Study abroad part three: England

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Study abroad part three: England

The Oxford professor raises his eyebrows as Senior Evan Gage reads his paper aloud. Surrounded by English history and culture, Gage presents his ideas one-on-one to the professor for examination, discussion, and academic growth.

Hillsdale Students spent a month during the summer studying in Oxford.

“It honestly surpassed my expectations,” Gage said. “I had the impression that it would just be an interesting thing to do, kind of a fun more touristy thing but it was a really, really intense academic situation.”

Instead of using a classroom, Oxford assigns students tutors, professors who they meet with one-on-one for an hour each week.

“The tutor they found for me was a very enthusiastic man,” Senior Brett Wierenga said. “[He] gave me three hours rather than one each time I saw him just because he had so much he wanted to say.”

The program was similar to Hillsdale’s in its emphasis on working through primary source documents. Many students were expected to write extensively during their time at Oxford. Gage wrote ten pages a week for his class.

The scary part came when they had to read it aloud.

“He’ll stop you as you go through and say, ‘why did you pick that word?’ or, ‘why did you use that phrase?’” Gage said. “I now know that I can write a good, ten-page paper in less than a week.”

Students had a lot of flexibility with their class.

“It’s not a class, it’s a tutorial, it’s like an academic discussion,” Wierenga said. “You pursue both what you’re interested in and what the professor is interested in.”

Gage traveled to England from Turkey, where he had been for the Hillsdale Honors Program summer trip. The difference in culture struck him.

“I came right from Turkey, and the Turkish people were super excited to see you and really happy and really friendly,” Gage said. “[In Oxford] Cody and I would go running every morning and the American thing when you pass someone is to say ‘goodmorning,’ but not only were we ignored generally but frequently you got a small scowl, a frown.”

Hillsdale Academy Head Master and director of the Oxford program, Kenneth Calvert, said the program will continue for years to come.

“It’s a lot of fun to be in the midst of these old medieval colleges and really get a feel for what that education was like,” he said. “It is a marvelous experience. It is after all the land of Winston Churchill.”