News from the Abbey

This will be a lighter post than normal: a quick recap of this week, some good news and bad news, and a little more attention to what an average day at the Wroxton Abbey is like.

Last week marked our return to class after travel break, all of our professors marked our first set of essays and I am very happy with my grades to say the least—yet at the same time surprised with every grade. Professor Parsons and Dr. Mason are my co-tutors in my Shakespeare class and Modern Novels on the Screen class. They scared the crap out of everyone saying that they were disappointed in a lot of the work saying how “it didn’t accurately reflect the effort we have been showing all semester.” However I got my two papers back. I received an A on the Shakespeare paper and an A+ on the Modern Novels one (I really felt the Modern Novels paper was my weakest but what do I know). In CORE with Professor Hone (Creative Writer and World Traveler… sounds like me) gave me an A- on my Modern China paper. My last paper, which again I was surprised with my result, was on the National Health Service. I wrote it for Dr. Morris’ Social Policy of Britain class. It got a B, but again I felt that that was a stronger paper than my Modern China Paper. Again, overall I am very pleased with my marks. They were a nice confidence booster; now all I have to do is finish strong.

My next bit of news is more exciting for me than a bunch of grades. I received the Beverly Saul award for excellent performance and achievement in Creative Writing. If I were home, I would have received it during my induction into the English Honors Society, Sigma Tau Delta. What makes this award extra remarkable is that it is only given to one student a year and I am pretty young to have received it. I am very, very proud of this award and I will not take it for granted. Thank you everyone, who encourages and appreciates my writing (a special thanks to Mr. Summers).

But now, onto the bad news. There must be an intricate check and balance system for success in the universe and I must have hit the cap of good news for this month. I was not accepted as an RA for the Fall term. I felt like I was highly qualified and capable, I let myself believe I was a shoe in, but I was wrong. Now I have to consider finding another job close to campus and I need to think about commuting in the spring and even all of Senior Year. I will apply again for the Spring; I can only hope things will be different. In light of my failures I do wish to congratulate Carrie who was selected and Chase (another student currently at Wroxton). You both will do great.

Life at the Abbey is really comfortable. Many of us play football (American Soccer) on nice days. We use benches as goals… We generally get enough people to play no less than 6 on 6. A lot of the players are really good. Even if they are just athletic, they are smart and fun to play with. It actually snowed for the first time yesterday—stuck to the ground too. We have a duck nested in the front of the Abbey ready to hatch a family. Her man and a gang of about 5 drakes patrol the path leading to the Carriage House, quacking at anybody who dilly-dallies too long near the nest. It is warming up here, and everyone is getting more active. Things have just been more lively and fun since we have returned from travel break.

Also this past Saturday, the class went to London to attend the performance Blood Brothers. It wasn’t a musical, more like a play with music. It was a brilliant work of art, I highly recommend seeing it, and I’m not saying much more about it because I wouldn’t want to spoil such an epic play. Carrie and I also went to the London Dungeon on our free time. It was more informative than scary, but it was a fun experience nonetheless.