Month: July 2016

At some point, we all experience it: the feeling that life is actually quite short, certainly shorter than we imagined when we were young. Well, these days I feel pretty old. My time in Oxford is coming to an end.

I will keep the remaining lamentation to myself. Instead, I will reflect on some issues that have made this year especially great. Maybe you young people with all your MJurs, BCLs and LLMs still ahead of you might benefit from this.

Let me first start with a commonplace: “It was the people I met here that made this year so wonderful”. But it’s true, they played a huge part in this respect. And Oxford is special here: Due to the collegiate system, you not only meet an incredible number of people, but also from all kinds of backgrounds. In fact, I probably hung out more with friends from college than with lawyers.

Second, I am grateful that I was given the opportunity to learn something totally new: rowing. In hindsight, I cannot appreciate enough that I have not only used the year abroad to make academic progress, but also on a personal level. I highly recommend prospective Postgrads to find something that they might have never considered to do while at home – try to stretch your boundaries a bit. To those who might fear for their future employability: Isn’t it a bit cooler to say you learnt how to do Improv / played Quidditch (it is a real thing, guys) / went hillclimbing than to brag about your “Distinction” in Trust Law?

To be fair, however, the MJur/BCL gave me the amazing insights into my subjects of choice. I would have never imagined – honestly – that I could be so intrigued by studying the Law. I feel that this year has greatly expanded my horizon even in subjects I thought I knew about fairly well. Should you take something totally unfamiliar to you? Yes, but only if you are genuinely interested in the subject and not because you are afraid to appear boring. I actually enjoyed the more familiar subjects more than the other because I had something to build on.

I hope (and I am sure) you all have a great year, wherever you will go. Thanks for following this blog! Many thanks also to those who have given me the opportunity to blog about my experiences in the first place. It was great fun.

Best,

Lukas

or

xxx

(as the British do, although I am still unsure about the appropriate number of X for the varying contexts)

My time in Oxford is slowly coming to an end. And although this city isn’t that big, I haven’t seen and done as many things as I wish I had – this being proof of the fact that there is a lot going on here.

Besides the obviously pretty and numerous colleges, there are some fine places that belong to the University of Oxford, the most conspicuous example here being the City’s landmark Radcliffe Camera.

(wikipedia.org)

Second to this surely is the Bodleian Library, which in its current shape dates back to 1602. It is the United Kingdom’s second biggest library. The “Old Schools Quadrangle” is particularly impressive. Here, we find the entrances to the “Schola Moralis Philosophae” or the “Schola Ivrisprvdentiae” (I wish, our lectures were here instead of the ugly St Cross Building).

The closest you can get to the stereotype of an Oxford library is probably the “Duke Humfrey” library, which can also be accessed from the Quad. Unfortunately, you are not allowed to touch most of the books and to bring backpacks, a rule which officers here seem keen to enforce.

Even older than the “Bod” is the Divinity School (15^th century) that is adjacent to the Bod. Again, a number of scenes for the Harry Potter movies were filmed here. I, however, find this chair made of lumber of one of Sir Francis Drake’s ships more intriguing.

And since I am not sure I put the “Bridge of Sighs” – another Oxford landmark – on this blog, here we go: It connects the buildings of Hertford College.