I still distinctly remember the feeling of arriving at the Heathrow Airport in London. I was filled with a combination of fear, anticipation and excitement. After preparing for the past two years at William Jewell College, it was finally time for the pinnacle of my Oxbridge experience — a full year of study abroad at the University of Oxford. Even after living in Washington D.C. by myself in the summer, I still felt unprepared for the new challenges that awaited me in Oxford.

Settling into a new country was a completely foreign experience to me, and the first few days presented several challenges. First, I had to figure out how to use my cellphone, adjust to the currency changes and learn how to navigate the city. After overcoming these initial adjustments, my first term had arrived and I was thrust into a new educational system. At Oxford, there were three academic terms and each term I took two tutorials each term, which are individualized and intimate classes with one tutor and a few students. My educational experience at Oxford was much different from Jewell, where I only had one tutorial and a busy course load. As the year progressed, I came to appreciate the tutorial system, since my days were much more free for me to focus on my studies, explore the city and pursue extracurriculars. 

Most of my days were filled with studying in beautiful historic libraries asI only had class once or twice a week. My favorite library was the Radcliffe Camera, which is one of Oxford’s most iconic buildings. I also enjoyed exploring the coffee shops in Oxford, with Peloton Espresso being my favorite. Being an Oxford student has so many perks, including the amazing catalog of books and journals that are readily accessible to students and the lecture series offered by world-famous academics. I enjoyed the benefits that tutorials offered as I was able to receive more individualized instruction and also was able to take tutorials on topics that aren’t offered at Jewell, such as Development Economics, Feminist Theory, and Politics in China.

As a visiting student at Mansfield College in Oxford, I was able to find a vibrant and tight-knit community. During the year, I participated in rowing which was much harder than I anticipated, but gave me opportunities to meet other students and stay in shape. I also participated in academic extracurriculars since Oxford has a variety and multitude of student organizations and societies that encompass almost any interest you can imagine. I was able to continue my interest in student journalism through writing and editing for the Oxford Blue, the student newspaper. One of my favorite experiences was attending the Oxford Women in Business sustainable fashion show as a reporter and conducting an Instagram takeover for the event. I also was a committee member for the Oxford Society for International Development, which gave me amazing opportunities to meet speakers and academics in the field of sustainable development as well as like-minded students. Attending debates and speaker events at the Oxford Union, a historic and world-renowned student society that brings in public figures and academics to Oxford, was one of the most exciting aspects of being an Oxford student. I had the opportunity to hear Malala Yousafzai, a famous education activist, speak, which was phenomenal.

Socially, I found the culture at Oxford to be inviting and very student-oriented. Unlike the U.S. campus culture, there was more of an emphasis on formal events, which required black-tie attire. Mansfield held social events such as weekly formal dinners, which were four-course formal meals and also regularly hosted BOPs (big organized parties). One of my favorite events was Champagne and Chocolates, which was hosted for Mansfield students and featured drinks, chocolate and live jazz. In the summer, I attended the Oxford Union ball which was so much fun. It featured live music, an open bar, food trucks, carnival games and so many other features. Meeting a variety of students from across the world was one of the coolest aspects of studying abroad at Oxford, I was able to meet and form friendships with people who I never would’ve met.

Traveling around Europe was my favorite part about studying abroad. After spending Christmas break in the U.S. with my family, I went on a trip with one of my best friends from home to visit London, Paris, Cologne and Brussels. Some of my favorite memories from that trip are dining in Eiffel Tower, going to the Louvre, eating Belgian chocolate and watching “Les Miserables” in London. During spring break, my family came to visit me in Oxford and we also traveled around the UK in Ireland and Scotland. Edinburgh was one of my favorite cities with breathtaking architecture. I also loved the castles in Ireland and Scotland. After that, I went on a month-long vacation with friends I had made at Mansfield. We went to Italy, Croatia and the Netherlands. Some of the most memorable experiences were going to the Trevi fountain, the Vatican and the Pantheon in Italy. I also loved exploring the beautiful cities of Dubrovnik and Split in Croatia and the cool canals in Amsterdam.

To anyone that is considering studying abroad, I would wholeheartedly recommend it. Besides the amazing travel opportunities, living abroad teaches you life lessons on problem-solving and adapting to change. I also think that it teaches valuable lessons on how to live independently and cultivate relationships with people who are different from you. To those who are nervously anticipating their study abroad year, don’t stress yourself out too much since it’ll all work out and the hard adjustment period is worth the life-changing experiences you’ll have. I would also advise you to remain open-minded to the experiences you’ll have and not be afraid to try things that are out of your comfort zone.

