Student news

Living with Pure O

The best way for me to explain Pure O (or Pure OCD – Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) is firstly to tell you that organising your pens on your desk, so they look pretty, or being mildly irritated that someone didn’t fully clean the whiteboard does not mean that you have OCD. No, OCD is not the luxury of being able to choose whether your stationary looks neat but an inescapable dread and anxiety when compulsions are not or cannot be fulfilled.

The journey so far

I am from a small town just outside Boston, Massachusetts in the US. I did my undergraduate degree at the state school University of Massachusetts Amherst where I got my Bachelor’s in Linguistics and Spanish. As of now, I am currently in the graduate programme as an MPhil student studying Linguistics, Phonetics, and Philology. Outside of my department, I try to be very sociable within my Middle Common Room (MCR) at St. Hugh’s College, and I am also a member of the Oxford Blues Swim team.

What is the Oxford Literary Festival?

The Oxford Literary Festival is a world-class literary event that brings together leading authors and public figures in the central University area of Oxford each year. The literary festival will feature a variety of presentations and readings by authors, as well as other events, delivered over a period of several days.

1. It’s your chance to give your views
   The NSS is a national listening exercise – and all final year students across the UK are strongly encouraged to take part. It’s important for you, for future students, for universities, and for the broader higher education landscape of the UK. Give your views, and be part of something big.
   
   
2. It helps us improve what we do for students
   The NSS survey – plus the Student Barometer for all students – give us the opportunity to listen and respond, and to do things better. 
   

The journey so far

To say that I can’t quite believe that I’ve finished my first term at Oxford would be a colossal understatement - even as I type out these words and trawl through a camera roll densely populated with horrendously blurry photos that evidence what might very well have been the best eight weeks of my life so far. This last statement is not an indication of how tragic and boring I am as a person, I hope, but shows just how intensely alive and immersive Brasenose is as a community.

In the beginning

Spare time, commitment, and compassion

University student volunteers are invited to apply across all subject areas, with a commitment of one hour per week, with all training provided. Tutor The Nation provides completely free tutoring to pupils from state schools, and they believe that university student volunteers can encourage aspiration and confidence in the young people they work with, with an emphasis on literacy and numeracy. 

Introducing Rainbow Peers

Rainbow Peers were created as a safe space for students who identify as part of the LGBTQIA+ community to discuss their identity, support other students and explore university and societal themes and issues. These include but are not limited to prejudice, coming out, and going home for the vacations. It is a place where intersectionality can be explored in relation to access to welfare services, peer support and listening to others.

As we once again phase back to in-person teaching, there are many things to take comfort in: COVID-19 cases are trending down across the country; local hospital numbers remain steady; and an extraordinary number of people have come forward for their booster vaccine, including several hundred recently at the University Club.

Events and activities

Tuesday 1 February St Edmund Hall - 50 Years of Pride: In Conversation with Dan Glass and Sergey Khazov-Cassia

Wednesday 2 February 17:00-18:15, Harris Lecture Theatre, Oriel College - Accommodation or Transformation? LGBT Inclusion in the Christian Faith, Baroness Ruth Hunt