72 Weeks

Daniel Powell: Hello, my name is Daniel Powell and I am so pleased to be recording New
College�s brand-new podcast, called 72 Weeks and this podcast will explore how Oxford
University can change, and has changed, the lives of its current and past students in a
relatively short period of time; the average length of a degree at Oxford lasting just 72 weeks.
Now, each week there�ll be some form of connection between the people being interviewed
and in this first episode, I�m delighted to be joined by Dan Rolles, current Undergraduate at
Jesus College in Oxford and President of the Dafydd ap Gwilym Society, the Welsh Society
at Oxford. And, our connection is we have the same first name, we come from the same
place, we do and did the same degree course, and were both involved with the Welsh Society
here at Oxford. So, prynhawn da Dan, welcome to this podcast.
Dan R: Prynhawn da, diolch yn fawr. It�s a pretty incredible string of coincidences.
Daniel P: It is isn�t it, I know. So, let�s get back to the beginning then of your life and you can
tell me about growing up in Swansea.
Dan R: I mean, I think, growing up in Swansea is a pretty nice childhood. We�re quite fortunate
in the geographic region, you know, beaches quite close, plenty of green space, but yeah, I
think it was a pretty average childhood. Went to a Welsh medium Primary School, then went
up to a Welsh medium Secondary School.
Daniel P: And what was your favourite thing in Swansea, or Gower?
Dan R: I lived in an area called Uplands, and I think just wandering down to the beach, about
three minutes away down the hill, was always fantastic especially when it was sunny and you
got to see the sunsets.
Daniel P: And you could also strategically go past Joe�s Ice Cream there on St Helen�s Road.
Dan R: Of course, ice-cream was always the incentive that my parents used.
Daniel P: So I suppose my education was different to yours in that I was educated in the
medium of English so I went to a comprehensive school which was English speaking and I
studied Welsh until Year 9 but not beyond that, and you went to a school that had a sixth form,
didn�t you?
Dan R: Yeah, so I spent my last two years in secondary education at the same school, which
was great. Got to know the teachers really well and got to continue that bond that I�d developed
with them.
Daniel P: I then went on to a sixth form college because I couldn�t stay in my school because
it didn�t have a sixth form and I enjoyed school, and I worked hard, but I really loved my A
Levels. That was when I started to find my feet, I think, I suppose, academically and that�s
also when I realised that Geography was the subject that I definitely wanted to study further
at University but what about you, what were you like in school? What were your favourite
subjects?
Dan R: My favourite subjects were always the Science-based ones. But Geography was only
really introduced to me as a subject in GCSE. We got a new Geography teacher and she was
fantastic, and she really inspired my interest in that subject and I think that continued on at A
Level and Geography really became the subject I wanted to study.
Daniel P: How did you find studying Geography through the medium of Welsh? Because now
obviously you�re learning it through the medium of English. Did that pose any difficulties for
you?
Dan R: I mean, it�s not an excuse, but it�s a barrier that a lot of people like to quote whenever
they talk about learning in Welsh medium versus learning in English medium but, actually, you
tend to learn both vocabularies at the same time. Because if you�re reading English texts, or
you�re reading English Wikipedia articles, you kind of pick up the same words and then you
learn to translate them in your head simultaneously but it isn�t a challenge, but it was cool to
study it in Welsh because then you get to chat with Geography students here and say �oh, the
Welsh word for that is that� and you kind of see where the thinking comes from.
Daniel P: So, at what point did you think then, I�m going to apply to Oxford University.
Dan R: So, I think, from Swansea, Oxford was always a bit daunting. The idea of applying to
Oxford was always far-out, but I think it was a couple of things. So there was the HE+
programme which took able students and gave them seminars in the evenings on various
topics, so I attended those. But I think when I really realised that I wanted to come here was
when I was fortunate enough to win the Dafydd Ap Gwilym Chair at the Eisteddfod. So, they
have their annual Eisteddfod here, and I submitted a piece of work that I�d written for my Welsh
A-Level Coursework and I got to come and spend some time with students at Jesus and
discuss all sorts of things from Politics to life at Oxford and I got to see the University and I
thought �wow�, this place is cool, I really want to come here and study.
