The Real Oxford

Oxford is an extremely romanticized city - the “city of dreaming spires”, home to basically the best university in the world, and the closest you can get to feeling like you’re at Hogwarts. Whether it’s advertising or our own expectations or both, many people seem to see Oxford as a tranquil academic haven, a gateway to the past, and overall, the ideal university city. The question is, are these visions accurate, or are they merely myths? To explain my answer to this question, I’m going to tell you about my initial reactions to being in Oxford and how my feelings have evolved throughout my time here. This certainly won’t reflect everyone’s experience of Oxford, especially because to me, locations are very significant, almost with a personality of their own, but here’s my take.
 

When I arrived at the beginning of October, just the sight of the “welcome to Oxford, a cycling city” sign started me internally bouncing with excitement - and as we drove into the city, I couldn’t stop. I nearly exploded at the sight of Magdalen College (because it’s a beautiful place, yes, but also because I am a huge C.S. Lewis fan and he taught there). I’d never seen so much medieval gothic architecture in one place in my life. Later, as I walked down Holywell Street on my way from Catz (St. Catherine’s College) to the city center, surrounded by adorable colorful houses, I thought I’d fallen into a dream. But even that didn’t compare to my awe at my first sight of the Radcliffe Camera while on a walking tour led by Catz JCR reps (student leaders). In my opinion, it may be the most beautiful building in the world, and it is certainly one of my favorites. Its interior is stunning, and the fact that it’s a library makes it even cooler in my mind. 
 

However, living and studying in Oxford has shown me a different side of the city, particularly within the first week or two. First, the architecture. The “dark academia aesthetic” (still not sure of the precise definition of those terms, but I suppose we aren’t all as precise as mathematicians), and the Hogwarts vibe are a huge tourist draw in Oxford. Parts of Oxford are highly instagrammable. But only parts. Besides the enormous Westgate mall and some controversial apartment buildings, there are many university and college buildings that are quite modern. The Mathematical Institute is only about ten years old, and some other departments’ buildings are either similarly new or just old enough to be shabby. Catz is another prime example - built in the 1960s in a brutalist-influenced, international modernist style, it isn’t what you picture when you think of an Oxford college. Plus, basically every college has had to add on to their original construction over the years, many during the 60s and 70s. Many students either live outside their college or in modern (and sometimes ugly) buildings within their college, for example, these lovely creations. 
 

And then there’s the atmosphere and the people. Only a minute or two from some of the oldest colleges are fast food chains like Wendy’s and Shake Shack. Cars constantly drive by the medieval buildings. Cornmarket Street is full of modern brands, tourist shops, buskers, and busy people. There are frequently homeless people scattered throughout the city center. And although the student and academic presence is strong, there are also many other locals who work either non-academic jobs or less prestigious jobs within the University. Plus, Oxford is more than just the city center. Visit Summertown, Kidlington, Headington, Cowley, or New Marston if you want a fuller picture of Oxford and the surrounding areas. Perhaps it sounds obvious, but Oxford isn’t Hogwarts and not every angle is instagram-worthy.
 

There is also the academic reality of Oxford. I found the contrast similar to the difference between the college advertisements I received in the mail as a high schooler — the ones with photos of happy students sitting on a quad with their laptops — and the reality of sitting alone in the library grinding out an essay or struggling over a math problem. The eight-week term at Oxford is extremely intense and not necessarily the most ideal for learning, and everyone has their long days of work, their stress over deadlines, and a wish for more time. Plus, you are not necessarily your tutors’ and lecturers’ first priority - research can come before students, and some professors seem to look down on undergraduates. It doesn’t happen all the time, but I have experienced or heard of some tutors setting deadlines whenever it suits them, lecturers talking about whatever they want, and professors in general not caring about students’ success. In some ways this results in a camaraderie, like when everyone’s complaining over crazy deadlines, or when you discover that others in the class think the problem sheets are insane as well. There’s also still the wonder of being able to do your work in such settings as the Rad Cam (Radcliffe Camera) or the Taylorian (Taylor Institute Library) and knowing that you are learning at possibly the best university in the world. But there is also the painful, difficult reality of basically being in academic bootcamp. 

Living in Oxford is also a mix of wonder and hard reality. Within about two weeks of arriving in Oxford, I no longer felt the same raptures at walking down Holywell Street or Broad Street. My parents were able to come visit me for a long weekend (their first trip outside the United States!), and while they were awed at the architecture, I was relatively unaffected, beyond enjoying Christ Church College for the first time. I had moved past the “honeymoon phase” of exciting emotions and into a different stage of my relationship with Oxford. For a while, it was negative - for the first few weeks of term, I didn’t like Oxford very much, especially when I compared its college-town feel to the excitement and freedom of London. Plus, there was a degree to which my brain attached emotions of stress and anxiety to certain views of the city, like Holywell Street and the Mathematical Institute. Stress from first week largely contributed to this; I didn’t have much sense of what my schedule would be like or what I was supposed to be working on, plus I was already getting inundated with lectures packed full of material I didn't necessarily understand. To combat this self-centered and negative mindset, I have had to intentionally take time to explore the city and enjoy it for its own history and beauty, sometimes outside the university context. Now I can more clearly see that Oxford has endured for hundreds of years regardless of any students’ woes about a course or assignment, and it will continue to do so. In some ways, as I have gotten to know the city better, Oxford has helped me see how small my problems are. In doing my best to detach my own perceived academic success from my experience of Oxford itself, I have come to love Oxford, both because of the people I have met and because of its unique character and history. 

After a month and a half in Oxford, I don’t believe the idea of Oxford enshrined in popular culture exists - and that’s probably true of any location. Rather than searching for an ideal Oxford experience, I’ve found it’s best to embrace real life in Oxford, with all of its ups and downs. Although I no longer feel ecstatic every time I see an old building, I do enjoy wandering around new areas of the city, taking ballroom dance classes, spending time with my small group at St. Ebbe’s church, and occasionally admiring the Rad Cam’s ceiling.