St Anne's

Oxford had a complicated collegiate system which means that the University is made up of 38 colleges. The colleges are run independently of the university but for post grads all teaching is done in the university departments, not in the colleges. I am at St Anne’s college which is one of the newer colleges in Oxford; it was started in 1879 and was originally women only. They do a lot of funding for my course which is how I ended up here! The college is in a good location in North Oxford, close to my classes and I am one of the 13 students out of 100 that managed to get on-site accommodation. Living on-site is fantastic because I am very close to the college dining hall, bar, coffee shop and the St Anne’s library. I am also across the road from University Parks which may be my favourite place in Oxford and only 800m by road from class. I am also very centrally located in terms of where all my friends live!

Google map of Oxford showing St Anne's and the Geography building

Bike storage area in St Anne's

The building I live in is called Eleanor Plumer House (EPH), on the ground floor is has the computer room, a kitchen, Middle Common Room (MCR) for graduate social activities and the pigeon holes for all St Anne’s grad students.  Everything on the ground floor is shared between all 100 graduates but on the floors above there are thirteen bedrooms, a kitchen and three bathrooms, which are just for us.

Upstairs kitchen (13 people share one fridge!)

One of the bathrooms, the shower is to the left

EPH (My room is to the left of the photo, in the tree)

EPH (my room is the the right of the photo, in the tree)

The rooms in EPH vary hugely in size and number of windows, mine is probably a little above average for EPH but well above average for student accommodation in Oxford. The windows face south and east, but there are loads of trees around the building so it’s still quite dark in here. It’s warm though, the central heating works really well.

My desk and notice board

Bed and cupboard 

My tea area!

The view from my windows

The tree that blocks the sun!

A few years ago our dining hall was redone, and although it doesn’t look anything like Hogwarts, I love it. It has huge windows and a great vibe and I spend more time in there than I should! It is canteen style and there are usually two or three choices for meals, dinner is more elaborate and you would usually have a starter as well. There are three meals a day during the week but just a long brunch on the weekend. Meals range between £ 2 and £ 4, which is very cheap compared to eating anywhere in Oxford.

Some Stanner's (St Anne's peeps) in the dining hall

Bethany in the dining hall at our graduate dinner

The dining hall from outside

We have a great vibe in EPH and get along really well, we have started a tradition of Sunday take away nights together in the MCR and on Monday night we had an impromptu cake night. Of the thirteen of us, only three are girls. There is a huge mix of nationalities in the house, as with everywhere in Oxford!

Some of my house mates at our cake party (Po-Hsaing's photo)

Come and visit me and I’ll show you around St Anne’s!