Ten Months Abroad: A Personal Journey: Oxford, Rotary, Paris, Budapest, and Kathryn

I first arrived in Oxford on a bus from London with three massive suitcases. I had already leased a small flat and I picked up the keys and moved in with no issues. The first few days were especially lonely. I had never lived alone before and I didn't know a single person in the entire city. I shopped on Amazon for kitchen appliances, hand towels, and other goods to turn my flat into a home. The next week was Fresher's week, which welcomes all new students to the university. Fresher's week was fantastic. I went to a different event every night and met lots of new people from my college, Wadham. I also got a good feel for the city I would be calling home.

Architecture is the first thing that comes to mind when I think of Oxford. For me, the most distinguishing feature of the city is its buildings, many of which have been standing for centuries. One tower is nearly 1,000 years old. I love American cities with their massive skyscrapers but when it comes to longevity we cannot compete with Europe.

During those first few weeks I matriculated in a brief ceremony, began classes, and attended a few Rotary welcome events. My Rotary hosts, Philip and Ruth Spencer were fantastic. They invited me to their house several times for meals, took me on a tour of the Cotswolds, and attended Rotary events and tours with me. Rotary organized events throughout the year included a tour of London, Windsor Castle, Eton Boys School, Blenheim Palace, Ascot Raceway, and Torquay. There were a dozen or so other Rotary scholars in the Oxford area that year this gave me a second set of friends in Oxford outside my college.

As a way to say thank you to Rotary, I helped to organize a charity concert with two other scholars, Kristin and Sophia. The concert was held in the Holywell Music Room of Wadham College towards the end of the year. We sold out, with many Rotarians in attendance. We raised over $2000 for Shelterbox, a charity that provides tents and survival equipment for refugees and people displaced by disaster. Kristin and Sophia especially put in a lot of work to plan the concert and make it possible. At first I was skeptical that we would raise very much money but it turned into a huge success. Kristin and Sophia showed me that with a good attitude and some genuine effort a small group of students can enact meaningful positive changes in their local area.

During my first term in Oxford I took weekend trips to Paris and Budapest, joined the rowing team - this was fantastic - and dated a girl named Kathryn. My relationship with Kathryn taught me a lot about myself and has really changed the way I view relationships. She was a really cool, smart, funny girl and I was definitely out of my league especially after we compared ACT scores. We rushed into things very quickly and spent nearly every day together for about six weeks. I went to Budapest with her and met her mom in November. We had very different world views and I argued with her constantly about politics. We are both very knowledgeable, love to argue, and hate backing down, so these debates were legendary. But they also wore us out. On New Year's day 2015 Kathryn broke up with me and I totally understood where she was coming from. My personality type is ENTP and I can be brutally honest to a fault. Regrettably, I did not have a good relationship with God during my year in Oxford. Seeing the world through the lens of Christ's sacrifice always reminds me that kindness and serenity are preferable to proving I am right, or winning an argument but making my opponent feel bad. Finally, I learned from my relationship with Kathryn that relationships take sacrifice from each side to reach their full potential.

Here are some photos: