Things To Try Out Before You Graduate From Oxford

In my final year at university I made a checklist of things to do during my university life and visits as an alumna around Oxford, that new students may find useful.

1. South Park Fireworks
2. Christchurch Regatta
3. Oxford Christmas Light Festival
4. St. Giles Christmas Fair
5. College Christmas Carol Service
6. Sheldonian Christmas Carol Service
7. Oxmas Formal
8. Burns Night
9. Turl Street Dash – an unofficial and illegal event
10. Ale Verses
11. Torpids
12. May Day 6am Choir
13. The Beating of the Bounds
14. Go through the tunnel into Lincoln on Ascension Day
15. Corpus Christi Tortoise Race
16. Summer Eights
17. Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race
18. Participate in the Oxford Triennial Greek Play
19. Archaeological excavation
20. College Ball
21. Town Hall Ball
22. College Bop
23. College Guest Formal
24. Another College’s Formal
25. Blurbs
26. College Open Mic Night
27. College Pantomime
28. Game of Quidditch
29. Ashmolean Lower Cast Gallery
30. Ashmolean LiveFriday Night
31. Other Faculty Libraries
32. Oxford Union Speaker Event
33. Oxford Union Debate
34. Oxford Union Play
35. Drink a Themed Cocktail at the Oxford Union Bar
36. Play Snooker in the Oxford Union Snooker Room – charges £2 per hour
37. Become a member of the Codrington library at All Souls College
38. College Archivist’s Tour
39. Disco Ice Skating
40. University Parks
41. Walk through Port Meadow to Wolvercote
42. Swing like Tarzan across the river in Port Meadow
43. Walk northwards to Wolvercote
44. Walk along the Oxford Canal down to Iffley Locks
45. Blenheim Palace
46. Oxfordshire Towns and Villages Sightseeing
47. Write for the Cherwell
48. Join a society committee
49. All Museums and Galleries
50. Student Theatre Production
51. County Council Library
52. Gloucester Green Market Day
53. Town and Gown
54. uubbing (with tutors too as it turns out)
55. Bill Spectre’s Ghost Tour
56. Phoenix Picturehouse
57. Ultimate Picture Palace
58. University Sports Centre
59. “And…Action!” Filming
60. Try out for University Challenge
61. Learn how to Punt (then picnic in a punt)
62. Learn how to play Pool
63. Learn how to play Croquet
64. Harry Potter Film Locations
65. Oxford Botanic Gardens
66. Christchurch Meadows Picnic
67. Do all that my Degree Course has to offer
68. Burton Taylor Studio
69. Oxford Playhouse
70. Pegasus Theatre
71. North Wall
72. New Theatre
73. Historic pub crawl
74. Climb the tower of the University Church of St. Mary’s to view the city’s iconic ‘Dreaming Spires’ – and why not climb Carfax Tower as well
75. Converse with the cows in Christchurch Meadows (following the example of a fellow animal-loving friend)
76. Spot a deer in Magdalen College
77. Listen to Robin Lane Fox
78. Step inside the Randolph – the kitchen caught fire shortly before my final term
79. Stay in a former prison cell at the Malmaison
80. Picnic in the Botanical Gardens
81. Inflict my karaoke singing on the diners at My Sichuan
82. Go clubbing on an Asian pop night
83. Get a seat in the insanely popular Edamame
84. Drink cocktails out of tea cups and jam jars whilst listening to jazz, at the Mad Hatter
85. Oxford Literature Festival
86. See a victorious cox being thrown into the Isis.
87. Espy someone doing the naked run around Radcliffe Square after (or so I’ve heard) losing 10 consecutive games of pool.
88. Hear minstrels playing at am in the morning.
89. Try out the adult exercise playground in Headington Park
90. Explore Summertown
91. Buy from the Fish Market in Osney Mead
92. Play at the Thirsty Meeples
93. See an Old Schools Quadrangle play
94. Bate Collection
95. Eat at Oli’s Thai – tables need to be booked 3 months in advance

Once in a student-lifetime opportunities I’m glad I did not miss:

1. Watched the Worcester College ‘Play on the Lake’
2. Participated in the Oxford Triennial Greek Play
3. Heard a recital in All Souls College Chapel
4. Saw the first ever 18+ play at the Oxford Playhouse

Why I don’t under appreciate Oxford:

1. Most of the reasons are enumerated on Buzzfeed.
2. According to Tripadvisor it has one of the world’s Top Ten ghost tours (Bill Spectre’s Ghost Tour) and one of the world’s Top Ten quirky hotels (the Malmaison).
3. In my student days I used to live in Spectre (from Big Fish):
4. Everything I needed was within 15 minutes walk from my room.