"Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, It's a
way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, And that enables you to laugh at life's realities.” – Dr. Suess
I have always known I was meant to be here. Well, I have always thought I knew where it was that I thought I was supposed to be, which is Hogwarts. However, it wasn't Hogwarts that I knew I was supposed to visit one day, it was everything that Hogwarts embodied, the essence of Hogwarts, that I knew I was supposed to experience in my life. As it turns out, I was very right in that belief. I am living in a world where everyday is full of adventures that open my eyes to things I have
never known, seen, heard, or believed before. Oxford University is not just an instution for learning. Here, education and experience a
re married here to produce an enrichment, or a fuller understanding of life. It is not just our own lives, however, which I guess is what makes it so magical. It seems that the lives of everyone who has passed through the university have left behind wisdom that can't be taught or read, but have to be experienced. It makes even the average nook and cranny come alive, so that we gain a greater understanding of how everything and everyone in the world can magically inspire our lives if we let them. For example: In Durham, we saw a lamp-post. (this is Cecily infront of the Lamp post)
Now, to the naked eye, a lamp-post is but a lamp-post, but to C.S. Lewis, a lamp-post in Durham inspired an entire alternate world which he called Narnia. Similarly, at a pub down the street from Lincoln College, J.R.R. Tolkien had a few beers, and wrote The Lord of the Rings. I cannot say that the beer or the pub inspired Tolkien's famous trilogy. However, I can say, I have never been inspired by drinking a beer at a pub until I visited this one. These examples are literally things that we experience everyday here at Oxford: from reading the legend of King Arthur, and then seeing the Arthurian Legend painted in 5 huge murals by Oxford students almost 100 years ago, or eating eggs and ham for the 100th time in the dining hall only to remember that Dr. Suess once ate in the same location...maybe he would not, could not, like THESE eggs and ham? I guess that Oxford is my own Hogwarts because everday here I discover something rare, wonderful, and exciting within something that before seemed boring, lifeless, or worse...normal. Maybe its not a school of witchcraft, but it is undoubtedly
filled with magic.
images: 1. Menu from our 1st High Table Dinner; 2. Will Finney, Me, and Rachel Bland at High Table Dinner; 3. The Lincoln College Courtyard (you can't step on the grass!) ; 4. I can't remember the name of this, but it is designed after a bridge in France that we are going to see! 5. The Dining Hall at Lincoln! Looks just like the Great Hall in Harry Potter....
