This summer, I hopped on a plane at Toronto Pearson Airport, and set off on a journey that I’ll forever be thankful for.
“What the hell am I getting myself into?” I thought to myself as the massive AirTransat airbus took off into the night sky on July 4. I was England bound, where Trinity College, Oxford, a world-renowned university awaited me.
The answer didn’t come to me as I grabbed my luggage at London-Gatwick Airport.
It didn’t come to me as I, jet-lagged and overwhelmed, arrived at the front gate of Trinity College with a two of my closest friends.
It didn’t really hit me at all during my magical, six-week excursion around the United Kingdom. Maybe it was too good to be true. Maybe it felt too much like a dream.
It hit me, though. Hard. It hit me on a coach bus, en-route to London-Gatwick Airport on Aug. 16. The dream was over. But the reflection, the realization of what the Francis E. Kelley Oxford Program did for my life was only beginning.
Especially now, as professors Mike Jones-Kelley and Anne Lee begin to plan for another magical summer.
On the plane ride back to Toronto, Ontario, things, memories and thankfulness raced through my mind. Of all the study abroad programs provided at St. Bonaventure University, Oxford reigns superior. If you’re reading this, pondering the idea of studying abroad, choose Oxford.
Spend a summer at Trinity College in a city that you’ll forever hold a spot in your heart for. Trust me.
Take the oh-so-dreaded biology course with Dr. Adam Ritchie, an Oxford professor. You’ll learn more about science than you ever cared to know.
Chat with the porters, or in America, security guards. Ask them about anything. Politics, where to go get a pint of cider with fish n’ chips, where to shop and how to get to the Airport in less than two hours. They’ll tell you, and they will be some of the greatest people you’ve ever met by trips end.
Ponder down to the campus pub, just below the dining hall. Talk with the bartenders and staff. They’ll talk to you and treat you as if they’ve known you for 10 years.
Enjoy the weekly high-table dinners. Take pictures, have unforgettable conversations with new friends and old. Sit next to different people every week. Oh, and enjoy five-star cuisine, too.
Sit with Mike Jones-Kelley as he drinks his potato juice and smokes his cigarettes. Listen to his plethora of priceless stories. Take his unforgettable advice. Pick his brain. Those will be the moments and the conversations that stick with you most.
Travel beyond the gates. Go to Ireland, Amsterdam, London, France and Cyprus among other countries. Make memories that will last a lifetime.
Do it all.
This is only a brief synopsis of what made my summer special. There’s more, but why give it all away?
If you’re thinking about traveling across the Atlantic to study abroad, you’ll experience everything else that I didn’t mention, and you won’t regret it.
The answer for me was this: I did something unique. Something that I will never forget. Something that changed my life forever. And something that I may never get to do again. Something that I hope you get to experience, too.
Go to Oxford.
By Mike Hogan, Managing Editor
hoganm17@bonaventure.edu
