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When Ewan Williams (Natural Sciences 2022) takes school pupils, prospective applicants or visitors on tours of ����Ӱҵ College, he lingers longer than most other tour guides at the Stephen Hawking Memorial. 

It could be because Ewan, who is in his Master’s year specialising in astrophysics, and Professor Stephen Hawking, a cosmologist and a Fellow of Caius for 52 years until his death in 2018, would have had plenty to discuss. 

The memorial reads: ‘Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet’. The fact it is a flagstone embedded in a path in Caius Court shows Hawking’s sense of humour, but the message is clear and one Ewan shares and implores others to do likewise.

“As soon as I joined Caius, I wanted to do outreach,” Ewan says. “I wanted to talk to people to say that no matter if you go to Cambridge or not, at this age – Year 10 or Year 12 – there are so many little steps you can take towards what might make a big difference in the future.

“My parents and my four older siblings didn’t go to university. None of my schoolfriends had academic ambitions. But everyone was supportive. My parents said ‘If this is what you want to do, find out what you need to do to go for it, and we’ll support you’.”

Ewan was a high-achiever at Belgrave High School in Tamworth from Year 7 to 11, but, although doing well in his GCSEs in 2019, knew he could have performed better. He moved to Bishop Vesey’s Grammar School in Sutton Coldfield for sixth form, and acknowledges benefitting from being at an academic school. Ewan showed the maturity and diligence to work towards his goals. 

“I knew if I wanted to make this (Cambridge) a reality I needed to put quite a lot of work in and more discipline into my routine,” he says.

“When Covid happened, because I’d had this epiphany before that I wasn’t going to let anything risk these later goals – of reaching my potential, whatever that was – I was ready. I spent March to August continuing to study during Covid. 

“I do have a good home life and I’m fortunate to have been able to just work at my desk. It was blissful. When I came back in Year 13, I’d done so much work fearing not reaching that potential, I came back ahead of the curve and I was able to set other things in place. That really paid off and I got to come here.”

For Ewan, applying to the University of Cambridge was not about proving he was smart enough. He was attracted by the opportunities presented by the course.

He adds: “I looked into courses elsewhere and I just thought this course was so brilliantly broad. The first year you do a maths course, then everything else is up for choice no matter what you’ve done at A-Level. You could do Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Chemistry A-Levels and come in to do Physical Natural Sciences, but you could come and do a course on biology of cells or physiology and open a whole new window which might be a new passion or help you later on. I like to find things out and the broader I keep it the more engaged I feel.”

He was inspired by a recent talk by a physicist talking about biological phenomenon, modelling movements and behaviours of animals using robots.

Ewan intends to keep his options open and intends to apply for a PhD, but not until he has completed his Master’s and taken a break. 

He thoroughly enjoys showing others Caius and has advice to anyone in the application process, or considering applying in future: do not try to game the system, just be passionate about your subject.

“Ignore any numbers you see – in terms of how many people apply for a college or to a subject,” he says. “You will have a much better shot at getting in if it’s something you genuinely want to do and can sustain an interest in.

“Passions and interests start so young. Most people can look at themselves and think of the one thread that combines everything they want to do. There might not be a course at Cambridge or Oxford for that; if there is you should aim for it.”