Creative Writing in London? Oxford? Stanford-on-Avon?

Hiya! Our first full week here in the United Kingdom has been a treat. We are back to share more about what we have been doing in our Session II Creative Writing program. Since we last spoke our students have had an opportunity to see more of England. On Saturday, we took a trip to Oxford University in Oxford, England. There in Oxford, we learned quite a bit about the history of the university and the rivalry between the colleges that make up the university on our tour with one of Oxford's best and brightest undergraduate students. We had a chance to explore the university's facilities like some of the libraries, and we got a sneak peek at a part of the university where scenes from the Harry Potter film series were filmed. Not only did we learn about the university's history and see some of its most interesting buildings, but we also learned more about the British university's application process since the US college and university systems are structured differently. Did you know that students who plan to attend either Oxford or Cambridge can only apply to one of the two universities? Students cannot apply to both Cambridge and Oxford.

Our next excursion was to Stratford-on-Avon, the birthplace of literary icon William Shakespeare. There, we toured the school that Shakespeare attended as a boy. At Shakespeare's School Room, we learned not only about the playwright and his works but also about the priests and administrators who ran the school during Shakespeare's time. We even had a mock Latin class to practice Latin as Shakespeare and his classmates did. Our experience in the School Room was not just information overload. We practiced writing with a feathered pen and ink and put together puzzles. Maybe some of Shakespeare's magic rubbed off on us while we were there because afterward, we all wrote poems about our excursion with our new friends.