Freshers highlight unique nature of HMC’s student body
This year's freshers revealed the rich range of life experience at Oxford's only college dedicated solely to mature students.
On 18 October, this year’s freshers assembled at Harris Manchester College for the traditional pre-matriculation group photograph. After the cameras had been packed away, the group of around 70 left the College and began the short stroll down Mansfield Road and Holywell Street to the Sheldonian Theatre for the centuries-old matriculation ceremony, which marks students’ official entrance into the University of Oxford.
At the same time, students from Oxford’s other colleges were making a very similar journey. As at other universities, matriculating undergraduates across the University of Oxford were likely to have come straight from school – or in some cases from a gap year – the traditional route into higher education. But freshers at HMC, the University’s only college dedicated solely to mature students at both undergraduate and postgraduate level, had rather different stories to tell – and in doing so they highlighted the diverse range of life experiences that the College is home to.
As the freshers mixed with their fellow students, compared gowns, swapped stories from their first two weeks in Oxford and prepared themselves for their photograph with the new Principal, Professor Beth Breeze (who was herself awarded her PhD in the year she turned 40), we caught up with several students about to embark on an undergraduate degree to find out what they were doing a year ago.
Ben Phillips, 22, is studying for a BA in English. He recalled that: “This time last year I was working in procurement at Transport for London, working with tube train engineers to buy parts for Central line trains.”
Echoing this theme of returning to higher education after a period in employment, another student, Josh Facer, 29, who is embarking on a BA in Theology and Religion, told us that a year ago he was busy working for his family’s window cleaning business while he completed an Access to Higher Education course. Next, we met Ishaan Bijjala, 22, an undergraduate in Human Sciences, who recounted how he had been in Hawaii while he prepared to begin work in a juvenile prison. Finally, we spoke to Chloe Kupiec-Ashton, 30, who is embarking on a degree in Philosophy and Theology. Before joining HMC, she was juggling clients as a freelance digital project manager.
HMC freshers gather in the Tate Quad before this year's matriculation ceremony
Meanwhile, some students at HMC had begun the journey towards higher education only after the completion of successful careers. Stephen Smith, 62, who is undertaking a BA in History, for example, returned to education after retiring from the position of National Officer at trade union Unison, a role he had held for ten years. He recalled: “This time last year, I was doing a Foundation Certificate in History at the University’s Department of Continuing Education – we were just finishing the Spanish Civil War, and were about to start on British twentieth century history.”
Of course, postgraduate students can also decide to return to higher education at a later stage in their careers. Take Clive Baldock, 63, a British-born Professor of Medical Physics and Dean of Graduate research Western Sydney University, Australia, about to embark on an MSt in Historical Studies. He told us how he had been struck by the “warm welcome...and the number of other mature students”. He also noted the scale of HMC: “it’s a smaller college than most, but that’s what makes it so special”.
And while most postgraduate students were coming on to HMC directly from higher education, many of this years’ cohort were joining the College after experiences in overseas institutions – testament to the international character of HMC, which is home to 45 different nationalities. MSc student Sakiko Miyazaki, 24, originally from Japan, for example, was joining HMC from Worcester College to start an MSt in Classical Architecture after an undergraduate degree at Harvard University. And Norbert Nagy, 26, a Unitarian minister, was looking forward to getting started on a DPhil in theological research after completing a master’s in the Netherlands and a first degree in his native Romania. He said: “Everything here feels priceless: the centuries-old stones, the sound of the bells, and the enduring trees.”
Commenting on this year’s cohort of matriculating students, HMC Principal Professor Breeze, said: “Our new freshers have a wide a range of backgrounds as ever. As Oxford’s only college dedicated solely to mature students, we feel privileged to be able to support them in fulfilling their potential at one of the world’s top universities. Their maturity, varied life experiences and clarity of motivation are prized assets that will make them extremely valuable graduates to society – and also serve to create a unique, multigenerational community where everyone has much to learn from one another."
