What song do you think everyone should listen to once in their life ?
Of Monsters and Men’s Little Talks
It’s my go to road trip song, always at the top of the playlist. I’m not entirely sure why I like it so much but I’ve always felt drawn to it, I think it might be the folk-esque rhythm. It has always given me a rather bitter-sweet idea, not sad per-se but thoughtful. I recently found out it’s about a couple where the husband dies and his wife doesn’t know if she is going crazy or not, although I’m, obviously, not in this position, the idea of not quite knowing what’s going on is something I think we can all relate to at the moment.
What book is a must read ?
The Power by Naomi Alderman
It focuses on an alternate reality in which women have a an electrical current within them. This ‘power’ changes the course of history, causing women to become the dominant sex, to a point where men find themselves under the Taliban-like restrictions which some women find themselves in. It holds a mirror up to society allowing us to see the process which allows society to discriminate against one group
What are you most grateful for ?
I definitely wouldn’t have said this last year, but now it’s my degree. The lecturers and tutors have been incredibly supportive this year in my department and even when the work seems impossible, there’s often nothing I’d rather be doing. Last year I felt a bit disillusioned about the academics of uni so this year of enjoying it all more has made me feel better as a person, more productive, more invigorated and more empowered.
Without sounding like a student who just ‘found’ themselves in Thailand on a gap year, this second lockdown really has become a journey of self discovery. I think I have matured more in the past 3 months than in the past 3 years. I think I have started to realise that there is a grander scheme of things in the world, one which supersedes my own personal life. I do indeed recognise the irony of saying this whilst also saying I about 50 times in this one paragraph. I remember seeing the Ghandi quote ‘be the change you want to see’ somewhere a few years ago (it was probably on an Ikea inspirational poster), and it never rang true for me until now: I have come to the realization that all the things I didn’t believe I was capable of, I am. I have learnt to knuckle down and to let unimportant things slide in equal measure, I suppose I have learnt perspective, getting a first means nothing if you won’t then use it to help someone, whether that be as a doctor, in an NGO, or even tutoring other students. The one thing that we have all learnt from this pandemic is that the 1% are not immune.
