After spending three weeks in Europe with People 2 People (P2P) in 2005, I knew I wanted to go back as soon as possible. Finally, 5 years later, I’m heading back to Europe- England this time- and, like every American who studies abroad, I decided to keep a blog. I am participating in the Pembroke-King’s Programme (PKP) at the University of Cambridge. I will be spending 8 weeks at Cambridge and taking three classes- The British and their Sports: Class, Gender and Identity, Architecture: The Gothic Experience, and Europe from 1890 to 1900: From National State to European Union- over the course of those 8 weeks. I’m particularly excited to meet Dr. Jonathan Steinberg who will be teaching my European history class. Dr. Steinberg supervised Prince Charles while Charles was at Cambridge and has had interviews with Admiral Karl Dönitz, King Juan Carlos of Spain and a secretary present during the failed attempt to assassinate Hitler. Oh yeah, he also once sat on a panel with Mikhail Gorbachev. With that said, I am absolutely honored to have the opportunity to study at Cambridge. Cambridge is the fourth oldest university in the world (after the University of Bologna, University of Paris and Oxford) and is, according to the US News list of Best Universities, the second best university in the world (second only to Harvard which, as most of you probably know, has always been my dream school). To have the opportunity to study at one of the oldest and most renowned universities in the world is a dream come true. Not everyone has the chance to pick up their lives for a summer, travel across the pond and study in such an amazing place and I am so grateful that I have been given that opportunity.
For those of you who don’t know how the Cambridge college system works, I’ll explain it now. The University of Cambridge is made of up colleges (the only US school that I know of that features this same college system is Yale). Each college is an independent, self-governing entity with its own property and income (yes, I stole that from Wikipedia). Every student must be a member of a college. Once a student is accepted to the university, they must also be accepted to a college and they may or may not get their first choice. Students live, eat, socialize and receive supervision (small group teaching sessions) in their college. Cambridge has 31 colleges. The Pembroke-King’s Programme is, as you may have guessed, run by Pembroke College and King’s College. I will be living in King’s College, which was founded in 1441 and is the home of the world famous King’s College Choir (and a very Harry Potter like dining hall). I will be living in a King’s College “set” which includes a bedroom and a small living room. The “sets” are part of the original college buildings so they have a uniquely Cambridge feel and some have great views of the river, but I won’t know exactly where I’ll be living until I arrive in Cambridge. I will be taking meals at Pembroke (check out the Pembroke cafeteria menu...http://thepembrokekitchen.blogspot.com/) and King’s college cafeterias and will have the opportunity to enjoy five Formal Halls (formal, three course meals) throughout the summer.
I will also be able to participate in uniquely Cambridge activities such as getting to go on the roof of the King’s College Chapel which is a rare privilege granted only to King’s College students! Also, everyone in the program goes on a four day trip to Scotland and a day trip to London. I also plan on doing as much weekend travel as I can, but, unfortunately, I won’t know my class schedule until I arrive in Cambridge. As I prepare to begin this once in a lifetime experience I’m excited, nervous, happy, scared, honored and humbled and maybe I already mentioned this- excited! I’m not entirely sure what to expect and I definitely wish I knew exactly where I’m going to be living and what my class schedule will be, but those are minor things in the grand scheme of things and I’m just happy to know that I will most definitely have somewhere to live and plenty to study.
But I'm getting a bit ahead of myself. Before I head across the pond, I'm spending a week in Bonaire and by this time next week I will be dive certified!
-Nicole
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