This Easter, I decided to stay in college (Christ Church) over the vac (vacation - we get a 6 week vacation at Easter and Christmas, and a 3 month long vacation over the Summer). Whilst here, I decided to fill my time up in as many ways as possible!
The majority of colleges are supportive of students who wish to stay over the vac, and will be able to offer them the option to stay in college, although they may have to move out of their own room to another part of college, such as an annex, as the college may offer some rooms out to tourists, or, more usually, conference goers. When I stayed over the Christmas Vac, I had to move out to one of my college's annexes, as my room in college needed to be used for students up for interviews. This wasn't a problem, though, as the annex I had to move out to was directly across the road. For the Easter Vac, I got to stay in my room for the duration of the vac, although there were conference attendees staying in the rooms around me. There was also a gazebo set up outside the lecture theatre outside my room for part of the vac, but this also wasn't a problem.
Tours & Access
One of the main things I did over the vac to keep busy was to give some tours in college. During term time, I'd been to 'Student Ambassador Training', where we got told what to say / what not to say on tours, and when I first started as a Student Ambassador for college, I got given an Access jumper as stash to wear on the tours! These tours are part of the college's Access Programme, and so are aimed at school-aged people who are thinking about coming to Oxford, or who even just want to see what it's like. Over the course of the vac, I did a fair few tours, and met some really lovely people! There were groups of all sizes, ranging from offer holders coming as individuals, to year 12s / 11s on school trips, to students up for study days, such as a study day for Biochem, to international students, including IB and A-Level students.
I also went to Cambridge for the day as part of the Oxford contingent for the Oxbridge Classics Open Day, which was this year held in Cambridge. Whilst in Cambridge, I got to visit their Cast Gallery, which was really good and full, and lit up beautifully in the sun!
Be sure to look into the tours run by individual colleges, during the vac, as they are a great way to find out more about Oxford life!