Life as an Oxonian

Perhaps blogging is not my strong suit because it appears that I have difficulty posting even once a week! My apologies. Instead of posting more about Italy, since it was almost a month ago, I think I'll skip to what life is like now as a regular, Oxford student.

  The Oxford year is divided up into three terms (similar to trimesters): Michaelmas (my current term), Hilary (after Christmas), and finally Trinity (after Easter). Each term is only 8 weeks long, but trust me, no one wants them to be any longer(:

    For those of you that aren't aware, Oxford (and Cambridge) are among the only universities left in the world that still utilize the tutorial system, aka. one-on-one student-teacher sessions. (Yikes!) Each student has two of these tutorials, each of which meets for 1-2 hrs a week and requires an essay. Before you go on to say, "Oh how easy!" let me tell you otherwise... Unlike American universities, where the teacher gathers the information, presents it to you in lecture, and then tests you on it later, an Oxford student basically performs all of these tasks in addition to being a student. Sometimes, if the tutor is nice, he or she will provide you with a booklist to answer your essay question. Others simply rely on you to find the right books and right information and make a cohesive essay. Thankfully, as a science major many of my books are textbooks, but for many of my English major friends their booklists each week can be 5-10 books long!!

    While it is extremely rigorous to have only three days to read all your sources and write an Oxford-worthy essay (my last one was 18 pages long...), it is also very rewarding. We go so in depth into our topics that our comprehension and knowledge-base expands dramatically each week. And when you have to format your ideas into an essay, by default they become ingrained into your memory. Being able to have a discussion with your very, very, very, very knowledgable tutor is also pretty fantastic(: My two tutorials are immunology (the study of the immune system) and the sociology of death and dying. (Between the two, my readings can get a bit morbid...)

      Besides the tutorial system, the other unique aspect of Oxford is that it is comprised of about 40 different colleges, each of whom "is vigorously independent of the other and guards their "secrets" jealously" (Our director keeps mentioning this exact phrase every time he sees us, so I just had to use it). Now, each college is not the size of Calvin or Azusa (otherwise they would run into some serious space issues) but there are still sizable. I am part of Christ Church, which is the most prestigious of the colleges. Its known primarily for two things: first, it is home to the dining hall from the Harry Potter films, and second, it is the residence of the most stuck up people in town(:  I have yet to make any good connections with any of them; but thankfully the other students are much more friendly!

                              Here is a view from inside the grounds.

And inside the Great Hall (Sorry, it was dark because we were having formal dinner)