Sharon Maidment

Jesus College 1978, Classics

I chose to study Classics at Oxford because I enjoyed this subject at school, but I didn't have any particular vocation in mind. When I was looking round Oxford colleges, I met a fantastic Classics tutor at Jesus who was very inspirational and tremendous fun.

The breadth of topics available under the heading of Classics was also very attractive: you could dip in and out of all sorts of weird and wonderful topics, from rooting about amongst ancient Greek pottery in the Ashmolean Museum to tackling comparative philology. 

I would encourage young people to apply to study Classics because Latin and Greek are the basis of Western civilisation, so have to be worth knowing about. It is such a broad subject that you can focus on philosophy, literature, history, language or whatever aspects most interest you.

The four-year Classics degree at Oxford also involves (or did in my day) such a large volume of translation that it can't help but furnish you with a level of  precision in the use of language and an ability to deal with detail that are likely to be invaluable in any career. I think Classics is still viewed as a demanding discipline that provides a good training for a huge range of careers.

Each college has its own unique history and character. The benefits of living and studying in a college are that you have a great peer group around you, in a community that is small enough to make you feel that you belong. It also gives you a strong base for whatever else you want to do across the University.

I gained a lot of social confidence at Oxford, after having led a relatively sheltered existence at a very academic girls' school.  I also became more confident in my opinions and my ability to argue my case. There is nothing more demanding than having to justify your point of view one-to-one with a professor who knows more about the subject than you are ever likely to get close to.

For me, the tutorial system is the jewel in the crown. I formed lasting friendships with some of my tutors that survive to this day. Perhaps I was just lucky, but my key tutors were all extraordinary characters in one way or another. The support and intellectual training that the tutorial system provides at its best can't be beaten.

The Oxford name inevitably carries weight and has opened up opportunities that might not otherwise have been available to me. The biggest benefit has been the degree of intellectual rigour that the Oxford system drummed into me, which has been the bedrock of my working life. Oxford also provides amazing opportunities to develop your skills and interests outside the academic sphere, wherever they may lie, and a tremendous network to draw on throughout your life.
 
I think it is only now, at 30 years distance, that I really appreciate what Oxford gave me. Perhaps it is because your undergraduate years are such formative ones, but I feel much more affection for my college than for any of the other academic institutions that I have passed through. I think that is the difference: my Oxford college feels like a place where I have a permanent connection.