1 month down!

February 08, 2020

1 month down!

“Everything that’s worth having is some trouble.”

-Anne of Avonlea

It has officially been a month since I landed here in England, a fact that I’m still shocked about. Most days I feel as if I just got here yesterday, while other days I feel like I’m stuck in the Twilight Zone and will never get home (those days specifically seem to happen when I am writing an essay, coincidence? I think not!).

Being in Oxford has given me a different type of stress and anxiety. Cam’s medical uncertainty is stressful but the key difference is that are in it together as a family. However in Oxford I am “alone”. That isn't’ to say I haven’t made friends here! I have….nevertheless, I’ve realized that in this long/short month and in my uncertainty, I’m not actually alone, God has been with me. A fact he has reminded me of various times throughout the month (see previous blog posts).

While I already blogged this week, I felt the need to blog again, though it may be because I needed an excuse to avoid my essay:)

This week went actually pretty well, apart from still needing to finish researching and writing my essay for Dr. Pollard on Tuesday. I am also having difficulty with Dr. Pollard as a tutor, and asking my Study Abroad Programme to help clarify some issues in regards to the tutorial, so please pray that it works out! My tutorial this last Tuesday with Dr. Kershaw went great! A surprising fact to me, as I felt very under researched. Nevertheless, he actually loved my essay and said that he was impressed considering how little time I had and how I couldn’t find many resources.

On Wednesday I met with my tutor Kevin for more of a “How is your time in Oxford going, is there anything you want to specifically hit on during World View?” I then met with my pastor friend Dave (whom I met this previous summer), it was so nice to see a familiar face! It also seems that I will be visiting during spring break, and also leading worship for their church the Sunday before my parents get here in April (if not some other Sunday’s as well). Dave and I also had some very interesting conversations (our mutual friend Ruth, who I stayed with when I landed, also came a little later). Throughout multiple conversations with Dave, he had 3 different things he felt like he needed to tell me:

“You need to decided if you want to be a small fish in a big pond, or a big fish in a small pond.”
“You are like activated carbon, when under pressure you make diamonds.
“Maybe part of the reason you are here, is so you get “qualified” with media.”

These statements seem vague, however in reality it confirmed a lot of things to me, things I didn’t necessarily want confirmed to me right now...as it is I’m just trying to survive here and hopefully get my laundry done (message me if you want to know the laundry conundrum!) Yet, I had to laugh when I got home, that these conversations essentially answered my “Who am I?” question!

All in all, I can say 1 month down, 3 months to go! And I am sure that in these next few months that I will have more things confirmed to me, and hopefully help me know what I am doing past May 1^st!

Per usual, here are some pictures, this time highlights throughout my month here:

Cheers!