The Busy Bees of Session 3

It has been a busy week at ORA. So busy, it almost feels like three weeks in one!
ORA students have been particularly competitive in the second half of Session 3, whether on the sports field or the academic field.
The ORA Olympics kicked off with Welly-Wanging (it IS a sport, we promise) as well as the more traditional Olympic events. Balliol College resoundingly won the day, and a grand time was had by all.

The week continued with the Great ORA Debate; the first event of its kind in 2017. The Debate was adjudicated by The Rt Hon Lord Hague of Richmond, who gave a resounding address on democracy, before listening to representatives of four different colleges; Ayushman Chopra of Queen’s College and Tom Hodgson of University College in the “For” contingent; Akanshi Bhattia of Balliol College and Shubh Kant Jaggi of St Catherine’s College in the “Against” contingent. The four debated the subject “Is Populism a Threat to Democracy?” with very interesting insights into modern populists, as well as a few notable examples from history. In the end, it was the Queen’s College champion, Ayushman Chopra, who triumphed, to much rejoicing from Queen’s students.

But it hasn’t been quiet at other sites. St Hugh’s College received a special visit from Kyle Grant, a DPhil student whose research specialises in growing plants in a sustainable way on Mars. Hugh’s also hosted an extraordinary ORA’s Got Talent event, which included a guitar duet…with the guitars held behind the player’s heads!
St Catherine’s students were lucky enough to catch a couple of trials at the Old Bailey and the Middle Temple Inn of Court, and on their way back to campus, some street-theatre, which they pronounced “super-meta.” 
Lady Margaret Hall were a lucky bunch this week; visiting both Cotswold Wildlife Park, and the Harry Potter Tour at Warner Bros Studios, where they came up close and personal with both the wild world, and the wizarding world, respectively.

Jowett Walk students visited the birthplace of The Bard at Stratford Upon Avon, and our older students at Merton College worked on their poise and voices with dance psychologist Dr Peter Lovatt.
Over in Cambridge, at Clare College, there was much ado about something when students visited King’s College Fellow’s Garden to see a production of Much Ado About Nothing; whilst over in London, at Goodenough College, students attended a rigorous lecture on University Life, followed by a trip to see the musical Aladdin.
The antics didn’t end there, and we hope the Session 3 students have had a wonderful summer at ORA!
Images: ORA