I didn’t quite know what to expect when I started my Laidlaw summer. I knew roughly what I looked forward to – enjoying the summer in Oxford stress-free, nurturing deep friendships, and visiting different colleges, to name a few. But I also knew that the biggest lessons, the most profound insights, would be those I could’ve never foreseen. After all, how can you anticipate what you don’t know?

Perhaps the biggest surprise of all was how much I felt like I’d grown in the space of a few days. I’ve managed to summarise (with great difficulty) my biggest take-aways from this first week, and am so excited to share them with you.

1.   The power of sport to connect

Sparked by an impromptu trip down to Iffley Sports Centre, I had the privilege to meet and play sports with some students from the surrounding area. My prior experience with sport had been suboptimal, to say the least. I was never the most coordinated person, and had always viewed  the pressure of competition associated with sports to put me down, rather than lift me up. 

But John’s team at Power2Inspire had a different conception. With games like sit-down netball and goalball, they spearheaded a mission of inclusion through sport. 

It also taught me another important lesson; when you level out the playing field by placing everyone in an unfamiliar environment, that’s when the most genuine forms of connection emerge. Stripped of existing experiences and preconceptions, what’s left is a shared vulnerability and a sense of togetherness, where individuals, despite their different backgrounds, can come together as one community.

2.   How deep Town and Gown really runs

Before volunteering at the Blackbird Leys Festival, my prior knowledge of Town and Gown was limited to the few community events which had adopted its namesake. I was vaguely aware of its Medieval origins, but was under the impression that tensions had largely fizzled out into an annual 10k run and a boxing showdown. 

It wasn’t until our volunteering briefing session that I realised how deep those divisions ran. Ruby-Anne mentioned that many members of the community had never interacted with members of the university, despite us making up 20% of the city’s total population. Furthermore, I was shocked to learn that there existed physical walls, all the way up to the 1970s, which crystallised the socio-economic divide.

I had always been of the belief that service begins at the community level. However, looking back, I’ve come to recognise that my motivations were, in some way, intrinsically selfish – rooted in a desire to “get to know” the community and escape the “Oxford bubble”. It was not until I met the community first-hand that I was able to view the “Oxford bubble” from the outside-in, and see that my former myopia was not only a detriment to myself, but risked furthering the very disconnect I hoped to bridge.

3.   A like-minded community

Lastly, I was once again struck by how privileged I was to be surrounded by a cohort who are not only like-minded in interest, but like-minded in the spirit to serve. Despite our diverse backgrounds, which spanned from activism to research, we all had our own experiences with community engagement, and different anecdotes and lessons to share. 

While it’s an amazing opportunity to take part in the Laidlaw summer, what made it truly meaningful was being able to share it with others — to not only learn from their unique insights, but grow alongside them. 

I look forward to a summer of learning and growing. Of stepping outside my comfort zone, contributing meaningfully, and engaging with new perspectives.