Blog #6

My Experience at Oxford (part 3)

June 9, 2022 By Ruth Misori

I arrived at Corpus Christi College, which is where I am supposed to check in, have class, and eat my meals for the duration of my stay. It is a very old yet one of the most important landmarks as it’s the smallest college (Oxford University has many colleges) and is best known for academic excellence. As I was checking in, I met other cool people from other parts of the U.S, as well as people from China, India, and of course, Europe. The majority of the European participants were either Greek or English. I then contacted my parents to let them know that I arrived to Oxford safely and that I was already having a wonderful time. After I gave the program directors my information, I had to give them my passport, as well as the other students who had checked in to ensure that none of us lose it, which I think was a wise idea. Once the program is over, we could retrieve our passports before heading to the airport. I received my schedule which listed classes, excursions, and other fun activities that I would be engaging in during my stay. I couldn’t wait to explore the campus, but first things first, there was orientation, which was mandatory for everyone. Afterwards, there was dinner in Corpus Christi’s famous dining halls.

Meals were the best part of the program because you had the chance to meet a lot of students from all over the world and discuss various topics with them such as how they heard about this program, what they want to do in the future, and common interests. I’m going to be really honest and say that initially I wasn’t excited about eating British meals because they don’t look that appealing. However one day I was served a traditional English breakfast including baked beans, pork, eggs, sausage, and toast. I actually enjoyed it and savored every bite. Most of the meals consisted of Italian or German dishes (Lots of potatoes) and I enjoyed every meal. They even had American cereal for breakfast such as frosted flakes, much to my glee. Later that same day at dinner, I met even more cool people from Malaysia, though I specifically remember encountering Ariel and Isabelle, who were actually here on a school trip so we were able to hang out for the majority of the trip after we finished our morning classes.

The UK uses military time, which is 24 hours around the clock, instead of a 12-hour clock, so I had to get use to remembering that activities start at 15:00, not 3:00 pm, or that dinner begins at 17:30, not 5:30. Thankfully, there’s an app for that so I don’t have to worry about being confused when I could just look it up, or even google it. I actually stayed at a nearby dormitory that was 2 minutes away from Corpus Christi College, which was called Magpie Lane. Magpie is a modernized dorm, so it’s a little nicer than the older dorms in the sense that I may have more access to things I may need. However, I wouldn’t mind staying in the older dorms, it’s just really hot and you have to take a lot of steps back and forth, so that may not be everyone’s cup of tea. I had my own room so I didn’t have roommates. There were individuals who did have roommates but I think the housing process was chosen randomly. I believe I stayed on the second floor of the three-story building. It was very small but comfy and it even had a sink and a small fireplace. I also got a glimpse of one of the historical buildings from my window and woke up to the sound of church bells daily. ahh, how soothing and refreshing.

The next day, I woke up and got ready for my first day of class. I didn’t realize how cold it was in the mornings so I brought my jacket. The afternoons are the exact opposite. It’s like a sauna. I ate breakfast and went to the classroom at Corpus Christi College. The first day was mostly icebreakers and an introduction of the psychology major, whereas the following days, we were given reading assignments such as long articles about cognitive psychology, mental ailments, biopsychology, and clinical psychology. It was a small class which consisted of maybe seven or eight students but I preferred it that way because everyone could have a chance to voice his or her opinions as opposed to a big class of say, 30 students. The bigger the class, the more intimidating it can be feel, sometimes. But it’s nothing personal, it’s just our perceptions. Each day, our instructor taught for two hours and then the last hour a different speaker would come in and tell us about their specific field. For instance, Monday was about biopsychology, so the instructor would have someone majoring in biopsychology to speak to us about what they do and what to expect in that field of study. Unfortunately, jet lag kinda kicked in during the first hour of class every day, so I was trying my best not to fall asleep since the UK is 6 hours ahead of the US. Thankfully, I was successful in my attempts of not falling asleep from jet lag, and I was able to learn so much.

