Caians who negotiated the Covid-19 pandemic were rewarded for their academic excellence and community contributions when 59 prizes were awarded by Gonville & Caius College last term.
Caius students across the year groups achieved 138 Class I degrees and six claimed a Class I with distinction (a ‘Starred First’) in their results last summer, with all year groups having experienced educational and exam disruption due to the pandemic, either at school or university.
Senior Tutor Dr Andrew Spencer was keen to emphasise the success of all Caius students.
“These annual awards are always special, but particularly so for a cohort of students who have shown huge levels of resilience and determination throughout a period of time turbulent for us all,” Dr Spencer said.
“Many of these students experienced disrupted exams, delayed results, lockdowns, quarantines and isolations, online learning and exams – all at a pivotal period of their lives and many in a new home.
“At Caius, the 2020 matriculants made the most of their limited opportunities, and as the pandemic eased they developed academically and socially.
“Congratulations to the award winners and all Caius students. My particular congratulations go to all who graduated in summer 2023. You should all be proud of your achievements and we look forward to seeing you return to College in future.”
Featured below are a selection of the prize winners.
Locke Tankard – a prize for the “most deserving Caian”
Alexander Yao (MML (French and Russian) 2019) and Natalia Emsley (Natural Sciences (Biological) and Management Studies 2020)
Natalia, above left, was the Gonville & Caius Students’ Union (GCSU) President from February 2022-23
“It’s rewarding to know that what I did had an impact; the prize is recognition that the Committee’s work was appreciated not only by the student body, but also staff and Fellows. I am proud of contributing to making the GCSU a more integral part of the Caius community after the pandemic.
“I’m so happy that we had the opportunity to restore college traditions and establish new ones. We were able to give the 2022 intake the full experience, with bops, sports days, themed formals and more, as well as a fun freshers’ week – with thanks to the 2022 freshers’ rep, Layo Akinola. Seeing people become more excited about what the GCSU has been doing in recent years has made it such a gratifying experience.
“I would recommend the role of GCSU President to anyone who genuinely cares about creating positive change for as many students as possible. It is a difficult responsibility so sometimes I had to make sacrifices, and I made some mistakes along the way. But being able to make change that students are still benefiting from today has made it 100% worth it.
"I also gained so much from the role personally, having met so many people and learnt so much. It helped me decide on my future too. I was unsure what path to take following natural sciences, but towards the end decided on management studies - something I’d never considered prior to my experience on the GCSU!”
Alexander, above right, was the freshers’ representative in October 2020
“I had a ‘normal’ freshers’ experience, but having moved from Australia, travelling to Cambridge for the first time, I knew how important those first connections were, so I could share an understanding from personal experience. One of the reasons I was keen to be Freshers’ Rep was because I knew I’d be with that year group in my final year, following my Year Abroad, so I wanted to form a closer connection with the cohort. When I was elected, it was pre-pandemic, but when things changed and I realised they couldn’t have the same experience I did, the main thing I wanted to do was to make the best of the circumstances and maximise their opportunities. I was ultimately very happy with how it turned out. It took a lot of planning and we had to try to be as flexible as we could be within the rules.
“When I first returned to Cambridge following my Year Abroad – in St Petersburg and then Paris – it was really great to have quite a few people from the year below me come and chat and say hi. I became friends with a lot of them, and that connection I had built as their Freshers’ Rep had clearly lasted.
“I’ve travelled since graduating, to Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and then China. Every country had something unique to offer. I studied Russian and I wanted to see the post-Soviet republics, compare them and speak Russian again after having spent half of my Year Abroad in Russia. I found it incredibly rewarding to be able to apply my language skills again in real life in countries not on the tourist trail, and for over a month, non-stop. After working in a solicitors’ firm in Paris during my Year Abroad, I have decided to seek the qualification, and I now have a training contract with a firm, Baker McKenzie, in London.
“Receiving the award is very meaningful and symbolic for me. The first letter I received was my acceptance confirmation from Admissions, and the last has been for this award. After four years with so much change, I am very grateful for the experience and the opportunities I have had from Cambridge, and to have accomplished what I have done. I proved to myself that moving around the world, I could still make a home for myself.”
Catherine Yates Memorial Prize – for a student who has taken fullest advantage of the academic opportunities available to undergraduates
Suchir Salhan (Linguistics 2020/Computer Science MEng (Part III) 2023)
“Starting in the middle of the pandemic made things very hard. As everything opened up I was able to take full advantage of a lot of the opportunities within College. Doing things alongside my degree helped with my academic performance. What I realised is that you don’t need to work huge amounts of hours to get a Starred First. All that it requires is a discipline and some originality of thought. You learn on the way the best ways to work. Time management is really important. I was able to enjoy my work, work a lot faster, because I knew I had other places to be.
“Being GCSU Secretary was so fulfilling. It gave me a chance to meet lots of people from different year groups. It showed things going on in College which as a student you don’t necessarily see. Whether that’s the accommodation ballot or a sports day with Brasenose, or working with College or students on certain issues. The week I was running the GCSU elections (in February 2023), I was presenting my dissertation in St John’s, the deadline was two weeks’ away, and I was writing for Varsity. It was intense. I did a day of hustings and I was the one handing over from one GCSU Committee to the next. It was a nice way to round it off.
“I was really happy to find out I got a starred first in Linguistics, and I am grateful to my Director of Studies, Paula Buttery, for all her support. I was thrilled to find out I’d won the prize.”
Harborne Rowing Prize – for the best rower and highest academically graduating from a BA
Georgina Acott (Medicine 2020)
“I chose Caius after narrowing down my options to which colleges had lots of medics and a good boat club! It sounds cheesy, but rowing is the ultimate team sport. The boat cannot move without every single person pulling their own weight. And if someone doesn’t turn up to a session, the boat can’t go out. Everyone has to buy in the same amount. I love that aspect of it.
“I don’t think I would’ve got through my first three years here without rowing. It gave me structure, it gave me friends outside of my degree – there’s so many contact hours it’s very easy to just make medic friends. Now I have friends that do all sorts of different degrees, all different age groups and doing different things now they’ve graduated. It widens your community. The nature of medicine makes the training schedule easier. I have a place to be at pretty much all times of the day, so I have to make a plan. Because I have to be at that 9am, I have to be organised.
“I was very happy to win the prize and it feels like quite a privilege. It’s nice to be recognised that I’d done a lot of hard work with my degree, but also other things outside of that which have been successful… until Jesus bumped us on the last day. We had a great three days on headship as W1.”
