I just completed my first week at Oxford University, St. Catherine’s College. One word I could use to describe it: Amazing. It has been so much fun and I have met amazing people who all seem so simple and normal but have the most developed thinking skills I have come across in years. I just completed Fresher’s Week, which was pretty much the ideal Fresher’s week I never had my freshman year. It was a week full of costume parties, performances, meetings, tours, dancing, bar tours, and bonding over drinks at the pub. Honestly, it’s been tough for someone who likes to do it all. Receiving on average 10 emails a day containing series of events presenting numerous opportunities for socializing and involvement, it is tempting to want to be up all night, meeting new people and have to wake up bright and early to meet more new people. I tried that lifestyle, but fell sick within 2 days and needless to say I backed out of the fast lane. On a more serious note, fresher’s week consisted of meeting with the Master, the Dean, tutors (professors) and other faculty that will assist me throughout my stay here

Incase you are unfamiliar with the Oxford University system, as I was up until very recently, I will give you a quick overview. The University is no one particular building. There is no “main campus” either. The university consists of 38 self-governing colleges across the city of Oxford. I personally think St. Catherine’s college is the best, however, if you are looking for older architecture and a traditional feel to things, Catz(as we call it) will not be the one for you, seeing as it is the most recently built college. I have a primary and secondary tutorial: my primary tutorial is Public International Law at Balliol College and my secondary tutorial is European Democracies at St. Hughes College. With my BOD (ID) card, I have access to almost all Oxford University resources. Individual college libraries, for instance. are exclusive to the members of that college. Once I week I meet with my primary tutor for an hour and once every two weeks, I meet with my secondary tutor for an hour. Each time we meet, I have an essay of about 2000-2500 words due and during the tutorial we are to discuss the paper, which serves as a means to an end as opposed to an end in of itself. I have not had any tutorials yet, so I cannot tell you exactly how they go, but I will be sure to inform you about them. And so you may be wondering, for all my critically thinking readers, what then do you do the rest of the week Joyce? Well I am about to tell you what I do throughout the week, or what I am expected to do. There are lectures offered at various colleges on various topics throughout the week that I am not required to attend, however, I am expected to attend in order to better understand the materials I am using for the essay topic I am tackling that week. Tutors have made it clear that they are not necessarily the ones giving the lectures, and neither are they keeping track of whether or not you attend any, so this is completely optional and up to the student. The lectures are similar to what we would call “classes” except they are run by someone different from the person grading your work. It seems however, that regular students are required to attend the lectures and take them very seriously. Besides those lectures, studying required readings in the library, and typing up my essay, I do not think much more is expected of me.

On to the fun stuff! Is St. Catz like Harry Potter? No. Are there other colleges like Harry Potter? Yes. I have not visited them yet, but I have every intention to. Each college seems to have it’s own vibe and I want to experience it in part before I leave. Another question you may have: have I met Emma Watson yet? No I have not. Apparently she is indeed here at a college I cannot disclose to you for confidentiality reasons. Apparently she is an active visiting student attending fresher’s events and such, but that is just word on the street, I have no evidence to back that up. And finally, if you were wondering about the tradition and such, yes we have to stand up in silence in the dinning hall when the master and other elders walk in. We also have to wait for the master to hit the gavel and for those on the high table to sit before we can sit and are served our 3-course meals. Unlike the University College, and other colleges, we do not have to say grace in Latin prior to meals; however, the master does utter a few words in the language before he slams the gavel down.

Those of you who know me know that I strongly believe in getting involved on campus, and honestly, I am having a harder time doing that here as both a visiting and single-term student. A lot of organizations require membership fees, which cover you for anywhere between a year and a life time, but this is not beneficial to me. Also, because there is not much of a point getting involved on a campus I will only be attending for roughly two months, I find myself getting highly involved with the athletic organizations, such as basketball and football (soccer). All in all, it has been great, it has been fun, it has been different. The architecture is different; the people are not at all as uptight as I assumed they would be. The British accent is very easy to pick up on, and in case you are wondering, Dominus Illuminatio Mea, means the Lord is My Light and it is our Oxford University motto.

**Pictures: I included several pictures in this post, of the various colleges so that you can see for yourself how each college has a different feel to it and you can also get a feel for the town itself. I ran around taking the pictures today and at some point lost track of which picture was of which college. Check out the university website for a more detailed take on things.**

Look forward to next week’s post-tutorial sessions/week II post!

Location: Oxford, England