Hello and welcome to the Queen's Access podcast. It's so lovely to have you here.
And I hope you find this a useful resource in learning more about life at Oxford.
But more specifically about life at the Queen's College. My guests this week are Katie Humphreys, a second J.
Historian Yang Gwang The Current Sports Wrap and a second year studying philosophy and psychology.
And Hamish Smeeton, who's just finished his fourth year studying maths.
They'll talk to me about getting involved in sports, both at a college on a university level.
My apologies for any poor audio. These interviews have all been conducted over Zoome, and the Internet connexion isn't always completely reliable.
For a transcript of this episode, please visit the Queen's Web site. I hope you enjoy.
Hi, everyone. Thank you so much for being here. I really appreciate it. To get things sorted.
Could you each tell me a little bit about your Clean's Danny? So how you ended up of college?
Noah Yangs. You want to give us a. Yes, sir. I actually only have like a day to look around different colleges.
When I came to light is actually a March day and we could only visit like one college.
And so I actually just chose based on its proximity, like High Street and hot to have gym.
And also, when I'd like went around, it kind of had a very different atmosphere. So that was like my choice for choosing Queens.
Her characters. Katie, what about you? And so I went up to see Queens on on a Sunday and just loved the atmosphere.
I thought the chords on the guitar at the front was so pretty.
And also, as a historian, I thought the library was a big thing to take into account.
And I just loved the three floors in the Queens library and the software work, the old one.
So that was a big deciding factor for me. Yeah. Brilliant. Hamish, what are you.
Yes, I'm from Kincumber in the northwest, which is one of Queens link regions.
So when I came in on open day, they kind of hosted us and put us up for a couple of nights while they open day was opening.
So having already stayed there, I felt no reason not to apply.
I really liked all the people I met, the accommodation I was given, the meals, the food.
Obviously, as Katie mentioned, the record is stunning. Such an amazing place to be.
So I when she found out I had to pay in college, I was a no brainer.
I've not really considered any others. And I she stayed at Queen's already. Okay, perfect.
Yeah. That's gonna be covered a little bit more in the access scenario each episode
going to talk a little bit about the link regions and about open day plus. Yeah.
Feel free to tune into that. Okay.
So for each of you, if you could kind of take me through what a week looks like generally in your life at Oxford, you will study different subjects.
You're in different years. So what what does your average week look like?
So, Katie, you want to jump start us off with that? Yes.
So and my week is quite different from some of it on science, because it's a lot of self teaching.
So I'd spend usually most the day in the life reading, independent reading.
And I try and alternate between the Queen's library and the Radcliffe camera for the change of scenery.
And then once a week, I'll have a tutorial where I go through the essay that I've researched and written during the course of the week.
And then also I have two lectures, which tend to be on a Monday on Wednesday, which are good to go to when they connect to your essay question.
Sometimes they're on different topics. So, yeah, I most my week is a lot of independent reading.
And then I play hockey. So it's kind of broken up by a bit of training here and there.
But that's my week. Lovely. Hamish, what about you? Yeah, you mentioned the STEM subjects are a bit more kind of structured than less independent.
I have anywhere between six and 14 lectures a week, depending on what year which you are within.
And then that's complemented fairly, fairly regularly by tutorials.
An annual eight years. I get that big and some more like class sizes. But the first week as a tutorial with only one three people in the class.
And you do weekly probably sheets based on the content of the lecture. So it's very, very structured.
The election I actually tweet posted. So I just couldn't get a table.
They're not like crucial the tutorials on the main thing.
So it's kind of up to five in first and second and then maybe only to one half hour long ones in third and fourth year.
But yeah, it's still kind of 15 hours plus of contacts on a week. And then the hours are not in those three times.
Obviously, I've got to complete my problem sheets again. I choose to work in the library.
My second Queen's library is right. And yeah, I guess when I'm not doing that, I've got a sport.
I play football for the university and that college goes, well, do some kind of music sometimes as well.
