Oxford, orientation and eccentricity

I haven't written anything about my first two weeks at Oxford and I really should. Especially because time is just passing by so fast and I feel I might forget!

Orientation for Said Business School starts a week early compared to the other freshers in Oxford. A term here is counted in weeks, starting from Week 0 to Week 9.. and Week 10 is the exam week. Week 0 in the Michelmas Term (which is the October to December term) is supposed to be the orientation week for the freshers here. But as I said, it starts a week early for MBAs, so in essence we started out in Week -1. This "week" thing is really ingrained into the system. For example, assignments won't be due by a date, they would be due by the Monday of Week 5. That's how they refer to it. Note the word "eccentricity" in the subject of this blog ;)

The most stand out aspect of the orientation week for me was just how amazingly well these people spoke. Each and every one of the faculty members or sector consultants or even the admin staff, all of them had a story to tell and they knew how to tell it. I sat in the Nelson Mandela Lecture Theatre thinking that if I can speak half as well by the end of this year, perhaps it would have all been worth it.

There was also this feeling of everything being new. Suddenly being thrown in amongst a group of people that I barely knew was a little unnerving sometimes. But then they weren't complete strangers, Facebook conversations finally had faces attached to them. And everyone seemed even more brilliant in person. I only realized later that perhaps, just perhaps, everyone else was feeling the same way as well. Stephan Chambers, the MBA Programme Director, put it eloquently when he asked us to remember [this] feeling, "the feeling that everyone else is here by merit while I'm here by mistake..."

A lot of emphasis was put on Career Services during the orientation week. The nature of a one-year MBA is such that you pretty much get on the train running at full speed. Or at least are expected to. It's only been two weeks of classes and I've already attended so many recruitment presentations. The thought is a little overwhelming sometimes ("I only just got here, I don't know anything yet!") but with the market being the way it is, Oxford knows it has to get us ready damn quick. And the orientation definitely wasn't wasted.

There was also a lot of emphasis on the fact that this is the University of Oxford. And that opens doors that would remain closed for most people. The eccentricities were laughed at, the traditions maintained with reverance, the aura politely embraced. I found the conversations around why the University didn't have an MBA program for so long quite enlightening. It was funny to hear the Tutor of Politics telling us that he had discussed it "in this very hall" (we were in the Freind Room). The crux of the question that the University stumbled upon was simple. Is the MBA an academic subject? It tells you a lot about the University and how it sees its place in the world when you understand the dilemma.

We also had two whole sessions on plagiarism. In the words of the Proctor, "The University of Oxford takes plagiarism very seriously. We understand that this may be quite different from what you may have been used to at other educational institutions where you've studied. We're not just paying lip service here, when we say 'very seriously', we mean 'very seriously.' You can and you will be asked to leave." Interestingly, almost every piece of written work submitted in electronic form (assignments etc.) passes through TurnItIn and if there's a match, it's really a very, very big problem.

I complete a month in Oxford in a couple of days and time is running very fast and very slow at the same time. There's so much to do, the Oxford experience is really about a lot more than studies. I thought I was pretty okay at time management but there have been days when it's a struggle. As one of my friends was saying in class today, "It's funny how it's only week 2 and people are already starting to feel how crazy it's gonna be as we go along.."

If you've actually read this far, thanks for sticking around. Maybe these posts are a little drab for the readers but I want to keep track of my journey here and there's so much to write. And after all, this is "for when I feel like it" :)

PS
Here are some things overheard that Naz put up on her blog. They're quite cool, and a much easier read compared to my long winding tales! Remember that you're seeing them pulled out of context, so they may sometimes seem icky.