Daniel P: And is that a competition that still runs?
Dan R: Yes, we�re running it this year. It�s always run in the Trinity Term, so the third term,
and we invite anyone from Welsh-medium Secondary Schools to enter work.
Daniel P: So this year, do you get to be part of the judging panel, rather than the person who
was submitting the work?
Dan R: No, we tend to invite a guest judge to ensure that someone with a bit more knowledge
of Welsh literature is in charge.
Daniel P: Before you experienced that, what were your preconceptions of what you thought
Oxford University was going to be like? You know, coming from Swansea, what did you think
was in store for you?
Dan R: For a lot of people, it�s the same kind of idea, the idea of very fancy people, very
intelligent people, very old buildings, weird traditions, you know.
Daniel P: I don�t think I really had an idea in my mind of what I thought an Oxford student was
going to be like.
Dan R: I think the same, it didn�t really affect my application. I think my Mum just pointed out
that �look, you have nothing to lose. It�s one out of five of your application options. Just do it.
If you don�t get in, you don�t get in. And I think I�d encourage anyone who wants to apply, to
do the same thing. You have nothing to lose.
Daniel P: I think for me, as well, the one thing that I was really drawn to was the Geography
course itself. For me, it was really important that I got to do both Physical and Human
Geography right the way through. I didn�t want to specialise at 18 in Human or Physical
Geography because I didn�t really know what Physical Geography was going to be like at
University. What about you, why did you decide to apply for Geography?
Dan R: I mean, I think definitely in A Level, I think Physical Geography was always a bit more
tangible. I don�t think Human Geography is taught to the same level as it is in University and
I was kind of interested to get a bit of both because on one side I do like the science, on the
other side I do like the conversational aspect of Human Geography.
Daniel P: Given that you�ve been here for a while now, how do you find living away from
Swansea? Living away from home, living away from the sea? Because that�s one of the things
that I definitely miss is not being able to see the sea. We couldn�t get more land-locked if we
tried, on an island.
Dan R: It�s funny you should say that because one of the first, most noticeable things that I
remember, coming here the first-term was �oh my goodness, there is no sea around�. Because
you�re used to waking up in the morning, just looking out the window and you could see the
sea. Even if you�re relatively inland, you�re never that far away from the water. But, I�ve got
used to it. I actually quite like it. I love the city, there�s so much going on during term time,
and there�s so many interesting things to see, things to do and it�s a different place to Swansea.
I feel like I know Swansea. Swansea will always bring me back. I was born there, I grew up
there but Oxford is just a new place and I�m still discovering things again. Especially having
come out of the pandemic last year, everything�s just opened up and the city has become
more vibrant, in my eyes anyway. What about you?
Daniel P: I definitely missed home. I definitely missed Swansea and I think it probably took
me, I�d say a term, to sort of find my feet really and get used to the idea of living away from
home more than anything. And I think everybody feels that, it doesn�t matter where you come
from but I didn�t want Oxford to be like Swansea because, you know, I love going home in the
holidays and things like that but I think if I had just gone somewhere very similar to Swansea,
then it would have been a very strange University experience so..
Dan R: I think, um, yeah, I spent my second term at home, unfortunately, due to the pandemic
so I think by that time, I was ready to leave. Had did you find eating in Halls? Because that�s
what struck me as something completely different, because you�re eating in a communal
space.
Daniel P: Yeah, so, I was used to, as you probably were, eating in a school canteen um which
certainly didn�t look like the Halls of Oxford Colleges but, I mean, I work with school groups
now as part of my job here at New College, and what I say to them is your school dining hall
or your school canteen, whatever you call it, is a reflection of the time in which it was built.
