Tereza Maláčová

Saying that I dreamed of studying in the UK since an early age would be a bit of a hyperbole, yet it’s true that this dream has stuck with me for quite a few years and I am now waiting for it to materialize with a lot of enthusiasm and a bit of nervousness. I have succeeded at what I thought was unthinkable – being admitted to one of the world’s most prestigious universities and the UK’s oldest, Oxford – and that makes me hugely happy and proud as well as respectful of such a renowned institution, which I can be a part of now.

When I came to grammar school I took an interest in English and, over time, most likely my love of the language spawned a desire to study in its country of origin. In addition, I regularly took part in school English Olympiads, having competed quite successfully on the national level several times, and then I expanded my radius of interests to include other languages, which propelled me to Linguistics Olympiads where I have achieved my biggest competition success to date this year – an overall victory in qualification rounds and thus a position on the Czech national team for the International Linguistics Olympiad 2017.

I am not planning to focus on languages at Oxford, though, and English will be just a tool for me to study philosophy, politics and economics. My knowledge of these subjects is not deep yet, but I really look forward to the opportunity for learning them in depth. I was prompted to choose this program by my curiosity and desire to understand how human society and its relationships work, and to contribute my part – however small – towards altering and improving it, if I can.

While at high school, I also engaged in activities other than purely academic. I have spent my leisure time mostly in the skating rink as a member of Jihlava’s synchronized skating team and also relaxing with books, movies and TV shows. I expect, however, to participate in various club activities at Oxford, and spend most of my time self-studying anyway.

Secondary School

Grammar School in Jihlava (2009-2017)

University

University of Oxford, the UK; the Philosophy, Politics and Economics three-year program; beginning 2017

E-mail

tereza.malacova@seznam.cz

Goals

My chief goal is to reach graduation and gain as much knowledge and experience as possible in the process. For the time being, I have not dreamed up any specific job that I want to do one day, and I am trying to be open to multiple options, which the broader focus of my program thankfully allows me to be.

Interests

Synchronized skating, linguistics, politics, movies