Your College Aunts: Back and Better Than Ever

How was your Easter?

And we’re back! Oh, you want to know how our Easter holidays were? You guys are always so thoughtful – wow! 

Let’s start with Amira, shall we? She somehow managed to acquire more pets (rabbits and another domesticated sheep, if you’re wondering) and is incredibly proud of the fact that Arnold the Sheep is now a minor celebrity, appearing in The Telegraph’s Picture of the week column. 

Screenshot is the author’s own from The Telegraph website |Photo Credit: Amira Nandhla 

Meanwhile, Leila’s break was a bit of a rollercoaster, and this column perhaps isn’t the place to share some of the details of it. The podcast, however… 

Back to column-worthy content! Unsurprisingly, Leila managed to accumulate two more juicy tracksuits during the break (an intervention may soon be necessary), which are bound to become her revision uniform. Maybe this is just her attempt at becoming easily recognisable so that she’s more likely to get a crushbridge… I guess we’ll never know.

Our lives aside, we have some big things planned for this term and some updates too! 

A new Aunt?

Yep, you heard that right… the YCA team has now expanded to include three members because three truly is a magic number– and yes, we’re going to actively avoid any references to Macbeth whilst we can. You know what they say about quantity and quality? Well, we feel like this might be an instance where greater quantity actually means higher quality, so you’re all in for a treat!

Enough chit-chat. Introducing… the fantastic Emily! She’s a first-year Geographer at Newnham, and her current hobbies include trips to Big Tesco (cause there’s nothing else to do in le pandemic) and scrolling into the depths of Camfess and Crushbridge for a laugh. Tune in to the podcast this term to hear Emily and her wee Scottish accent debut on the podcast – we cannot wait to get started! 

In case you missed the insta post… Photo Credits: Emily Cooper

What’s going on with the podcast?

Firstly, we have two leftover episodes from Lent Term, which we just… didn’t share with you… oops! But that means even more content for you this term! 

Aside from our Valentine’s Day special (VERY belated, we know), we have a new style of episode. We’ll be bringing you a YCA Special: “Discrimination, Debate and Ofcom Complaints.” 

In this episode, Leila and Amira are in conversation with the lovely Tara and Tamkeen about their experiences at the Cambridge Union as BAME and female-identifying individuals in what is traditionally seen as a very white and male-dominated environment. It’s a fantastic episode, covering many significant issues whilst still having some light-hearted moments throughout!

As a little insight/teaser, we thought we’d share some of our favourite quotes from the episode:

“Here’s the thing, like, I genuinely do not care what people think about me so therefore I just say all of this”

“I think a lot of people, me included, take things personally quite a lot…”

“How hard is it for you to say that you will not invite actual racists…”

“I just feel that the more we say some people are off-limits as a society we sort of silo ourselves, and I think it’s important to challenge those perspectives.”

“Piers Morgan said he likes free speech but he blocked you on Twitter soooooo”

What about this term?

Onto this term… we have some really exciting episodes planned for Easter term, including an incoming Fresher’s special! After reaching out to some current offer holders, we have lots of questions about coming to university and the concerns we all had before moving to Cam. 

We remember just how terrifying it can be to start adulting (low-key still getting used to it) but expect some top tier advice and some embarrassing Freshers week stories. Don’t lie – we all have them. We’re just the ones stupid enough to share them on the internet. Future employers look away now. 

If you are an offer holder reading this or know someone who’s starting uni next academic year, then the submission form for our very special Fresher’s podcast can be found here! 

If not, there’s still no excuse because you can tell us your deepest darkest secrets and worries on our general submission form here! If you fancy getting involved on the other side of this lovely podcast, then you can also apply to be a guest on the show– go on, we know you want to!

Well, that’s all from us this week…

We’ve decided to stop theming our weekly columns, so feel free to submit (almost) anything you’re worried about here. What’s that? Relationship problems? Again? Alright then, into the submissions box that goes.

If you haven’t listened to earlier episodes of the podcast, what are you doing? Seriously, it’s a remote term; what else are you doing with your time? And while you’re at it, you may as well give us a follow on Instagram (@yourcollegeaunts).

Love,

Your College Aunts x

Have any worries?

Here is the link for next week, submit questions to your heart’s content.

Want to be our next guest?

Did you ever find yourself listening to the podcast last term thinking that you could’ve added something interesting to the discussion? Well, here’s your chance to be a guest on the podcast! All you need to do is fill out this form proposing a theme for an episode and tell us why you think you would be a great guest. Go on, apply! What have you got to lose?

Featured image credit: Leila Lawrence and Amira Nandhla

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• We asked Cambridge students their tips for surviving Easter term