Easter term at Cambridge is always a tough time for students, as would be expected. One of our student Welfare Officers, Nishanthini Ganesan, gave us an overview of the Common Room’s (CR) ‘Exam Care’ programme and how the College pulls as one to get everyone through the pressure of exams.

Exam Care is an Initiative of the two CR Welfare Officers, Regan and Nishanthini, which takes place across the exam period. A staple of this programme is the daily evening breaks from 8-10pm which involve tea, coffee, biscuits, fruit, as well as art, colouring, puzzles, and socialising. From time to time, some of our more musically inclined members come along and provide a great backdrop as well. After Freshers’ Week, it is probably the biggest welfare event in the academic year!

However, as we were told by Nishanthini “what makes Exam Care wonderful is that it’s basically the ENTIRE CR Committee coming together to support our friends.” For example, Regan took it upon herself to organise Yoga and Puppy Days. The benefits of animal company are well-known, and it is part of the reason that Lucy Cavendish welcomed the addition of several guinea pigs to their ranks recently, with palpable jealousy across the rest of Cambridge.

In the library, Luiza the Student Librarian has been hosting Saturday tea, and the library has set up a self-help section with a view to giving students the tools they need to take good care of themselves at a time when it is all too easy to forget to do just that. Even the social spaces of the College have upped their game. Oli, Steward of Eddies Bar has increased the amount and range of non-alcoholic options on offer so those who drink and those who don’t alike can be assured that it is the same open, welcoming space In exam term as it always is.

Not all students at Eddies yet live on site, though this will be greatly improved once our Mount Pleasant Halls accommodation comes on stream. That doesn’t mean our off-site students have been forgotten however. In Swirles Court, home to over 50 of our students, there have been Welfare Thursdays every week and the distribution of special ‘care packages‘ which contained tea, cookies, colouring books, and even a flowering-plant!

Nishanthini’s view on exam term was a healthy one and worth sharing with the wider community: “One of my favourite quotes is “If you’re not scared, it means you’re not growing.” Cambridge is a special place because it forces its students to overcome their own limitations. However, this also makes it a difficult place to study. Nobody needs to go through this stress alone and the Welfare Team does its best to lighten the atmosphere and provide healthy ways of coping.”

Current students: Don’t forget also that there are a range of further support options available through the College and University, and numerous people to talk to. If you need to have a chat with someone, or want some advice on where to turn, do not hesitate to get in touch with the Tutorial Office (tutorial@st-edmunds.cam.ac.uk)! And please do send us photos of you unwinding during Exam Care for our social media!