When I was told to write a reflection blog, I did not know what to write. I would be lying if I said that. I did know what to write. What I did not know was how to write it. I had never written anything of this sort before. And English not being my first language made the task even harder. It was hard to allot a compartment to your feelings in words entirely foreign yet familiar by chance.

There is a world out there I did not know. I was locked up in my cute little college-y cocoon. Not worrying about the world outside. Not knowing anything about the world outside. I mean I knew about the world- but I did not the world itself. Think of it like I describe to you what a thylacine is. Think of a wolf’s snout with a body and swagger like that of a dog. Tiger stripes on its back. And a pouch for its young and a tail like a kangaroo. I’ll give very single textual detail about it. Its habitat, food habits, voice (if it could be transliterated into the poorly supplied roman alphabet), body structure. Everything. You’d know everything about the thylacine by now I would assume? And then once the textual education bit is done- I’d show a photograph.

You did learn something new after seeing the photograph, right? You knew everything there is to know about the thylacine. But having seen its photograph, you learnt something new. That was me. I knew there was a world outside university within the UK. I had never ventured to see it. This week I saw that world. At least it was a start. I saw a UK that was distinct from my college bar, library, and mates. I saw a UK that I had only heard about and not seen. And I did it with my friends. Envy me? You should.

Via outreach to schools in relatively less-prosperous in east oxford, our group aimed to extend curiosity and knowledge of the world around the students. In totality, over the four weeks we interact with students, we would help them come up with a country of their own helping them think about what makes a society and a national identity around them. And to spend this time with my brilliant team mates and cohort is something I definitely look forward to.