Scholars dream of taking the same morning walks as C.S. Lewis and praying in the same churches that J.R.R. Tolkien, Gerard Manley Hopkins, and Cardinal Newman attended. For alumni Nicholas West ’22, Audrey Southgate ’16, and undergraduate student Jerry Biggerstaff, this dream is reality.

All three students are currently studying at Oxford. West is working on his master’s degree, Southgate recently finished her doctoral thesis, and Biggerstaff is attending Hillsdale’s exchange program at the University.

West is currently pursuing a Masters of Science in mathematical modeling and scientific computing. 

When he decided to attend graduate school, West said that Oxford was his top choice. 

“Oxford was naturally one of the schools on the top of my list because it has one of the best math programs in the world,” West said. “On top of that, the United Kingdom, especially Oxford, has such a rich history that I was interested in learning more about and experiencing  firsthand.” 

West attends Merton college, one of the oldest colleges at Oxford – which also happens to be the same school where Tolkien taught and T.S. Eliot studied. 

Besides walking and praying in the footsteps of intellectual giants, West said his favorite memory so far is matriculation, the formal induction process for Oxford students. 

“For matriculation, everyone in your college wears sub fusc, or academic dress, which, for men, consists of an academic gown, a bow-tie, and a dark suit,” West said. “It’s a bit surreal to wear sub fusc while you are inducted in Latin into a 1,000-year-old academic tradition underneath Streater’s 400-year-old fresco.”

Southgate recently finished her doctoral degree in English Language and Literature at Merton. 

“My dissertation title was ‘The Psalter in English: Wycliffite Interpretations in Context,’” Southgate said. “To elaborate a bit, it was on what the Lollards, late 14th and early 15th- century reformists inspired by Oxford theologian John Wycliffe, did with the Psalter.”

Southgate said attending the undergraduate Oxford program, in addition to the support from various Hillsdale professors, helped her decide to pursue graduate work at Oxford. 

“Oxford was an obvious choice as a medievalist,” Southgate said. “The manuscripts are here, literally 15 minutes from my front door. It has especially strong resources for studying biblical translation into English. Both Wycliffe’s Bible and the King James Bible were produced here to the best of our knowledge,” Southgate said. 

After a long day of writing and researching, Southgate said she enjoys sharing a meal with friends.

“Each college has a dining hall which will often have formal dinners where everyone wears black-tie,” Southgate said. 

Junior Jerry Biggerstaff, a current Hillsdale student studying British Ideology and Nationalism, said Oriel college also hosts regular formal dinners for 7.5 pounds. 

“They begin the meal with all students rising as the High Table – consisting of faculty, clergy, and the provost – enters and says Latin grace,” Biggerstaff said. “After that, they close the hall doors and forbid anyone to exit. They then serve a three course meal at which the use of phones is strictly forbidden.” 

Besides attending formal dinners, Biggerstaff said his favorite memory at Oxford has been toasting Scottish nationalism with one of his tutorial professors. 

“After 4 to 8 one-on-one sessions, you really develop a relationship with your tutors, and those final tutorials are especially entertaining because you both understand each other,” Biggerstaff said. 

If he could give any advice to undergraduates interested in attending the Oxford program, Biggerstaff said he would advise them to spend an hour a day researching the topic they would like to study. 

“While they are excellent at introducing students to a topic, you will gain so much if you are already familiar with the topic and have specific questions in mind,” Biggerstaff said. “That being said, if you do not know too many details about your prospective tutorial topic, do not let that discourage you! There is nowhere else in the world that can introduce you to a topic so fast and in so much depth as Oxford.”

All three students agreed that their studies at Hillsdale prepared them well for the academic rigor of Oxford. 

“Oxford is a very natural next step for Hillsdale students because they’re well-prepared intellectually, because they tend to be Anglophiles, and because it is built around small communities where intellectual friendships are cultivated,” Southgate said. 

But just like Hillsdale, Southgate said, Oxford’s community is what makes the academic workload worthwhile. 

“I’ve found a great continuity in the intellectual communities. In both places, people just love learning,” Southgate said. “It’s the people that make the place.”