Today (well, yesterday) was just one of those happy, fun days you have without particularly special or exciting happening. (It’s probably got quite a lot to do with food, actually.) It was Oliver’s birthday, so we gathered in his room in the morning to present cards and gifts. I felt slightly competitive after Abi and Oliver pulled out all the creative stops on my present last year, so naturally my card had to be in extended video form… but never mind, it all went down well. Then it was off to the Copper Kettle for English breakfast before heading to Caius library to work. And I know this will sound ridiculous to everyone but me, but as I was sitting there, just reading (Machiavelli’s Discourses on Livy) without bothering to take notes – sun streaming in through the window on my face – I actually caught myself feeling like I was on holiday. After all, don’t you read a lot on holiday anyway? Machiavelli isn’t exactly stereotypical beach material but he’s a lot more palatable than the others thus far, and I felt strangely relaxed despite the essay deadline looming round the corner.
Despite said reading I am still slightly behind, due to having volunteered on the shadowing scheme this year, but it was a pleasure to do and I felt I should repay the debt anyway. Basically, you’re assigned a state-school (or some other target group) Sixth Former who ‘shadows’ you for a couple of days, in order to give people a taste of everyday Cambridge life and dispel some myths at the same time. I joined up a fair amount with my two fellow Caians who also had shadows this week, so got to know three shadows show them around together, despite the picturesque if cold snow! It seems to have gone pretty well, and I for my own personal touristy checklist I can also say that I’ve (a) been inside King’s chapel and (b) seen a Footlights performance now. Success!
Ah reading that old blog post you linked to was spooky
Can you imagine if someone let me have a shadow… for anything…
They’d have an amazing time!