Um, and, you know, some of these colleges are from the 14th Century, 15th Century, 16th
Century, and so on. As a result, they look like they were built in the 14th Century, 15th Century,
16th Century. Um, but it was quite a surreal experience, sort of sitting down on benches and
having the food served to you on some occasions as well was quite unusual but that was
always just part of the, you know, the formal halls and things like that were definitely part of
the unique Oxford experience that you don�t get in many other places. And, it was just a lot
of fun as well on a Friday night to go to Formal Hall and..
Dan R: It�s part of the excitement and it�s part of the image and, you know, people associate
it with Hogwarts from Harry Potter and in some regards it�s slightly similar and in some ways
it�s not.
Daniel P: But, how did you find being Welsh then, how do you find being Welsh in Oxford?
Dan R: I definitely feel more strongly Welsh here when I�m in Oxford, um, it�s definitely part of
my personality if you ask my friends. But I don�t think that�s a bad thing. I enjoy spending time
with the Welsh Society. I enjoy being Welsh with them, but I also enjoy being Welsh with other
friends because it�s a different life to a lot of other people, it�s a different culture, it�s a different
experience, and I think as long as you find people that are accepting, you�ll have a great time
here at Oxford. Um, one thing I would say is if you find being Welsh at Oxford daunting, there
is a Society here, there is a Welsh community, um, so for instance, we�ll go and watch the
rugby matches, may not be members of the society but people who are vaguely associated
with Wales. And that�s always great. You can do stuff as a Welsh person that you do at home
so rugby for instance, football, there�s plenty of opportunities as a Welsh person in Oxford. I
assume you found it quite similar?
Daniel P: I must admit, I didn�t hear a huge amount of Welsh being spoken growing up in
Swansea. Um, I heard far more Welsh being spoken when I was in Jesus College, um, than
I ever did in Swansea. So, for me as well, that was quite unusual but also it did then help with
those feelings of homesickness where every day you�re pretty much guaranteed to hear a
Welsh accent in Oxford. So, how many people are in the Welsh Society? How many people
come to your events?
Dan R: So I think we have, sort of, 200 members odd but then some of them are more active
than others in the Society. Would you say the dissertation helped you to start thinking about
future career paths?
Daniel P: I think that�s one thing I probably didn�t think about whilst I was here. Um, and I
certainly see students nowadays who are far more switched on about career paths than
certainly I was. I�ve actually made more use of the careers service as an alumni and a
graduate of the University than I did when I was a student here because it�s a lifelong, um,
membership, um, but I took some time off after finishing at Oxford so I had a year where I just
moved back home and started to think about what I actually wanted to do because I think
when you�re studying, you perhaps don�t want the distraction of thinking what am I going to do
next? What am I going to do next? So, I moved back home, I did some work experience in
schools. I knew I wanted to do something with Geography, something related to the subject.
Um, and after having done some work experience in schools, I thought yeah, I think I could
really enjoy this and then did my PGCE, taught in South Wales for seven years, and then, uh,
moved to teach in an Academy in West Oxfordshire for three years. So, used my Geography
every single day for ten years, um, and then came to New College about five years ago. Um,
but what about you? Have you started considering what a Geography degree might lead you
to?
Dan R: Yes, and no, um, I�m confident that I don�t really want to pursue academic. I�ve got a
couple of friends who are very career orientated and I think some of that has rubbed off on me
so I�ve utilised the internship opportunities so I�ve had a couple of internships and hoping to
get a longer one in the summer, uh, which would hopefully be paid. Um, so I�ve started to
think about career paths, uh, I�m not 100 per cent sure what I want to do yet, um, I would tell
any prospective applicant that you don�t really need to worry about it unless you are focused
on a specific career.
