Mid-way thru the first term

My fifth week of the first, or Michaelmas, term at Oxford has just started, meaning that I’m exactly mid-way through the first trimester (the next ones are called Hilary and Trinity). To explain the “fifth week” term: things don’t go by dates here – instead, weeks in the term are numbered 0 to 8, and then you name the day, like this: “Wednesday, third week”.

While it hasn’t been a long time, I think I have gathered quite a lot of experience. First, I’d like to describe to you how I live and study here at Oxford. I was admitted to St. Anne’s College, which provides accommodations to all its students. Colleges are semi-autonomous parts of Oxford where students live and take tutorials (more on those later). I haven’t been very lucky in the draw and got one of the smallest rooms out there, but I have to admit that I am actually glad, as the people in the house are kind and fun.

I spend my time here studying and playing sports. My studies comprise of standard one-hour lectures, usually one or two a day; classes – sessions with just 4 fellow students of the same program at St. Anne’s and a teacher; lab work – once in every fourteen days, we spend all afternoon on Thursday and Friday doing measurements and the next week writing a report on them); and tutorials – the most distinct trait and trump of Oxford and Cambridge: lessons with just one other student and a tutor where we work individually and discuss our problem sheets, which is something we have to deal with in virtually every subject during the week. My program has included primarily mathematics, crystallography, thermodynamics, material processing, and elasticity so far. I have to say that the individual discussions with teachers are the best and most effective part of being here.

Emphasis is placed on self-study, so we are quite busy despite the low number of lectures. I have already experienced one “all nighter”, a phenomenon known well to first year students, when I stayed up all night writing a seminar report. Still, finding time for personal hobbies is not impossible. I try to go to the local gym regularly, and, more importantly, I play volleyball for the university. In local terms, it means that I’m a “Blue” – quite a recognized and prestigious position here (though, of course, not as much as when you’re a Blue rower).

In addition to all that, I obviously try to socialize with and talk to Britons as much as I can, as regardless how good you are in English at home, living in an English-speaking country is harder than one would imagine, language-wise. You always need to work on your vocabulary, pronunciation and everyday terms that you simply won’t find in a grammar textbook.

As for academic results, I can say I have been doing well, but I think things will get harder at school. Studying in the UK has now become a life-changing experience for me. I believe that it will give me a wealth of useful knowledge and life skills.

In conclusion, I’d like to say that, since the costs of everything are even higher than I expected, the grant by The Kellner Family Foundation has been an incredible help both financially and mentally, as it has eliminated a lot of worries for me. This is why I would like to voice my thanks to the Foundation once again.