Sarah & Harriet

Our names are Sarah and Harriet (she/her) and we have decided to write our profile together for the Women of the Hall profile page as we have shared so many experiences whilst being here, mostly as being Women* and Minority Gender Identity (W*OTH) officers for the JCR from 2022-2023.

We are from St Albans, Hertfordshire (Sarah) and Ramsbury, Wiltshire (Harriet) and met as freshers as flatmates in Kelly 4. We immediately became close, bonding through our love (and stress) for geography, pesto pasta, and inability to use an indoor voice. Now we are both approaching our final term and reflecting upon the last 3 years is an incredibly strange experience as it feels as though no time has passed, and yet we feel entirely different to those freshers messing about and filling the dead time during lockdown by doing nothing together.

Although we are both geographers, we have pursued very different paths within this and most of the time feels as though we are studying completely different degrees.

I am a human geographer and have always been interested in political and cultural geography, driven partially by intense debates with my brothers over dinner. I still think these debates not only gave me the confidence to argue, to speak up and speak well, but also highlighted the importance of listening – both to others and the importance of others listening to you. As a woman in human geography, I have always loved how the subject engages in feminist theory, queer theory, intersectionality and the format of the tutorials allows for discussion, debate, and critique.  – Sarah

I quickly realised in my first year that human geography did not come naturally to me, no matter how long I stared at the same article for, so specialising in physical geography was quite an easy decision for me. The course has immersed me in the latest research being carried out in the climate science sphere and developed my confidence in engaging with unfamiliar and often daunting tasks, such as trying and (partially) succeeding in learning Python coding.  – Harriet

Being JCR Women* and Minority Gender Identity officers has given use some of our favourite memories at Teddy Hall – the time we both realised we wanted to run for the role together sticks out in the memory. After being in lockdown for a year, the first proper college event we were able to attend was the termly W*OTH night (Women* of the Hall) in the last term of our first year. The theme was wimbleW*OTH and we decided to go all out – summoning all of our creative ability, we were unrecognisable walking through the streets of Oxford as Nadal and Federer (the photos can attest to this). After having the best time, we realised that we were both serious about running for the position and wanting to create more amazing memories for all of the other women, non-binary, and minority gender individuals of the hall. This is still one of our favourite memories, although both of us crying over handing in our dissertations earlier this term was also a highlight…

To me, the hall represents the woman I’ve grown into, one I think (and hope) embodies respect, joy, and connection, the key things that matter to me. – Sarah

To me, being a woman of the Hall means sharing some of the most important moments of my life with a group of incredible people that I will be forever grateful to call my friends. – Harriet

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