Alice Davidson’s adversities at Cambridge University
Cambridge University is the world’s fourth oldest surviving university and is a top Russel Group University; although it’s high ranking, Alice Davidson’s testing experience at Cambridge made her the person she is today.
Alice Davidson is from Lewisham in South East London. Lewisham has a population of 303,536 people, which is just outside the top ten of the highest population in London boroughs. Studies show that Lewisham had the 16th highest rate for poverty across the 32 boroughs in London. Despite those statistics, Alice had a very pleasant childhood filled with great memories and fun culture due to coming from a Jamaican heritage.
The racial experiences Alice faced at Cambridge University was a step up from subtle racism she experienced in Secondary school.
“Can I touch your hair.” Was a common comment in school due to the fascination she received from her classmates, that her hair was too long to be real. It was something she didn’t comprehend until she got older; Alice thought it was a compliment, rather than the ideology that black girls can’t grow long hair.
Attending Cambridge University was a huge achievement for Alice — being the first in her family to attend University. However, for the first time in her life, her skin colour is what stood out the most; feeling like a “minority”.
“Where are you from”.
“Go back to where you came from”.
“Are you lost”.
Alice stated these comments were quite common. She even stood up and used her voice when she wrote an article on cultural appropriation due to an African dinner her college put together. The backlash she endured from the article affected her tremendously due to people stating that Alice was too “sensitive” and is trying to be “pitied” due to the colour of her skin.
The culture of Cambridge was very different to anything Alice has experienced, especially studying History and coming from a Jamaican household which is cultural and bright, such as Notting Hill Carnival; it was a hard transition. She stated the history which was taught “had no black history in the modules” as well as leaving out huge chunks of memorable black history “was hard to be ok with”.
Alice graduated with honours and got a First as her final grade. She stated this was her greatest achievement in life so far.
