Rams in Oxford 2021

  By Sam Nolledo This past weekend I had the wonderful opportunity to go to the city of Dover and see Dover Castle. As a budding medieval historian the opportunity to see such a famous castle was not one that I could miss. The experience itself is wonderful. After entering the castle grounds you are able to hike throughout the entire castle, both the keep and the grounds near the outer walls. Nearly all the buildings are in great condition and the exhibitions inside the castle were excellent, leading one to believe that they have stepped back in time. One of the greatest advantages of this trip is the fact that us students are able to embark on these individual journeys. The United Kingdom offers so many opportunities for expanding our education through extracurricular experiences such as going to museums or national heritage sites such as Dover Castle. Having such an experience makes this study abroad trip so much better.

     Oxford is vibrating with creative inspiration on nearly every turn. It is not hard to digest the legendary writers that walked these same streets, glanced at something or someone, and thought,  wow, this would make a great story.  This realization is found every time we take a trip somewhere. Recently, this was the Oxford Botanical Gardens, where The Prince of Wales just planted J.R.R Tolkien's favorite tree. There's also the statue of the Cheshire Cat from  Alice in Wonderland,  planted peacefully in a tree gazing right back at its onlooker. These tangible items linger as a wonderfully haunting reminder of how impactful literature has been in our bustling world. For my tutorial here at Oxford, I am writing poetry. While I have been writing for a while, I've never been able to write so quickly. Every play we read, every place we visit, gives me a new idea. We recently read and watched  Romeo and Juliet ( at Shakespeare's Globe). Fittingly, my next poem is titled &

On Saturday, June 26th, the class took a field trip to Bath to see the Roman baths! The baths were very ancient, and it was cool to see how they were restored to a more modern-day glory (minus the roof. The roof is just gone).  Unfortunately, there was no time to enjoy a luxurious spa day. After the baths, Tobin, Sam, Cole, and I hiked up to the Royal Crescent, and that’s where my Bridgerton filming locations scavenger hunt began (I would highly recommend watching the hit Netflix series “Bridgerton”). The Royal Crescent is a massive apartment complex, a hotel, and hosts a museum in the NO. 1 apartment (home to the Featheringtons in the Bridgerton series).  After the crescent, I went to Beaufort Square, a charming outdoor space in a quaint little neighborhood. Funny enough, when I was watching the show, I wondered where that shot was located and hoped to see it one day. And after going down a side street to avoid some crowds, I literally ran into it! However, I did get a few looks from

       When I'm at home, all I do is walk. I'll feel that I've been sitting too long, throw on an album, and just explore. I think that I must have acclimated quickly to Oxford because that's exactly what I've been doing here. It has made this little community feel more like my own. I'm starting to find joy in recognizing my way around: turn left at the family owned Thai place, continue past the grocery store covered in scaffolding, take a moment to admire the university press, and jolt across the median before the light turns red again, finding yourself next to an old brick wall with foliage growing over it. This last week, my tutorial lined up perfectly for me. My tutor had to change our meeting location, and it happened that we met a block away from The Ashmolean library, where we were going as a group later that day. I woke up early, and I began my walk, accompanied by  Animals  by Pink Floyd. I walked into a cafe I had never noticed before and ordered an es

           As we begin our second-to-last week of the OSAP program, the town of Oxford has become familiar and our home-base. When I travel to other towns throughout England, I feel as though I have arrived home as I fall on my bed in Oxford. Walking the streets of Oxford has become a familiarity. I can navigate between the streets to my destination without the use of Google Maps. This city's beauty captivates me with every step. However, in two short weeks, some of us will be moving on to other adventures and others will be returning to the states. This is becoming a more prevalent thought as some of our roommates begin to move out.       There is a sense of urgency to fit in everything left that I dream to do while here in Oxford. Thus far, I have experienced the University of Cambridge (yes, the "other place"), Buckingham's Palace, the London Tube, The Globe, St. Paul's Cathedral, Magdalen College, the writers' walk, New College, the Roman Baths, Royal Cres

This past Friday we had the pleasure of visiting the Ashmolean Museum. There was so much to see (in fact, I'm pretty sure that I didn't see everything) and all of it was fascinating. There was a heavy focus on art from antiquity and from Medieval Asia, and less of a focus on post-Renaissance European painting, which was an interesting curation choice. Most art museums focus pretty heavily on Renaissance and more recent pieces, but most of the art at the Ashmolean fit the vein of archeology rather than art. The curators also addressed the origins of their art quite well, and acknowledged the colonial past of Britain as well as Oxford specifically in acquiring the artifacts that they display. All of the art was really wonderful, but one of my favorites were these hydrangeas. There was also a fascinating 19th century painting of Jerusalem which I found to be interesting. And what's a visit to an art museum without at least one severed head painting? -Tobin Gold