What a semester it has been.

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When thinking about study abroad programs about a year ago, Oxford was not even on my mind. I wanted to study somewhere non-English and more “exotic.” In particular, I wanted to become fluent in Spanish. I considered Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Costa Rica, and Spain, and later settled on Spain. I’d never been to Europe and had heard how easy it is to travel between countries. Then my dad suggested I apply to Oxford. Why not attend one of the best institutions in the world?

I immediately rejected the suggestion—my goal was to improve my Spanish, not gain an academically rigorous education at a top-ranked institution. On second thought, I decided to apply. My GPA didn’t even meet the requirement but I thought I would give it a shot anyway.

When I found out I got accepted to St Catherine’s College in January 2017, I decided it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. Everything about Oxford appealed to me: the one-on-one tutorial system (for one, I would be able to ask any questions I wanted and focus the discussion on what I was most interested in), the town’s fascinating history, the university’s unique traditions.

I reflected on my study abroad goals:

• Gain a greater understanding of different cultures and get to know people from different cultures
• Study economics from an international perspective
• Experience something new: try new things and see new places
• Meet guys (I admit, after two years at a women’s college, I needed a change)

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Looking back, I can say that for the most part, my study abroad goals were fulfilled. Oxford turned out to be just how I imagined it would be. 

Oxford is truly a magical place to explore. But even visiting as a tourist wouldn’t be the same as being a student. When I think of Oxford, I think of old-fashioned libraries with musty-smelling books where I could sit and read for days. I think of the cobblestone streets lined with historic buildings, colleges and modern shops. I’ve walked countless times through Holywell St, the street with the light pastel-colored buildings, and Cornmarket Street, the always lively street lined with cafés, fast food restaurants like the Asian-inspired Itsu, mini grocery stores like Sainsbury’s, and people playing music with their guitar cases open for tips. And each time I am fascinated by the architecture and atmosphere as if seeing it for the first time.

Oxford can be overwhelming. It is no doubt stressful at times. Still, coming to a place where most pubs are older than my country, where Einstein once gave a lecture on relativity, where Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) taught maths at Christ Church (but was also a well-known photographer), and where scenes of Harry Potter were inspired and filmed, there is so much history to be discovered and inspired by. 

When I think of Oxford, I imagine exploring the town and finding new alleyways and adventures. Memories of students on bicycles, hanging out at the pub with the tennis team, late night trips to Hassan’s for gyros or G&D’s for dimebar crunch ice cream, Oxford Union debates, watching Love Always, rowing on the Thames, and taking silly pictures in the photo booth at the last Catz Entz come to mind. I remember noticing the red leaves and remembering it was fall, the day I woke up to the quad lawn covered in frost, and the afternoon the sky turned an eerie peach color and looked like a Snapchat filter had been placed over it because of the hurricane in Ireland. I can still clearly remember my first two nights at Catz—my first pub night, and meeting new friends at Turf Tavern, the infamous pub “where Bill Clinton supposedly did not inhale.”

Learn

While most of my study abroad friends were traveling around Europe, I stayed on campus for almost the entire two months of term, only leaving a few times for a day trip to London and a weekend in Wales. Many visiting students made time for a weekend or half-week trip to another country, but I didn’t plan ahead or find the time to do so. But I have no regrets. The libraries of Oxford were wonders of their own, whether in the Old Bodleian library, the circular Radcliffe Library, or the Catz library.

The one-on-one tutorials were a new experience, but one which I enjoyed immensely. As an economics major at Wellesley, the only courses I had taken so far were entirely problem-set and exam based, and now all of a sudden I would be writing 2 essays a week for 8 weeks, which would then be critiqued and discussed with a tutor for an hour. But this is what I wanted. Before coming to Oxford, I didn’t particularly enjoy writing essays and much preferred to do problem sets and take exams. Here I quickly came to, if not love, at least appreciate and become more comfortable with reading and synthesizing academic literature—in a period of days rather than weeks. I spent entire days burying myself in stacks of books in the Social Science or Catz library, sometimes only leaving to go to the dining hall or tennis practice. My professors challenged me and encouraged me to learn the material in great depth by looking at the topics in different ways. They also gave me the freedom to explore books and topics that really interested me. I am now more confident about my critical reading, writing, and argumentative skills. Lectures were optional for visiting students; I attended the ones I found interesting (and had time for). They were held in large lecture halls or smaller classrooms mostly in the Examination Schools, where the students would take exams in their gowns (it helps that visiting students don’t have exams). And I couldn’t help but be a little in awe (or intimidated) when I learned that the author of one of the books I cited in my essay was my tutor’s professor or colleague.

But the tutorials were only a fraction of my education at Oxford. In fact, I would say most of the learning took place outside the classroom. St Catz is especially known for being a friendly college and the most welcoming one for visiting students, and it wasn’t hard to see why. The students I met and got to know were incredibly smart, friendly, humble, passionate, diverse, and adventurous. Everyone had their own perspective and story. Whether over sushi at the quaint Japanese restaurant on Holywell St, formal hall in college, or a pint of Catztail at the Catz party (Entz), there were always great conversations to be had. I met British and international students alike, from Germany and Bulgaria to Hong Kong and China, and of course many from the States, who were equally wonderful to spend time with. So while I didn’t become fluent in a foreign language, my experience did not disappoint in learning about other countries and other cultures, and even learning about my own.

