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Giving back and sharing experience is a motivation for Maya Beney (History 2019), who has an Anglo-Saxon penny to thank for creating a lasting bond with �鶹Ů��.

After the then Caius Schools’ Liaison Officer visited Maya’s school in Kent – Newstead Wood School, which is also the alma mater of US Open tennis champion Emma Raducanu – she entered a Year 12 essay prize competition.

She says: “I spent three days researching an Anglo-Saxon penny from the reign of Edward the Elder, which is currently held in Cambridge’s Fitzwilliam Museum. It was an object biography engaging with material culture, a concept which I hadn’t really come across before. I was happy with what I wrote, and I sent it off the day before the deadline. I enjoyed the research process, but I didn’t expect much to result from the competition.

“After visiting Caius on the open day (in July 2018), I fell in love with the College and knew this was where I wanted to apply regardless of how the competition went. A few weeks later, they sent me an email saying I’d won first prize – I was absolutely shocked!

“Without the Schools’ Liaison Officer coming in I wouldn’t have been aware of the prize, and I may not have applied to Caius.”

Newstead is a link area school for Caius, as part of the .

Maya recalls the talk given by the SLO, including mention of the College family system – where students in second year mentor ‘sons’ and ‘daughters’ who arrive as freshers – and the essay prize.

She says: “They gave me £300 in cash and £300 in book tokens for my school. I bought a whole bunch of books for my school library and they all have my name in and say ‘winner of the �鶹Ů�� & Caius essay prize in 2018’ – that’s something I was particularly proud of.”

Now she enjoys helping prospective applicants.

She says: “I just felt I wanted to give something back and it was fun to do. Also when I was a fresher I’d get a lunch token for doing access work – free food!

“I find access work enjoyable because everyone’s enthusiastic about showing that Cambridge – perhaps contrary to stereotypes – is a fun place to be! And I feel so much gratitude to my College for all the opportunities it continues to give me. Seeing students impacted by Caius’s access work in the same way that I was makes me very happy.’’