Candyfloss girl who conquered Cambridge: The student from a fairground family who earned a first-class degree despite never completing a full year at school Zoah Hedges-Stocks graduated from women-only Murray Edwards College with a history degree Student, 23, is first person from her traveller family to go to university Hilariously, people [at Cambridge] seemed to find me rather exotic,' she said By Olga Craig With an impressive double-barrelled surname, a spell at Eton, an engaging self-assured manner and a First-Class degree from Cambridge University, Zoah Hedges-Stocks could have stepped straight from the pages of Burke's Peerage. At just 23, she is on the threshold of a glittering media career and has friends from some of Britain's grandest families. Which makes it all the more remarkable that one of her earliest memories is of being a toddler, standing on top of an upturned milk crate, barely able to see over her mother's fairground stall, yelling: "Candy floss, candy floss. Who wants to buy my candy floss? A pound a bag. Zoah Hedges-Stocks, who comes from a traveller family, has just graduated from the women-only Murray Edwards College, Cambridge, with a history degree The 23-year-old was the first person from her family - who for more than 200 years have criss-crossed Britain in caravans selling their wares at fairs and markets - to go to university Young Zoah, left, used to spend summers touring from town to town helping run her grandparents' dodgem cars ride and penny arcades Yesterday Zoah - who comes from a traveller family - graduated from the women-only Murray Edwards College, Cambridge, with a history degree. She was the first person from her family - who for more than 200 years have criss-crossed Britain in caravans selling their wares at fairs and markets - to go to university. She used to spend summers touring from town to town helping run her grandparents" dodgem cars ride and penny arcades. "It sounds funny, I know, from candy floss seller to Cambridge," Zoah says, as she packs her belongings into boxes before leaving the university for the final time. "But to be honest I've genuinely never encountered any snobbery or had anyone be derogatory about my background at university," she shrugs. "At school in Leicester, where we spend the winter on a travellers" camp site, I had a bit of gentle teasing in the playground. But when I explained my family aren't Romany gypsies, but travelling showmen, the other kids were fascinated. A friend, noticing Zoah's sharpness (above, aged five), suggested she should go to a Montessori pre-school. She thrived and then excelled at the local primary and secondary school she attended when the family 'wintered' at a travellers' site at Leiston in Suffolk To her surprise, Zoah has found that coming from an unusual culture actually helped her settle into the selective world of elite academia. "At Cambridge the worst thing you can be is boring or bland," she explains. Hilariously, people seemed to find me rather exotic. They loved the fact that I come from a family with a 200-year tradition of being travelling showmen, that my granny and grandad ran fairground dodgems. And that I spent my childhood travelling in a caravan to sell candy floss at fairs. Some fairs were in impoverished towns, others in a posh yacht club. I learned to mix with all sorts. And that definitely helped when I got to Cambridge. "I once had a date with a chap from a very privileged background and when we sat down in the restaurant he said, "So, I've Googled you. You're from a fairground. That's jolly interesting." " Zoah's mother Bernice and her father Paul both left school at 16 and just a few generations ago her ancestors were illiterate. Zoah (above, aged 17) was born in Ipswich hospital in Suffolk when her mother Bernice (left) was little more than 24 weeks pregnant. She was so tiny she barely survived and the backs of her hands are still scarred because she had so many drips inserted as a baby "Education just isn't considered overly important in my culture," Zoah says. I worked on the stall from when I was very young - I was so little that I had to stand on an upturned milk crate - and Mum taught me how to work out the change, so I learned to count very young. Traveller children are expected to help on their families" stalls from about five. By the time they are ten most will be running their own penny arcades. She was known at all the fairs as the chatterbox. She talked to everyone' - Her mother, Bernice The families use a loophole in the law, which allows those who travel for business to avoid being prosecuted under the truancy laws, to take their children out of school during term time. "It can be tiring and the hours are long," Zoah admits. And certainly no one is going to make their fortune at the fairgrounds. But for our families it's a way of life that we've followed for generations. It isn't just Zoah's background that makes her academic achievements so astonishing. She was born in Ipswich hospital in Suffolk when Bernice was little more than 24 weeks pregnant. Zoah was so tiny she barely survived and the backs of her hands are still scarred because she had so many drips inserted as a baby. Bernice was told her newborn would have life long health problems and brain damage was predicted because of her early arrival. But Zoah confounded expectations. Bernice says: "As a toddler she walked and talked very early and kept up a constant barrage of inquisitive questions. She talked to everyone. When she was seven (above), Zoah and her mother, who tour in their 26ft, one bedroom Transit van - the interior of which includes a full length bath - were staying at Framlingham in Suffolk A friend, noticing Zoah's sharpness, suggested she should go to a Montessori pre-school. She thrived and then excelled at the local primary and secondary school she attended when the family "wintered" at a travellers" site at Leiston in Suffolk. She missed the summer term every year for the travelling season but the itinerant lifestyle soon began to ignite Zoah's imagination. When she was seven she and her mother, who tour in their 26ft, one bedroom Transit van - the interior of which includes a full length bath - were staying at Framlingham in Suffolk. 