So yeah, I kind of feel my free time and I'm not doing. I'm not studying.
Okay. Really?
It's worth noting, so Haymond Hamish has just graduated from an integrated masters and Mass is quite different in that the fourth is taught.
Yeah. So chemistry. And my fourth year will be an entirely research based.
Yeah. Yeah. I find it interesting that Haima, you still had like lectures and she, it's, it's far more you'll follow your 40.
It's far more similar to the rest of your call. Yeah, it is an exception.
I think they are integrated master's course of the sciences, chemistry, bioscan, physics.
They all have much more independent research.
The fourth year kind of a project lab style based I guess why is nice for here is essentially another third year.
The substructure is exactly the same. We do exam video lectures.
This is all consuming to the station. And fourth. Yeah, but that's also there.
And so yeah, it's just less taken up.
It's people like us don't feel I know enough to write one yet, but the structure of the 40 hour masters is no different.
I think we're also an exception that we get two grades for our degree.
So I have a grade for my first three years and my fourth year, even though it's technically integrated.
I think that's unique amongst the Masters as well. Yeah, and a massive muffin, interesting cause in the way that it works.
Okay. Lustick Yang, do you want to take us through your week? Yeah.
So mine varied quite a lot, actually, Tom,
because the way my quarters stretch is you do all the prelim stuff in the fast times and then you go into like a fight, just stuff in the third time.
In the first two times I think I had about six lectures per week.
And then tutorials were change like week to week.
I had quite a lot like fortnight organised and Cheat's so I probably have about three to five a week and
each of them would be either have like an essay or some problem sheet because obviously I do joint cause.
So I'd have a bit of a lot of like self reading philosophy and then more like kind of structured.
But still I say it's for psychology.
And then in the third time I, I did I was I had like practical sessions because we had a lot report into the end of time.
Yeah, I think Al's an interesting one, so, yeah, it's psychology, philosophy, linguistics for those of you who don't know.
So unlike PPA, which is politics, philosophy, economics,
ways that each of the three disciplines in the first year, I believe the people you pick to go in.
Well, yeah. So you can yeah. You only have to pick two, some people. Two, three.
I think we had one person this year. Right. So yeah.
Now it's an interesting cause. I think it's always sounded very interesting. Okay.
So let's get off into kind of the main point of this episode, which is or l think sport both in college and in the university.
So I'll it off with Yangs. So Young, as I mentioned in the introduction, is the sports rap for Queens.
So what's up like and what does your role entail? So so far it's mostly like talked to older sports captains in Queens College.
I'm just trying to like, make this in conversations with them and just passing on any information that I need to know will pass on to that team.
And then also, I know this. So it's just like raising any issues that they may have to the team.
And it is a time that meal with everybody sports related in college.
Another main task is to organise like the Stosh. So what sports from VicRoads.
And so we do not in the fast time. I haven't done that yet.
And then also, you're just answering general questions anybody has in school about sports in Queens.
And also trying to like, encourage participation in the multiple teams as well.
Yes. So the sport is part of the JCR Izak.
So if you want to tune into our student leadership episode, Izabel and I will go through a lot of the different exact positions.
And yeah, you have to stand up and do a speech and tell us what she should be fought for.
Yeah. And Masab. And that's that's the position I believe, that you hold for a year.
Yeah. No, it's it's an interesting job and it's nice, I think as well.
The fact that with all of the exact positions you have, the parts are actually formally relate to your role.
And then you also get to be involved in the wider back in terms of like working groups and general decisions for them.
So I think that's really nice. Okay. So for each of you, what has been your experience of college sport, uni sport, just generally sport in Oxford?
So, Katie, do you want to start off? Yes. So I play.
University Hockey and I in my first year, I played for the Ladies Third team, which was really fun, and we trained twice a week.
And then on a Tuesday morning and Friday afternoon and then had a match on Wednesday.
