Oxford…A Home Away From Home

Well, it’s been exactly a week since I arrived in Oxford and already I have been to “formal hall”, a “bop”, and a “tutorial”. So to explain these Oxford-isms in greater detail, I guess I better start from the beginning…

My mom and I arrived in Oxford last Monday and the bustling city greeted us with a wonderful rain shower. Our optimism was high, regardless of the dismal weather, and we surged onward through the storm to find our quaint English hotel -The Randolf- right in the center of the city- about a 2 minutes walk from my college (called Regent’s Park).

So you may be saying, “her college…but I thought Oxford was her college!...what is Regent’s Park?” Well…The University of Oxford is an academic institution that is made up of 36 colleges. These colleges are separate academic entities, kind of like the business school at Pitt or the law school at Yale, except they do not only specialize in one academic area. So Regent’s Park college is one of the ‘colleges’ at Oxford and I am taught within this building by Oxford professors or ‘tutors’ that are associated only with Regent’s Park. The college is way more than just an academic building. It is also where most students in Regent’s Park College live, where the dining hall is, where the Regent’s library is, as well as where all the social activities are held for students who are in Regent’s. Our college also has sports teams that compete against other colleges within Oxford- there are big rivalries (just like at Yale).

My College- Regent's Park

Like I said before, most students live in Regent’s Park College, but I live off campus in a house that is owned by Regent’s Park, called “Scotus House”. I live here with 5 other Regent’s students ( 4 women, and 1 man). Cat, Etche, and Elaine study law, and Ciara (pronounced “key-ra”) and I study history. And finally there is Tim who is our ‘warden’ and who I never see (but apparently he is nice).


From the start, I have been running around like a chicken with my head cut off- racing from one end of Oxford to the other attending orientations, meeting up with people, and trying to fit in academics as well! Things at Oxford really picked up on Friday when I went to formal hall. Formal hall is a fancy 3-course meal held in the Regent’s Park dining hall. All the students (wearing their academic robes) sit at three very long tables and the tutors and administration of the college sit at the high table. All the students stand as the high table processes into the dining hall and then a prayer is said before dinner and we all sit down. Then the real show starts as the waiters come in and start to serve dinner. General merriment ensues (great conversation, good food, and a warm atmosphere). Afterwards the students head to the Junior Common Room (or JCR) which is the social hub of the college. There was a Ben and Jerry’s ice cream social after formal hall this past Friday. I met so many wonderful people at the social- it was nice to feel welcome in my new home.


Then on Saturday evening I went to the college “bop” (or dance) which was Geek-chic themed. Everyone dressed up in nerdy glasses or some other iconic Geek costume. It was another opportunity to get involved in the Regent’s community.

Then Sunday was spent preparing for my tutorial, which is a one on one meeting with my tutor. These tutorials make up the main part of Oxford learning (which is supplemented by weekly lectures). And today (Monday), I met up with my tutor in Regent’s Park to discuss Ancient Greek history. This week we focused more on archeology and chronology and had an hour-long discussion about the ‘reliability of ancient historical dates’. Next week I have two tutorials. One on Monday with the Ancient Greek History tutor, and one on Tuesday with my Victorian history tutor. For each tutorial I have to write a 10 page paper which I will read out loud and then discuss with my tutor. (most tutorials are conducted this way: where students are given a reading list and a question to address in a essay. Then the student does the reading, writes an essay and then reads the essay out loud to their tutor at their weekly tutorial and then discuss the material).


The Camera Library