Interview with a past student: Daniel Macmillen

We can’t believe the July program is starting in just a few days! If you’re coming this weekend, we can’t wait to meet you. Here’s an interview with last year’s student to make these last few days go faster :).  

Daniel Macmillen from Everywhere ;)

came for July 2010 Reach Cambridge program

  Where in the world do you come from? I’m British/Russian but I have lived in Latin America for the past ten years, so a bit of a mix really!   How old are you? I recently turned 17.   Why did you decide to apply to Reach summer school? What were you expecting before you arrived? … I decided to apply after reading about the school online after wanting to attend some summer course. Reach Cambridge seemed like a perfect combination between an academic course, activities, city life and excursions, and i think that balance is what made me want to apply in the end. I really cant recall my expectations, but I do remember feeling that they had definitely been surpassed at the end of the three weeks.   What program/subject did you study in Cambridge?How did you like it? I studied Journalism, Media and Politics. It was a fantastic course for anyone generally interested in current affairs, the construction and function of media and their presentation of issues, among many other related subjects. As a student in this class, you were also given the chance to do actual “fieldwork”, as well as being able to participate in discussion with intriguing invited guest speakers, and that really made the class both fun and engaging.   What was your overall experience of the summer school? (classes, extracurriculars, lectures, field trips) As I said beforehand, the balance of all of these was perhaps the best part. Having the more serious and thought provoking lectures and classes combine with really fun excursions and extracurriculars at first seemed rather odd, but it ended up being one of the best parts of it all.   What’s the best memory from your 3 weeks in Cambridge? There are just too many, but one that definitely comes to mind is trying to punt in the River Cam and failing immensely, much to the amusement of all the real punters and tourists. What are you doing now and what’s next for you? Do you think the experience from Reach Cambridge will be useful?I have just recently graduated from school and am heading off university in the UK. Living for three weeks in a pseudo university lifestyle is an experience that can only really be beneficial for anyone planning on perhaps pursuing a university education in the future, so I definitely think that the three weeks in July at reach will have helped me when I start soon.   Any last words of wisdom for this year’s Reach students? I highly doubt that anything I say or advise will classify as words of wisdom, but one thing I’ve always found to never fail me in new situations or experiences is to always try something new or something outside our comfort zone. As horrendously cliche that is, its easy to stick to the things we’ve done before or know best, and we can often refrain from engaging in activities we might have never tried before. If you’ve got the immense privledge of being able to attend such an incredible summer program, then might as well take advantage to the most you can of the city and of meeting people from every corner of the world. Just make the most of it, three weeks fly by.