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Asian and Middle Eastern Studies: A Churchill Student's View

Hugh Grigg
4th-year student of Chinese Studies

I matriculated for Chinese Studies at Churchill in 2009, and the time has flown by. The whole class has experienced and learnt so much together, far more than I could summarise in a few sentences here. I think once we've graduated and the dust has settled I'll be able to really get to grips with how much we've achieved in four short years, but for the time being it's still full steam ahead (as it always is at Cambridge)!

Before I started the course, the largest incorrect expectation I had was that it would be insanely hard. It is difficult, but not ridiculous. Anyone who gets in can expect to do very well - it just takes a bit of effort and a good attitude. The other incorrect assumption I had was that everyone in the class would be extremely intellectual and studious all the time. We actually turned out to be a very normal mix of students and had a great time together from the start (and we still do).

I was curious about the proportions of the course before I started, so I'll write briefly about that here as well. Around sixty percent of our teaching time is spent on learning to speak, read and write modern Chinese. After that, about twenty five percent is spent on Classical Chinese, and the remaining fifteen percent goes to other topics such as history and politics. Don't worry if you're coming to this subject area with no previous experience: the marks at the end of our first year didn't actually reflect previous knowledge at all. As far as I could see, the only predictors were attitude and effort.

The staff at the East Asian Studies faculty are inspiring and often very witty as well. Many of them are also well-known academics, so you're learning from some of the most knowledgeable people in the field of East Asian Studies. The faculty staff have always been very approachable and friendly in my experience, and none of us could have come so far without their help. I think it's also important to point out that the East Asian Studies course at Cambridge very much focuses on independent learning, and what you do and how far you go is always up to you as a student.

Studying Chinese at Churchill is definitely different to doing it at other colleges. The Chinese Studies cohort tends to be a little bigger at Churchill than at other colleges, so we've had more opportunity to socialise together, study together and generally spend time together. There are also one or two other perks to studying Chinese at Churchill, such as the Wing Yip grants and bursaries, which offer generous financial support for Churchill students going to and coming from China.

More generally, I think Churchill is definitely more relaxed and 'sorted' than other colleges. By that I mean that there's less of the 'fluff' that seems to surround life at more traditional colleges, and more focus on having a well-rounded student experience with sensible studying and good socialising. This shows in the high position Churchill achieves each year in the university rankings, and the wide-ranging social events that happen at Churchill every week. Churchill College is chilled-out, down-to-earth and studious.

One thing that I've done throughout my time at Cambridge is to run a small blog about what I study (it's called 'East Asia Student'). I've found this to be a great way to reinforce what I'm learning and to get in contact with interesting people all over the world who are taking similar courses. I'd recommend running a blog to anyone else planning to take East Asian Studies at Cambridge, as I've found that it really enhances the course.

I've had no regrets since taking on this course, and I know I'll always look back on it as a hugely important part of my life. It's intense, fun and totally worth all the hard work.