Challenging August 15, 2023

By A student (Middlebury College) - abroad from 01/04/2023 to 04/15/2023 with

Middlebury Schools Abroad: Middlebury – CMRS Oxford Humanities Program

What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile?

I gained a lot of knowledge about the subjects of my tutorials and I do feel as though I am a better writer because of the intense essay writing that was a part of this program. I also appreciated having access to all of Oxford's libraries. However, I would have found that program to be more worthwhile if the academic load was more dispersed. I think I would have gotten just as much, if not more, out of the program if I was able to channel my energy into just one tutorial and one seminar during the first half of the program rather than spreading myself thin trying to fit all of my tutorial reading, my work for my seminar, and the completion of two 2500 word essays into just 7 days each week.

Personal Information

How much international exposure did you have prior to this program?	0-2 weeks

Review Your Program

* Overall educational experience Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.	This was a very intense program, and although I knew going into that I was going to be challenged academically, I did not expect to have such little time to do anything other than academic work.
* Host Country Program Administration On-site administration of your program
* Housing: How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?	The dorm rooms and St. Michael's Hall as a whole were fine, however sharing the kitchen with 30 other students was unpleasant as it was almost always a mess.
* Food:
* Social & Cultural Integration: How integrated did you feel with the local culture?	It was pretty difficult to integrate into the social scene at the university unless you played a sport. I also felt that I didn't really have time to pursue any clubs in addition to all of the work that we had to complete.
* Health Care: How well were health issues addressed during the program?
* Safety:
If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program?	No While I enjoyed exploring Oxford and the surrounding UK cities, I feel like I didn't really get the chance to engage with all that it had to offer because I was so engrossed in the academic work. I really liked most of my tutors and recognize what a privilege it was to be able to work with such experts in their fields, however, the immense stress that I felt during the majority of the program did detract from the experience. I think I would have been happier overall if I had chosen a program that would have allowed me more time to experience the culture of the country that I was in without feeling guilty about not spending time on my schoolwork. For one of my tutorials, I was encouraged to take field trips to visit what I was learning about each week, which were actually very interesting, but even those short excursions caused me to feel stressed about wasting time that should have been spent in the library.

Finances

* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget? (1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)
Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week?	Around £45 pounds each week on groceries, cafes, etc.

Language

* Did your program have a foreign language component?	No

Other Program Information

* Where did you live? Select all that apply	Dorm
* Who did you live with? Select all that apply	Americans
* Who did you take classes with? Select all that apply	Americans
About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with?	0

A Look Back

* What did you like most about the program?	The city The tutors Getting to know the other students in the program
* What could be improved?	The academic load The kitchen arrangement More information could be given to the students about the intensity of the program prior to the on-site orientation.
* What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program?	I wish I knew how much my time would be spent stressed about schoolwork. I also wish I had known that the administration would discourage any non-domestic travel during the program.