Eat

If there is one thing I’m going to miss most about Oxford, it would be the meals. I soon realized that meals were just as much for exchanging ideas and conversation as for eating. I often sat with different people and met new people while waiting in line for food. No one was going on their phones or doing homework, though this may have been partly due to meals being served in 45-min segments, so they kick you out ask you to leave when they’re cleaning up (this has happened to me many times because we were having a really interesting conversation/debate). I ate almost every meal in the canteen (aka dining hall):

• Breakfast: Selection from a full English breakfast—sausage, bacon, baked beans, egg (poached, scrambled, or boiled and served in a little round dish), hash brown, tomato, mushroom, porridge, fruit, tea and coffee.
• Lunch: Cafeteria style, with a few main hot dishes. Lots of peas (in fact, I was quite surprised when a meal didn’t have peas), potatoes (boiled and round, or fried as chips), shepherd’s pies, classic fish and chips. A deli and salad bar also exists, though I often forget that it does.
• Scaf: Cafeteria style dinner, paid per item. Useful as a quick dinner (though several times I ended up staying for an hour anyway) or if the menu for hall doesn’t take your fancy. Don’t ask me why it’s called scaf; I have no idea.
• Hall: Formal hall, but unlike other colleges, Catz is less formal (for one, we don’t have to wear gowns). We are served a 3-course meal (appetizer, entree, and dessert). Generally a good (and always filling) meal. Though we had one fancy dinner with formal dress code—Catz Night. That was a really fun night.

Eating at other college halls (Merton, St. John’s, Magdalen) was also quite the experience, especially since they are smaller, more intimate, and more formal than hall at Catz. My roommate Sophia adopted the goal of trying to get invited to as many other college halls as she could (which you achieve by befriending people from other colleges and asking to be invited to their hall), and it became contagious—I became fixated on this goal too, though I don’t think I came close to her number.

Play

Before arriving I wondered how the campus could fit 38 colleges; surely it couldn’t be so large! I found it to be similar to Boston in this regard (I know, Boston doesn’t just have two universities, I was surprised when I found out too)—smaller colleges were snug cozily into the city center and larger ones like St Catz were a short walk away from the hustle and bustle.

It was not until about 4 weeks into the 8-week term that I realized I had been so stressed with trying to get 2 essays done each week (plus socializing, summer internship apps, lectures, tennis, etc.) that I hadn’t even had time to explore Oxford, much less other parts of Europe. So the last 4 weeks (but mainly the last 2) I carved out time and scheduled non-study activities to make sure I actually did them.

Some of the the highlights of my term:

• Going clubbing (for the experience—I quickly realized clubbing wasn’t my thing, but I’m glad I tried it)
• Observing crew dates (when a girls sports team has dinner with a guys sports team): the most interesting and unique traditions ever…pennies, shoes, and sconces…all centered around a bottle of wine
• Joining the tennis team (for the friends I made, the fun dinners and movie nights, and most importantly (?), the exercise)
• Punting on the River Cherwell (it’s a lot harder than it looks)
• Caving in Wales (you get your hands dirty (literally) and it’s scary and a little claustrophobic at times, but it was probably the most rewarding thing I did)
• Exploring the town of Bath (highly recommend; it’s a nice little town with a lot of  history, holiday spirit, and of course the ancient Roman baths)
• Exploring Oxford, whether at the Christmas Market, Ashmolean Museum, Christ Church, Primark (large department store selling dorm items and clothes for strapped-for-cash college students), or just walking around
• Mulled wine and minced pies (served 3x one day) in celebration of Oxmas
• Driving around Scotland with other American visiting students after term

A few of the many things I’ve learned:

• How to pack light (while Wellesley certainly taught me to pack light, it didn’t require me to survive a month on a carry-on)
• How to write an essay within 24 hours
• How to get a recruiter’s attention (send the application from your Oxford email—unfortunately I didn’t do this because the email account expires soon after term)
• Don’t be afraid to start talking to strangers; you never know who you’re going to meet and whether that person will become a close friend

I can confidently say that I had the time of my life at Oxford. If I had the opportunity to come back I would, without a doubt. I was feeling nostalgic about these wonderful memories while I was still there enjoying them. I am so grateful for the educational experience, the amazing people I met, the adventures, and the confidence Oxford gave me to tackle new challenges and explore new paths. And the inspiration to read more books.  

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If you ever find yourself at Oxford, here is my advice for making the most of your experience:

• Go to crew dates and as many social events as you can
• Eat in hall (£4 for a 3-course meal? Not bad.)
• Get to know the people in your staircase. The British are some of the most funny, interesting, and sarcastic people I’ve ever met
• Introduce yourself to the scout (person who cleans our room every week)—the one in my staircase was one of the most kind-hearted people I met at Catz
• Get involved in things that are unique to Oxford/England. I am so glad I spent one of my Saturday mornings rowing instead of writing my essay; there is always the excuse that you have a lot of work because there is always more work to do, but I knew I would regret it if I didn’t do it
• Don’t be afraid to travel alone, i.e. don’t let traveling solo stop you from going somewhere you really want to go
• Book flights/trains early for cheapest prices (3 weeks in advance)—which would also serve me well by forcing me to make time for trips and get work done faster
• Come to Oxford in the summertime: you could play croquet on the college lawn and tennis on grass courts and watch Wimbledon and go punting! I will have to come back
• No expectations: Let it surprise you! I am happy to say my study abroad experience was everything I expected and hoped it would be.  

While I still have a bucket list of places to visit in London and Europe, I wouldn’t give up any of my experiences and adventures at Oxford. If anything, I’ve left Europe with an even stronger desire to travel and see more of the world. I will say farewell to Europe not with a goodbye, but rather, a see you later !