New MCR members

Happy Birthday Emily Paddon

Yesterday evening, I had the chance to meet a group of the fresher (first year) graduates at Wadham. All summer, I had been looking forward to seeing who will be joining the MCR. The rate of turnover is very high, partially because so many of the graduates at Wadham are doing one year master’s degrees in law. As such, there is a new clutch with each successive orbit. Any social gathering where you can discuss the effects of river eutrophication on jellyfish is well worth attending, if only as a pause between bouts of editing.

While I don’t generally involve myself extensively with MCR activities, it is one of the important social groupings that exists in Oxford. When having a conversation with someone newly met, from another college, the first thing you generally try to do is name someone in their MCR who they know and, hopefully, like. Program, department, college, and club membership seem to be the principal links between all Oxford graduates.

Speaking of clubs, I need to get back to trying to fix elements of the Strategic Studies Group website, as soon as my brain ticks back into a mode vaguely approximating normal, after last night’s marathon editing session. I have self-prescribed chai and tomato basil soup.

PS. With neither my supervisor nor the editor from MITIR responding to my emails, I am feeling strangely disconnected.

Author: Milan

In the spring of 2005, I graduated from the University of British Columbia with a degree in International Relations and a general focus in the area of environmental politics. In the fall of 2005, I began reading for an M.Phil in IR at Wadham College, Oxford. Outside school, I am very interested in photography, writing, and the outdoors. I am writing this blog to keep in touch with friends and family around the world, provide a more personal view of graduate student life in Oxford, and pass on some lessons I've learned here. View all posts by Milan