Earlier this week, Varsity reported on a ‘contentious online debate’ that had been sparked by a Quora inquiry from a tourist. The debate followed the cookie cutter format of ‘baby’s first Oxbridge debate’. The tourist suggested Cambridge was ‘far more attractive than Oxford’ because of the greenery of ‘the backs’. This was then cunningly undercut by the ‘Rad Cam’, and countered further by the existence of Churchill College. “Am I overlooking something?”,the Quora user asked. Yes, random Quora user, I think you are.

“I wish I had more time to appreciate the relative beauty of Cambridge’s architectural wonders”

I have a bone to pick with the question itself because aside from the odd bit of Camfess discourse, I’m not convinced many students care. Yes, you may have drunkenly sparred with someone on the Varsity skiing trip over which one has better clubs, but was there much substance to this? When it comes down to it, I wish I had more time to appreciate the relative beauty of Cambridge’s architectural wonders. This is probably because I spend most of my time appreciating the inside of Seeley Historical Library.

Every time someone comes to visit me at university I tell them that it was a stretch to figure out what to do because I spend an embarrassing amount of my time in the library (read pub). Pedalling frantically down King’s Parade when late to a supervision, I don’t stop to admire the Senate House, or King’s College, even though tourists generate so much income for the college daily to go and peer at some (arguably very nice) scaffolding. The city is geared towards tourism central to which is an appreciation of Cambridge’s aesthetic quality, but I doubt many of us have that much time to stop and appreciate it.

Sure, I take pictures of a sunset over the houses that line the boundary of Jesus Green, or All Saint’s Passage on a rainy day. I send them to my Nanna and continue to my supervision. I was told - pre-application - that Cambridge would consist of supervisions by a grand fireplace, conducted by a man in a tweed suit who offers me brandy whilst we discuss Niechezte. This, I believe, is the Oxbridge envisaged by the great entrepreneurs behind the Cambridge University merchandise shops on Silver Street. But I have no qualms with a box room in the ARB, if I’m honest - as long as I’m getting the question right.

“This is the Oxbridge envisaged by the great entrepreneurs behind the Cambridge University merchandise shops on Silver Street”

There’s a reason why tourists spend their spare time arguing on dodgy internet forums about the aesthetic supremacy of Oxford or Cambridge. That’s the allure of Oxbridge, for most. It’s the same reason you can barely walk down King’s Parade on a Saturday, and why there’s ANOTHER Harry Potter themed gift shop in Market Square. Everyone wants to go on a punt, and take a selfie next to Newton’s apple tree. I don’t personally have any Oxford adjacent examples, but you can fill in the blanks. In Emerald Fennell’s recent box office hit ‘Saltburn’, Felix’s window looks out onto Radcliffe Square. This for me is proof that even for Hollywood, the beauty of Oxbridge remains a cinematic spectacle.

But the beauty of the place has little relation to the student experience. ‘Place’ as an abstract noun isn’t defined by who has the better bridges. Even if you did apply to Cambridge because of Trinity Great Court, or Oxford because Magdalen has a deer park, relative beauty is not the main reason why students are so ferociously vocal about their ‘Ox’ or their ‘Bridge’. I mean, I’m the perfect example of this. I go to Churchill.

“The beauty of the place has little relation to the student experience”

Despite appearances, Oxford and Cambridge are still just universities. There are drinking games, shit clubs, breakups, missed lectures, and forgotten essays. Both places are beautiful, with their quirks, gowns and slightly ridiculous workload, but Oxbridge is still what you make of it, just like any other university. If you ask a (former or current) Oxford or Cambridge student which one is better, or more beautiful, they would probably argue the place where they spent three or four years making questionable decisions and lifelong friends.

Aesthetics may be more important to tourists, but it’s the memories attached to the places that so many admire that is important to students. It’s like football teams, except with slightly more autonomy, and the ‘Times University Rankings’ instead of the Premier League. Maybe one is more green, and the other has better bridges, but Oxbridge is what you make of it, after all.