You might wonder why this article is about only the U.K. That is because I received one of the worst pieces of news that I could not be granted an EU tourist visa due to the complications of applying in a third country (a different country than my citizenship). Instead of backpacking through eight countries in the EU as I had planned, I was stuck in the U.K. during a six-week break. Although the situation wasn’t ideal, it gave me an idea of making a bucket list to visit all four kingdoms of the U.K. Even though I was not able to visit the warm beaches of Southern France, take the train through Switzerland, visit the most famous music academies in the world or see the Pope (joking), I still fulfilled my travel goals by visiting many breathtaking regions of the U.K. 

Please sit back and enjoy a photo album of my silly, 10-minute-planned journey.

I spent countless hours at this exact desk doing reading assignments  and writing essays. You may wonder where this desk is. It is row U in the top-level reading room of the Old Bodleian Library looking straight to the Radcliffe Camera during the sunset. 

This is the only picture that features my everyday life. Now, we will move forward to the break.  

England – The first kingdom I visited as I attended the University of Oxford.

My best friend and I went to “The Nutcracker” ballet show performed by The Royal Ballet in London during Christmas time. It was an unforgettable night because besides the amazing ballet, we also froze on the street during our 45-minute-walk to the bus stop to go back to Oxford. We both got really sick the next day. 

I was sitting in the back garden of Pembroke College – University of Cambridge. It is pretty, I must say; I still recommend visiting Pembroke College – University of Oxford (no bias here).

Scotland – The gloomiest kingdom 

Glenfinnan Viaduct This is the famous bridge that takes Hogwarts students to Hogwarts on the 9 ¾ train in the Harry Potter movies. 

As I was standing on the same spot when I took the picture of the bridge, this was my view on my left-hand side. It amazes me how scenery can look so different, yet so similar, when you stand on top of a hill.

Ireland – An extremely green kingdom with extremely friendly people.

This was my first solo trip. To this day, I still remember the feeling of packing all my belongings in a small backpack before a very long journey to a different island.I made some amazing friends during the trip. I also got compliments on my old-school film camera. Due to financial reasons, I still haven’t developed those photos I took. 

This grass field was the comfiest surface I have ever laid on. I took a 10-minute nap on it while listening to the ocean waves crashing into the shore.

If anyone is obsessed with the TV show “Derry Girls” like me (I’ve watched it 4 times), you will recognize this street as the one the characters walk up and down every time they go to school. I have to say, the street looks so much better without cars. 

Wales – kingdom of dragons – although I did not see any dragons.

My friends and I had four days before school started again. As any normal person would do, we booked ourselves a trip to Wales and explored the Snowdonia National Park.

My best friends and I rewarded ourselves with a nice bag of chips (crisps – like the British) for lunch after hiking up this “tiny” hill. We rated the lunch a 5/5.

I took this picture after three hours of hiking. We got lost. Our bus stop was on the road that runs along the ocean – as you can see, we were really far away because you can’t even see the road. Instead of walking back to find the trail, we went off trail to go straight down the hill. As we walked down more, we scared all the sheep away. That was the moment we decided to turn around to find the actual trail to go back  and it took hours.

Obviously, this is not the end of my U.K. journey. I have many more stories that I would love to share with you. 

If you want to hear more, please visit The Hilltop Monitor again as more articles will be written and published every week.

The Rugby World Cup concluded Saturday in a match between South Africa’s Springboks and England’s Lions. The Springboks dominated with a 32-12 victory over the English team. The tournament was held in Japan, the first time it was held in Asia and outside the traditional Tier 1 rugby nations.

The New Zealand All Blacks took third with a 40-17 victory over Wales. With the highest number of championship wins, the All Blacks were the favorites going into the tournament with 5-4 odds betting they would take the top spot. 

Not only had the Springboks won only two championships, before this year’s final, they were the first team to win the title after having lost a match in the pool stage.

While many celebrated the Springbok’s victory, distaste surrounded England’s defeat. Several of the English players refused to wear their runner-up medals during the post-final celebrations in a poor display of sportsmanship, and multiple high-profile celebrities in England symbolically disowned the team.

Earlier in the tournament the English team was fined over $2,500 for crossing the halfway line during the All Black’s haka – a challenge posed by the New Zealand team by way of traditional dance before every game. 

But this year’s Rugby World Cup news wasn’t all fixated on broken rules and poor sportsmanship. 

The Springboks were led to victory by the team’s first black captain, Siya Kolisi. This is significant in light of the challenges faced by black people in South Africa, not only during Apartheid, but even today. Yet while the win was significant, the team’s coach, Rassie Erasmus, was adamant that no one should read too far into the symbolism. According to him, the win bought his country a few happy hours but nothing more than that. 

England’s team was also compiled of noteworthy demographics. With 25 players in their squad of 32 being in their twenties, the English presented the youngest team to ever play in a World Cup final.

Globally, the sporting event spurred record numbers of TV viewers. Approximately 54.8 million viewers were recorded in Japan alone, and the final game saw 12.8 million TV viewers within England. 

