Lucia

Engineering Science, 3rd Year

To be completely honest, I only decided to come to Oxford University the day before the application deadline. I had an extra space on my UCAS options and my teachers at school told me that there was nothing to lose. Scrambling to finish my personal statement, I picked to go to Teddy after doing a STEM research course with a PhD student studying here over the summer before applying; she convinced me that the food was worth the tiny quads, and I couldn’t agree more! I was planning on straying a little further afield than where I lived in Banbury (very close to Oxford), particularly as no one from my family had been to university before and I just wanted to dive into a new experience headfirst. But now I’m here, I can’t imagine being anywhere else.

One of my favourite parts of Engineering is the labs. We didn’t make much use of them last year during COVID, so it’s been exciting to finally get hands-on experience with the theory we’ve been learning. Whether in lectures or my labs, the number of women in the field is low, which isn’t surprising, but I’m hoping this will improve over the next few years. Particularly as I know I haven’t found it intimidating to work with the other Teddy Engineers at all. I had my first in-person talk from a female lecturer as I was writing this, and just having that was such an inspiration to keep pushing on with the degree.

I am not completely sure where my degree will take me in future. I am hoping in Chemical Engineering or a field focussing on renewable energies as I just want to do something that contributes to improving life in some way. I’m only in my second year, so I know that I have plenty of time to decide, but whatever happens the skills I’ve gained in working with other people in labs, talking about technical subjects with a tutor one and one, and being more confident in a subject that I (warily) chose as a woman will stick with me.

Outside of Engineering, I am a part of the Hall’s netball team and partake in the University’s Kickboxing Society sometimes. Especially in netball, I feel as though we have a close-knit group that I wouldn’t have spent time with otherwise so I’m glad I’ve kept up with it! If anything, whilst hating the lack of freedom during COVID, I think the Teddy bubble system set up a strong set of friendships during first year that I genuinely think (and hope!) will last a lifetime.

My favourite memory is probably my first ever ‘WIMBLEWOTH’; I didn’t think I’d ever be running down Oxford streets dressed as a crew of Wombles (which I only learned of since coming here). I like how at Teddy it seems that everyone enjoys making a fool of themselves just for the fun of it, and I think I’ll always remember it fondly.

What do you think when you hear ‘Women of the Hall’?

Between the Women of the Hall, I do think there is a strong sense of community, which is felt by everyone especially during events like WOTH. However, being a woman (as it always has been) is a scary time at the moment, particularly with the spiking epidemic and other general harassment incidents. I don’t think we have always got the best help we could through these. The women of Teddy Hall are all strong people, and I know even if the support isn’t there, we will always support each other.

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