New College

Today was the most time I’ve spent in New College since coming to Oxford. I’d been told that an Oxford student’s allegiance usually lies more with their college than with the University of Oxford. This is why students buy New College sweatshirts, Trinity sweatshirts, or Magdalen sweatshirts, and tourists buy Oxford University sweatshirts. However, I am glad that I waited to purchase my sweatshirt, as I feel absolutely no affiliation with New College at all! If anything, I feel more like a part of Merton College since that is where I sing and attend formal hall on Sunday evenings!

New College is a 40 minute walk from my flat in Jericho. Neither of my tutors are New College faculty (one is St. Cross College and the other is Queens College). My secondary tutorial meets in a beautiful big room in New College, but that is only once every other week for a total of four meetings during the term. I can’t use Internet in the junior college room as we were never given pass codes and my laptop isn’t approved for the network. The food in college is more expensive than eating in the cafes, and it’s really not all that good. I have eaten in the dining hall a few times in an attempt to meet British students, but since I’m only here for a term and am almost never in college, the 20 minute friendship built over lunch or dinner is somewhat worthless.

Since today is Wednesday of Third Week, I met with my music in worship tutor in New College. I felt much more prepared for this meeting than for our first, and I was ready to share the brief essay that I ‘d spent all day writing the day before. My secondary tutor, Matthias Range, is very knowledgeable about his subject matter, but it doesn’t seem like he’s taught much at all. He seems nervous and very uncertain as to what to do. The most frustrating thing is that when he asks me questions, I can never tell which answer he is looking for. He’ll ask me about topics that I thoroughly studied, but the way the question is worded leaves me completely clueless and unable to answer. It’s disheartening to feel that my efforts in preparing are worthless since I am unable to convey my knowledge to answer Matthias’s questions.

After my tutorial, I went to the New College Junior Common Room (JCR) to work on my essay for my primary tutorial tomorrow. I had been told that the JCR was another good place to meet British students, but I realized that almost all of the students in the JCR were American OSAP students. I connected with my friends Ruth, Ray, Heather, and Henry, and the five of us met Lydia for dinner in the New College dining hall. Lydia informed us that she recently moved from another OSAP flat on Walton Well Road to a room in New College! Apparently she went to the Porter’s Lodge and asked if they had any rooms available. I am so incredibly jealous! Her room is warm, free from spiders and slugs, and she has her own sink. It would be so amazing to live in college!

From Lydia’s room, I went with my OSAP friends to the New College Bar. It is literally like being in the dungeon of a castle. To get to the women’s restroom, one has to climb a spiral stone staircase with an iron handrail and windows with iron crossbars. I was surprised by how well I could do work in the New College Bar. Though it was noisy, I found that the background noise actually helped me focus and work well. I left college at 9:30 PM for my long, dark walk back to Walton Well Road, longing to live in college too.


New College Quad - Don't forget to click on the picture to see a larger version!
The dining hall is up the stairs on the left. The tall second floor windows on the left belong to the dining hall.
The room for my secondary tutorial is through the arched door in shadow on the very right side of the picture. Once inside the arch, there is a door to the left, so the first floor windows there to the left of the arched door and to the right of the large tunnel are in my classroom!


The New College Dining Hall