Image by Lucy Heywood
With the quick-paced 8-week terms, it’s easy to miss what is going on in Oxford besides crushing deadlines and dreadful crushes. As a history student with far too much time on my hands, I often spent evenings in the college bar filling in a few lucky friends on the latest happenings. But it is the season of giving, after all. As my holiday gift to you, I present 2022: A Year in Re-Blue.
In January, we saw the commencement of the most miserable term: Hilary. Between freezing in libraries and COVID-19 cases, there was little joy to be had. Thankfully, February was much brighter. Valentine’s Day saw plenty of pretentious love poetry to keep everyone entertained, and, of course, the arrival of my true love. The opening of Knoops on Turl Street warmed not only my heart but also my hands. And what better beverage to fuel the many trips made to watch Timothée Chalamet filming for the new film Wonka at the Radcliffe Camera? I pity the freshers who will never experience the pure excitement of viewing our latest collective crush when we should have been writing essays.
The Easter Vac fell in March, when not much happened. But the University couldn’t let that go on for too long—in April, they reminded us that the post-exam tradition of trashing was not fine. Unless, of course, you had £150 to spare.
Back for May, one tradition did continue, with the annual May Day celebrations (read: an excuse to drink an ungodly amount and write off the whole day). Whilst I did enjoy the frankly bizarre experience, one request that I’d like to make for May Day 2023 is fewer morris dancers. After a long night of drinking, little sleep, and the pressing essay deadline that awaited me, seeing morris dancers at every turn felt like something from a fever dream, and their bells were certainly not conducive to my hung-over essay writing.
The Permanent Private Hall, St. Benet’s Hall, made plans for its closure in May, following a bout of financial difficulties and the University Council’s decision ultimately not to renew its license for the 2022-3 academic year. As the hall’s doors closed, however, another door opened. In the same month, the University also announced the establishment of the Astrophoria Foundation Year, which saw them promise to admit 50 students from under-represented backgrounds from 2023 onwards.
Sunshine returned to Oxford just in time for the Platinum Jubilee, Pimms garden parties, positive lateral flow tests, Pride parades, Port Meadow, and, of course, Prelims. Those who weren’t stuck in the libraries revising for Prelims and Finals enjoyed festivities throughout the city, making sure to really rub it in… The threat of the trashing fine went largely ignored, and students throughout the city celebrated the end of their exams as usual.
July was spent in one of two ways: pining on Oxlove, or constantly refreshing one’s inbox, waiting for exam results. Oh, the duality of Oxford! In August, cabin fever began to set in, and people were hit by a deceiving wave of nostalgia for Oxford—by September, people were desperate to return to the city of dreaming spires.
Unfortunately, by October, everyone was wondering how they had been tricked by the Oxford nostalgia, as once more they were met with a tide of deadlines. Notable mentions in October include some unwanted presences—I’ll let you decide whether that is a reference to certain white-tie-clad guests, a new cohort of freshers, or the Cohen Quad cockroaches which rendered many kitchens in the otherwise-gorgeous Exeter College accommodation unusable.
As always in Oxford, Christmas came early this year, and it seems as though Santa has found an even more dull gift than coal for misbehaving Oxford students! This festive season, we merely received an extra dose of drama in student politics. After a simply riveting election season, I found myself hoping that December would bring something that the whole student body would actually care about.
Thankfully, my wishes came true when the joyous festive tradition of college-puffers-outside-of-Oxford discourse was reignited on Oxfess. Apparently the university that discovered penicillin hasn’t yet decided whether you can wear your coat for more than 8 weeks…
Perhaps I should just focus on my degree in 2023.