“The Road goes ever on and on,
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with weary feet,
Until it joins some larger way,
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.”
-J.R.R. Tolkien, Lord of The Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
Traveling to England has always been on my bucket list, to say the least. Getting the chance to see Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, The National Gallery, and so much more has been nothing short of a dream, and that isn’t even counting Oxford itself or the other weekends I traveled. There are so many iconic historical places and so much to see that even in the month we were there, I barely scratched the surface. However, the things I did see were absolutely incredible and will be forever etched in memory.
I was a part of the UA in Oxford Faculty Led program for Summer 2024 where I had the wonderful opportunity to study Fantasy Literature and Fantasy Writing and stay in Worcester College, which is by far one of the most breathtaking places I have been to. It feels like stepping, quite literally, into a fantasy realm full of beautiful gardens, ornate buildings with spires and towers, and adorable shops throughout the larger streets.
With that being said, there was an unforeseen struggle I faced. I have some physical limitations that I was nervous about degrading my experience, and sadly there were some things I had to miss out on because I was unable to handle them. To explain, the walking terrain was something I did not account for in my preparations to go abroad. During orientation, we were told to bring “comfortable shoes” for the walks that would lead us through cow fields, which I did. What I didn’t anticipate, however, was that the sidewalks would be so difficult to traverse. Cobblestone, paver stones, concrete, and asphalt made up the uneven modge-podge majority of walking in Oxford. I did adjust (and had to buy shoes that didn’t make it worse like the ones I packed did) and once I managed to find my footing it became a lot easier I chalked it up to the growing pains of traveling.
That is genuinely my only downside to the trip. I met fantastic people, got to hone my abilities and skills in fantasy writing, dive deep into fantasy literature, and study in one of the coolest and oldest libraries in the world.
We landed on Sunday and the next day we were in classes where we hit the ground running. It was a bit overwhelming at first due to jet lag and the new environment but the professors were more than understanding and willing to provide any help possible to keep things going smoothly. It was a fast-paced learning environment, for me and my classmates specifically because of the heavy reading loads, but it was absolutely worth it to see the places in Oxford that inspired the writings that have cemented themselves through time like Alice in Wonderland and Lord of the Rings.
At first, everyone was slightly timid, overwhelmed, or exhausted (or all three) but by the last day where we were all fairly close (some naturally more than others). We enjoyed talking about the sights we saw, the things we missed about home, the unexpected things we’d run into, and the food we got to try. It was a level of camaraderie that l hadn’t experienced in a long time.
Overall if anyone at all was worried about going abroad and feeling alone, overwhelmed, nervous, etc, I hope they see this post and know that whatever feelings they have may be true and real at first, but it will quickly dissolve once you are there. I am older than all of the people I went abroad with and I feared I wouldn’t enjoy it as much because of that. Thankfully, I met some incredible people that became good friends to me and while I did get overwhelmed at some points, I know I wasn’t alone. We leaned on one another and it made a world of a difference.
Take this as your sign to go abroad. It is absolutely worth it!
