Outside the Cambridge bubble: What to do when you miss Cambridge

September is fast-approaching and it’s prime time to miss Cambridge. After all, what do you do when you don’t have an intense deadline every other day? Hobbies? Don’t be silly, we dropped those at A-Level. Work? Can’t stop the Camsickness when your shift ends.

There isn’t really a word for feeling homesick towards university. Uni is an odd form of liminal state where one is based in two places by necessity – especially at Cambridge where most students have to haul their stuff out of their rooms over the holidays, and terms are so short. It’s a double life – eight weeks of deadlines, exams, studying, supervisions, formals, extracurriculars and actually maintaining your social life, and then you go home.

During breaks there’s less structure. Most of your friends are scattered across the country and the world – international students, friends from Cambridge living in different places, home friends still in university accommodation – there’s an almost unsettling quiet compared to the Cambridge bubble, where you’re forced to see people and go out and do things, constantly.

Naturally, as a Tab article, we’re going to list some ways you can fend off that Camsickness. Can I offer you a top 5, perhaps?

1. Library

I know it’s bad. But nothing makes me feel like I’m in Cam than sitting in a public library to do academic work, rather than my room at home. Unless you’re an Engling or an Over-enthusiastic humanities student, the most time you’ve ever spent in a library studying is probably Cambridge (the lines blur if your degree is reading).

Why not get productive? Or, at least, feel productive by scrolling through reels surrounded by books and people doing work rather than alone at home. Simulate the feeling especially strongly by visiting an old library and sitting next to someone whisper-shouting in direct view of the librarian.

2. Your least favourite piece of advice

I know you probably don’t want to hear this, but have you considered joining/ interacting with those societies you signed up to in freshers week?

I promise you I’m not your tutor or your college chaplain – this advice is given so often because it’s actually good. Join some group chats or contact societies for next term. You could also join a society which does virtual calls or summer meets.

Do something to bolster your interaction with other Cambridge students so you don’t go back and have to settle in again like a scared little fresher who thinks they don’t belong in Cam.

3. Send that message to the gc

What else to do with the growing desire to move out every time your parents want to stay up until you get back from a night out (why mum? I’m not going to die in O*ford)?

You’ve got to actually contact your friends. I know, it sucks. But Cambridge students aren’t exactly known for their social skills.

Send a message. Even have a conversation over text – or better yet, actually go and visit them, even for a day or when you end up in the area. Arranging big meet-ups is also a good bet; you can put it in an Instagram post and make it look like you actually did something with your summer.

4. Visit what you’re missing (not literally)

I don’t mean literally go to Cambridge before you click on something else.

The Cambridge bubble is something unique that you can’t get anywhere else, but that doesn’t mean that parts of it can’t be replicated. If you live in a city, go to a smaller town with traditional architecture. If you’re in a village or hamlet, go somewhere with lots of bookshops and cafes. Have a timed breakdown to the Pomodoro timer in Cafe Nero before resuming your example sheet with full composure. Walk down a cobbled street. Remind yourself that Cambridge isn’t the only place in the world where you can touch grass.

5. Cambridge isn’t just a place

Cambridge is a feeling (probably stress and also being academically validated). Re-create that at home by doing practice papers!

In all seriousness, though, there are still ways you can engage with the Cambridge bubble while at home. Number one is probably social media – not just your friends at uni but also college pages, local news, and Facebook groups. Keep up-to-date and engaged with what’s going on in Cam – you can be there in theory, if not in practice.