Sofiya
"For me, as a mixed-ethnicity woman from a working-class background, sociology enabled me to unpick and fully understand my social position, especially in a historically white and elite institution such as Cambridge."
I had been looking at different courses on the Cambridge website, and after debating between law and HSPS, I chose law. But when I arrived, I had been so used to being enthused about what I studied that it did not feel like the right course for me. I enquired about changing courses, and in a matter of days, I had switched to HSPS (which I should have picked in the first place!). I cannot speak on the application process, but I was re-interviewed for HSPS, and all I can say is make sure you are genuinely interested in the area as this will help you with creative and critical thinking that interviewers (who will be your supervisors) want to see.
In first year I enjoyed politics and sociology the most (and uncoincidentally got my best grades in these papers), so decided to pursue this track. In second year I enjoyed my sociology papers far more than politics, so decided I would pick a straight sociology track for third year, and I am very glad I did.
With a general interest in the state of the world and phenomena that was close to me but little theoretical knowledge beyond this, and difficulty grasping huge concepts, sociology has really put everything into perspective for me. What I love most is that it enables us to contextualise everything that goes on in our personal lives, our professional lives, but also those phenomena we may feel we have no connection to. For me, as a mixed-ethnicity woman from a working-class background, sociology enabled me to unpick and fully understand my social position, especially in a historically white and elite institution such as Cambridge.
