Aztec for Life

   

Oxford VS San Diego State

      I have to start off with saying, that Oxford is gorgeous! I have always seen it in the movies and have always wanted to go visit. Within seconds of walking into St. John's College I fell in love with the campus. All of the beautiful gardens and architecture were breathtaking. I didn't know that Oxford was made up of 40 plus colleges and permanent private halls so it was interesting seeing the set up of the campus. My whole life I thought it was just one huge college like San Diego State University but I was highly mistaken.

      Walking around the colleges it felt like I was thrown into a whole different kind of education system. Just from the architecture, it's clear that Oxford wins and the United States loses. The effort that was put in to make these beautiful, unique buildings is amazing. You wouldn't see half of the effort that was put into the architecture for Oxford in San Diego State. Just walking around the beautiful gardens and seeing the people around you, you can see that the students that go to Oxford have to follow very strict rules of the college. All the signs saying, 'keep off the lawn' shows that not only do the tourists but the students have to follow the traditional rules that Oxford has made. At San Diego State University, the students are always sitting or resting on the grass, skate boarding on campus, which shows that we're free to be ourselves; whereas Oxford's strict policies discourage self expression.

       The education system at Oxford is completely different than what we are used to at San Diego State.  Honestly, Oxford's seems to be more organized. The fact that there are different colleges and the student has to stay in that one college for three years makes more sense than what we do. San Diego State University has seven colleges but all students can take different classes under those colleges. By doing that, it makes the educational system much more confusing for students to navigate and not as organized. Under our education system, we're stuck taking general education classes for years, and even more if we want to change our majors.  At Oxford, students can receive their Master's degree in two years and be done in three; that rarely happens at San Diego State. The students at San Diego State are left in debt and usually can't graduate in four years. Another thing that is different, is the "Greek Life", at San Diego State. As Professor Makey pointed out,  there is no such thing at Oxford. Greek life is a big part of the San Diego State social experience but here students don't have to focus on that social aspect and can focus on their studies. Oxford also has working Chapels in every college...We don't even have one.  One thing San Diego makes up for is the school spirit/pride. Maybe it's just because we went during the summer but at San Diego State people are always dressed in the apparel. (Even I was wearing a SDSU jacket when we were at Oxford)

At St. John's College

          After visiting Oxford, it's obvious that our education system is completely different than here. The education systems more prominent and still follows tradition at Oxford. At San Diego State things are always changing, it's hard to keep up with our education system since they're always changing requirements and expectations. There's a new course catalog every year. We have to talk to our major supervisors to figure out how to decipher what we need to take. But at Oxford they have stuck to their traditions. If each college at Oxford only has two hundred to three hundred students, this means the classes are smaller and there is more time devoted to the students and the professor. At San Diego State, there are classes with five hundred students, which means we don't have much one on one time with our professors, if at all. I wish I could study at Oxford but I'll be an Aztec for life!