As a fresher, now that the sixth week of term is upon us, I am beginning to understand what it means to be trapped in the - slightly claustrophobic - Oxford bubble. My weeks are a whirlwind of 6am rowing, 9am lectures, relentless 2 hour logic tutorials, late night library sessions, netball crewdates and evening pub trips. All aspects of my personal, social and academic life revolve around this university. This is an experience unique to Oxbridge students. We exist within an essentially independent world of higher education. In many ways, it is an idealistic world - everyone is in the pursuit of knowledge, engaging critically with the world around them and interacting with people from a myriad of different backgrounds with a myriad of different views, values and opinions. Moreover, all our academic ambitions are fostered by the tutorial system which ensures every student is equally challenged and supported. However, this is not reality. In a sense, we students are like fish trapped inside a fishbowl - watching the world go by through the glass but ultimately separated from it.