'Since Cambridge was the only university I'd heard of, Cambridge it was going to be' Bernice used to play with the children of the man who looked after the magnificent castle in the town when she was a child and Zoah followed in her footsteps. Imagine having a castle as your playground. It was magical," says Zoah. She was enchanted with the 12th Century Norman castle and fascinated with its rich history. Her interest in history was further fuelled by her story-telling grandfather. "Travelling showman families have a long tradition of oral history and my grandad used to sit me on his knee and tell me family tales," she recalls. She decided very early on that she wanted to study history at university. "And since Cambridge was the only university I'd heard of, Cambridge it was going to be," she laughs. She thrived at secondary school too. "I did go through an enfant terrible stage," she admits. I dyed my hair violet, painted my nails black. Basically I think I got a bit cocky, like I was too cool for school. But no one teased me for being from an itinerant family. I got more stick for being bookish than for that. Even when she was studying hard, Zoah never stopped helping out on her mother's stall. "People are always asking me how to make candy floss," she laughs. Er, basically, you just switch on the machine. There is a bit of a knack to twirling the stick though! With a huge extended family, Zoah loved the constant travelling. Because we always went back to the same fairs and markets we got to make so many friends, so it was like a never ending summer holiday. Hard work though," she recalls. Then, when she was 18, Zoah was offered an 11-day spell at Eton Summer School, a scheme which encourages poorer children from state schools with Oxbridge potential to consider the top universities. "I was bewitched by it," she recalls. It was like Disneyland for children who want to learn. There were 30 of us state-school kids in these amazing surroundings. The day one of the masters told us that some of the benches we were sitting on were carved from flotsam from the Spanish Armada it sent a shiver up my spine. I just knew I had to learn history at Cambridge. Because, after Harvard, it's the best in the world. Not surprisingly her travelling community were bewildered. "They didn't think it was uppity or anything like that," Zoah explains. They just couldn't really see a reason why. And some thought I couldn't apply because it was for posh people. Her father (also a fairground worker, although he and Bernice never married) was happy for her to make up her own mind. But Bernice was keen for her daughter to have a broader existence than her own. "Don't get me wrong," says Bernice. A travelling childhood is magical. But I knew Zoah could achieve so much in life and I wanted her to have lots of opportunities. The pressure Zoah put upon herself, in terms of academic achievement did, however, take their toll. At 17 she was diagnosed with depression and had to take a year out of school. "It was frightening," she says. I never felt suicidal or anything like that but I had a dreadful feeling of just nothing mattering. Of not caring what happened. Luckily I had super teachers and with a course of antibiotics and counselling, I got over it. But the fear of it returning stays with me. Once she had recovered, Zoah worked hard for her A-levels in English, History and Philosophy, and to prepare for university. Still determined to get to Cambridge, she knew her personal statement and her interview were vitally important. "I've never hidden my background, I'm proud of it," she says. So I mentioned it straight away in my statement. Its opening words read, "Until my AS year I had never completed a full year at school. I am a member of the travelling showman community and several months a year I was working and travelling with my family's fair."" Her biggest fear, though, was her Cambridge interview. "I was petrified," she says. I was convinced I would be interviewed by a dusty, bearded don wearing tweeds. In fact he was a young chap who kicked off the interview by talking about my fetish for dying my hair. He put me at ease immediately. And when I told him I had been fixated by the Horrible Histories books he laughed and said so had he. Zoah needed three A-grades. She got As in English and History but missed the grade in Philosophy by 11 marks. An anxious phone call to Cambridge followed and she was told she had to wait 24 hours to find out if she would still get a place. It was utterly nerve-racking. When the call came and the lady said, "I am happy to offer you a place" my mum almost deafened me by yelling yes, yes, yes! The lady congratulated me - and told me to congratulate my mum too! Mother and daughter have a close bond and Zoah's leaving home was a wrench for both. "We missed each other," Zoah admits. But one other reason I applied to Cambridge was that I had read it was a very close community. And that's true. In an odd way it mirrors my old life. There is very much a team spirit, a feeling of belonging to a community, just as there is in the travelling world. Though Zoah enjoyed both the social and academic side of university, in her third year she developed chronic fatigue syndrome and missed a year's study. "That was hard," she says. But it was when Cambridge came into its own. Everyone, from the porters to the dons, take an interest in your welfare. You have a big, extended family looking out for you. Though she continued to study during her year off, Zoah was worried that her work had suffered and that her dream of a Cambridge degree was disappearing. It was a bleak time. I had been so enthralled by my degree course. I studied 18th Century English history and early American history, but now all I could think was that I would never achieve my ambition. So I was absolutely stunned when I got a First. In fact I was on a train and a friend phoned to tell me. I just yelled, ""F*** off, I didn't."" Then I had to go around the whole carriage apologising for my appalling language. I was mortified. Yesterday Zoah graduated from her college with her mother at her side. Their close bond has more than survived their separation and though Zoah intends to begin work in the media in the New Year, she still hopes to fit in time travelling to the fairs. Zoah's education hasn't created a gulf between us, Bernice says. I am learning from her all the time and her passion for history has inspired me to read more too. Zoah admits there is little likelihood that she will ever return full time to the travelling showman life. But, should her media career not pan out, she does have a Plan B. "Some relatives have offered me a burger stall. I guess I could be quite happy travelling the country and taking it to the fairs. It's an option," she grins.