I had six wonderful years studying in Cambridge. And every now and then I get invited back for a reunion, which is wonderful and weird in equal parts.
It is wonderful to see old friends, and to reminisce about the nonsense that we got up to. Like the time I was being punted home in the dawn after a May ball, wearing a lovely primrose full length gown. As we slipped silently past Kings College, we noticed a car ‘floating’ on the Cam that had definitely not been there the evening before, when we set off. (How??) And the car that appeared overnight on the roof of the Senate House in the week running up to our graduation ceremony there. Both thought to be impressive feats pulled off by a team from the engineering department.
And going tubbing (attempting to learn how to row) whilst being blinded by tears, as I was trying out contact lenses for the first time. And the ritual of painting our college’s logo on the bridges leading to where the bumps were contested, only to have it painted over by another college’s team the next night. It is glorious to briefly relive the happiness of those years, and experience the nostalgia of my youth.
But it’s also weird to see that Cambridge life goes on without me. And to notice how young the students look. What is wonderful and new at Cambridge is the effort that so many colleges have been putting in, to clean up their historic buildings. In my day most were dark grey with soot and exposure to pollutants in the air. For years there has been scaffolding up. But now the buildings are gorgeously clean, and look younger than I am. Things have changed at the vet school too. I barely recognise it, and cannot find my way around anymore. It’s probably a good thing, as I still sometimes have nightmares about turning up for an exam without some piece of equipment I might need like a pen, or a stethoscope. I do not want to set off fresh nightmares after a reunion!
