Student story: Anree Bektashi-Brown

Tell us about yourself (course, year, college, hometown + anything else):

Hi, I'm Anree and I'm a first year studying Biology at St Catherine's college! I'm originally from up north in Manchester where I studied A-Levels at Xaverian College, and before then I was home-educated.

What has your time at Oxford been like?

So far, the first term at Oxford has been very enjoyable! As with pretty much any degree at Oxford, it's definitely been academically challenging. Writing 3000-word essays every week on top of a busy schedule of lectures and labs was definitely a shock to the system, but in the process, I've managed to learn so many fascinating things about Biology, helping me reconnect with the subject again.

One of the aspects of university life that many students look forward to is moving, meeting new people, doing new stuff, and making new friends, and St Catz has most definitely delivered on front! It's a friendly environment with loads of amazing and interesting people who I've met and made friends with, and the biologists here are an incredible bunch.

Tell us more about what you’re involved in outside of your studies

Outside of my studies, I've become a fairly regular gym goer of the Catz gym which is a two-minute walk from my room which has been a great way to continue staying active and have a physical output. I've also been involved in the Catz-Wadham orchestra where I play sax which has allowed me to stay involved in music in a relatively relaxed environment. Here, we've played a lot of film music which isn't something I've done a lot on with sax but nonetheless has been fun and I can't wait to see what we play next!

I'm also one of the reps for the first-year biologists, collecting feedback from students to present to the undergraduate committee, which has been a unique way to get involved with biology while also hopefully helping give students a voice in the structure of the course.

How has your experience of being home educated helped you with university assignments and deadlines?

Being home-educated meant I had to be very independent during my time studying GCSEs as I had no tutors for any of my subjects and very little guidance, I also had to be self-motivated with my studies as there was no one there to force me to learn but myself. My original motivation was as simple as "I want to pass GCSE's so I can get into college so I can go to university". This motivation eventually evolved upon realising that I actually enjoyed some of the subjects I was studying, especially learning about the laws of the world and life. This passion and drive definitely helped me stay motivated throughout my journey in college and still continues to help to this day at Oxford where independence is much more valued.

What was the biggest challenge you faced when moving from home education to a university setting?

Before attending college, I didn't think that being social would be a problem which was true as making new friends and going through social interactions was never problematic. However, this was my first proper experience being around so many people for so many hours a day almost every day, especially since I was fairly involved in my music department during the start of year 12, which was a shock to my social battery to say the least. I knew this could be a problem in university as well, so I used this experience to make sure that starting my journey at Oxford wouldn't be a similar story by pacing myself a little, ensuring I can get the rest needed and the best of both worlds without getting too tired!

Did you feel like your home education meant you missed out at any point in time?

I personally never felt like I was missing out on anything by being home educated. A common question that's asked is "how did you make friends", which all things considered is a valid question to ask as most young people make their friends through school. Being home educated of course meant that I didn't have this opportunity. However, to make sure we still had a social life, my parents would take my brother (who was also home educated) and I to weekly activities such as games clubs, science groups, Wushu/Kung Fu classes, drama classes, cadets, music groups, and the list goes on. This not only meant that I was able to socialise, but socialise with people outside of my direct age bracket which isn't something that is often easily achieved in most schools, which to me both at the time and in retrospect offset any social drawbacks of home education. Attending college before coming to university also meant that I was still able to experience a school environment to an extent!

What is the most important thing you've gained from home education?

Retrospectively, I think the most important thing I've gained from being home educated is curiosity. Ever since I was a kid, any time I had a question for my parents such as "what is X?" or "how does X work?", I would often hear the response "how about you try finding out in this book" or "try searching it up". In one way this felt counterproductive, but it meant that if I was truly interested in something, I learnt how to find and explore that interest and question further myself from a young age. In a way I think this probably helped me learn to be curious as I learnt there was always the follow up question of "why?" to any question or answer that I found. Of course, I have absolutely no way of knowing whether this is actually true (the biologist in me is screaming "lack of empirical evidence!") but it is something both my brother and I agreed on. This curiosity has developed over the years to me now being interested in just about anything, which has definitely helped me stay motivated and passionate about my academic journey so far.

What are your future aspirations for yourself?

Currently, I'm unsure of what I want to do after completing my degree, as there are so many career options with a degree like Biology and there are so many fields I’m interested in, from biomimetics, to biotech, to evo-devo. I like the prospect of taking on a career in research or something where I'd work on projects which allow me to be hands on while still being involved in academics and the progression of knowledge. However, for the time being, I just want to make the most out of my time here and enjoy studying Biology as much as I can, while staying open and being proactive to opportunities for future careers!