, unsure, mind about what I
would end up studying. In that respect the Natural Sciences tripos
was ideal because it gave me the flexibility I needed and enabled
me to discover a passion for a subject that I wasn't aware of at
school. I hinted earlier that you were not expected to spend every
moment working and that really is true. The opportunity to try new
things is enormous at Cambridge. On a sporting front I have continued
to play hockey and tried rowing, a bit of squash (Clare has it's
own courts), football, netball, lacrosse (albeit a brief appearance!),
athletics and running. The advantage of a college system is that
there are two levels at which to take part in sport - university
and college, and there really is every sport that you could imagine.
In my third year I took up rugby and, after training very hard,
was awarded with a starting place on the blues varsity team. I have
continued to play with them in my final year, taking a more active
role as captain.
If sport isn't your thing then do not dispare! There are numerous
acting opportunities, orchestras all over the place (for all levels),
art societies, poetry societies and many many more. I would recommend
that you have a look at the university site to get an idea of the
breadth of opportunity. One final acitvity that I'd recommend if
you're good with people and a dab hand at organising things is the
Clare May Ball. Clare has a May Ball every year (there's a link
to the website through the Clare website) and it is organised entirely
by Clare students. I was involved with the committee in my second
year and it was one of the best things that I've done during my
time here, with the night of the ball probably being the
best night of my Cambridge career. So there you have it, a huge
diversity of opportunities both academic and otherwise, and I haven't
even mentioned the 3 month summer holiday which is the perfect time
for adventures....
|
|
|
