In the City of Dreaming Spires: Exhilarating Academics

Today was my fourth primary tutorial with Dr. Yee. I love meeting with her. She is organized, well prepared, and knows when to explain things further or let me work them out on my own. I received Alphas on my first three papers for Dr. Yee. This is the top mark possible at Oxford. She told me that my work was top notch and that I was working at the level for a First. Oxford degrees have various honors classifications, with First-Class Honours being the highest. Nationally, approximately 10% of candidates achieve Firsts.

One of the wonderful things about the Oxford system is the ability of the student to work at his or her own pace. Last week, Dr. Yee said that while my work was excellent, it wasn’t acceptable for me to just keep getting Alphas each week by doing the same thing. She wanted to push me to work in even more depth, taking my work to the graduate level. I had articulated my essay topics very well in my essays, but now she wanted me to give more interpretation and analysis.

I went into today’s tutorial knowing that I hadn’t reached the new goal. This week’s topic, attitude formation, was more difficult for me to grasp from the assigned reading, and I didn’t feel like I understood the subject as well. The reading took me longer to complete, leaving less time for my essay. As such, I went to my tutorial with an essay that was similar to the ones I had done in the past, if not a bit below in quality. Just as I suspected, Dr. Yee was a bit less thrilled with my essay. Her comments can be summed up by one statement, “Kimberly, you’re doing a wonderful job as a reporter, but now I want you to be a psychologist. Don’t just tell me about the studies and theories; interpret them.”

I watched as Dr. Yee scribbled a 7½/10 on the top of my essay, and though that’s at least 1½ points less than my other essays, I don’t feel disappointed. For the first time in my life, I actually feel like I’m being challenged. My brain hurts and I feel mentally exhausted, and it’s wonderful. I am excited to approach next week’s essay and attempt to synthesize the six chapters of reading I have been assigned this week. I’m not writing for a grade and simply checking off assignments to fulfill course requirements. I’m actually THINKING. It’s hard, and it’s fatiguing…and it’s completely exhilarating...