Tea, Biscuits and Brontë

This is the last blog I wrote for the Stampede regarding my time in Oxford.

Tea, Biscuits and Brontë

Katie DeConto

Issue date: 12/7/07 Section: Features

To make things a little interesting, I decided to make this second and final installment of my Oxford blog, so graciously published by the Stampede, a sort of interview. Now, I know what you're thinking, "How is she going to interview herself?" Well, my dear Milliganites, I will show you . . .


Q: What were your biggest fears upon entering the Scholar's Semester at Oxford?

A: I actually had a few different fears, but two of the biggest and probably most applicable to those of you thinking about a semester abroad are as follows. I was afraid to leave Milligan. It has become my home, and I love my life there in a way which made it difficult to leave - I was afraid my experiences in Oxford would not be worth what I would miss at Milligan.

I was also afraid of the workload at Oxford. Academics have never really been the most important thing to me - I have, several times, gone to Applebee's without a second thought when I should have been paying attention to my classes. How was I going to succeed or even survive at Oxford?


Q: Did these fears come true?

A: Absolutely. In a sense, everything I was worried about actually came to pass. Now, before you finish filling out a sympathy card, let me explain.

I did miss Milligan. It would have been impossible for me to not have missed Milligan. Every time I opened one of Jess Carter's e-mails about things I could not attend, which happened several times a day, a little Milligan-shaped hole in my heart would ache. That being said, I have met more amazing people and done more amazing things in this semester than I ever thought possible. I cannot imagine having not gained friendships I now treasure, or enjoyed experiences which have shaped me. I can confidently say I do not regret leaving Milligan for a semester, which is a weighty statement from a girl who wears her MILLIGAN t-shirts as if they were going out of style (but they never will).

The workload was incredible. I have opened more books, written more words and spent more time in libraries this semester than in the whole of my collegiate career previous. I have a stack on my desk of all the completed essays, and it is approaching an inch thick! Because of these scary statistics, however, I now enjoy the feeling I could have only achieved by working harder than I thought I could to accomplish something incredible.

I have learned so much, and not just from my own studies, but also from living in a house with 42 people working as hard as myself but in completely different areas. The conversations I have been blessed to be a part of would never have happened if we were not forced to dive into this world of academia and let the genius of our predecessors wash over us. I cannot say I have fully defeated the demon of procrastination, as the two of us have had much fun this semester, but I can say I do not regret my performance here at Oxford. On the contrary, I am quite proud of myself, my colleagues and our accomplishments.


Q: How has your semester abroad changed you?

A: Wow, Katie. That is a loaded question. Well, I certainly feel more educated. I suppose that is something I should have expected, becoming an Oxford student, but it has really occurred in a bigger way than I anticipated. I could talk to you until you were blue in the face about Victorian literature, or some of the early church fathers, but education is so much more than an accumulation of facts. I now feel comfortable, if not confident, in the ways of higher academia. I have been presented with countless different ideas I had never considered before, and each was an opportunity to shape my own ways of thinking and understanding the world which surrounds me, its history and its future.

Having spent so much time in a different country has definitely changed me. I now have a greater understanding of how America is seen by the world, and how I, myself, see America. It seems that when you are removed from a community, your allegiance is immediately challenged. My allegiance to the United States was certainly challenged, and being able to view it from the outside was certainly enlightening.

Besides changing my view of academia, and of the USA, this semester has most definitely shifted the way I see myself. One of the reasons, I think, a study abroad is so powerful, is that it takes away everything outside of you, everything physical, which makes you who you are, leaving only you. It took a different country, a whole new set of relationships, and an entire semester for me to see things in myself I never thought I would find.


Well, there you have it. There is so much to say about life here that these two entries were quite difficult. If you have any further interest in the topic, feel free to visit my full blog (www.oxfordblunders.blogspot.com) or track me down at Milligan in the spring. Until then, have a wonderful week of finals and an even more spectacular winter break. See you in January.