Alumni visit to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge!

I’m so happy, looking back on my time with the Speak Out Challenge, that I gave standing in front of school assembly a go. My voice stretched right to the back and words were spoken louder than I thought they could be. They lead to so much fun and a handful of fantastic memories, especially our day out in Cambridge.

The Corpus Christi College experience was a chance to meet students from other boroughs, schools and religions, all the while connecting over our love for public speaking and our pride of our achievement of getting this far. We spoke about our topic speeches and our excitement to meet Erin Stoner (winner of Jack Petchey Award 2018, now a student at Cambridge) and our admiration of her as we remembered watching her speeches on YouTube when practising for ours and how far we’ve come from there. We listened intently as she described her personal adjustment to Cambridge comparing it to ‘getting into a cold pool’; once you try and get past the hard bit you get used to it and settle in, a transferable message to any difficulty we may face.

Aside from the people, professors and pool analogies, the historical significance and beautiful structure of this 1352 founded building was also a takeaway of the day to be mentioned. We visited the Parker Library, a national treasure, holding the third-biggest collection of Anglo Saxon manuscripts in the world. It was especially interesting to see letters with the signature of Queen Elizabeth I, a globe where Africa was marked ‘unknown’ and, particularly, a cook book from over 600 years ago. Completely captivating. Cambridge opened our eyes to the significance of history and how it loops into our present lives and encouraged us to think about our future as individuals, further enforcing the message of ‘give it a go’. The entire place had a sense of time-travel, especially at lunch when eating in the hall felt like being at Hogwarts, transported by the magical atmosphere.

Last but not least, it was a very educational program, stimulating us to think about our careers, which we are beginning to pursue with the decisions we make, and shaping the road into the big, wide world. Skills we took and applied, aside from public speaking, were focus, resilience and the importance of listening to others, without compromising the strength of vocalising yourself, and making young people heard.

I hope someone who is unsure about what they would like to pursue, or what subjects to choose, or how to find confidence to speak in front of crowds, is assured that Speak Out will guide you through with the amazing Corpus Christi experience (regardless of whether or not Cambridge is where you’re interested in going) and other exciting workshops, giving memorable and applicable advice along with a bunch of new experiences.

Navah, Hasmonean High School for Girls