From Uncertainty to Community: Reflections on the WHT Welcome Weekend
I found out I’d been awarded a WHT scholarship - and was officially going to Oxford - in the least dignified way possible: in the shower! Someone close to me, whom I had entrusted to make sure I didn’t miss any important messages, saw the offer before I did and called, ecstatic with the news.
Several months earlier, I had taken a massive leap of faith, one that led me into a period of serious apprehension. I found myself in a place of uncertainty — immensely hopeful one second, riddled with doubt the next. It was like being suspended mid-air: one foot lifted from the ground, and the other still searching for where to land.
Education gave me that landing ground.
Celebrations and preparations ensued, and before I knew it, I was finally at Oxford — at WHT’s Welcome Weekend. By this point, we had seen each other’s online profiles, and I was looking forward to the community we would create together. Still, I couldn’t help feeling anxious. Would I fit in? Did I belong? Did I really deserve to be there alongside them all? Those questions kept poking their ugly heads up, and I kept trying to whack them down one by one.
A group of 2025-26 WHT scholars during the Welcome Weekend
After the welcome speeches and introductions on our first day, we went straight to Moral Philosophy sessions. It’s funny, getting to know people’s values and worldviews before you’ve properly learned all their names. But it turned out to be just what I needed: no small talk, no pleasantries — tell me your thoughts on power! And so began our intensive four-day leadership programme, which proved to be just as fun as it was educational. Every session was a challenge, expecting us to reflect on ourselves and the world. Moral Philosophy challenged us to see nuances and dilemmas. We shared more than just vague thoughts and ideas; we shared lived experiences and alternative ways of seeing the world.
The Business Challenge exposed me to frameworks I had never known before. It taught me, in the most efficient sessions possible, how to approach problem-solving. Every occasion seemed to be teaching me something new. Beyond the actual learning material, our facilitators also served as excellent examples of how to teach: with curiosity, patience, and openness. Between breakfasts, lunches, and dinners, conversations with fellow scholars flowed easily, and I learned as much from them as from the programme itself; and felt grateful to have been selected along so many inspiring young leaders. The initial awkwardness of getting to know new people faded, and within those four days, everyone felt less like a group of strangers and more like old friends.
The Welcome Weekend ended with a dinner at Worcester College, an evening that was both humbling and energising. I was honoured to share a few words that night, standing before a room of people whose hard work and generosity had made this opportunity possible. I felt warmth and a sense that everyone there believed in us, in our ideas, and in what we might go on to do.
As the welcome weekend came to an end, I realised that the uncertainty I’d felt on day one had quietly faded away. In its place was something comforting—a community that already felt like home away from home. Oxford was just beginning, but I no longer felt like I was stepping into it alone.
Welcome Dinner at Worcester College, Oxford
