Gail Trimble .....

..... came to Oxford from the Lady Eleanor Holles School (an independent day school in London), where she sat A levels in Latin, Greek, Maths and English Literature:

" I chose to study Classics at university mostly because of the variety. Already at school in Latin and Greek I could combine language work with studying different kinds of literature, and I liked the idea of being able to study philosophy, history, art and even philology (though at the time I wasn't too sure what that was) all within one degree. I applied to Oxford simply because it's the best place in the country to do Classics; I liked the fact that the course was four years long and covered such a vast amount (even in comparison with Cambridge), and the wide variety of options, and I looked forward to being taught by various important people in Classics!"

Gail is now in the third year of her four-year degree, and it continues to match the high expectations she had when she applied. The variety is as great as she thought, but it isn't just academic:

"This is an incredibly fulfilling and stretching degree, involving different ways of thinking for the different subjects within it. I've been particularly inspired by the Mods courses on the Aeneid and Thucydides and the West, and all of Mods Logic and Greats Logic and Language. But the best academic experiences tend to be completely unexpected: lectures on Plato's Symposium on Monday afternoons in the summer, given in a remote room somewhere in the orchards in Worcester, where we would hear brilliant thoughts on Plato as the sun streamed in and ducks walked past the window quacking; or the Greek metre classes which turned into discussions of musical technique and attempts at verse composition over a gin and tonic. I've also got a lot out of being a part of the college choir and involved in college drama productions (including producing one on the Edinburgh Fringe). There's the chance to sing in choirs of a very high standard, and generally to meet lots of intelligent, talented people and make some extremely valuable friendships."

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