I joined Eddies to study an MPhil in Criminology in 2016. I was a fresher again but not fresh to Cambridge having spent three years as an undergraduate at Gonville & Caius college. However, by the time I dragged my suitcases into Eddies I had been away from Cambridge for 17 months, and with a lot of water under the bridge my undergraduate self felt oceans away.
I was nervous about returning to Cambridge. Would I make such good friends? Would I be lonely? Was a masters the right decision for my career? My undergraduate memories of Eddies were hazy. Friends from the rugby club who were studying there, and blurry nights in the bar. The desire for an experience entirely different from Caius motivated me to apply to Eddies. I was right, Eddies was everything I needed and more.
My short year at Eddies transformed me more than my whole undergraduate degree. I work in Westminster now, and spend my days at the Ministry of Defence. Looking back, that year is drenched in a golden honey glow. I played sport every day; rugby all winter and athletics sessions at Wilberforce road during the long summer evenings. Peaceful cycling back through the orchard to end the day. I also studied for my masters degree which I loved. Most of all however, I had so much fun. A carousel of dinner parties, formals, nights in the bar, sticky bops. I made some of my closest friends, and it is to you all that I dedicate my happiest memories.
At Christmas I met Shivangelie. Even though she lived opposite me, I wasn’t in my room much, and she was always cold having moved to Cambridge from sunny Trinidad. How glad I am that I finally asked her if she wanted to have dinner. I loved showing you around Cambridge Shivvi, although I don’t think I will ever recover my nerves from the first time you went out cycling. You introduced me to turmeric tea, your mama makes the very best rum cake, and you showed me how to love exploring England. Visiting you in Trinidad was one of the best two weeks of my life. I can’t wait to come back this year.
No ode to my time at Eddies would be complete without mention of the Angels. It is an Eddies tradition to nurture an all-girl power gang and although we are now in different corners of the globe, I am lucky enough to call you my friends. Kris, Rosie, Leanne, Annabel, Colby, Fanny, and Grace. You are beautiful, kind, smart souls and having you around me was the cherry on my year. Thank you to the wonderful Jane for bringing us together. My clearest memory of us is flying through town on our bikes, powerful girls dressed in all black, feeling like there was nothing we could not conquer. That said we did make it to Copenhagen for the day, catching our flight with a record 36 seconds to spare. So perhaps that feeling was not far wrong.
Finally, it was during my time at Eddies that I met Jack and Lewis. Neither of whom were Eddies students, but in true Eddies tradition they were welcomed in as one of our own. We met on the first day of our masters degree, and over that year we were rarely apart. You two brought Cambridge to life and gave me a magical friendship that I deeply cherish. I remember drinking a G&T in a can with Jack in the orchard in May, chatting about our year and arguing about our dissertation theses. Jack was killed in November this year and it is my friendship with him that makes my memories of Eddies so piercingly special.
Thank you Eddies for giving me a year I will never forget, and here is to you JM, now and forever.