Ultimately, the Rugby World Cup saw enthusiasm from around the globe, a reality fitting for the third-largest sporting event in the world – behind only the FIFA World Cup and the Olympics – and the sport with the fastest-growing popularity in the United States. 

Anwar Robinson, American singer, songwriter and musician, served as a guest conductor at Jewell last year while associate professor of music and director of choral studies Dr. Anthony Maglione was on sabbatical. Robinson introduced the choir to the central piece on the album, a three movement cantata by African American composer Adolphus Hailstork.

“I think we all sort of fell in love with it,” said Maglione.

Maglione began researching the piece and found that no recording of the piece in its entirety has been produced. The choir gathered money through donations and grants and began to put the album together.

Current Jewell choir members, Jewell choir alumni and faculty took part in the making of this album. David Sanchez, Class of ‘14, is the tenor soloist for the Hailstork piece. Two newer works are done by Dr. Ian Coleman, professor of music and department chair, and Stewart Duncan, Class of ‘15.

Luce-Virlynn Apollon, senior nursing and Applied Critical Thought and Inquiry (Act-In) major described the process of making an album.

“Not many people are aware of how much work and attention to detail go into making an album. Yeah, we sing the same portion of the song over and over again—with so many voices a slight difference in each take makes a huge difference. There would be times where we sang a passage perfectly but an 18 wheeler drove by and ruined it,” said Apollon.

Senior music major Jackson Ritchie further described the detail that goes in to the process.

“[It] begins with working through and getting to know each piece of music musically, theoretically and poetically, so we can perform each piece exactly how the composer intended it to be performed. Then after a year of practicing the music, we spend around two days on a weekend at a church, since they have really good acoustics, and we’ll record each piece. Dr. Maglione will take us section by section of each piece and makes sure that every note is perfect and that we are truly singing as an ensemble instead of just singing the notes on the page,” said Ritchie.

The choir traveled to a church in Belton, Mo. to produce the album.

“The space was really warm and resonant so it helped create the sound we were looking for…Overall, I loved the experience. We did some of our best singing in that room,” said Apollon.

A hard copy of the album can be pre-ordered on Amazon. Within the first week after its release, it will be available to stream on Amazon, iTunes, Naxos and through the recording company itself. About ten days later it will be available to stream on Spotify.

“I am incredibly excited for people to hear all of the work we’ve done. Dr. Maglione always does an incredible job of choosing literature for our choir that is both challenging musically and spectacular for those listening to it. I know all of the work we put into the album and I know that people will be impressed that this came from a small liberal arts college in Liberty, Mo,” said Apollon.

After the release of their CD, the Concert Choir leave May 14 for a two-week tour of England and Scotland. The choir will fly into London and stay at Harlaxton Manor. The first part of the tour will have performances at Ely Cathedral and a church in Nottingham as well as visits to York and Cambridge. Then they will travel to Edinburgh to perform at St. Giles on the six concert series. They will return to London and perform in Oxford.

All of these events are open to the public and advertised by the venues. The venues will have free-will offerings to recover the costs of hosting.

The Concert Choir has been touring England since 1985. Then chair of the music department, Don Brown, originally designed the tour. Even though Brown retired in 2004, he still plans the tours. Brown and his wife, Helen, both former faculty at Jewell, will travel with the choir.

“I’m excited for [the choir] to make music in these ancient spaces, these 13th and 14th century cathedrals. I think it’s going to be remarkable,” said Maglione.

For the choir members, the trip is something to look forward to.

“I was a first-year last year and the seniors that are this year, I was friends with all of them and they’ve all just totally hyped it up and told me like what the entire experience is like so getting to kinda go over there and like fulfill that and like do some of the things that they got to do when they were first-years is going to be super cool,” said sophomore music performance, nonprofit leadership and Act-In major, Spencer Ruwe.

Ritchie was one of the seniors who went on this tour his first year.

“The trip to Europe my first-year was one of my greatest experiences and created so many lifelong memories with my friends. We visited many great places that were unknown, non-tourist spots, that were hidden gems for me and made my experience unforgettable,” said Ritchie.

He is excited to experience this again because of the music they are performing.

“Another experience I can’t wait to have again is performing music written for the specific cathedrals we’re performing in so we can see how the original composers heard the music and how they experienced the music they wrote,” said Ritchie.

Maglione incorporated both traditional English and American compositions.

“The English folks really like hearing us sing folk hymns and spirituals and American compositions. They really think that’s authentic I guess which it is kinda cool cause you grew up hearing these sounds so you know when you hear an ensemble come from another country and another culture and they bring their own, a little bit of their homeland, it’s really exciting,” said Maglione.

The variety of pieces excites Blair Walker, junior music education and education major.

“I like singing their music to them and showing how well we can do it but then also singing our music in terms of like we’re singing a bunch of songs that were composed in American literature and then a bunch of English compositions. And I like showing that we appreciate their culture but then to also show them ours,” said Walker.

Feature photo courtesy of William Jewell Photo.