Lessons from Oxford...

Well I am back into the swing of things at home after what now feels like a very surreal two weeks studying at Oxford University. I can’t actually believe how quick the time came and went and how much I have missed going to the morning seminars and lectures, seeing the other students at meal times, hearing the church bell tower chiming out the hours and even spending time studying in the College library…sigh... I guess it all had to end sometime. The College put on a farewell dinner for us all on the final night and we celebrated surviving the two weeks with everybody's cameras getting a good work out during the night.

Apart from the jetlag and the 200+ photos, I have come back from this trip with so much more than what I had expected. With some twenty nationalities represented at the Oxford International Politics Summer Program, the different perspectives and personal experiences that each participant contributed were invaluable and, for me, the embodiment of the whole program. To have been able to listen to and learn from some of the most respected and renowned academics in their fields was also a memorable and inspiring part of the program, which I feel very privileged to have experienced. This trip has also reinforced my enthusiasm for promoting overseas study opportunities to our university students, not least because of the academic challenge that they involve and the personal growth that results. This was certainly the case for me on this trip, despite only being away for two weeks.

Although I learnt so much about my chosen area of study, African politics, one of the most important lessons I took away from Oxford is summed up perfectly by a quote appearing on a magnet I bought as a souvenir:

“Readers are plentiful, thinkers are rare”.

My experience at Oxford has certainly made me appreciate the difference and inspired me to become a thinker!

Thank you to AIM Overseas, Oxford University and AirAsiaX for giving me this unique opportunity.



Natalie Ilott is the Study Abroad/Exchange Officer from Edith Cowan University. She travels to the University of Oxford summer school courtesy of the University of Oxford, AirAsiaX and AIM Overseas.



Read Natalie's other posts on her Oxford experience:
And off to Oxford I go
Welcome to Oxford
I survived the first week
The last day in Oxford