One of the last ERASMUS students to study English at Cambridge due to Brexit, I was pooled to my college because placement students could not indicate any preference in college allocation. Before I received the result, I had excitedly googled most colleges and went through countless online forums, Wikipedia pages, college websites, and YouTubers’ videos. I knew that Jesus is famous for rowing and puns on its name, Darwin for not having Darwin as its alumnus, Christ’s for no one knowing Darwin went there, King’s for King’s Chapel, Trinity for Newton, Newnham for Sylvia Plath, and Churchill for Churchill.

Life is full of uncertainty and surprises, and so is the magical pooling system. I sometimes wonder if I should believe in Murphy’s Law, because I prayed not to end up at Churchill. Its cruel-looking buildings, inconvenient location, focus on STEM and lack of gown traditions at formal dinners didn’t appeal to me in the slightest. To catch up with the British culture, I revisited Harry Potter during lockdown, both the books and the movies and longed for such an experience. However, my dream of Hogwarts dinners crumbled right in front of me. With the sorting hat on my head, I kept screaming ‘not Churchill, not Churchill’ but still, here I am.

“Through the lockdowns, one can see exactly how a College prioritises its students’ wellbeing.”

I arrived at Churchill, the College of Far-Far Away, to find that we have Fitzwilliam as our good neighbour, and that Girton and Homerton are Colleges of Far-Far-Far Away. The moment I approached the College, I changed my biased view on the notorious architecture. No, it won’t give me Harry Potter dinners, but it may inspire another dystopian novel. I know my aesthetics may be a bit of a niche, but I do appreciate the colour and the texture of the bricks. Other things I was amazed by: the dining hall is modern and spacious; the college field is the largest among colleges and WE CAN WALK ON THE GRASS; the JCR welcomingly organised many Zoom calls and socially-distanced freshers’ events — and most important of all, there are no tourists. I could not experience a full Freshers’ week, but the College still managed to give us a matriculation picnic in lieu of a dinner, and we also got our matriculation photo done, socially-distanced.

Unfortunately, because of Lockdown 2.0, the world went into isolation. Things slowed down. Just as my rowing began to improve, having got through the stage of almost toppling our freshers’ boat, it was made impossible to continue. Life was not as exciting, but the college field and nearby jogging routes offered me a great getaway. Sainsbury’s and Aldi nearby provided places to explore cooking inspiration. Societies were all holding online events or talks. A supposedly inconvenient location soon turned out to be much better than I had thought. Maybe, it was entirely because of this vincible distance from town that I could focus on self-improvement and schoolwork during the lockdown. The College was doing its best to have many facilities running as usual, for instance, the take-away meals. After the second lockdown, household formal dinners were also offered.

“When some colleges were still arguing over flags, Churchill College has already flown the Pan-African flag, the transgender flag, and the rainbow flag at its entrance.”

Although conditions were not optimal, the college still tried its best to give us the fullest experience possible. Through the lockdowns, one can see exactly how a College prioritises its students’ wellbeing. Before Christmas, any students who stayed (mostly international students like myself) were offered affordable yet well-organised and delicious household Christmas dinners. When the College was quasi-empty during the term break, the hall still offered the very few remaining students meals without earning much money. My estimation on money and College’s risk assessment may not be accurate, but it appeared to me that College tried to be as supportive as possible, even with so few students in residence. Precisely these seemingly small things show how the College values its image and student wellbeing.

In face of Lockdown 3.0, Churchill College trusts that its students will make the best decisions for themselves —following government guidelines, they can still return if necessary. In other ways, too, the College has proven itself to actively support the values it holds. When some colleges were still arguing over flags, Churchill College has already flown the Pan-African flag, the transgender flag, and the rainbow flag at its entrance. With its foundation closely connected to the British Empire, the College’s past and connections with Sir Winston Churchill have been discussed extensively in College. I hope that the College will move forward and rethink, recognise, and reassess its historical burden, responsibility, and the British Empire. I am moving forward at Churchill College, as its motto ‘Forward!’ encourages us to. I think the College is, too, in spite and because of all the chaos the pandemic has caused.