Oxford

         Growing up on the West Cost of the United States I was taught very little about Oxford University, I had only herd of it from movies and from my eldest cousin who took a semester off from Brown University to study in Oxford. The tour alone taught me so much about the school and reminded me how little I knew about it. Comparing the oxford campus to that of the University of Nevada or even San Diego State, is so mind boggling, why are we so impressed with their buildings? What really makes them that special? The architecture that was shown during the tour was marvelous, so different than anything most of us are used to. Attending the University of Nevada, I truly thought I had a beautiful campus, that was the main reasons I attended the university. I was so drawn to the campus. Every building is either made of red bricks or glass. United States praises universities that are made of red bricks not concrete which is so senseless. The oxford campus is more than just gorgeous it is historical, the buildings are rather old, yet we are still taught all about the architecture and builders. It isn’t just a building that holds classes, it is quite remarkable to witness how much the history of the school is appreciated. The building that struck me the most was the second building in the school that Professor John Makey spoke about to us. We were standing in what I presume to be a court yard, with the Clarendon Building right behind us, which was under construction. The building in front of us, the one I was so drawn to was called the Bodleian library. It had minute little faces all around the top of the building, and on the roof there were these very gothic all posts that had like pointless spikes. The faces at the top were either frightening or cheerful, but it was just the idea of seeing a school building made of stone and not brick, that was hundreds of years old. The color of the library struck me the greatest, it was such a beautiful and warm color and I was captivated by it. Again as a student of UNR, all we see on our campus, and the only thing we are really used to seeing is red bricks and glass windows. It was also mentioned by Professor John Makey that the Bodleian Library is in fact one of the oldest and largest libraries in the United Kingdom, sometimes referred as the Old Bodleian Library. Visiting the school of Oxford was by far my favorite field trip. Although I felt I was going to collapse at any moment from being so sick and feeling a little delirious, I will never forget my experience to Oxford.