Chris Raubenheimer
Diocesan College, 2002
MPhil Economics
Oriel College
Currently studying at Oxford
My name is Chris Raubenheimer and I am currently in the process of completing my final year at Oxford. I grew up in Cape Town, where I was fortunate enough to attend both a junior school and a high school where dedicated ‘schools' Rhodes Scholarships are available. This meant that I was aware of the scholarship from a fairly young age. I matriculated in 1997 and the following year I began my studies at the University of Cape Town where I studied business science with majors in finance and accounting.
During the final year of my degree I applied to the Western Cape and Bishops selection committees for a Rhodes Scholarship. This required that I get hold of a number of referees and also provide a CV and write down some reasons for my application. After some interviewing, I was fortunate enough to be awarded the Bishops scholarship. I then completed my degree in South Africa and did some part time research work before coming to Oxford in October 2002.
I was placed in Oriel College, which is one of the five oldest colleges, dating back to 1326 and in fact was the college of Cecil Rhodes himself. Nowadays the college is most well known for its strong rowing tradition and is academically very strong in history, law and the classics. I am reading for a masters degree in economics, which will be completed in only a few months time after a final set of exams and the completion of a thesis. Fortunately, there is plenty of opportunity to keep oneself busy outside of the lecture rooms as well. I have managed to play a number of sports for both my college and the University and have attended a number of very high-standard student theatre productions. I was also able to play a role in the running of my college's graduate life via a position on the ‘Middle Common Room' committee. Of course Europe is only a few hours away, so whenever possible I have tried to travel and so far have been to Belgium, Italy and Bulgaria and am planning a stop over in Malta in a month or so.
The opportunities for academic, cultural and social enrichment in the Oxford community really are boundless. I think that for me the most valuable part of my experience here has been the opportunity to meet graduates from such a diverse background of attitudes, religions, interests and nationalities. I am now able to count among my friends students from Britain, Greece, Croatia, Australia, Germany, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Botswana, Canada, Kenya, the USA, China, Austria and Thailand. None of these experiences would have been possible without the backing of the Rhodes Scholarship.