Daniel P: I think the very nature of Geography as well, I think one of the things that is so good
about the subject is that it is so broad. So I think it�s the sort of subject where you could go
into any number of careers, having graduated with a degree in Geography. That was, um,
one of my favourite sayings, that I heard somebody, um, give a talk about Geography and
they mentioned if you�re interested in History, you should do a History degree, if you�re
interested in Biology, you should do a Biology degree, if you�re interested in Politics, do a
Politics degree, but if you�re interested in everything, you should do a Geography degree. And
I just thought that was a really good summary of what it is that makes Geography such a
brilliant and fascinating subject.
Dan R: It beats being berated about only being good at colouring in and naming flags and
naming capitals. All of which, every geographer can do but one of my tutors always likes to
point out that one day you�ll go from studying Marx�s Philosophy on Economics and then you�ll
go to the evolution of a flower, uh, you know I don�t think many degrees offer the same variation
or flexibility in what you can study, um, which is why I�d encourage people to come to Oxford
to study Geography because you get to do a lot and you get to do a lot of what you want as
opposed to having to follow a specific path
Daniel P: So tell me about the Geography course that you�re studying now, tell me about your
workload and a typical week in the life of a Geography undergraduate at Oxford.
Dan P: Um, so, I�m a second year so, um, the first year of what is called the Final Honours
School and as that I have to choose two core modules and then I get three optional papers so
the two core modules that I�ve chosen are SPS, Space, Place, and Society, and then
Environmental Geography, uh, and then my first option I chose to do Politics, Society, and
Culture of China so I think that�s an example of how varied the degree is. Um, but currently, I
think my workload will be one essay a week so I�ll have a week to read that and then plan and
then write the essay before handing it in to a tutorial but then again you have lectures on top
of that and as well you have to start thinking about your dissertation and then you�ve got
various extended essays on top of activities. So, it�s quite busy.
Daniel P: But on top of that, I�m sure you have a good time here as well, so what sort of things
are you doing outside of your Geography, what sort of things are you doing?
Dan R: So, outside of my Geography, um, we�ve talked a bit about it already but I do, I am the
President of the Welsh society so I help organise that and go on various social events, go to
the pub to watch the rugby, that�s always fun. Except this year, it was quite bleak.
Daniel P: Yeah, let�s not mention Saturday�s result against Italy.
Dan R: If you�re a Wales fan, we�re in a very dark time. But then, I do a considerable amount
of sports so I play rugby for Jesus as well as row for Jesus, um, and then yeah, I also play in
a quartet so I play the cello in a Jesus-based quartet, and we have gigs every now and again.
Um, but then again, I also go out with friends. I mean, it�s busy but you get to do whatever
you want.
Daniel P: But also incredibly varied as well by the sounds of it.
Dan R: I mean, if you have a specific interest, more or less, there will be a society for you.
Or, you could start your own society and you will find people who think very similar to you.
Um, that is the cool thing about Oxford and I think a lot of Universities in general, you will meet
like-minded people who like doing similar stuff, um, and you can follow that passion to the
end.
Daniel P: And why do you think it is that Welsh people are under-represented at Oxford?
Dan R: I think a large part of it is confidence. So I think a large part of it is people not believing
in themselves enough, uh, as I�ve said you have nothing to lose, um, but I also think that not
everyone necessarily sees Oxford as a potential option. Um, I know I have a lot of friends
from Wales who sort of imagined Cardiff as the furthest place they can go, or the furthest place
they�d want to go. And that�s because some people do want to go to Cardiff but it�s because
they may not have considered the option of Oxford, um, especially as a viable option, um, but
I think that again stems from lack of confidence. I think Welsh people, historically, have not
been as confident as other people going into these things.
Daniel P: Yeah, and I suppose it�s the idea that you need to almost know somebody who has
been to sort of appreciate, oh, OK, someone like me, someone from my background, someone
from the same place as me, can actually come to Oxford and do those sorts of things. So,
what one piece of advice would you give a potential, you know, student from Wales about
applying to Oxford?
