FRESHERS’ GUIDEBOOK 2020 QUEENS’ COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE This Guide represents the views of Queens’ College JCR and should not be misinterpreted as representing the ‘official’ views of the College. This guide is written to give you a student’s introduction to life at Queens’ and Cambridge. This guide will not cover full details of how COVID-19 restrictions will ​ ​ be applied in Queens’. Please make sure you read all guidance supplied by Queens’ on the pandemic, and look out for updates from the College, or from the JCR Committee. Contents Welcome to Queens’! 1. Welcome to the University of Cambridge and Queens’ College! 2. Welcome from the JCR First Year Representatives Before you arrive 1. Social Media pages 2. Important links 3. What to bring and what not to bring Cambridge life 1. The City of Cambridge 2. Getting around 3. Studying at the University of Cambridge 4. Important dates – when do I move in? College life 1. Map of Queens’ 2. Covid-19 guidelines 3. Cambridge lingo 4. Buildings/places in Queens’ Porters’ Lodge Cripps Court Lyon Court Fisher Building The Grove Cloister Court Pump Court Old Court Walnut Tree Court Friars’ Court Erasmus’ Lawn Owlstone Croft 5. Food in Queens’ 6. Welfare and Health 7. Computing Freshers’ Week 1. Freshers’ Week timetable 2. Matriculation 2 Welcome to Queens’! 1. Welcome to the University of Cambridge and ​ ​ Queens’ College! Hello everyone! Welcome to the University of Cambridge! More importantly, welcome to Queens’ College! If you’re anything like us, you might be a little nervous to be starting Uni. Keeping up with your work and making friends, trying not to poison yourself with your new ‘student meals’ and wondering if the washing machine is as complicated as it seems... University is full of amazing experiences that may seem a bit daunting at the minute. That’s where we, your Freps*, come in handy, and we’ve written this guidebook to answer as many of your questions as possible, to settle some of your fears and to give you an insight into life at Queens’. Trust us, you’ll be having the time of your lives very soon - and true story, even Iz worked out the college laundry, and she still has never done a load of washing at home. If she can do it, you can too. (Or she can do it for you, but don’t hold her to that!) *Frep=freshers’ representative. You’ll notice Cambridge comes with a whole load of new words to learn, many of which are very silly (boatie, buttery), but all of which you too will soon be using with a complete lack of self-consciousness that will last until you go home and you find yourself explaining for the fourth time what a ‘bedder’ is. We’ve explained some of the weirder terms, but don’t worry about learning them by heart. You’ll pick them up with worrying ease, believe us - and if you’re not sure, you can always ask. 3 2. Welcome from the JCR First Year Representatives ​ ​ Bree Livesey and Isobel Maxwell Being just one year above you, we remember very clearly what it felt like to be a Fresher – don’t worry, it’s absolutely awesome! It’s completely natural to feel nervous or scared coming into uni especially with everything 2020 has thrown at us. But we’re here to ensure that you’ll soon be calling Queens’ ‘home’, and to do everything we can to make that a reality. Our role as Freps is to be here for you, so if you have any questions (however silly they may seem) about Freshers’ week, college, or anything else, we (along with your college parents) are your first points of contact. However, if you don’t like the look of us, or have a more specific question (e.g. about reading lists), you can also speak to any member of the JCR, your tutor, your DoS, a porter, or a member of the Welfare Team at Queens’... There will always be someone to speak to! Bree Livesey - Geography Iz Maxwell - English [email protected] [email protected] We’re sure you will see us running around during Freshers’ Week, but feel free to email us, message us on Facebook or WhatsApp, or drop the Freshers’ Instagram page a DM. We’re always here for you! 4 Before you arrive 1. Social Media pages ​ ​ To make sure you are connected with Queens’ life, here is a list of important social media pages to follow! Facebook is heavily relied upon in Queens’ (and Cambridge in general) to share events and information so we would highly recommend setting up a profile! Freshers’ accounts ● To keep you up to date before you arrive at Queens’, we have set up various Freshers’ social media pages for you. Please be sure to follow the Instagram account ‘queensfreshers2020 ’ and join the Facebook group ​ ​ ​ ‘Queens’ College Cambridge Freshers 2020-2021’ to have regular updates ​ ​ from the Freps and the rest of the JCR committee! College accounts ● Be sure to give the official Queens’ Instagram account a follow ‘queens_college’. ​ ​ JCR accounts ● Facebook is relied upon to share JCR-led college events. For example, this summer the JCR has been running fortnightly online bar quizzes! Be sure to follow the Facebook page ‘Queens’ College JCR’ and join the private ​ ​ Facebook group ‘Queens’ College JCR’ to keep up to date with all the ​ ​ events happening in college throughout the year. ● The JCR also regularly posts on their Instagram account ‘queensjcr’. The ​ ​ account runs a ‘Humans of Queens’ ’ series which we recommend you ​ ​ check out. 5 ● The Facebook page ‘Queens’ Compliments’ allows students to send in ​ ​ lovely compliments about fellow students and about college life. A very wholesome page! Other Facebook accounts Cambridge SU ● Information about Student Union Events, as well as some information about the university - but you will get all of the important and relevant information through college and the JCR, so mainly useful to keep up with interesting events. Crushbridge, Kindbridge, Camfess, Memebridge (and many others) ​ ​ ● Student pages - like at your own peril! Can be very funny and/or sweet; but also sometimes controversial. ○ Crushbridge: Students send in crushes - sometimes seriously, sometimes not. Generally very sweet and a good way of getting the name of the cute person in the dairy aisle in Sainsbury’s who may or may not turn out to be the love of your life. ○ Kindbridge: Generally very wholesome. Did someone buy you some biscuits because you were looking a bit down? Appreciate someone’s gorgeous new trousers? Send them a Kindbridge, they’ll love you forever. ○ Camfess: Students send in confessions. Often the first place that drama will kick off. ○ Memebridge: Cambridge-themed memes. Yes, we have a page for that! Cambridge Union ● Separate from the Student Union, the Cambridge Union is a debating society which you may or may not choose to join. It often hosts exciting speakers - recent speakers range from Caroline Calloway (socialite) to the philosopher-activist Noam Chomsky. Cambridge Theatre / Cambridge Theatre Online ● Cambridge Theatre isn’t just ‘The Footlights’. There’s all sorts of exciting things to get involved with - and you’ll find all the opportunities listed here and on ‘CamDram’ so if you’re interested in being a thesp, it’s worth ​ ​ keeping on top of. 6 2. Important links ​ ​ ● ​University of Cambridge ● Queens’ College ● Queens’ JCR Website (qjcr.org.uk) -the JCR website is the easiest way to ​ ​ navigate the Queens’ website, especially when looking for information about welfare and student services. ○ Freshers’ Week page ○ Alternative Prospectus for the new alternative prospectus, which you ​ may also find interesting. ● Outlook Email - Use this link to log into your Cam email. ​ ● UPay - This is used to top up your CamCard which you use to buy food in ​ ​ the Buttery and drinks in the Bar. ● Moodle Learning Portal - An online learning platform used by some ​ ​ subjects. ● CamSIS - The system for handling student data. ​ ● iDiscover - Online resources platform. ​ ​ ● Stay Safe Cambridge Uni - A useful website to help you stay safe. ​ ● Queens’ College Tour - A student run tour of Queens’! ​ ● Queens’ Sports and Societies. 3. What to bring and what not to bring ​ ​ Cambridge offers a wide range of shopping opportunities and you can easily have things ordered to college, so if you accidentally forget something please don’t worry as it should not be hard to get it! Nevertheless, here is a rough list of what you might need (apart from the obvious things such as clothes!) Bring for sure ❏ Photocopies of important documents – e.g. any previous doctor’s ​ information ❏ Some form of photo ID – passport, driver’s license ​ ❏ Face masks ❏ Hand sanitiser ❏ Any personal medication ❏ Tupperware - this will be useful for the Buttery takeaway as well as for ​ storing food. ❏ Towels – not provided by college. ​ ❏ Bath Mat – for private bathrooms as the floors can get cold! ​ 7 ❏ Bath baskets / caddies – for shared bathrooms ​ ❏ Bathroom supplies – soap, shampoo, shower gel etc. ​ ❏ Hairdryer – if you use one! ​ ❏ 2 sets of sheets, duvet covers and pillowcases ❏ Hangers – college only provide about 10 ​ ❏ Dirty laundry bag ❏ Laundry washing pods/powder ❏ Airer or clothes horse – a lot of people tend to forget this! ​ ❏ Clothes for all weather – don’t forget a coat (ideally with a hood!). ​ ❏ Formal clothing and formal shoes – for matriculation, formal halls and ​ possibly black-tie events. ❏ Stationery supplies – if you’re unsure, ask your subject contact what you ​ might need. ❏ Pots/pans – if you plan to cook. ​ ❏ Dishes, glasses, mugs, cutlery and a water bottle. ❏ Tea towel(s) - college does provide one per gyp, but most people also bring ​ their own ❏ A rucksack/ day bag.