Oxford, You Sure Are Lovely in the Summer

St. John's College, home for the next two years

What a whirlwind trip! I left for Oxford at the beginning of last week and just returned this past Tuesday -- quick enough of a turnaround, I think, that my body gave up trying to figure out what time it was and consented to sleep whenever I told it to. The days in the UK filled up with wandering the streets of Oxford once again, with some sightseeing in London and at Blenheim and Greenwich, but most importantly with meeting with some of the people and contacts who will help shape my life for the next two years. As I have mentioned, the purpose of my trip to Oxford was to complete a mandatory "needs assessment" with the university's Disability Advisory Service in order to get sign language interpreters and other disability accommodations in order before the fall. I was thankful for the opportunity to finish the assessment and meet with my disability office advisor before the whirlwind of Welcome Week in October, especially since it helped me wrap my mind around the strange and complex world of Oxford (or begin to, at least) and also allowed me to meet other Rhodes people along the way.

Detail of St. John's Canterbury Quad

ASL vs. BSL: this was one of the main issues at hand. I intend to learn some British Sign Language while in England, if only for fun and also since I've already gotten to meet or be in touch with a few deaf people who know BSL. But the fact is that ASL is the sign language that I understand, that I have used throughout my education and life, and that is by far the best option for my studies in the UK. After studying at Oxford through a Stanford overseas program three years ago, I know that it is possible to find and use ASL interpreters in the UK, and having that information was incredibly valuable in meetings during the last week. We also discussed other backup accommodation options such as captioning, and I was able to get in touch with the disability contact in both my department and my college. (Tricky Oxford fact: I will be shifting between and communicating with several different entities during my time abroad: the English department, St. John's College, the Rhodes Trust, and the DAS and any other overall university offices. Not at all like Stanford or other American universities, where various offices are much more unified and tightly knit!)

More John's under blue skies

We stayed at St. John's throughout the visit and I quickly got a feel for the college, thanks to a few administrators and current students/current Rhodes scholars who were kind enough to show me around and tell me all about the place and its culture. Meeting people was by far the best part of the trip: from the six or seven "Rhodies" who took the time to greet me and share their insights about Oxford and the Rhodes, to the wonderful administrators and porters and other staff at Rhodes House who sat down and chatted and answered my questions and fetched me from the airport, to the various other people across Oxford who were similarly friendly and generous, everyone I met made me incredibly excited for this fall. I accomplished everything I set out to do: got the ball rolling on disability support, learned a ton about the ins and outs of Oxford life, and made some new friends and connections I hope to get to know as the next few years unfold. Plus the weather was gorgeous to boot, and taking my mom around to some of my favorite sightseeing places from my last time abroad added another dose of fun. To be sure, I'll have my share of challenges ahead (as will everyone adjusting to life at Oxford), but lots of excitement awaits, too.

A typical Oxford view: the Radcliffe Camera brooding over Radcliffe Square

Now for those last two months basking in the sun in the American Southwest before I head off again in October!

In the beautiful gardens of Rhodes House!