Arthur Armitage Society members

Ms Jital Doshi (2013)

Coming to Queens’

I always wanted to be a teacher like my mother and my sister. When I graduated from university at first, I took a look at my finances and worked as an actuary before retraining.

To do a PGCE at Cambridge, you get accepted for the course first, then pick your College. I wanted to be able to live on campus and Queens’ was able to offer that. I started in Owlstone Croft, but after two weeks a room in College (EE24) became available and I moved in. I even had a few weeks living on the dark side, during the Easter vacation!

Downton Abbey, the Fens and the full glory of the Backs

My floormates in Cripps were a great group of undergraduates, and I was good friends with a lot of the other PGCE students. We set aside each Sunday evening to watch Downton Abbey and during episodes we chatted with other viewers across the Colleges through Whatsapp during the adverts,  so we watched the same programme at the same time in different places which was quite rare pre-pandemic.

Doing a PGCE involves a lot of teaching, a lot of learning and a bit of commuting. I saw quite a lot of the roads to Soham and Sawtry, but the advantage of these journeys was that I was up early every morning and could enjoy the Backs. When I was going to the Education Faculty, I could either walk through town or across Coe Fen.

Life at Queens’

Everything about Queens’ was lovely and time flew by though. I was able to take part in loads of things through the Science Festival and the Festival of Ideas that meant I got the best from my time here. I’m a huge Tolkien fan too, so a trip to our sister College in Oxford (Pembroke), which was his College was really enjoyable.

The other PGCE students were a really good bunch and with them I ate a lot at the other Colleges. Queens’ had the best food and I think it looked after us well.

It was a wonderful time – truly halcyonic.

Leaving a legacy

I’m proud to be a member of The Arthur Armitage Society and I’d urge everyone thinking about making a will to do so! It ensures that your money goes where you want it to.

I had a wonderful time at the College and it means a tremendous amount to me, so I’m pleased to think that my estate will be able to give something back. I’ve also got charities, including Queens’, as my final beneficiaries, in case other family members predecease me.