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Ilana Bergsagel
Independent School, London
Third-year Philosophy
Student
Having done no research
on the colleges other than go into various ones and collect prospectuses,
I chose Clare because of the sign on the Admissions Office door.
It read: "Don't bother knocking, the door's just shut to keep
the draft out". At the time it made me smile and feel at ease,
having braved toppling staircases and intimidating closed doors
at all the other colleges; and in retrospect it is just another
aspect of the college that shows that it naturally succeeds in making
people smile and feel at ease. It's not just what we say because
we're here and its ours and we love it!
I chose to read Philosophy
on another gamble actually, because I hadn't studied it at A-level.
All I knew was that I loved the tangential discussions on religions
or whether or not we had free will, that we had in English Lit classes,
and the step by step arguments and often quite abstract concepts
that I learnt in Maths A-level. Oh, and I knew that I didn't want
to do a subject with practical labs. From that I managed to somehow
find Philosophy, and, after reading Russell's "The problems
of philosophy", I decided to apply.
The course here is based
on analytical philosophy, so there's lots of testing arguments to
see whether or not they're valid and whether or not each point follows
logically from the others. But this is not all that Philosophy is
about at Cambridge: through studying and discussing subjects such
as whether or not punishment can be justified, whether or not we
have free will, and whether or not God exists. We're forced to open
our minds and address problems in new ways, and basically think
for ourselves, and
have our own opinions. It's
really great to be able to study a subject where the aim is to have
your own opinions, and not just have to remember a whole load of
facts and figures. As a result of this, discussion is clearly a
vital part of the course, and as well as organised "discussion
groups" with other philosophers from different colleges from
your year, and the supervisions where the focus is discussing the
essay that you have written for it. We are encouraged to have
more informal discussions on the subjects: after all, the more opinions
you learn about, the more informed you are to make your own! I've
often found myself at the pub with my
friends, having a random
conversation, and suddenly I'll think: "ooh ooh I can put this
in my essay!". How many subjects can claim that?
In terms of extracurricular
activities, if you like something, there's a club for it. And if
you happen to have one of the very very few interests that doesn't
have a society already, its remarkably easy to set up your own.
In the past I've tried rowing, yoga, rock-and-roll, dancing, and
art classes, but after a while you realise that there needs to be
time to do those, and work, AND make time to go out. So I
settled down and now play the flute in a University wide Jazz band
based at Downing College, and occasionally get beaten by friends
at squash, which we play on the college courts.
The collegiate system
is great not only for the academic side of life here (the attention
you get is brilliant: one on one supervisions and there are loads
of people to go to if you want help), but also for the social and
extra-curricular side. On the one hand you have the college clubs
and societies which tend to be more informal and span all abilities,
but then there are also the university-wide activities which are
great for getting to know people from other colleges, and allow
you to take part in something, like the orchestra, which is world-renowned.
Applying to Clare was
the best decision I made, and coming here is the best opportunity
I've been given: arriving here and finding myself in such a supportive
and friendly atmosphere has really made me feel like I can take
the time to settle into myself and play around with finding my interests
and abilities, as well as studying a subject which is challenging
and fascinating and that I adore.
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