Rams in Oxford 2021

Well, our time in Oxford is already nearing an end! In fact, today is the last that I'm meeting with my tutorial professor.  It looks like none of my classmates have spoken about the tutorial process yet, so I figured that today is the perfect time to quickly explain it.  Before arriving in Oxford, I was asked for a few ideas for a specialized course in my field that I'd like to focus on.  Then, before I knew it, I was here! A few days later, I was matched with a professor to study my second-choice topic: the neuroscience of dreaming.  (I know it sounds nerdy, forgive me. I'm a STEM major.) The tutorial itself is a one-on-one meeting between you and a professor, where they assign you a reading list and an essay prompt each week. Then you write a ~1500 word paper to present for your next meeting, rinse, and repeat.  It's a bit of a blur honestly– the tutorial combined with our Shakespeare course is more weekly writing than I've done in years.  That's not to say i

  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