A small but mighty group

“Though she be but little she is fierce” are the words that come to mind when I think of the UC Senior Common Room (SCR) so far in 2023. In William Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Helena speaks these words about her friend Hermia. While in the context of the play, Helena has been name calling her friend and commenting on her short stature, she ultimately recognises her feminine strength and her determination. As someone who is a theatre kid, an actor and who studied drama for her undergraduate degree, I could not resist using a theatre reference!

In regards to our SCR, I use Shakespeare’s words in the context of a small group of people, who while small in number are fierce and mighty in terms of determination and dedication – not only about their studies and doing well academically, but also in terms of supporting each other whilst navigating life as graduate students and resident tutors. Like our Junior Common Room (JCR) members, they live out the UC values of ‘love, passion and die-hard spirit’ every day.

So far this semester, Shut Up & Write has returned to the SCR every Saturday afternoon, with members bringing along various pieces of writing to work on during a dedicated period of time together – whether that be a chapter in a PhD thesis or an assignment due as part of masters coursework. We have also had two Welcome to the SCR events this year, one to welcome our new graduate students and resident tutors to the SCR and another to welcome our associate members (non-residential tutors). Another highlight this semester has been the popular Chat ‘n Chill sessions that take place every fortnight on Sunday afternoons. These allow the SCR to come together in a casual way over wine, cheese and other canapés to gently bring the weekend to a close and welcome in the new week ahead. Whether it be gathering together to play the occasional game of chess, catching up over coffee after High Table on Monday nights, or watching various sporting events, television shows or movies in the SCR, one can guarantee that there is always someone to catch up with when a ‘brain break’ from classes and assignments is required. With various academic disciplines amongst members including commerce, mathematics, urban planning, biomedicine, chemistry and media and communications to name but a few, there are always various academic discussions and debates taking place. It has been a pleasure serving the SCR as President so far this year and I look forward to seeing what the rest of 2023 has in store for us as a collective.

Lisa Wheildon Senior Common Room President Master of Creative Arts Therapy (Drama Therapy) Student, VCA