I love this. I miss hanging out in Oxford. For three years I lived near Slough (first in Stoke Poges and then in Maidenhead) and Oxford was a frequent weekend trip for us. The geek cool factor for us American ex-pats was huge and the used book stores just delicious.

You also churn up many of my own memories of getting into a difficult university. I didn't have the interviews for the university itself, but rather for scholarships. One of those interviews was a big group thing where there were 5 or 6 of us in the hot seats and 4 judges sitting behind a long desk. They asked questions and then we each took turns answering. The third question in, they asked and then I had to think of my answer while everyone else answered. When they got to me, I opened my mouth to speak and burst into tears instead. How freaking embarrassing!!

And I was no 17 year old. I was 23 and had 2 kids already. OY! But it's OK. One of the judges called me over afterward and told me how she did the same thing when she was interviewed for a Fulbright. These things happen, she assured me, and I'd handled myself just fine. She got her Fulbright, and I got my scholarship.

I wish that I could get myself back into academics and go to Oxford for grad school...