Hi! It's Courtney Daniella here.
Before I actually got to Cambridge
let's rewind about four years
I wasn't going to go
because I was giving in to every single voice
in my head that was telling me I couldn't
every kind of preconceived notion I had
about Cambridge. As a black student,
if you want to go to Cambridge University,
you actually can.
So let's get into some of these myths
and let's bust them with reality.
[Myth] You need two brains to get in
No. Nobody has two brains.
You only need your brain.
I got one A* and two As.
I didn't pressure myself to get four A*s,
that's not what I needed to get.
If you get that, great,
and I'm sure you'll be proud of yourself
but if you don't, don't worry about it.
[Myth] Cambridge is in the middle of nowhere.
That's actually not true.
It's actually closer than you think.
Most of the time, you can just hop on a train and
go home and see your family
and come right back to uni
as if you never left.
[Myth] There are no black people at Cambridge.
No.
Now I put my hand up, this is a myth
that I completely believed in
before I went to Cambridge.
I thought I would be
the only person there
who was not white
because I had never known
anyone who went, number one,
and number two I had never seen
a black Cambridge student ever.
Don't be scared of going there
and being the one who sticks out
like a sore thumb - that's not
what's going to happen.
There is an amazing society called
called the African Caribbean Society
who take time to really
get black students together
just to enjoy each other's company
to have a cool, chilled vibe.
[Myth] Whilst I'm there, I'll be broke.
Actually, as a uni student,
brokeness is a part of the experience.
Cambridge has a lot of grants
and bursaries and scholarships
and ways to give you money
so that you can be assisted
whether you need books, accommodation
or even travel.
So don't ever let money hold you back.
[Myth] Everyone is pish-posh and speaks like this...
That's not true.
Coming from North London, I speak
a lot of slang. I took that with me
to Cambridge and everybody just
got used to it.
So don't let that stop you from applying.
[Myth] It's only worth doing Law or Medicine
at Cambridge, any other thing
is really a waste of time.
That's a complete lie.
Imagine where the world would be
if people didn't study Philosophy
or Music or any languages.
When I was thinking about applying
to the University of Cambridge
I was going to apply for Law.
My mum wanted me to study Law.
My dad wanted me to study Law.
At some point, I even wanted to study Law.
But when I really thought about it
it wasn't for me.
So I started to actually research
other courses that I could do
and to my surprise I found
the perfect course for me.
Do what you want to do
and everything will find
the correct path after that.
[Myth] It's really stiff
and it's really formal.
Before I went, I thought
I'd have to wear a gown everywhere
and maybe even get a wand.
Some parts of Cambridge are
very formal but it is not all the time.
So don't feel as though you're going to be
out of place particularly as a black student
or as a working class student
because you don't adhere to these
kind of formal - wear a suit and a tie
and a gown everywhere that you go to...
It's not like that.
[Myth] You're going to live in a stately home
or some sort of castle.
That's not true.
Have you seen Robinson College?
It's very...
let's just say avant garde.
[Myth] All the professors are going to be
old white men. Now,
whilst this man might be,
he's dead.
Your professors are going to be quite diverse.
Now that's not to say there's not a problem
with representation in academia.
But you might be the answer
to that problem.
At Cambridge, there's always an open
line of dialogue between
the students and the people who
teach them about how much
we need to diversify, whether that be
the curriculum or the people who are
actually teaching us, the same way
we are saying we need to diversify
our student body.
[Myth] Everyone gets up at 5am
in the morning to go rowing.
Do I look like I row?
I'm not going to be rowing
and you might not end up rowing,
but if you do, have fun getting up at 5am.
[Myth] You work all the time
and there's no social life.
Now, there's no denying that
Cambridge University is an academically
intensive place.
It's what makes it one of the best
academic institutions in the world.
However, there is always time to have
a good chill session.
[Myth] Cambridge isn't for a person like me.
And that's the line I used to tell myself
every day, before I even thought
'I could apply'.
So I believed in it.
and I want to talk to you if you
believe in that.
Most people think that the typical
Cambridge student fits in a specific mould,
that you have to be a young, white
male from Eton or some sort of
private school in order to get in.
I wasn't any of those things.
And yet here I am, a Cambridge graduate.
Now that's not to say that every single
black person should apply.
But if you want to, don't deny yourself
that opportunity because you think it's
not for you.
The gates of Cambridge University were
once closed to people like me.
However, I'm now in
and people who look like me
can now see that you can do it too.
And even if you don't think you're smart enough,
because I certainly didn't,
the truth is your unique view of the world,
your unique experiences and the way that
you think is something that nobody else has.
And you can come and show that,
show that to the people who interview you
show that through your personal statement
and show that to every single person who
you encounter for the rest of your life,
that you think about certain things and
you have an opinion - just express it.
So if you are black, please come,
if you want to apply, if you want
get into academia, if you want to end up
being a lecturer or a professor,
you have the power to change that.
But you have to take that first step
of actually applying,
so please do.