One day our instructor even took us out to a local coffee shop to help us with our jet lag, which was so sweet of her, and we we able to communicate more with each other in the program. My favorite day was Thursday since that’s when a clinical psychology student came in to speak to us, so you can imagine I was paying very close attention to her presentation. I even remembered her name: Poppy. Poppy showed us a video about schizophrenia and discussed the causes and treatments which are used for schizophrenics. She even went into further details about other mental illnesses. I thought it was super cool and made sure to take notes, which I did daily, anyway, but I took the most notes on Thursday since I have a strong interest in clinical psychology.

Now, off to the excursions. Everyday after classes ended at noon, I would get something to eat with my new friends and we would just do whatever we wanted, and we had a lot of fun. We also took it upon ourselves to sign up for activities that the school is offering such as fencing, punting, campus tours, and even castles. I was even lucky enough to go to a Shakespeare play. I was able to do three of the six activities that I’ve mentioned which were campus tours, Shakespeare play, and fencing. The activities that I signed up for were on a first-come first-serve basis so that’s why I wasn’t able to do all of them, but I enjoyed myself nonetheless. Professor James Basker gave us the tours and also did a hour lecture on the history of slavery in England, since England is very known for its previous slave captivity in the 1600’s. He even handed out articles about it, which I ultimately gave to my history teacher to display to her class.

On the last day before my departure, we had a fancy goodbye dinner, so we were able to dress up and have one final gathering with all of the other students before we go our separate ways. Some were staying for another week or two more weeks, but me and the majority of my friends were headed home the next day. I wasn’t able to see the entire campus because its so huge, but I saw the main buildings such as the University of St Mary church, Radcliff library, Corpus Christi College, Jesus and Exeter’s college. Saying goodbye was the hardest part but the good news is that I made life-long connections with international students, which is very important in terms of networking. After all, it’s not what you know, but who you know, and if people like you then many doors of opportunities could open up for you.

Departure day came and I got up early so I could prepare for the longest flight of my life. The flight from London to Dallas Fort-worth airport was about 9 hours. Upon departure, I was assigned an uber ride along with two other students and a chaperone who were departing around the same time as me, but to different countries. We were driven to three different terminals because Heathrow was just that big. Once again, I was flying with American so once I got to terminal 3 I was able to quickly check in and wait for my flight. This time I didn’t get a window seat as I was nice enough to switch seats with an elderly man so he could be near his wife. Worst Decision Ever! I say that because he was seated directly in the middle of the plane. International flights tend to have larger aircrafts so the cabins were designed in the form of three seats on both the left and right sides and then four seats in the middle. I sat in the middle, which I hate because I can’t see anything and I’m more uncomfortable since I can’t lean sideways and sleep like I normally would. Thankfully because I’m slender, I didn’t have to worry about taking both armrests from my neighboring passengers. When the flight took off, there was a little turbulence, so that was fun. That was the most uneventful flight as I had really bad neck pain afterwards.

Once I landed in Dallas, I proceeded to go through customs, which turned out to be a much better experience than in London. though, I did enjoy Heathrow upon leaving, since it was clean and organized, and waiting didn’t take too long. 40 minutes after I got to my terminal, the desk attendant announced on the intercom that my terminal was changed all the way across the other side. So I had to dash to the train to get to the terminal. 20 minutes after I was at the other terminal, the desk attendant announced that the flight to my home city were cancelled. Are you kidding me? I dialed my parents’ number to let them know that my flight was cancelled. “What? it’s cancelled? try to ask if you can get on another flight home, you’re still a small child!” Dad exclaimed. “Ok, I’ll try.” I approached the desk attendant and asked if there were other flights to my home city. Thankfully, there were and I was booked on the next flight back to my home city. Thank God otherwise I would have been stranded here! I proceed to take the train to another terminal. and await my flight. That took more than 5 hours so I was very tired and jet lagged. The desk attendant finally announced my flight’s departure so I was able to board and came home approximately at 12 something in the morning. Now that I made of all these memories, I was ready to rest. Before my friends and I left, we were able to exchange numbers and befriend each other on social media, which was nice. So overall, I would rate my Oxford experience a 10/10.