Yesterday saw students practise their presentation skills in Economics, and take a punt on the tranquil waters of Oxford’s River Cherwell. Students found this new vantage point on the city most charming, as their route took in Christ Church meadows, and Magdalen and Merton Colleges. At one particularly difficult turn, things were complicated further as some friendly Canadian waterfowl decided to join our students for the manoeuvre.

So, after a day of enthusiastic learning and steering around gaggles of geese, students in Catz put forth a proud array of acts at ORA’s Got Talent on Monday evening. The audience was treated to just about every talent there is: puns both hit and miss, singing, piano-playing, dance-contortion and Pakistani dancing. When applause for the student acts had died down, the counsellors stepped up to perform a special number under the evocative name “Where Is Your Lanyard”: Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart”, inspired by the counsellors’ eternal, and often frustrated, longing for a full complement of lanyards on even just one excursion.

After the counsellors’ display, students grew in confidence, and there were many more impromptu additions to the show―perhaps because some of the previously undecided or nervous students realised that their talents could well outstrip those of “Where Is Your Lanyard”.

Let’s hope that this competitive spirit carries over into the ORA Debate this afternoon―with Catz fresh from a win at the Inter-Campus Olympics over the weekend, we have high hopes!