Tara Maeve McMahon

What is your favourite thing about the College?

My favourite thing about the College was definitely the community that was fostered. Between 303, the lounge, and the discussion room, students had a chance to get to know one another intimately across different years and become engaged in opportunities for stimulating discussions, games, and peer advice. The many societies like HSS, NORTH, and FormComm had so many great events throughout the year that made the College more than just a place where we went to learn.

What will you miss the most?

Personally, I will miss just sitting in the lounge between lectures and overhearing the funniest, most absurd opinions on literature and philosophy that have ever been discussed. In the lounge, what I really learned was that if you put a bunch of overtired, stressed out 18-22 year olds who study very complex texts all day in a room alone together, every day is a new comedy central special.

What is your favourite reading/book/text from the program?

I was first introduced to The Divine Comedy in second year, and I ended up taking an entire Fourth Year Seminar on it because I loved it so much. That poem has everything: dream sequences, monsters, parades, astrology, you name it.

What’s next for you?

After the BHum, I am going on to get an MPhil in Classics at Cambridge University in Wolfson College, and intend to one day become a professor of Ancient Greek literature!