What I’ve learnt in three years at Cambridge, from a soon-to-be grad – Bundlezy

What I’ve learnt in three years at Cambridge, from a soon-to-be grad

My time at Cambridge is finally coming to an end, and to mark this I thought I would share my wisdom, and the most important lessons I’ve learnt over the last three years as an undergrad here. It’s certainly not been an easy three years in any sense, but I will miss it.

You will never know everything

Annoying but true – this is not GCSEs or A-Levels, there is no single curriculum to memorise and get top marks (at least from a Humanities perspective). There will always be more to read, more to do, more hours you could revise. Unfortunately, you are not human ChatGPT, and so you simply can’t ever know everything there is to know, and that’s ok. You’re also not really expected to – even your lecturers and supervisors don’t know absolutely everything.

The life of a Cambridge student…the library

Knowing when to stop is important (and hard)

This links to the previous point, one of the most important things I’ve learnt here is that in many cases it’s harder to know when to stop than to feel like you should just keep going on and on forever. But trust me, that is not going to do you any favours.

People aren’t always doing as much as you think they are

It can be easy to imagine everyone in the library 24/7, working away every minute of every day but the truth is, this simply isn’t true. Yes people here do work hard, and put in long hours, but they don’t work all the time. Nobody is actually a machine, and it’s not healthy or sustainable to push yourself that hard all the time. Productivity is important, but not all the time.

Societies are so important

One of my biggest regrets is not getting involved in societies and committees earlier – I only began properly in third year! While I’ve loved the societies I have been involved with this year, I would love to go back in time and force my nervous first year self to push myself a bit more and try more things. Yes it can be overwhelming and scary, but it will be worth it, I promise.

DJ-ing MASH as part of Taylor Swift Soc committee

It’s not always that deep

This advice applies particularly when it comes to supervisions. Of course it’s important to always try and put in some effort, but your supo essays are not actually contributing to your degree, and so they don’t have to be the best piece of work you’ve ever produced week after week. Cambridge workload is immense, and prioritisation is important – you can’t do everything 100% all the time, and that is ok.

Cambridge IS a bubble

Cambridge is not the real world. It’s worth remembering that sometimes. Embrace the weirdness and the traditions, but take it all with a pinch of salt.

Queens’ May Ball 2025

The people make Cambridge

At the end of the day, it’s the people you meet that form the most important part of your degree experience, and 99.9% of the people here are absolutely lovely, genuine people who will form the bedrock of your experience. I would not have made it through this degree without my friends, and the people I’ve met here and through The Tab have been the best part of my time in Cambridge.

Galentines Day 2025

Grades are not everything

And finally, academic validation is not the answer! This might just be me being bitter that I missed out on a first by one mark. (I am definitely a bit bitter about that). But, you’re at Cambridge – getting in was a feat by itself which can be easy to forget. It can be hard to not constantly compare yourself to the success of others around you, but comparison is the thief of joy, and in reality your grades are the least interesting thing about you. I know it can sometimes feel like everyone gets a 2:1 and so it’s not impressive, but rather it’s the reverse – lots of people get a 2:1 because they all work really hard, not because it’s easy. Just passing is a feat in itself, and takes hours and hours of dedicated work. It is Cambridge after all!

Cambridge is a weird place, and this degree has definitely been the hardest thing I’ve had to do in my life so far, but the truth is, if I can do it and get through these past three years, you can too!

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