the smell of education

There are times and places where the atmosphere of education is so attractive to me. It doesn't take much to get caught up in thinking I could be in an academic atmosphere forever. I just love it. (I can hear my friend Megan reading this and saying, "You really are my favourite nerd...") Oxford was one of those places. In addition to the beauty and tranquility of the city itself, having a college around every turn that breathed academic excellence was so cool. Oxford is nicknamed "the city of dreaming spires." I mean, how romantic is that?!

Oxford University is the oldest surviving English-speaking university, and third oldest university in the world (behind the University of Bologna and University of Paris). Although not exactly certain of a foundation date, historians do know that teaching was going on in Oxford in 1096. The university is a federation comprised of over 40 self-governing colleges and halls. When I visited Oxford on Tuesday, I visited several of the colleges and let me tell you, each is beautiful.

<-- One of my favorites was Christ Church College. It had a magnificent courtyard, a cathedral (the only university in the world to have a cathedral as opposed to the many who have chapels), a world famous cathedral choir, a war memorial garden, and 150 acre meadow aside it for the enjoyment of the students. This is a photo of me in the courtyard. Out of Christ Church College has come thirteen British prime ministers and loads of recognized individuals, author Lewis Caroll, theologian John Wesley, scientists like Albert Einstein and Robert Hooke and so many more noteables I could make a whole blog out of the list of people (John Locke, Robert Peel, William Gladstone, W.H. Auden, David Dimbleby, Rowan Williams, Richard Curtis, Howard Goodall...). I thought this was sort of interesting-- some places in Christ Church College are inspiration for several parts of Lewis Caroll's Adventures in Wonderland.

<-- When I was visiting Oxford I opted for a self-guided tour, which I really enjoyed because I could go at my own pace and make pit stops as I wanted. One such pit stop was at the Grand Cafe-- the very first coffee shop in the UK, serving the first cup in 1615. On my walk I also stopped off at the Botantical Gardens, known for being the oldest teaching gardens. There was a memorial surrounded by rose bushes commemorating the discovery of Penicillin that I thought was pretty cool.



<-- Oxford's central research library is the Bodleian library. It is home to 117 miles of shelving, the second largest library in the UK (after the British library). It is a "legal deposit" library, meaning that they are entitled to a free copy of every book published in the UK and is therefore growing at a rate of 3 miles of shelving per year! On one side of the library is the Radcliffe Camera, a dome shaped building affiliated with the library, used to house the science books. On the other side is the Clarendon Building, which used to house the Oxford University Press... think dictionaries! In 1975 the Clarendon Building was handed over to the library. This photo is the library with the Radcliffe camera behind. The day I was visiting it was really crappy weather, so this photo really just doesn't give the old historical buildings any justice. Standing outside the library you could just feel the prestige of centuries of great minds coming and going to use the books and do their work. Walking the streets in Oxford, I was struck by a sense of being honored to be able to visit the places where these great people had done so much of their work.

I have to tell everyone-- I finished my exams!!! Wooo!!!! It always feels so good to complete yet another year in my academic journey :)