On the Saturday. So it was quite a time commitment, but I think it was amazing.
It was such a good way to make friends out of college and also just so much fun and a nice break from your studies.
And then this year coming, I'm cutting the woman's voice, which is another really fun thing today.
And I just it gives you a chance to get even more involved in a club that you love.
And then outside of hockey, I played netball for college, which was really great fun on a Thursday afternoon.
And it's just, again, another really good way to make friends with people in different year groups doing different subjects.
He wouldn't really see any other point. So I think sport's pretty unique just for the friendship aspect on that like team team environment.
So I love it. Yeah, definitely lovely. And I think, as you say, sport is such a good way to satellite and make me friends.
Okay. Hamish, what about you? Yeah, I've played quite a lot of sport during my four years here.
I play Koeppel for university, as I mentioned before, but I've kind of been involved in lots of different college sports.
In my first year, I played a lot of lacrosse and basketball for college and then some of those teams from the struggle to kind of get membership.
Obviously, the biggest sports in rugby and football are much more popular.
So I played a lot of that as well. Did you aspire to at school for that? Kind of easy for day.
But football is not something I'm geared up, but it's something that everyone in college,
you know, you never really played is encouraged to get involved.
And if you want to this, there's lots different things that we have matches that all the time.
And the fact that we don't have training that kind of helps you kind of feel that you don't
really need to have a certain level of talent because they're really just looking for numbers.
It's more a bit of a fun, always a uni sport, so much more serious.
But at a college level, it's kind of obvious, you know, all the first teams for each sport, which are a bit more, you know, ability based.
But I think it's the right acquaints that people are really encouraged and welcomed into any sport, even if they're just trying it for the first time.
Obviously, I know that from starting Copel at the university, which I've never played before, but I'm in college.
So the different sports going to both. They are playing pretty much every week.
If there's any other sport that they need to play,
I'll play this case before I play netball pathologies just when they're kind of short plays one week.
So it's really good not to get involved in anything really that it's a great way to meet people in college and outside.
Yeah, definitely. I think that's nice to highlight. Well, the difference between college in municipal and the fact that, you know,
you can very much salivated to take up a sport that you've never done before and you
don't have to be some kind of Olympic athlete able to make friends just for you.
Yeah. And finally, Ying, what about you? So, know, I kind of dabbled in a lot of random sports over the year.
So like I said, I joined a lot of college teams because I thought that I like that commitment and they're just fun to like meeting people.
So I did it because netball, football and brother and then uni sport.
So so did a lot of random development teams said, which didn't require a lot of commitment.
Again, timing. So I did a bit of like, look, cross t.
I get to like a few cool for training sessions and some of the stuff society like socials and stuff.
It is quite fun, again, to meet people outside and college.
I like different groups. Yeah, definitely. Okay.
Brilliant. So, hey, if you've already mentioned that you took a course which I want haven't heard of until you mentioned it.
So yes, you have the experience of taking up a completely Brownie's for adults.
So how did you find out? I think it was really good because I came into work for really hoping to try out some new sports.
Obviously, I'd always been told. When you get to university, there's such a wide range of people to try anything.
So when I went to the freshest air in the last year,
I signed up for 70 different sports and then continued to get many emails from all these clubs for the rest of my that degree.
In first year, I tried out lots of things. I tried out handball. I tried out waterpolo.
I tried to undergo hockey. I had never heard of COFO at the time, which meant I was unfortunately actually start playing little.
Secondly, I think if someone describe to me what it was, which is essentially mixed netball, really, it's got a few different rules.
It's a school, but the same objective, a basketball netball score points by getting the ball free.
What kind of race hate is is a different style of to some extra rules.
And that which I the complex very different. And it's much, much faster than kind of college level basketball or or netball.
But yeah, know, I think if anyone had told me what it was, I would have been like, that sounds great, but I just didn't hear about it.
So my advice to anyone is, if you are looking to take any sport, actually go and speak to lots of people.
