University of San Diego: Study at St. Clare's

Studying abroad in Oxford, England continuously goes down as one of the best times of my life. I think the best facet of the experience was the dynamic of living in a small town with one of the richest intellectual histories in the world but only being an hour away from the hustle and bustle of big city life in London. St. Clare's also provided the unique opportunity to live with international students. So despite being an English-speaking country, I also learned a good deal of Dutch from my roommate, German from the girl across the hall and Spanish and Korean from friends around the house. Day to day life consisted of grabbing a fresh scone from the Marks and Spencer down the street, hopping on the bus to my first class, and having a roundtable discussion with my professor and about six other classmates. St. Clare's employs the Socratic method so we were able to debate and steer the discussion of any topic in whatever direction tickled our fancy. It's such an interactive way to learn and moreover, puts students and teachers on a more level playing field so a mutual respect for each others ideas is formed. After class, there may have been time to wander the cobblestone streets of City Center, watch punters on the Thames and take in a lecture at Oxford University. Afterwards, the discussion would continue at the local pub with students and professors alike. It truly was like one large family, so much so that it immediately felt like a home away from home.

St. Clare's College was the perfect place to study abroad for those who want to be academically challenged but still have the experience of getting to travel and explore while abroad.

There was a great variety of class choices, especially in the humanities and social sciences, such as philosophy, religion, and history. I took 6 classes while I was there, and two of them were tutorial style where it was just myself and the professor. These classes were exrtremely beneficial because it allowed me to pursue my particular interests within a subject matter, and allowed for my writing to improve a lot, because I got one-on-one feedback throughout the semester. Three of my classes had between 4-7 students and were primarily discussion based. The last class I took was a seminar that revolved around a specific topic, and brought in different speakers from different disciplines. This was held on Oxford University's campus and had speakers from St. Clare's, Oxford University, and Oxford Brooks. All of my classes were very writing intensive. I wrote 16, 10-12 page papers while studying there, which yes, was a lot, but it improved my writing to a level that I was very proud of.

I lived in the dorms which were about 1.5 miles from city center and about .75 miles from class. The neighborhood was really nice and safe. There was a bus stop right outside the dorm, multiple markets, restaurants and bars nearby. The dorms itself were really nice. I had a roomate, and we shared a room which had two beds, two desks a kitchen and a bathroom. The rooms were cleaned almost everyday which was a nice touch. Every American would be paired up with an international roommate which was a really fun experience, and a great way to have Americans get to know people from all over the world. My roommate was from Belgium, while my friends had roommates from Norway, The Netherlands and Colombia.

There were plenty of bars, pubs and clubs in the City Center of Oxford to be entertained on the weekends. Most weekends though I was traveling to other countries. I would usually leave on Thursday night or Friday morning (no one had Friday classes) and we would take an express bus to London Heathrow which took about 1 hour. There was also another bus that ran every hour that would take you to the middle of London if you wanted to spend the day or weekend there. I found it to be the perfect hub to fly out of. I felt I could focus on school during the week, and do some small things around Oxford, and then could go off to something bigger over the weekends.

I loved my experience here, and would have stayed a full year if I could have (I only stayed for one semester). Academically and socially you will not be disappointed. And if you're worried about not getting the drastic cultural exchange because the UK is still an English speaking, western nation, the integration of American and International students at St. Clare's brings that element in.