The second session of Immerse Education 2018 is officially underway! Our team of mentors spent a busy but exciting Sunday welcoming our students from all corners of the globe; some of the team met incoming flights at Heathrow (we are hosting students from as far as New Zealand and China, as well as the UK!) and the rest of the team were stationed at Christ’s, St Catharine’s and Sidney Sussex College to help students settle in.
Getting to Know You the Immerse Way
Despite an exhausting day of travelling for many, our students were still full of energy and met their mentors and mentor families. Then ensued a fun hour of icebreaker games in the gardens, getting to know each other and learning lots of new names! After a well-deserved and tasty dinner in the college dining halls, students received a welcome talk from our programme director Tom. We have a really full and exciting schedule for the next two weeks, including punting along the river Cam, day trips to Oxford and London, a talent night, movie night and talks from interesting speakers. This is all alongside two academic sessions a day! After the talk, students had another hour of icebreakers, playing some lively games of ‘splat’, ‘zip zap boing’ and ‘quick line up’, before chatting and socialising outside and getting a much-needed early night at 10pm
Monday was the first day of academic sessions; students were introduced to their subjects (from Engineering to International Relations) by world-class experts and it was a stimulating day of insight into university study. After a sunny picnic for lunch, and another afternoon academic session, students were offered walking tours to learn about the complex history of the city, as well as the best spots for shopping and visiting. At the same time, mentors directed a scavenger hunt in mentor families, in which students had to take photos in front of specific landmarks; the fastest finishing group was crowned victorious!
After another meal in hall, students put their general knowledge to the test in our mentor-run Quiz Night. This included film, geography/history, landmark and Cambridge rounds, as well as ‘guess the mentor baby photo’ and identifying song lyrics!! The quiz provoked fierce competition; the titles of winning team, losing team and best team name were most coveted!!
After an exciting first full day, everyone headed off to bed to recharge for the weeks ahead!
Photos Catarina Rodrigues