Even if you look at a sport and they've got no idea what that is. A lot of the time you can actually hear about and they love those.
Sounds like they would work for me. So, yeah, I didn't really get into components a second year.
And then I played for three years.
I was captain of the second team last year and then this year and the second again, we came second in the national play, which was really good fun.
But yeah, taking on a brand new sport is kind of a big step because you feel like maybe
there'll be other people who have more experience and sometimes I can't be the case.
When I went to a humble club, there was a lot of Eesha team countries, people from those countries who played it a lot when they were young.
So I kind of felt a bit out my dad, but football was good in that 80 percent of their intake every year.
I've never played it.
And really, as long as you're gonna have played a bit of netball combustible, then you're probably kind of pick it up quite quickly.
The first year. It's it's fairly obvious that the second team is kind of three or four complete beginners on the team.
So mentally, really well,
because all the other clubs that we play in the local area or any level have also got brand new players playing for them each week.
So it's really, really good. It meant that, like, especially being second year wasn't complete, they knew to Oxford.
So I felt more comfortable and confident speaking to people and getting involved in the club.
So I became, as I said, the captain and second and also the treasurer for the club, which was a really good kind of CV boost,
but also like it meant that, like I got to know other people more often as I was kind of on the exact floor for the club.
Yeah, I think it's just a great kind of way, as I said, with hockey, just to kind of meet people outside of college,
because besides your subject and maybe people, you know, mutual friends or whatever.
I think sport is actually the best way to kind of make new friendships outside of college.
Fantastic. Thank you. That was really interesting and I think, like what I think is right is going to ratify I'm signing up for everything.
Yeah, you will be in jail for the rest of time.
But also, it can be such a laugh and it's such a good way of finding new things that you never would have done before.
So I think after freshers week in first week, I went to a salsa dancing taster class and I was absolutely awful at it.
But it didn't matter because I went and had a proper laugh.
I went with a couple of friends in college and it was just it was great. It was so much fun and I would never have done that.
And yet they still e-mail me, but it was worth it. It was worth it.
About one experience that I was considering taking it off. And that was really, really good.
Okay, so, Katie, you've mentioned that you play on the uni hockey team, so you carried on playing high level hockey when you came to university.
So how did you find that transition coming to play a university sport?
What's your experience been of being on a uni team? So hockey is a pretty popular sport.
A lot of schools will play it and primary schools will pay it.
So there is a lot of people that have a lot of experience in the game.
So it's definitely one it's more competitive clubs to get into. However, I loved it and it was a really great way to make friends.
I did pre-season for two weeks before I came to Oxford, so I felt by the time freshers came around, I already knew the city a little bit better.
I already had some friends from different colleges and I just felt that little bit more settles and the commitment level for hockey.
I signed the start quite overwhelming because I was trying to balance how to work on an Oxford degree on top of making its training sessions.
But I think in the long run playing sport, especially at one of the clubs where there is that little bit more commitment,
is actually a really good thing because it teaches you how to discipline yourself and get really good time management.
And then outside of that, I think also playing high level hockey is a really, really sets.
And I think health is a really important thing because you're always stressed and not always stressed, but you can't get over stressed Oxford.
And so it's quite good to just have that relaxation protected time period where, you know, like, okay,
I'm definitely over the library here or I'm going to leave the S.A.M. girlies up problem sheet and just go and have some fun.
And then also the social aspect of the club is amazing.
And Wednesday nights tend to be sports nights, a park and and especially if you go with a team,
sometimes there's like a theme for the night or you're coming from a crew date with another hockey team.
And it's just a really great, like team bonding atmosphere.
So on the pitch, I've loved it in terms of keeping physically fit, getting competitive hockey at a really high level.
I played this lady's third team and everybody on that team cared their school first.
So it's really high level and but also off the pitch as well.
The social side of making new friends and just having loads of fun has really it my uni experience so much better.