Dan R: Find something specific that you think is interesting and really makes you want to
study that subject and then just go for it. Apply, if you don�t get an interview, that�s fine, um, if
you get an interview, talk about that specific thing, talk about that topic that you�ve thought
about, that you really want to study or that has inspired you because I think one thing that a
lot of people forget is that, at the end of the day, if you come to Oxford, your tutors want you
to succeed. They want you to find something really interesting about the course that you care
about and that you want to develop further.
Daniel P: And what do you want to get out of your remaining time in Oxford?
Dan R: Well, first of all, I want to visit all the Colleges, it�s something that I haven�t done. Um,
but then, I think, I just want to enjoy being in Oxford and make the most of it. As I said, they�re
short terms, but you can do a lot in them. Um, and I think, yeah, I think, just enjoy the remaining
time that I have here, uh, and make sure that I take every opportunity I can.
Daniel P: If I were to offer you one piece of advice, as an older geographer, um, it would
definitely be just to not take it for granted because it is over so quickly, you know, it�s 72 weeks,
that�s no time at all in the grand scheme of things but life can change immeasurably during
that time. Everybody falls into the trap of starting to take things for granted but, um, you know,
you really should when you walk through the door of a College, and just take it all in, and just
realise that you�re never going to get this opportunity ever again, you�re never going to get the
chance to live in a historic building, um, and I think that would definitely be something that I
would say to all current students, yourself included, is just to make the most of your time that
you�ve got because I�m sure you�re already having a fantastic time but it will be these next 36
weeks that potentially shape the rest of your life so, just enjoy it.
Dan R: I mean, if you could do anything differently, is there anything that you would like to do?
Daniel P: I don�t think I, perhaps, did enough extra-curricularly, so I played some, um, rugby
as well for College, and did some things with the Geography Society, but I didn�t really do a
huge amount beyond that. Um, and I think that�s probably something that if I were to relive
my time in Oxford that I would perhaps do differently. I�d also not pick one of the essays that
I did in Finals that I can still remember to this day, and I just, um, �how did, Schaefer�s concepts
of space, how have they changed? That was the question, and I knew lots about concepts of
space, and then halfway through the essay, I suddenly thought, I don�t know who Schaefer is.
Um, but had gone too far, that I could stop and go back and I just remember coming out and
saying to my friend, I think I�ve really messed that up and he did his best to try and reassure
me, um, that it was just one question but, yeah, if I was to have my time again, I wouldn�t pick
that essay question, um, yeah, I can still remember it. Still brings back bad memories.
Dan R: As a communications and outreach officer for New College, what piece of advice would
you suggest for any prospective Welsh applicants?
Daniel P: You know, for me as well, thinking geographically, how far it is from Swansea. My
second choice was Aberystwyth and it probably would have taken me as long to get to
Aberystwyth as it would have taken me to get to Oxford so, well yeah exactly, so getting to
Oxford from Swansea was actually, you know not that I ever drove it, my Dad always had to
do the driving, but it didn�t take us that long and then if I did want to go home during term-time,
it was a really easy train journey as well. Um, so, yeah, I would just say that don�t think of that
as being a barrier, um, you know a physical one or a mental one, to not applying to Oxford
because we want more Welsh people here, you know, we want the Welsh Society to be bigger,
we want a bigger Welsh community, but unfortunately it�s a numbers game, um, you know,
the more that apply, the more that will get in, so I think that�s the overwhelming message of,
you know, the easy way to not get in is to not apply in the first place.
Dan R: Exactly, don�t be daunted by the application process. Um, so don�t be scared of the
application process. Again, you have nothing to lose but potentially everything to gain. And I
think Oxford is hard work. Um, I�m not going to lie and say that it isn�t, um, but it is work that
you will thoroughly enjoy and that you will get a lot out of.
Daniel P: What a positive message to end this first episode on, so my thanks to Dan Rolles,
for being our first ever guest on this Podcast, uh, called 72 Weeks and I hope you enjoyed
listening to our experiences of studying at Oxford and hope that you�ll listen to our next episode
so, Dan, diolch yn fawr.
Dan R: Diolch
Daniel P: Thanks very much