Becoming an Oxford Student: or, How Forgoing Sleep Sometimes Leads to Greatness

Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen! It’s been four full days since my last post. Why so long, you ask? The answer is simple. Tuesday, Wednesday, and much of Thursday looked an awful lot like this:

With the pressure of my first tutorial paper looming over me and the majority of my time spent in the library, the blog-worthy experiences weren’t exactly piling up. But fear not! I believe I now have a reasonable number of moments to share with you. Here’s the recap:

On Tuesday, I finally worked my way through the last of the biographical sources on the Bronte sisters that I could pull from Christ Church’s library. But because I’m one of those students and because I wanted my first paper to absolutely exude dedication, I dragged myself to the Bodleian Library (such a chore, I know) and spent the next six hours poring over hundreds of the original literary reviews for Wuthering Heights and Agnes Grey that came out immediately after their publication in 1848. I wanted to get a sense of how the public reacted to a set of novels that challenged the rigid social customs surrounding romance, religion and the role of women in Victorian society. The answer? Not well. Luckily, the sisters had the foresight to publish under the pseudonyms Ellis and Acton Bell and remained relatively unaffected by the public’s retaliation until their deaths just years later.

Inside the library. Obviously, I did not take this photo. I felt it would be rude to take pictures while the students were busy with their work. Ya know?

But anyway, back to the blog!

Wednesday marks the first day that I finally began to comprehend what it means to be an Oxford student. I woke up early to browse through a few last minute sources and to draft an outline for my paper. When the outline alone came to a whopping seven pages, I knew I was in for a fun day. The rest of the afternoon included working on my paper, attending my Shakespeare class, more work on my tutorial paper, taking a *fun* break to read for my Shakespeare class, eating and working on my tutorial paper simultaneously (I don’t have any time to waste here!), and, finally, continuing to write my tutorial paper while lying in bed until 5am when I decided to call it quits.

Yikes, just remembering that day exhausts me.

On Thursday, I could see the light at the end of the tunnel. (Or should I say chunnel?) I woke up at 7am (that’s right, after a restful two hours of sleep) to finish the last few paragraphs for my paper before heading out the door for my Shakespeare class. How do you function on such little sleep, you ask? I’m an English major. ‘Nuff said. After class, I went with a few students to a little café housed in one of Oxford’s oldest buildings. We’re talking older-than-America old.

The building in all of its glory. The café is located in the bottom right-hand corner.

Fun Fact: You should go to Pret a Manger if you're fancy enough to eat "posh" cheese...

When we finished ogling at the historic architecture, I rushed back to my flat to put the finishing touches on my paper and submitted it two hours before the deadline. There really is a first time for everything.

Because many of the MSU crew had papers due Thursday, we decided to designate that evening a no-work night and headed out in search of Oxford’s oldest pub, The Bear Inn, which was built in 1242. Nope, that’s not a mistake.

Like fine wine, I’ve discovered, pubs in Oxford only get more popular with age. They’re cozy and charming, and the ceilings reach a max height of six feet, which, I like to think, makes me look like a normal sized person.

My proudest moment of the night: finally trying a Pimm’s. Let me break this down. Apparently, not trying a Pimm’s in England is like not trying barbeque whilst in the South or not trying deep-dish pizza whilst in Chicago. People here like their Pimm’s.

My Pimm's. They put fruit AND vegetables in it!

But today was THE day. The day of my first official tutorial. The day that my writing skills and all of my hours of work on the first tutorial paper would be scrutinized by a professional. The day that my knowledge of the Bronte sisters would be called into question for sixty relentless minutes. I prepared myself for whatever was in store, be it greatness or embarrassment.

Naturally, I got to St. Anne's almost an hour early because that seemed logical to me at the time. No matter! I contented myself with exploring the campus, which is fairly modern for Oxford. When I say modern, I, of course, mean late 1800s.

St. Anne's Campus

I watched a mommy and daddy bird build a nest. This isn't a great picture, but use your imagination.

The building where I have my tutorials

Then the agonizing wait was over and ... I am absolutely overjoyed to report that the tutorial was a definite success!! Dr. Johnston told me that my paper was “nicely, clearly argued, with some sensitive and promising lines of enquiry.” (Although, she also informed me that I used the wrong form of the word “complement” several times…awkward) I could have melted right there in my Victorian-style arm chair. I’m not sure I can adequately convey what her approval meant to me, but I’ll tell you this: In that moment, I was positive that all of the hard work, the stress, the sleepless nights that I’ve seen during my college career and will see as I continue to immerse myself in the world of academia have been and will always be worth it. Studying English is what makes me happy, and I intend to do it to my full potential until it no longer makes me feel the way I felt today.

The rest of the tutorial went off without a hitch. I felt so privileged to be sitting in the office of an Oxford faculty member, exchanging our ideas about the Bronte sisters, their history and their novels. Unlike back home in the American school system, I felt as if we were learning together. It was a tremendous experience.

In my state of euphoria after leaving my tutorial, I embarked on another exploration mission around Oxford. I stopped by Blackwell’s to pick up some necessary books for my next tutorial paper, went to The Fudge Kitchen and bought a slice of dark chocolate and sea salt fudge… it’s all gone, and finally discovered the jewel that is Primark. (I exaggerate. It’s a department store with VERY good prices, and I needed to replace my black flats which I seemed to have walked to pieces).

Mmm...fudge...

For now, I’m in for a relaxing night with my good friends Jane Eyre and Villette. Tomorrow it’s off to Windsor Castle and the beginning of my Shakespeare paper!