So, yeah, I've loved playing hockey and find the integration from school to uni and pretty, pretty easy.
I mean, I'm no Olympic athlete. The first team plays National League and they're amazing,
but I still feel really content and getting a really great level hockey on the woman's third team.
And I'm sure I'll be the same when I'm capturing the force. Brilliant.
Thank you, Katie. Katie. So we've had some really, really great perspective there.
I think we've really covered a lot of different aspects of sport.
And I'm not gonna lie. I want to take some may not now. Maybe second year is gonna be my year.
You kind of inspired me. Okay, perfect. So I think just organised clothes can be sports related, but isn't necessarily for each of you.
What is your favourite thing about Queens? Why so, Hamish?
You want to start with a. Yeah, I mean, it's kind of changed throughout the years, I guess.
I've really enjoyed the sports in general. But I guess the thing that sounds really lame, but I know I think I really like the library about Queens.
It really is kind of my favourite part of the college. I learnt some of the stuff I like.
I was at the bar. The courts are amazing. The college itself is just really grinding poverty to people.
But the library is kind of been a very useful thing for me the whole way through.
Like lots of other colleges don't have as nice a library that I have 24/7 library.
The library staff are a bit more strict with them.
And I think our library is kind of best of all those worlds where you're really kind of welcomes and it's a big open space.
You have the kind of old fashioned area that's kind of, if you would like that kind of style and is also the modern bit downstairs.
So it's kind of something for everyone. It's very easy for me, that kind of thing from my brain in college just fine.
I was when I have free time, whereas I think sometimes it's a bit difficult to motivate yourself.
If that wasn't bad, I think from the perspective of me, actually from taking my degree.
The library has been on its cyberpower college. Yeah, I'd agree, I think.
I don't know, libraries, you know. Okay, gang. Do you want to take us out?
Yes. For me, this is like a quiet life.
Just the general sex for college. Let's go. It's quiet. Not small, but like the way we kind of bump into a lot of people.
So you get to like a lot of places and it just goes quiet like a quite like a kind of little community.
Yeah. You just see a lot of people naming and talking to different people at different courses and different more groups.
I can guess your whole life, you see. Mm hmm. Yeah, I think that's nice.
Kind of a nice size. I'm Katie, finally. How about you? Yeah, I'd say civility.
I think the size of Queens really makes it for me because it's not it's not a tiny college, but it's definitely not too big.
So you get to know everybody from your own year and then you get to make some really good relationships with people in different years,
too, which is helped by the college family. I love that part is Queens that we can all be coached on.
They say, yeah, I just really like the atmosphere which is helped by the good middle sides of the college.
Yeah, definitely.
Katie, do you mind just explaining the kind of family really, really briefly to anyone who hasn't kind of isn't familiar with the concept?
Yeah, of course. So college for me is when you're a fresher, you get given a cook and a college mom at some college mom.
So some college dads or a college mom and a college dad, which is two people in the airports who's got college married, which is a platonic thing,
where two friends just decide that they're gonna come together and raise their future little children as their subject.
So you are paired with somebody who usually tends to your subjects and they're your
port of call in terms of getting help and guidance and just fitting into college.
And I think it really helped a lot of people to settle in.
Yeah, definitely. Theran and I discussed that in the in the well of food and we both said it's an underrated resource and an underrated system,
but it's value you in so quickly clean and sober for. And I love the way the queen sells it.
Well, thank you all so much for talking to me. I think you've been absolutely fantastic.
And I'm sure everybody who listened and would agree. I hope you all have a lovely, lovely day and I'll see you soon.
Thank you so much to Yang, Himesh and Kati for that fantastic conversation.
And a massive thank you to all of you who listened. There are loads more access resources on the Queen's College website.
A w w w dot queen's dot org dot ac dot uk forward slash access dash outreach.
And you can find out more about college in general through its website, Twitter and Instagram, including on the Access Twitter at Queen's Outrage.